WATCH: How Much House Can You Get for 300,000
Edited 4/10/2007 9:13 am by Mooney
Edited 4/10/2007 11:13 am by Mooney
Discussion Forum
Edited 4/10/2007 9:13 am by Mooney
Edited 4/10/2007 11:13 am by Mooney
Discussion Forum
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Replies
Duh--how do I access it once I pull up the yahoo link?
Sorry , Boss came to the rescue .
http://www.yahoo.com/s/553039
When someone goes to "my yahoo" the site will be configured according to the cookies on THEIR computer, not yours.
I think this is what you were referring to:
http://www.yahoo.com/s/553039
Thanks .
Where I live on Vancouver Island for $300,000.00 you can get condo's and some town houses but very few single detached homes.
roger
This should be an inerresting thread .
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17 Jamie LaneClarksville, AR 72830
$278,0005 Bed, 3.5 Bath2,990 Sq. Ft.1.25 Acres
100%
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Single Family Property, Subdivision: Cowell Estates, County: Johnson, Approximately 1.25 acre(s), Two story, Central air conditioning, ... View details.RE/MAX Plus Realty
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132 CR 4423Clarksville, AR 72830
$279,8003 Bed, 2 Bath1,870 Sq. Ft.46 Acres
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Single Family Property, Area: Lone Pine, County: Johnson, Approximately 46 acre(s), Carport, Central air conditioning... View details.RE/MAX Plus Realty
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16 JAMIE LANEClarksville, AR 72830
$279,9005 Bed, 4 Bath3,325 Sq. Ft.0.67 Acres
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Single Family Property, Subdivision: Cowell Estates, County: Johnson, Approximately 0.67 acre(s), Story and a half, Central air conditioning, ... View details.Century 21 Glover Town & Country
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1441 East PoplarClarksville, AR 72830
$289,0003 Bed, 4.5 Bath5,363 Sq. Ft.1.03 Acres
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Single Family Property, County: Johnson, Approximately 1.03 acre(s), Two story, Central air conditioning, Fireplace(s)... View details.RE/MAX Plus Realty
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1108 Hwy 21Clarksville, AR 72830
$325,0003 Bed, 2.5 Bath2,449 Sq. Ft.10 Acres
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Single Family Property, County: Johnson, Approximately 10 acre(s), Central air conditioning... View details.
Tim
Edited 4/10/2007 11:26 am by Mooney
Price is almost irrelevant because it depends on wages. $300,000.00 wouldn't be that much if the average wage is $100,000.00 per year Out here the average carpenter would make $25.00 an hour and of course we all know that in construction rarely would we get 2000 hours a year. Some might make more but I know some that make less so I don't know how a carpenter out here could buy a house. Even a fix-er-upper. During boom times, wages go higher but not for the majority of workers. I get a kick out of "boom times". Booms usually start in large metropolitan areas and then over a few years the boom finally spreads out to the outlying areas so for a lot of construction workers the boom time is a lot shorter that what is reported in national statistics.
So, yes it will be intersting to see what house prices are worth in different areas but it would depend on what your annual wages (not your at present hourly wage) are based on say a 5 year period to see who could afford to buy them.
I should point out that here on the island for $300,000.00 you get and older house on a basic lot which probably needs both bathroom and kitchen updated and chances are none of the windows are thermopane and depending on when it was built you might or might not have any wall insulation and very little in the ceiling and no basement. Brick houses are a rarity, most are stucco or wood siding, or vinyl or hardy board.
roger
Edited 4/10/2007 1:06 pm ET by roger g
30 miles south of here $300K probably get 50 acres, maybe more with 3000sqft & very little employment. Around here $300k brings .4 to 2 acre lot (in city limits with sewer vs not) with 3000sqft & employment not too far away. 30 miles north into Atlanta and $300k get's you a fixer upper or small condo (or a couple of houses if you buy in the ghetto).
I'm hooked on watching that HGTV show National Open House(airs in Atlanta area 10:30 Mons; maybe other times). It lets us know, even in metro Atlanta, just how much we can get for the $. See why everyone's moving here.Inside the city limits of Roswell we recently paid $286K for a 1972 brick ranch, 3000 sq. ft. that could've been fixed up but for lots of $$$. So, we're tearing it down to build our retirement/forever house. And it'll take all our life savings and probably forever to pay the rest of the money back. Construction budget: $350K But in that area, assuming nothing forces us to sell, the money is a real good bet. We told the heirs not to expect much for Christmas from now on, but that their inheritance will be locked up tight, if they'll just hold their horses.Can't believe we're even doing this; probably early dementia's set in. But we have great neighbors (who'll likely hate us when they see the bulldozers) and will feel much safer in old age in that area than in the gang-infested area of Gwinnett we've toughed it out in, in the luxury of our 1200 sq. ft. all these yrs. I guess there's a lot of unseen factors in that $300K that you can't see on TV.
god bless people like you who can finance other peoples retirement. $286,000 for a lot. You're not alone though, wife's coworker just got the permit to do their teardown near North Druid. Until Atlanta can get it's traffic issues dealt with there will be more of the teardowns. I'm just trying to figure what's the next area.
