So I saw a thread in the Pit regarding housing prices in London. And I’ve seen similar things for other regions.
And I figure we can do a survey here. So I’m looking for two things:
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Cost for you where you live now and size/space/etc.
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Search http://www.realtor.com or your local equivalent. Find a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath place and give us a price and link. Let’s get a feel for it.
Here’s to start:
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My place: 4 level about 3500 sq ft home in small town Southeastern Ohio. 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath (that last is under construction). Built in 1908 from yellow brick. I bought it in 2004 for $80K.
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The cheapest I found that met the specs in my zip code was $39,900
I figure there’ll be some interesting comparisons out there. So how 'bout it, people? Sing out your tales of pain and joy!
Own a 2000 sq ft home in Boulder County, CO. Per zillow.com it would go for around $325,000.
The specs mentioned in the OP could range from a condo at $100,000 to a detached home for $275,000.
Ooooh, look at this one for $52,500 on a 9000 foot lot. I’m not nuts about that little porch add-on though. This price is quite low for that neighborhood, so I’m thinking the interior might be rough.
I found 32 homes and this one was the cheapest. The others had more bedrooms or more baths, or more square feet. This was the closest to the specs in the OP.
The town it’s in has a population of about 8,000, with some manufacturing.
I forgot the first part of the survey.
House was built in 1904 (Prairie four-square style), 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, enclosed front porch, detached 2-car garage, finished basement, etc. Paid $65K in 2002, taxes are about $800 a year.
Lets try this again:
Here’s a couple that seem to be working.
Rent about 1000 sq ft with 3 bdrms (One bedroom and two tiny closets, really) and one bath. We’ve got a good deal at 1,800 a month. It’s in a two family row house that our live-in landlords paid about 1.2m for.
We are now searching for our own home in Brooklyn. The lowest priced property on that site is this this $369,000 house in Brownsville. I do not want to live in Brownsville since it makes East New York look safe by comparison.
Cheapest house listed in my 'hood is this $699,000 one.
Still, we remain hopeful that there is a house in a decent neighborhood that we can afford. We’re delusional that way.
I’ve got about 1000 sq. ft with 1.5 bedrooms* and 1 bath. I paid about $185,000 back in '03 and Zillow says it’s worth about $260,000 now.
Realtor.com puts a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house in my area somewhere between $300,000-$400,000, mostly depending on the yard.
*There is a second bedroom, but you wouldn’t to put anyone over the age of 10 in there.
Here’s a typical ‘starter home’ in my area of town: 1600 sq ft 2 Story home. 2.5 baths. No garage. Unfinished basement.
Three years ago, a home like that would have been $150,000. Now it’s listed for $355,000, and could easily be bidded up another $30,000 over list. Housing is crazy here. It went up 47% last year.
And this is not an expensive part of the city. If you want to live in an older neighborhood and not out in the new developments in the 'burbs, the house prices get crazier. For example, $400,000 gets you this lovely home. 1100 sq ft, 50 years old, 2 baths.
Finally, This is what a million bucks will get you in Edmonton. Not much. A 2000 sq ft bungalow. Oh, it’s nice, but a few years ago this house would have been $400,000 tops.
Almost 6 years ago we bought our 4BR 2½ bath, long ranch with full Basement on 2 acres for $400K. Today the cheapest 3BR 1½ bath house in my town is listed at $429K and that is on a small 100’x150’ lot.
This is a town with great schools in Central Jersey. We have many commuters to NYC, but it is not and easy commute.
When we retire, we will move someplace cheap and partially live off the price difference in our home vs. whereever we move.
Jim
Bath in the UK:
I live in a not so desirable area (although to be fair, Bath is nice anywhere really), pay £675 pm rent, it’s worth about £180K. 2BR, 2 Bath and a nice seperate study for me. A sensible family townhouse in the city though with 4 or 5 beds and 2 or 3 baths would set you back at least £450K, nicer ones of the same size easily £700K, upto £1 million if you want a decent amount of land and say a pool. Property here is about 85% the price of London and as such just as stupid.
Our house is just over 3000 sq. ft., built in 1984, wood siding with brick trim on the front. Three levels, including a fully finished basement with everything required for an in-law suite (full-sized range, microwave, dishwasher, sink, etc in one room, a small closet with hook-ups for a compact over-and-under washer/dryer combo in the other room, and a full bath). Three bedrooms upstairs, plus the one in the basement, two full baths upstairs, half bath on the main level, and the full bath in the basement. There’s also a walk-up attic that could be fairly easily finished out into one or two more rooms – hipped roof so there’s plenty of headroom. Lot is 75x160, backing up onto woods. We paid $297K a little over a year ago for it – ours was the cheapest house to sell in our subdivision for quite a while. $325K would be more typical.
Low end 3 BR/1.5 BA houses in less desirable subdivisions start around $169K, like this one . There aren’t all that many 3 BR houses in our area, and most of them are in older subdivisions where the houses tend to be smaller and have fewer high-end features. Top end for 3BR places is about $260K, while for 4 or 5 BR houses, the mid $300Ks would be the middle of the market, topping out in the $800K-$900K range. This one would be typical.