Well, trying Realtor.com, they didn’t have anything here for $250,000. The highest they listed was here.
I knew there were more expensive out there, so I checked some of the local realty agency websites. This is the closest I could find without going over $250,000. But this is in a more residential area of town, and has more square footage for less money.
But one company has 2 listings for $500,000 or more for residential homes. Really surprises me, since there are plenty of nice places for sale here for around $50,000.
In my town, it looks like the best deal is a 5-bedroom, 4-bath 6,200 sq. ft. with a basement, two fireplaces, central air and a two car garage, built in 1999, according to Realtor.com.
In my PART of town, the most expensive they have listed is $92,900, but that’s only 1,500 sq. ft., 3-bedroom 2-bath.
Where I’m going to school, it’ll get you a 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath on .5 acres that was built just last year.
In my small town in Idaho You could get
5-6 bedrooms
5+ bathrooms
3 car garage
a large game room
1 acre of land
and have enough money left to throw one hell of a house warming.
1-2 br condo built in 1960’s near water (no view), inland: newer 2 br condo. New homes start around $750,000 and easily exceed a cool million. New condos start around $350,000.
Here in Lincoln Park, an upscale Chicago neighborhood, that will get you exactly jack shit. In all seriousness you might be able to scrounge a very small 1 BR/Studio condo, but that’s rock bottom with no allowance for condo fees and closing costs. Average 2 BR condos are about $325K and up.
Here $250,000 CDN (approx $280,000 US I think) would buy an average-type home, built in the 1980s. Probably 3 bedrooms up, 1 bedroom or den down, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and a nice yard. MAYBE a hot tub but probably not a pool.
Just did a search (Tokyo, about 1-2 stops NE of Asakusa)
New condos: zilch
New houses: 250,000 was the minimum price. There were two places, both 3 bedroom, 400 sq.ft., 13-minute walk from the nearest train station.
Older condos: better selection here, many 2 and 3-bedroom places, 900sq.ft, averaging about 20-30 years old. Nothing within the last 5 years. This may not be a concern, but consider a) this neighborhood was considered a slum until just recently, and b) earthquake standards have become more stringent (not that that guarantees the builder will follow them, as some homeowners are finding to their chagrin).
Older houses: 2 places, both $200,000. Both built in 1977, both about 300 sq.ft. One has 2 bedrooms and a dining kitchen, one has 3 bedrooms and only a kitchen space (usually big enough for a refrigerator, gas rangetop and one person).
Well, that’s just it: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
My mom’s slip of a house (3BR foursquare including the addition) is, according to the town’s assessor, worth over 400K. The median price of similar houses in my neighborhood is around 450-470K. Now remember, I don’t live in the la-di-dah part of town, but I do live less than minute from the expressway leading into Boston. Without traffic, I’m less than 10 minutes from downtown. My neighborhood is also bordered by several bus routes and 3 mass transit stations.
In the past year “For Sale” signs have become ubiquitous. We lost our next-door neighbors because they could no longer afford to live here. Conversely, it took them almost a year to sell their house and 4 price drops because, of course, nobody can afford to move here. The longtime residents like my mom are holding onto their houses for dear life.
I can’t imagine moving to a place like Flint. I can’t even imagine moving to western MA. I guess I really am provincial :dubious:
If anyone would like to move to the little town where we found our house, $250K will get you this , 2600 sq ft, 6 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, which is across the road from Lake Erie so it would include right-of-way access to the beach (it is very clean now).
In nearby Buffalo, in case you prefer city living, you could end up with this 5100 sq ft, 6 bedrooms, 3.5 bath in a nice neighborhood. Geez, I might buy that myself, I would guessed a little higher for that location. For a 100 year old home in Buffalo, though, the heat will be steep.
I guess this would all involve living in Buffalo, though.
Wow! I guess I don’t feel so bad about the cost of the places here. I probably should have asked for the average salary range for the areas too, just to make better comparisons.
Well, that’s just it – 250K might buy you a palatial palace in the Midwest, South, or an upstate rural area, but 9 times out of 10 your salary will only be a half to a third of what you’d make on either coasts. From what I’ve read here and elsewhere, most people moving to a less expensive area already have cash in hand, so to speak. The natives, OTOH, may be struggling just to maintain day-to-day living.