Atlanta & area sure has changed since I moved here almost 20 years ago. VA Highlands was just coming around and a friend more insightful than I did pretty good on 3 remodles there. My little corner is 61st fastest growing in the nation I don't think that's good for much other than property values.
Just trying to do my part. Last week I saw a custom house in VA Highlands and talked to the builder. Don't know the selling price, but he paid $400K for 1/4 acre. The house is 3 stories, side setbacks are 7.5 feet. Seeing that,I think I got the far better deal and location as at least I got 2/3 acre. Where can you even find that much vacant land reasonable close in now? When I was looking for land I kept reading about "close-in Roswell." I couldn't figure out what they meant--the city square? They meant close in to Atlanta. Not to me, it's not.The next place: North Georgia. Builders I know are knocking themselves out to do spec work up there.
>The next place: North Georgia. Builders I know are knocking themselves out to do spec work up there.<
That's very unfortunate. It's an incredibly beautiful place and I'm not sure if the local muicipalties have paid enough attention to the uncontrolled development that Atlanta has seen to learn any lesson on how to guide there own growth. My area is under at least the 2nd moratorium (that I can remember) on developments in the last 10 years while they try to get a grip on the direction of things. Already 1 road near the interstate is pretty awful due to lack of foresight of locating Walmart, Lowes, & HD less than 1/4 mile from the exit interchange. Now they're allowing another Wallyworld at the next exit north in a similar situation.
Now ya done it .
I used to live on a nice quiet but briskly rural hiway that was over shaded with Magnolias and Oaks stretching out and meeting each other some 60 ft in the air at some points providing a cover over the pavement . Itn was a nice quiet town .
They built an instrastate through it . I am in sight of a new super center and every thing has gone to he88 in a hand basket . The noise is really really sad . I-40 is beside me and my property joins the street the exit is on . We now have about 10 motels , hotels , every thing you see around a super center exit .
I need to pack my stuff and move .
Tim, your place sounds like it's beautiful even with I-40 running by. Are the magnolias & oaks still there?
I think each and everyone of us are NIMBYs. We want the luxury of having everything within 15 minutes of where we reside, but want to live in places with oaks & rurality (think I just made up a new word) as you describe. I've not met a person that would take a 60 min drive to the grocery over a 15 min drive but all these conveniences come with a price. When it gets down to the locals controlling & guiding the growth we complain about the regulations put in place. Which do we want? Rural or convenience?
One example of where I live: A very large development of very nice homes started about 5 years ago. The roads weren't ready for it but there was one good access in and out. Brought a lot of people & traffic. The political clout had the school system remapped. Big PITA in general. But these people were of different mindset of what was here and they tipped the vote to allow liquor by the drink. The flood of decent restaurants triggered by the ordinance allowing them to sell mixed drinks was hard to believe. I used to have a regular seat at Longhorns before I got married.
Where's that piece of land that you listed? It might be a nice place for a retirement although retirement isn't very close. Does it snow much there? I was in Tulsa for a couple of years and if the weather is anything close I might be able to tolerate it. The older I get the hotter I like it.
John
Here it still depends on where you are standing before you can forecast snow somtimes .
We dont get very much.
I live in the botom of a valley at river level with mountains bordering the river as a corridor on both sides of it . The mountain where my land and cabin is located is to the north and climbs 2500 ft which is small to some of these guys like Colorado. The other set of mountains on the South climb up 3500 ft.
Snow rarely sticks in the valley and when it does its nornally gone that day or by noon the next. On the NOrth mountain its a different story. 6 to 12 inches and hangs a week or so. I guess we dont get the wind for chills down low. I dont know . Our river never freezes up.
The trees are gone on both sides of the road . Its not a road anymore but a three lane with wide sidewalks . It wasnt enough and they are already talking another lane which is four . Its nothing but a traffic mess and the super center caused it , but thats ok . We have to have progress .
