Entry level/starter homes $200-300,000?

[ZZman]

Man I am either out of touch or live in a very reasonable housing market. That seems high for what I would consider to be a starter home in most areas.

Maybe wants are much higher now.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/rea...er-homes-get-built/ar-BBYOb4d?li=BBnbfcN

 

[steveh]

We have a billboard in town for a local builder. It says new home and lots starting at $249,900.

 

[PimTac]

Basic new homes start around $450,000 around here.

 

[blupupher]

Quote
"In the last 12 months, we have made an effort to try to build more affordable homes," Altura CEO Justin Webb says.


I agree, I just don't see how $250,000 is an affordable home (yes location makes a difference, but still).
Then (especially here in Texas) you have to add on the value based taxes you have to pay every year ($3,000 +, higher the more value of the home).

Homes now days are a huge waste of space. Hard to find a new home with less than 2,000 sq feet.
Breakfast area, dining room, office, den, huge laundry room, monstrous bathroom, giant vaulted ceilings, etc are a lot of space that a "starter" home does not need. Also costs more to heat and cool these wasted spaces.

Build a 1,200 to 1,500 sq foot house with a 2 car garage, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (master having only a shower, no need for a bath and shower), reasonable size living room and kitchen (dining area as part of kitchen extension area, what most call the breakfast area).
Sell for
Oh wait, that is what I have. And the reason the houses in my subdivision sell within a month of going on market vs the $250,000+ homes that surround me (although those are selling well also).

 

[Pew]

Here it can be anywhere from $130K for a decent fix-er-upper 2 bed/1.5bath/1 floor starter home to $230k for a nice starting 3 bed/2.5 bath/2 floor

 

[JustN89]

We've been exploring potentially buying our first house this year. Prices around DFW are about $150/sqft on average and more if you want any sort of new build. That doesn't even touch the property tax (2.5% in the county I currently rent in).

 

[ARCOgraphite]

When some kids at work started looking at houses, I said you should be able to find something decent for around 225k.

They laughed me out of the lunchroom. Then I looked on Trulia and zillow and home.com. Nothing under 300k except mobile homes and shacks and REALLY run down fixer-uppers.

I plan to sell my log cabin on a hill in the woods this summer; it's on 2 acres and it borders the Town Forest.

Good hunting lodge location.

I hope to get around 235k but ill take as low as 175k.

the property valuation for my last HELOC made last year was 330K !

IDK what the going rate is, I wont take advantage of a FTB by soaking them.

Other wise, buy some land and sub your own!

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted by blupupher
Quote
"In the last 12 months, we have made an effort to try to build more affordable homes," Altura CEO Justin Webb says.


I agree, I just don't see how $250,000 is an affordable home (yes location makes a difference, but still).
Then (especially here in Texas) you have to add on the value based taxes you have to pay every year ($3,000 +, higher the more value of the home).

Homes now days are a huge waste of space. Hard to find a new home with less than 2,000 sq feet.
Breakfast area, dining room, office, den, huge laundry room, monstrous bathroom, giant vaulted ceilings, etc are a lot of space that a "starter" home does not need. Also costs more to heat and cool these wasted spaces.

Build a 1,200 to 1,500 sq foot house with a 2 car garage, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (master having only a shower, no need for a bath and shower), reasonable size living room and kitchen (dining area as part of kitchen extension area, what most call the breakfast area).
Sell for
Oh wait, that is what I have. And the reason the houses in my subdivision sell within a month of going on market vs the $250,000+ homes that surround me (although those are selling well also).



What they don't build and what I think would sell is similar to what you propose. A really nice 1200 sq ft house. The only really nice 1200 sq foot houses are in 55+ developments it seems. I want the nice tile floors, granite or solid surface counters, really fancy bathrooms. But I don't need 3000 sq feet. I don't need a dining room that I never use or a formal living that has no purpose.

 

[JustinH]

We bought our little 2/2 house in Austin Suburbs for $125k about ten years ago. Sold for nearly double and had a new house built in San Antonio hill country for $204k.

 

[Skippy722]

Just went through this.... cheap, like no drywall-just-wallpaper cheap modulars in the middle of nowhere were going for ~$150k. Paid $202k for my 2.13 acres, 1800sq ft tri level.

I paid $103k for my first home, which was a cheaply built 1120sq ft ranch on less than a quarter acre in a subdivision. Sold it 4 years later for ~$127k, which was over our asking price of $117k!

