New thread - Best value places to live. Post listings and let's debate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the DMV, the nicer parts of PG county still have no parallel. This $600k house in College Park is in a safe area within walking distance of Metro, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, a myriad restaurants, and bike trails and it is nice enough

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6900-Wake-Forest-Dr-College-Park-MD-20740/37559557_zpid/

I agree. Bowie is underrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're mixed race family, and I like my ethnic grocery store and restaurants. That limits our choices of where we can move to. This type of diversity tends to be in big metro areas. Of course, some metro areas are cheaper than others. So, I guess I just have to pick the cheapest metro area. Atlanta is one.

Mt Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia would be a good one for your family; we're tied to the govt or else we would have moved there years ago

[Anonymous]

Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts. Ocean, easy access to Boston, Maine, NH and VT. Perfection if you love seasons and outdoors.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1015-Hale-St-Beverly-MA-01915/59230364_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the DMV, the nicer parts of PG county still have no parallel. This $600k house in College Park is in a safe area within walking distance of Metro, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, a myriad restaurants, and bike trails and it is nice enough

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6900-Wake-Forest-Dr-College-Park-MD-20740/37559557_zpid/

That can't be right. I'm constantly told on this forum that there absolutely isn't anywhere affordable to live within the close-in Beltway

[Anonymous]

that house in college park needs a remodel!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts. Ocean, easy access to Boston, Maine, NH and VT. Perfection if you love seasons and outdoors.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1015-Hale-St-Beverly-MA-01915/59230364_zpid/

Okay but like remove the 1 from the front of that price or else it doesn't really fit the point of this thread. $1.8m for a house that is nice but not omg wow isn't a best value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the DMV, the nicer parts of PG county still have no parallel. This $600k house in College Park is in a safe area within walking distance of Metro, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, a myriad restaurants, and bike trails and it is nice enough

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6900-Wake-Forest-Dr-College-Park-MD-20740/37559557_zpid/

That can't be right. I'm constantly told on this forum that there absolutely isn't anywhere affordable to live within the close-in Beltway

600k is not affordable given today's rates. Point is there are not hidden gems, homeownership is just expensive everywhere, because down payments make such a small dent in monthly payments. Adding 20k to a downpayment amount doesn't help. There are not hacks.

[Anonymous]

South Hills Pittsburgh

[Anonymous]

Nice topic for a thread Op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we becoming a society who is unwilling to explore unchartered territory? Move away for a better life? Tethered to only the top most expensive cities or bust?

Are young people destined to rent forever, unable to scrounge up a down payment, unable to afford homes given current rates?

What if we were willing to move to different state, a cheaper, smaller city? Still with jobs, but homes don't cost $1M+ with an additional $10K for taxes.

Where would you go? Post some listings.

I'll start with a townhouse in the cute town of Middletown, CT. Can commute to Hartford, New Haven.

https://www.redfin.com/CT/Middletown/24-Intown-Ter-06457/unit-24/home/172876038

What else have you got?

$355 monthly HOA fee
$500+ a month in taxes
NOPE.

I haven't looked at this specific house/location before but this is shortsighted and will lead you to miss out on good value.

A $355 HOA fee can make perfect sense if it's going to pay for services like trash and recycling, landscaping, community resources, insurance for exteriors, etc. You also have to look at the HOA's history -- do they raise fees a lot (or conversely do they never raise fees and are potentially underfunded), or do they have a history of issuing special assessments? But a well managed HOA with reasonable fees can be great -- they can save you money in the long run if, for instance, your condo building needs a new roof (cost is split among HOA and some or all might be covered by the reserve fund) or their ability to negotiate on behalf of the whole community for services can get you a better rate than you'd get on your own.

Those taxes are high but if you have kids and the schools are fantastic, could be worth it for that phase of life. We happily pay high taxes to gain access to top notch public schools, and bonus, because the schools are fantastic, we will be able to sell our house for more when our kids are done with school and we move out of the district. It's a win-win and well worth the higher taxes in the interim.

Why do people in DMV confuse HOA fees with Condo Common Charges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're mixed race family, and I like my ethnic grocery store and restaurants. That limits our choices of where we can move to. This type of diversity tends to be in big metro areas. Of course, some metro areas are cheaper than others. So, I guess I just have to pick the cheapest metro area. Atlanta is one.

Mt Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia would be a good one for your family; we're tied to the govt or else we would have moved there years ago

I actually looked at the Philly suburbs. Not sold on it, but that's one option.