We bought the cabin to get away from the noise . I was thinking today of moving out in the country and deal with it to get away. Several people Ive talked to say they are relaxed when they get home in the country. Lets them unwind .
I know one thing . Living in the country is a lot more work.
OBTW, its not the cold here thats the enemy. Its ticks , chiggers , and the heat coupled with high humidity. We have many days over 100 degrees with around 60 percent humidity. No wind in the valley hardly.
Top of the mountain is dryer and theres seems to be a wind all the time as we are on the very top of it . Its around 10 degrees colder all the time . I can make it with a constant breeze. I smother if heres not .
Tim
Tim
Edited 4/10/2007 11:49 pm by Mooney
Here in San Francisco, $300k gets you essentially NOTHING. Just sold a 1700sf condo for over a million. Median home price is around $700k, I think. It's common for a bathroom remodel to cost $150,000. But it shore is purdy here, and NO SNOW.
Its hard for me to fathom .
How does everyone have that much money?
Tim
Tim, I am located on the Island of Hawaii, and we might be able to top San Frans prices, but in answer to your question,, everybody doesn't have enough money, which leads to all kinds of silly situations. Around here people can rent out bedrooms for 500 or more per month, and lots of people are commuting two hours, each way. Only the rich, or those that got here early get to own a piece of what was Paradise. Hard to fathom, but true. If I quote your prices to people who always lived here, they are as stumped as you are. Thanks for another thoughht provoking thread.
Dan
I have family that lives on the Big Island of Hawaii. Grandma bought property almost 15 years for next to nothing. Now she is living in a goldmine. My grandpa built the house for next to nothing. Shipped most of the materials over from the mainland.
They just had a garage sale selling everything from 12-2 wire to copper elbows. Extras from 15 years ago.
My Aunt has a large chunk of property there as well. She bought 12 acres for $20,000. That was about 10 years ago. The offers she has gotten for this property are scary.
All this is in Oceanview Hawaii, I think 30-40 minutes from Kona. I will remember before I forget.
As for around here, SW Michigan. You can get alot of house for 300k. Most new houses are being built for $100 a sq ft or less.
I will remember before I forget.
Ahhh, Oceanview. My wife and I were down there three years ago and the place was covered with for sale signs, 4,000 per acre for as many as you wanted. Now they are 45,000 and up, and most still don't have running water!! There has been enough growth that the drive is over an hour now, much longer at rush times. That is where most of our lower wage workers end up living, but is a looong drive home. Around here the pay is higher than what some area's are used to, but not enough to make up for the housing prices. The market seems driven by people buying second homes to use as very expensive cabins. Lots of my customers are from California, hoping to retire here when they are rich enough.
Resort communities seem to defy the normal rational reasons for pricing, it all boils down to the supply and demand. Enough rich folks want these homes to run the working folks clear out of town. Sure glad I got mine while I could. Very interesting the differences in our many markets.
Dan
They borrow it.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
"They borrow it."
Im sure you are right but I couldnt make payments on a million dollars for the house I live in. I make payments on much more than that but renters do most all of it .
To make payments on that much money you would need to bring home 10,000 per week . You wouldnt qualify for goverment loans I dont think .
I understand most people who do it already have equity in most of it probably.
Anyway thats 2,000 clear a day.
People here can get a 100 percent goverment loan on a 100, grand house and live in a new house for nothing down for about 634.00 per month. They do well if they bring that home per week but its very possble if they both work.
Tim
Yeah, the other half of the answer is that most people can't afford a $500K-1M home. Even with husband and wife both working full time in fairly high-paying jobs, they can barely afford rent on a decent apartment in many areas.I could get a job in Silicon Valley and make twice what I make here, but not live as well, since I'd have to pay 3-4X as much for housing, plus everything else would be more expensive.I think the trick is to find a "tween" area -- not high-powered expensive, and relatively few high-powered jobs, but not down-and-out either. A place where work may not pay top dollar but is reliably available, while housing and other expenses aren't "bubbling".A down side, though, is that property values probably won't skyrocket, so it'll seem like you're losing ground relative to the nutso housing market areas.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
My first house, two story brick, cost me 2 1/2 times my yearly salary in 1970. My first house that I built a few year later cost me about the same including the land. My next house I bought in 1980 was a small house, wood siding, cost a little over 2 years wages. I've bought a number of houses since but I've been working for myself and the wages aren't wages any more. At this point I was about 50 miles north of Toronto.
Back in the late 50's my parents bought at new house for about 3 times his yearly wage(factory worker). Of course you hope your wages will go up after you have purchased but I'm giving the wages at the time of purchase.
