$475k, 320 sq. ft., 1 BR, 3/4 bath. On the edge of my small village.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...77891213_zpid/
$475k, 320 sq. ft., 1 BR, 3/4 bath. On the edge of my small village.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...77891213_zpid/
Wow. That view is a million dollar view, I have to say. I could also make do in that size if it were just I. But for two, no.
I think it's super cheap. If it were here I'd buy it like yesterday (because even my poor self could do that), nothing that cheap here though, so my poor self rents.
I did check out one tiny house the size of a 1 bedroom here going for 400k built in 1918 and on a historic registry so don't even think about making changes. But it went fast and was sold like that anyway. Mostly nothing is that cheap and I don't make an adequate income to pay much more than that.
Trees don't grow on money
I like several of the houses on that page, and the prices seem normal to me.
Although it feels like double the price the reality is that interest rates have dropped significantly in 10 years. In January 2010 they were 5.03 according to Freddie Mac's web site. For a $120k (80% of $150k purchase price) mortgage on the OP's listing that would translate to $644/month. As of yesterday we got 2.226%. For a $240k mortgage that translates to $914 per month. Less than 50% more than the 10 year ago monthly cost. Since most people buy a house based on what they can afford to spend each month a $170k mortgage, or $204k purchase price, would result in identical monthly mortgage, and that's not even counting for inflation. Add another 30% on to that price to account for 10 years of inflation and you're at $265k. Not that far off from the $300k price tag.
As an aside, everyone knows that real estate is very much a localized price situation. Looking on realtor.com just now there are precisely 5 places in san francisco on the market for $300k or less. All of them "below market rate" houses. You can't earn more than a certain amount and basically purchasing one is a lottery. Chances are slim of getting one.
Reading Alan's post of the moderate increase his house has seen in 25 years I'm reminded of a story I read shortly after the 2008 housing bubble burst. A family had sold their home in Ohio in 2002 or 2003, moved to Philadelphia because of the husband's job. They bought a crappy, but more expensive, house there, lived in it for 4-5 years, then in 2006 or 2007 he had a new job opportunity back in Ohio. So they sold the Philly house for more than double what they paid and went back to Ohio where prices had only increased modestly. They were able to buy a gigantic, all the bells and whistles type house there with the profits from their house in Philly.
My sister had a similar experience. About 7 years ago she took a tech job in Seattle. They kept their San Diego house and rented it out since they didn't plan to stay in Seattle forever and they didn't want to lose their Prop 13 property tax valuation. Three years later after her stock at the Seattle employer had vested she quit and they sold the Seattle house and moved back to San Diego. They had paid just over $700k. They sold for over $1M.
When we first moved to San Francisco in 2009 I knew that the market was at a bottom but we didn't have the cash to buy a place. I've got multiple friends who at that time were crying about having bought at the peak and being deeply underwater on their mortgages. Today all those same friends are doing just fine. Of course if we have another crash who knows. But right now that doesn't appear to be on the horizon.
I guess that is expensive. I don’t know because I know that East Coast real estate is expensive. The house itself is mostly cute although the proportions of the porch columns look wrong to me, they look chintzy. I like that the garage isn’t huge, it’s a one car garage set back from the house.The interior is too brighty whitey for me, I like things a little more worn.
Those planned communities way out in the boondocks we are supposed to be able to walk within but still have to take our car to go any place real fascinate and annoy me. They are like the Truman Show, they just aren’t real.
Tybee: from my Boston-area perspective, that seems like a good price to me.
I suppose alternately there might be opportunities for nature trails, country bike rides, and quiet. Being close to open spaces and parks rates highly in my book. In some ways it would be ideal for someone like me, given the right location. It does looks like lower cost construction as an impression from the photos, but that could be off. I'd probably want a concrete driveway.
Local news says real estate is hot here and when I've window shopped the prices amaze me. I'd have guessed the opposite considering the state of the economy. I guess low interest rates are part of it, but matter less for those of us who avoid debt.
I just would feel stranded in a small gated community where you could not walk anywhere, and the amenities were so limited. There are no nature trails going off of this community, which would help a lot. You would be completely car dependent.
I am completely car dependent now, but I live on 5 acres, which I really like. So I totally get wanting to live in nature--that's what we have always chosen. But this is a planned over 55 community, and it seems to have the worst of both worlds.
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