What does property cost where you live?

by ball. 37 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Princess

  $300, 000 will get you 3 bedrooms, 1 or 2 bathrooms, a medium to small lot, maybe a garage. Definitely not a pool.

  ...and definitely not new either.

  A pool actually reduces the property value in our area. Go figure. Must be the maintenance nightmare in the off months of September to July. An exception would be an indoor pool of course.

  We live on the east border of Edmonds, Washington which is located on the waters of Puget Sound. A nice home with a view of the mountains and water will run close to and well over $1 million, depending on how close and size/age etc. Sounds like everyone has pricing that varies from neighborhood to neighborhood.

  Newer and new condos in the area run in the $250K range and up. It's about impossible to find anything nice and livable for under $250K.
• 

  Ghosthunter

  In Western Michigan, a "starter home" is probably around $130K. We paid $117K for our house, but it is not very big and it is 35 years old. We do live in a decent neighborhood, however. North of us, homes run between $180K and $250K or higher. My question is this: What kind of job(s) do you have to hold to afford a house these days?

  GH (moving to a trailer soon)
• 

  copsec

  I have a three-bedroom, 2 bath, really large home on 5 acres set in the country but only 20 min. from a major city and although it is a fixer-upp we paid only $87,000. We will prolly have to put another $25-30,000 into it but it will sell for around $260,000 when we are done. So not too bad of a profit!
• 

  imallgrowedup

  Real estate just keeps going up and up and up in my area! When we bought our home in the 4th quarter of 1999, people were waiting in line for a week or more - literally camping outside of a new subdivision office - just to buy a home. In fact, there is a court case pending (it may have been heard by now, I'm not sure) where one person who waited in line for a week was suing another who got the home they wanted. I don't know all the details, but this just goes to show how fierce the competition has been. Also, at the same time, resale homes generally sold within a week, and many of them were the subject of bidding wars where the owner walked away with much more than their asking price. It slowed a bit around 9/11, but has picked up again, although not to the levels we saw from '99 to '01. Yet the prices continue to rise. Here's a comparison: When we bought a new, 1600 square-foot single story home with a full basement home in the Kansas City, MO area in 1995 we paid $130k for it. When we sold it in 1999, we got $150k for it. By the time we paid the realtor, etc, we hardly made anything over four years. However, we have lived in the home we are in now - in the Sacramento area - also for four years. So, in 1999, we paid $215k for our 2000 sq. ft. home, in which the only improvements we've made so far is to put in a pool and some landscaping. A month ago, one with the exact same floor plan a block away, with a smaller lot than ours and without a pool (pools increase home values here), sold for $410k. So in four years, we've doubled our investment here, where in Missouri, we barely broke even in four years. So, yes, home values vary by state - but also by country, by city, and by zip code. When you factor in highly desirable items such as views or location, it can vary even more wildly. For example, my parents bought the three-bedroom version of my home in the next city, and it is on a puny lot that is so steep, the builder was forced by the city to put up a retaining wall - but they have a beautiful view of the city lights - and they willingly paid a $40k premium on top of the cost of the home. There are homes not far from them with $100k and higher premiums for city lights views. So, there are many factors which determine the price of a home, and how much someone will pay. Bottom line: first-time home buyers are going to have to be willing to commute long distances or live in less populated areas in order to buy if they want to live here - or - they may need to move to a completely different region of the country. I say this because I know if I were buying a home for the first time right now - I couldn't afford the one I'm in.

  growedup
• 

  blondie

  The average home price is $160,000. We bought 2 years ago and if we bought our home today, we probably couldn't.

  It's the fasting rising in the the state. Taxes too, but it beats renting.

  Blondie
• 

  Celtic

  Cornwall UK (The most sou'westerly county nr Lands End)

  Good Question Ball.

  I find this so depressing, our home prices down here. It was not so many years ago, let's say five that you could buy a home in the Falmouth, Truro areas for approximately 50k Sterling. Wages for many years here were classed as being just about the worst in the country, in fact, in Cornwall, 3 towns were in the top ten highest unemployment blackspots in the country, what we did have however was stunning beautiful scenery.

  I guess we always knew that house prices one day would rise drastically but just didn't expect the rapidity of those home prices. As some know, I have to still live with my JW parents, which in itself feels extremely debilitating and causes me great stress often, though I don't talk about it that often.

  Even almost 3 years ago houses near the centre of town could sell for 90k sterling, way beyond my reach. Now those same 3 bedroom homes, not that spacious, approximately 125 years old with a tiny backyard sell for 230k plus. First time buyers, may expect to pay upwards of 120k for the smallest of very cramped properties. I do not think at this rate, I shall ever be able to afford to buy here.

  The options are renting a room in a shared house, shared kitchen, bathroom etc. For this 'honour' I would have to pay in excess of 65 pounds per week, plus bills, water rates, electricity, council tax etc.

  The other option is to buy an old boat and moor it upon the river. Not exactly ideal given our climate. I have been wondering about transporting the small business I have, upping and leaving this country for good, to move somewhere else in Europe, probaly southern Spain where I could buy still for about 25k.

  I'm sick of this country and the stress that goes with it.

  Celt
• 

  Yerusalyim

  In my home town of Sparta Illinois $50,000 US will buy a nice 3 bedroom...maybe even a 4 bedroom. My house in Tennesse...4 Bedrooms...1900 sq feet...is about $90,000.
• 

  imallgrowedup

  Looks like it's time for me to pack my bags and head to Sparta!

  growedup
• 

  Country Girl

  Here, just east of Austin 30 miles we have 3 acres, a pool, two barns, a 900 sq. foot work shop for the husband, an attached office, a stocked with fish 1/2 acre pond, fountains, enclosed screened porch, a 3500 sq. ft. log house (3 bedrooms, 2 baths, two living rooms, dining room facing out onto the lake, balcony off bedroom, art studio/computer room) and we paid $149K five years ago. We've put in about $50K to remodel, it's a great house! It also has a great amount of upkeep since in Texas, log houses are rare and they deteriorate quickly because of the humidity and are prone to termite attacks. So every five years, we have to have the house stripped of its preservative, bleached, and then repainted with a preservative. That's around $7000. Our termite service is very expensive, also, but well worth it. We live right near the river, and have great neighbors. In town, we couldn't touch this house for less than $400,000, but since it's so far from town, and the guy that built is greedy, we got it for a good deal! The taxes are pretty expensive here, but not as bad as those in Austin.

  CG
• 

  Yerusalyim

  Small town of about 5000...it's two big claims to fame...at one time more magazines were printed there than anywhere else in the world....(plant's closed now)...and the movie In The Heat Of The Night was filmed there...for those of you who know the movie...some of my friends...and one former girlfriend were bit actors in the movie...the scene where they take "Mr Tibbs" out to Jesse's Garage so he can get a car and have a place to stay...the little boy and girl are Stew Wallace and Michelle Rowe...I dated Michelle for a while...she grew up REAL nice.

  Anyhow...Sparta is located about 60 miles southeast of St Louis, MO...they even have a web site.