Now on Vancouver Island if a carpenter makes $25.00 an hour that would be $50,000.00 a year ( we all know he ain't going to get 2000hrs a year) that would be 6 years wages to buy a very basic home fixer-upper.
roger
Edited 4/11/2007 10:28 am ET by roger g
Edited 4/11/2007 10:31 am ET by roger g
I'm with you in lack of comprehension on how people can carry that kind of debt load. Are incomes truly that much higher? When I look at nationwide stats on positions/salaries, I just don't see it. Maybe it's changed, but when I was younger and considering offers from around the country, I didn't see much correlation between salaries and realestate prices.
Maybe I was just spoiled by the low income-to-housing cost ratio around here.
By the way, I've always thought Arkansas has some of the most beautiful settings in the East. Dunno if I could take the summer heat, though. I've only visited in the springtime.
Allen
Its hard for me to fathom .
How does everyone have that much money?
That's what I was wondering earlier. San Fran and Hawaii still have mcdonalds and dry cleaners and regular jobs run by regular folks. How do regular folks live anywhere near these areas?! Does McDonalds start paying $25/hr or something instead of the $6/hr they pay here?
Almost wonder if it is the rich folks feeding the frenzy so that they can just rake it in. Regular folks be damned.
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
Well this is injecting into the flip thread since the ones responding are talking about being able to afford it but since the subject is present Ill ramble as yall know I love to do.
In 1972 my Father said I could have a house for cost from him amoung several he was building in his own subdivision. He stated to me I had helped him and he would like to return the favor . Anyway , I could have a 1200 sq ft house with fireplace and carport which was a goverment S-235 home at the time which was listed as FHA. [Farm Home Administration] 3 bd 1 bath. The price for it was 11,000 dollars. Well it was 75.00 per month and I didnt buy it because I couldnt afford the payments. Of course it was a bad decision on my part as I could have sucked it up and did it .
I ended up buying an older home that needed some work for 6,000.
Just in the past I bought that mouttain top land [5 acres] for 8,000. I bought my cabin with out plumbing for 9,000. I bought an acre for 750 dollars from a tax sale 3 years ago. Right now Im looking at an acre which had a house burn on it that needs a dozer for a half day but has a septic , and well there with power for 5 grand. My first rental was bought for 32 grand which is exactly what my dad offered me and that was 11 yrs ago. The new house I just bought has 1400 sq ft 3 bd 2 bath and is a lot of work but it sold to me for 30 grand .
Ive been looking at a tax exchange where I could sell the house when I get done with it and take the money and buy a duplex that has 200 ft total for almost an even trade but its a little more which is necesary to do the exchange . I guess what IM saying is if I needed to I could rent one side and live in the other side for free . One side will make the payments.
I said all that because in that little movie it listed that somewhere you could buy what I call an efficiency apartment that looked to be 700 sq ft . I guess its called a condo.
Im sure I could go to any area and buy somthing a lot cheaper than listed because my system works I believe anywhere . Maybe not but I believe it .
Tim
One thing to keep in mind is that, except when you have "acreage", it's logical that the value of the house be at least comparable to the value of the land. Ie, few people will take a $300K lot and put a $100K home on it -- more likely the other way around.Home values (minus the land value) therefore tend to track land prices, more so than one might expect. Part of the effect is the accompanying increase in labor and materials (the carpenter's gotta live SOMEWHERE), and part is due to a tendency to simply build a larger, more expensive home.And, as the value of the property under existing homes increases, they become targets for "gentrification", or they become "teardowns", even though they're perfect adequate homes as is. At some point it becomes impractical to have a single unit on the property and condos or apartments are built.The insanity occurs when, taking the extreme case of Tokyo, someone with a supposedly "good" job must pay half their salary to rent little more than a broom closet.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I guess you are talking about where a shortage of property ocurs in a demanding situation.
I didnt know about Tokyo. Interresting .
So my question is why do people stay where they dont prefer to live ?
Since all this has built around me Im pretty well sick of it and Im ready to move . I dont really enjoy being out side any more here to listen to all the noise. Before that time I have really enjoyed living in this place as it was very quiet . I just cant imagine what living in a major city is like .
I sure would like to know the income comparisons too . I know our carps here post a lot of different numbers for jobs so I assume the income is spread out .
One thing I do know is that people from Cal come here to retire and dont argue about prices for a home . Then the first thing they do is want to put restrictions on every thing like they did in cal. It takes a while for them to settle to our ideas of back country culture . <G> They act like they dont have time to wait their turn at a stop light and get agravated at a held up line to pay at a gas station. They have the rest of their lifes because they are retired. So I know the pace they were living in was unhealthy.