 

[The Critic]

My boss just bought a starter home in a decent neighborhood. The place was probably 40-50 years old, 1100 sq ft and he paid over $700K.

Pricing is truly relative to the area.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by The Critic
My boss just bought a starter home in a decent neighborhood. The place was probably 40-50 years old, 1100 sq ft and he paid over $700K.

Pricing is truly relative to the area.

Yep.

And that same exact in house in Humpy Dumpty, Florida is $100,000

 

[CARJ]

We bought our house in 2014, in a nice starter neighborhood, for $177k. Now, you can't buy a house in our neighborhood for under $250k. New houses in our area now start in the upper 300's, which is helping raise our home values, but certainly pricing out those who are looking for affordable homes. We would not have been able to afford our house if it was priced what it is currently worth back then.

 

[gathermewool]

I paid $56k for my starter condo almost a decade ago. My monthly cost, including insurance, condo fees, taxes, etc. was around a grand.

My second home now costs me ~2.2k/month just for the mortgage and taxes. Our all-electric everything costs on average of $335/month over the last two years.

 

[Brons2]

I bought my first house in 1995 for $97,000. The current Zillow Zesstimate on this same house is $244,071. It's a 1600 sq ft 3/2/2 and the schools nearby pretty much stink. Austin is expensive by Texas standards.

Houses have just gone up a lot in general, no way around it. It would be a lot harder to buy a house in your 20s now than it was 25-30 years ago.

My current house is a 2700 sq ft 1 story, 2018 build. As someone before mentioned, it's really more than what we need, although there are times that it's nice to have like recently when we had two different sets of relatives visiting at the same time.

One thing that pushes houses larger in the South in general I think is that it's just so miserable to be outside in the summertime. I grew up in Oregon and we spent a lot more time outside in the summertime than I ever have in Texas. I've lived down here almost 31 years now, feels practically like I'm from here.

One of the problems with starter home neighborhoods around here is that most of your neighbors are going to be immigrants and the schools won't be good. It's better to get an apartment in an area with good schools than to send your kids to bad schools around your house. Or just homeschool, if you need to get a cheap house. I'm not really a proponent of homeschooling but it's better than sending your kids to a school where they'll fall in with a low-achieving crowd.

 

[Audios]

Thats about the going rate in our area, my brother just passed on a knock down 10 mins away in Fair Lawn for 330k.

 

[Job]

3-4 million in some places now, the ones near facebook and google. Starter or tear downs. That's where the money from your ad hits goes.

 

[Andrew1972]

Depends on price on land below it.

I own a $600k home but the 1ac below it is worth about $450k of it because of location.

Strucutures generally similar it's the land that varies widely.

 

[dareo]

starter homes in utah 300-350k or so.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by blupupher
Quote
"In the last 12 months, we have made an effort to try to build more affordable homes," Altura CEO Justin Webb says.


I agree, I just don't see how $250,000 is an affordable home (yes location makes a difference, but still).
Then (especially here in Texas) you have to add on the value based taxes you have to pay every year ($3,000 +, higher the more value of the home).

Homes now days are a huge waste of space. Hard to find a new home with less than 2,000 sq feet.
Breakfast area, dining room, office, den, huge laundry room, monstrous bathroom, giant vaulted ceilings, etc are a lot of space that a "starter" home does not need. Also costs more to heat and cool these wasted spaces.

Build a 1,200 to 1,500 sq foot house with a 2 car garage, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (master having only a shower, no need for a bath and shower), reasonable size living room and kitchen (dining area as part of kitchen extension area, what most call the breakfast area).
Sell for
Oh wait, that is what I have. And the reason the houses in my subdivision sell within a month of going on market vs the $250,000+ homes that surround me (although those are selling well also).



What they don't build and what I think would sell is similar to what you propose. A really nice 1200 sq ft house. The only really nice 1200 sq foot houses are in 55+ developments it seems. I want the nice tile floors, granite or solid surface counters, really fancy bathrooms. But I don't need 3000 sq feet. I don't need a dining room that I never use or a formal living that has no purpose.

When my wife and I retired we sold our old house. It was 1800 sq. ft. and we had 2 bedrooms and a family room that were never used. We moved to a 1200 sq. ft. condo and still have 1 bedroom that is never used. It's amazing how little living space you actually use on most days.