Tim
So my question is why do people stay where they dont prefer to live ?
Sometimes they just go where the jobs are.
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
Thats what happens to our kids isnt it ?
I guess it is why they end up all over the country.
Tim
And sometimes people simply don't know any better, or can't afford to move. If you're living hand to mouth and lack even, say, a reliable car to go somewhere else (and the gas to put into it), you're stuck.And moving up the ladder, most folks can see the discomforts/expenses involved in moving more clearly than they can see the benefits. A guy with a family doesn't want to uproot his family, eg, especially if there's a risk involved.Most folks here are fairly creative/resourceful (and self-confident), and many have built up at least a modest nest-egg that would allow them to survive for a few months, but that's not the norm, especially for the lower end of the economy.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Tim,
I sure would like to know the income comparisons too
Check out this site for average income and home values. http://www.city-data.com
basic averages, if you put in a city and look around in the data that comes up.
Clarksville Arkansas: Avg household income $26K Avg home value $69K (rounded)
Oshkosh Wis: Income $39K Avg Home value $117K
Let's take Blue's school city Oscoda Mich: Avg income $30K Avg home value $91K
Or how about a market Jerrald Hayes mentioned working in the other day Bedford NY: Avg income $113K Avg home value $743K
Doing the math with the values: Clarksville has home values at 2.65 times income, Oshkosh is at 3 times, Oscoda is at 3.03, and Bedford is at 6.58 times income.
I had a conversation with a customer a few years ago who had moved here from Seattle. he gave an interesting explanation for the gap in values. He said how people in the midwest generally plan to pay off their mortgages, and get out of debt. In places where prices are going nuts, the people never plan to pay anything off, and treat their equity increases almost like income from another job. just keep re-financing to pay for stuff that normally would be paid for in cash, if you didn't live in an expensive area. Your income goes a lot further if you never plan to pay for stuff!!
What's it going to be like when the values stop rising, and people get "fired" from their second income? I thought it was an interesting point of view.
Bowz
Good post and thanks for the work you did .
Ill play with the same thing as Im interrested in NW Arkansas where its #5 now in the nation for boom towns. This is really a boom area I have written about it before .
As a gambler all you can really do is get your money into the pot with the best percentages as its still gambling . [doesnt seem I can help talking like this does it ? ]
Two things come to mind in what you printed .
Why would anyone want to live in Bedford? Why arent they fleeing out of there? They are at such a disadvantage .
On the other hand its a place for a carpet bagger investor to reach his fortune . <G>
Although the numbers are highest in your exmample they also offer the highest amount of percentages. 30 percent of 100,000 or 30 percent of 1,000,000?
Or realative 30 percent of 743,000 or the same against 69,000. He lives in a much better place to flip and work. Not to own a home . Of course I dont know what his inflation rates are but those are the places that can go bust like Mich. On the other hand we never really see inflation changing any thing too big becuase we never saw any gold mines in up pricing .
The main problem here is the lack of income for the average person or below . But thats not all bad because ;
It makes no difference where a truck driver lives if hes a cross country driver so we hold the majarioty of them in our area to any other area. They pull in money all over the US and trade at home .
Before I got sick I was in commercial drywall and painting . Everyone has a trailer mounted with tools now but that wasnt the case then. I hit the road in a stock trailer weather proofed and traveled out of state to the higher paying jobs . It was success so I added a travel trailer with it and bigger jobs . I simply traveled home on weekends or every two weeks for 4 days . JUst like truck drivers . I made as much money in 6 months as I could all year here so I took the winters off .
The tradesman has many options but not the normal worker . Sad.
Tim
30 percent of 100,000 or 30 percent of 1,000,000?
That would depend on whether prices were rising or falling! LOL
You mentioned going bust. One statistic for Oscoda was the average income did go down between 2000 and 2005. Which is why in the other thread (a few weeks ago) I asked Blue what he saw as the value there.
I don't know if I consider what you are doing as gambling, I view your operation more as risk management. The more you manage your risks, the less of a gamble it becomes.
Bowz
It's basically supply and demand- SF is a great place to live. It's a little misleading, though, because SF is on the tip of a peninsula; there's nowhere to build new houses, so the existing ones are more valuable. Think of SF as one of the most expensive 'neighborhoods' in the large urban sprawl that is the Bay Area. Those that can't afford to buy in SF move farther out to the suburbs. 2 hours out you can probably buy a 3/2 home for $300k. Also, like Manhattan, most people in SF rent (a nice 1 BR is $1,500 to $2,000 /mo.). Another factor is the large percentage of 2 income (OK, 2 professional men, if you get my drift) households with no children to spend their money on. Families are leaving the City in droves. Also, there are many very high-quality houses here, Victorians built of old-growth fir and redwood with lots of irreplaceable architectural detail. You've seen the postcards. Bottom line is there are enough people that want to live here with enough money to drive the prices of houses up. Back in the late 90's 'dot-com' boom, I got tons of applications for my rentals from kids fresh out of college, in their first job who were making $80k/year! Computer programmers, Lawyers, medical residents. There would be 15 applicants at the door waiting for the open house. It's not like that now, but the demand never seems to stop, it just varies from high to insane.To bring it back around to BT relevance, the high home prices also drive up the price of remodeling- when you're going to sell your place for 2 million, it's not as big a deal to spend $200k on a new kitchen or $150k on a bathroom.
> ticks , chiggers , and the heat coupled with high humidity<
We've got plenty of that here in GA, but I think your humidity might be higher. Too bad about the magnolias, oaks & your piece of paradise.
This is a prety good comp for exellent land that has a year around creek running through a bottom farm. Its good land not junk.
View Image
CR# 3265 LN CLARKSVILLE, AR 72830
$182,00091 Acres
100%
View Image
Land Property, Subdivision: NO, Approximately 91 acre(s), View... View details.
Allentown (upper macungie township, not the city) PA
1/2 acre lot
3 bedrooms 2 1/2 bathrooms
big kitchen big family room with a view and skylights, Zero Clearance fireplace in the livingroom. Two car garage. 16 x 30 deck. around 2K sqft.
Best public schools and parks around. 20 minutes to the mall, 5 to a Wegman's and 10 to a Target or Walmart.
$289,900
Of course, when I could have bought it 8 years ago for $179K.................my wife wouldn't even look at it.
We needed for it age a little first.
Oh how I love being married.
This, from the May 2007 issue of Country Living, on a page featuring Craftsman-style homes for sale all around the country.
Elegant Brick. This 3,900 sf home in historic Yale, MI, contains 4 BR, 3-/2 Ba, a formal dining room, original 1920s woodwork, a fully updated kitchen, and red- and white-oak floors throughout. Coldwell Banker Walters Real Estate of Richmond, MI, has it on the market at the asking price of $319,700.
I wonder where I'd get the $2800/mo to pay for it before I'd worry about how much I could get for it.
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
-- Mother Teresa
Here on the south shore of long island NY, you'd have to find a partner with an additional $100,000. so you could buy a 60' x 120' empty lot.
Guy made the newspaper last week. North shore. Bought a house for $800,000 plus and wants someone to take it for free and move it. All he wants is an empty lot so he can build a new home on the same spot. Said he likes the neighborhood... buic
PS edit - The house he wants moved, completely renovated recently and in perfect condition.
Edited 4/10/2007 1:33 pm ET by BUIC
I don't know of any $300K houses for sale in my area, but here are three of the most expensive currently on the market:
$169,900. Historic stone Greek Revival. 5-bedrm, 3 full bath home surrounded by flower gardens and bordering a babbling creek. 3,624 sq ft. Many updates including new 24 x 32 garage, high-efficiency zoned boiler, convention range, built-in microwave & dishwasher. 1st floor laundry. Large master bedrm. Pellet stove & woodburning fireplace.
$159,900. Historic circa 1860s brick Victorian on a beautiful country lot -- grand foyer, living room w/fireplace, pocket doors to formal dining room, 1st floor laundry, 4-plus bedrooms, 2 full baths, full walk-out basement.
$199,900. 3,000 sq-ft. historic cobblestone home in mint condition. High ceilings, hardwood floors, 2 fireplaces, grand living room and family room.
That last one is a stunningly beautiful Greek Revival home faced with rows of small, carefully-selected round and oval, lakewashed red and gray sandstone cobblestones. The masonry is in pristine condition. The house was built in 1847. But it's overpriced and has been on the market for more than a year.
Allen
Allen... You're killing me. Remind me again that I don't want to relocate there.PaulB
Paul, you don't want to move here. The taxes are worse than Connecticut. And it's colder here, too.
Had an appraiser go through my house today for a refi. 2,000 square feet. Historic 1830s Greek Revival house. Expertly and meticulously restored. Two baths. 30 acres. Two barns. Hoping and praying it's worth more than $75K so we can pull out enough equity to retire the two current mortgages and some other debt.
Low real estate values can be a real bummer at times ...
Allen
Well, look at it this way...
CT's electric rates have nearly doubled just this year and they're expected to get worse.
We have officially the highest tax burden in the country.
We have the highest overall insurance rates in the country.
Where I live, a really garbage fixer upper in a lousy part of towm might be 300K.
IIRC CT is 2nd or 3rd highest overall cost of doing business.
And the two big jobs I'm waiting to start are both stalled ;)
Upstate is sounding better and better ;)PaulB
When a friend of mine moved to Hartford a few years back, there wasn't even a state income tax in Connecticut. Well, I guess that was a while ago ... last time I visited him there was in 1980.
Sounds like things have changed.
But, be assured, New York State is not far behind in any of those categories.
Allen
PaulBinCT
Now paul tell the rest of the story, how income in CT is the highest in the nation, how services vastly exceed nearby states, how education standards are among the highest in the nation.
In other words Paul, you get what you pay for and many many people want what you have..
Well, yes indeed we do have the highest income. To be precise, Fairfield County (the far side of the moon from me) has. As far as services go, I haven't heard that claim and having lived here for 35 years I'd seriously dispute the accuracy of that claim. But, I guess it could be woise ;) It would just be nice to contemplate owning a home someday...PaulB
PaulB
When I bought this place it was the worst place around. It had been repossed, vacant for 9 months and was pretty darn ratty with only one light bulb in the whole place worked, well it was pretty terrible!
I paid nearly 3 times what a normal house would have cost and I knew it had to be torn down..
The first few months I lived here I set food outside on the porche in a cooler to keep it frozen, I didn't have a refrigerator, or hot water.
AS I hauled the refuse out it filled two 40 yard dumpsters. the yard was a overgrown mess and well you just can't imagine how bad things were..
Today the place is worth millions and I never, ever, would qualify for a loan to buy it.. but it's not particularly special (well except to me)
When it's paid fpor in 12 more years I will have gained something I just couldn't have gotten without such a path.
So look at slums remember you're buying the land not the building.. The building is the cheap and easy part..
Very true frenchy... thanks. If I had more faith in New Haven's politicos, I'd consider just what you're saying. But right now, it's all academic anyway.PaulB
PaulB,
Things were terrible here in Orono. So bad I ran for mayor and came in second (the first loser) eventually the city relented and granted me the final permit to finish what I started (I picked it up on tuesday so it's in my hot little hands as we speak!)
Time corrects all ills.
If you wait things will only get worse..
How about some pics?PaulB
PaulB,
I just poosted some about two, three weeks ago, should be in the archieves.
I'll have a look see frenchy, thanks...PaulB
A restored 2k sq ft house and 30 acres for $75k?! Sheeze, aren't there any jobs around there or something? Makes me want to pack up and move over there. I don't mind the cold.
jt8
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."-- Mother Teresa
No jobs locally. And we're an hour away from the nearest urban areas. Declining population, generally.
Allen
Can you link to the listing of that last one? Not interested in moving to WNY, but after your description, wouldn't mind seeing pix.
I don't know if this is the same house, but this discussion was going on not to long ago.
86186.1
I had never seen that before.
Aaron
Cloud, I copied that info out this week's "Pennysaver," a free weekly newspaper. The tiny picture doesn't do it justice. I'm gonna drive over and take a picture of it for you, though -- along with some other "cobblestone" houses and post 'em in a new thread. Hold tight, though ... I won't get to it until next week.
Allen
That's mighty kind of you...
Cloud, I found a website with that cobblestone listing. Scroll down to the sixth house. There's a virtual tour available, but I couldn't view it with my pop-up blocker on.
The house would look much better if the exterior woodwork (entablature, columns, etc.) were painted white.
Still, an amazing example of masonry.
http://www.whipplerealty.com/listings%20$100,000%20+.htm
Allen
Wow. That's a neat house. Thanks for the link. The stone exterior is amazing. Equally amazing is that it's overpriced at 199. Overpriced? That's sad.
Allen,
My $235,000 got me a 2,300 sq ft house (circa 1870) 4 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, detatched garage on 2.3 acres. Plus a 2,000 sq ft barn (2 story) all on the banks of the Niagara River! I have a view of Canadian parks and vineyards and great sunsets.
Western NY is great on home prices and fishing but lousy on taxes!
Edited 4/11/2007 8:17 pm ET by HoHoHo
Dave, I'm envious. Hope I get a chance to see the place. It sure sounds a heck of a lot better than a $400K McMansion in Clarence or Amherst.
Your location, of course, makes all the difference between your home's value and mine. I paid $75K eleven years ago, and am hoping it's still worth that much today ... after years of restoration work, and many thousands of dollars invested in materials.
Much of my work has actually devalued my house: losing a bedroom for an upstairs bathroom, replacing vinyl double-pane windows with reproduction antique windows, etc. This, according to the appraiser's evaluation form.
Allen
Allen,
I was very fortunate in finding this place. I lost the house to higher bidders twice, but they were both scared off by the work that needs to be done. I just saw a diamond in the rough...sometimes I think I must have been hallucinating. :)
To be sure, this house hasn't seen TLC in many many years. But atleast my foundation isn't cracking like all the McMansions in Amherst!
I hope to put up a thread on the house as soon as I can get my planning completed.
In my neighbourhood, half acre lots start at $500K, then you can put a $300K house on it.
"In my neighbourhood, half acre lots start at $500K, then you can put a $300K house on it."
Around here half acre lots start at around $25,000.
I only know of one house in town that had a budget over $300,000 and it was a monster. The people were loaded, and I think they paid cash for it.
Q: What do you call a couple that uses the rhythm method of birth control?
A: Parents.
Don't think a HO can even buy a lot around here anymore. Last time a "lot" sold within 2 miles of me 4 years ago it was $100K for
9600 sq feet. Nowadays, developers put 8 houses per acre, each selling for over $500K and each house is about 1/2 as strong and about same size (but NO basement) as the "spec house from hell" Realtors or developers send a letter about once an month offering to buy anybody out with more than an acre. I just hang up, told one persistent jerk I'd sell for cash at about $3 mil an acre - he hung up<G> PS: posting from Albuquerque this week, one can still get some good deal s here, but water rights are the problem.
Edited 4/10/2007 3:39 pm ET by junkhound
not as many good deals now in alb, but wages do put a crimp in buying power
but I'm loven' it shore beats so-cal (born and raised in San Diego)if your still in town let me know I,m just up the canyon in Tijeras 10 min. east505-463-8573Daniel Dunn
My grandparents used to live in Marathon Iowa, untile they came to live in the same town near my parents.
In Marathon, if you don't have a garage on your house, you don't build one - you buy the nearest house to you that has one. You have to be carefull of who you sell to as well, as biker gangs prey on dying communities to set up meth labs.
The needed some storage space for all the antiques/junk they accumulated over the years, so they bought the local school. The whole school. I think they bought the VFW hall too.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Well, can't watch on this box, but $300K would get you a low-end (3-4Ksqft) McMansion on a city lot around here, or maybe a small ranch on a half acre, if you're not too fussy about the location. A true McMansion (4-6Ksqft) would be closer to $500K.
You can get a pleasant 4BR/2Ksqft house for $150-200K.
Mooney,
well it might make a down payment on a modest home around here.
This poses a fascinating regional comparison with some wry local spins, I imagine.
A third of a million here in town, likely gets you a 2500-2800 sf house on a tiny (1/4 acre) in-fill lot. Or, in a "building" subdivision, from one of our local home builders, a "builder's custom" home about 2-2200 sf on 1/3 acre or so; or a spec house about 22-2500 on about the same size lot.
Or, go out in the county, and that's 3-4 acres and 15-1800 sf, unless you really want to "economize" by not building all the way to IRC or the like, well . . .
In a fairly depressed market, we just had a 3BR 'raunchy ranch' with one-car garage (ok it's on the lake) list for just over $1,000,000.
Attached is what $325K will get you in a non-condo (single-family) residence
Jeff
Edited 4/11/2007 3:14 pm ET by Jeff_Clarke
I'll be finishing a 1300 Sf house on five waterfront acres approx one hour east of richmond, va . in about two months.
Cape cod... 1st floor 768 sf
2nd floor 528 s.f (unfinished)
Cedar siding, Andersen windows, heat pump, wood flooring, ceramic tile bath
Five wooded acres.
Boatable water, 2 1/2 f MLW ( no pier , but easily permitable)
Private setting
I'll take $ 299,000 cash.
I don't think there is anything on the market in Berkeley for 300k. Maybe a condo less than 400k, but just barely
And for those who are wondering, the pay doesn't really scale with that: a decent carpenter will make $25 an hour, maybe with some benefits, maybe not. Plenty of people below that wage around, I'm not really sure how they make ends meet, what with a fancy car and going out to eat all the time.
zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"