Where does $500K buy you a nice house right now...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chicago for sure. You can DEFINITELY get a 3 or 4 bedroom in a good school district in either the city or close in suburbs with Metra access for under $500k.

-Lifelong Chicagoan currently living in the suburbs. 5b/2a corner lot, fantastic school district, walkable to metra that has express trains in the morning taking 28 mins to downtown, great community. Paid $335k.

Aren't the property taxes bonkers though? I am from Chicago and went to school in the 'burbs, but have only lived as an adult w/in the city; I have always heard stories about how the lower suburban housing cost is not real due to the high property taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago for sure. You can DEFINITELY get a 3 or 4 bedroom in a good school district in either the city or close in suburbs with Metra access for under $500k.

-Lifelong Chicagoan currently living in the suburbs. 5b/2a corner lot, fantastic school district, walkable to metra that has express trains in the morning taking 28 mins to downtown, great community. Paid $335k.

Which suburb?!

I'm dying to know too! I'm very familiar with the Chicago 'burbs and I'm coming up 100% empty on a suburb you can buy a 5/2 for $335k with fantastic schools and 28 minute ride to the loop...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Clark Summit PA (right outside of Scranton Pa) for $449K: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/803-Green-Tree-Dr-Clarks-Summit-PA-18411/9532667_zpid/

$450K in Waverly, which is the next town over:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/107-Upland-Ter-Waverly-PA-18471/2067741002_zpid/

$399K in an exburb of NYC:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/97-Ehrhardt-Rd-Pearl-River-NY-10965/32389777_zpid/

$449K in Manilus NY, near Syracuse:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/169-Edwards-Falls-Ln-Manlius-NY-13104/119164510_zpid/

My sister lives in Manlius! Too cold and snowy for me, but it's a lovely area. I think it is pretty popular among SU professors. Schools are fabulous.

NY is beautiful but Lake Effect snow is a no go!
The house here: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/169-Edwards-Falls-Ln-Manlius-NY-13104/119164510_zpid
Has a monthly HOA fee: $285
Takes are conveniently omitted as well....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$345K in Lexington KY:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3402-Tisdale-Dr-Lexington-KY-40503/77570711_zpid/

$317K in Wilmington NC:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/342-Chattooga-Pl-Wilmington-NC-28412/2073619756_zpid/

This wilmington house isn't for sale!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Manchester NH for $399K: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/100-Cameron-St-Manchester-NH-03103/74313739_zpid/

Kitchen actually isn’t terrible.

This isnt a bad house but " All this and more await you at your NEW HOME! OFFER DEADLINE 3PM, MONDAY, MAY 29TH."

That was yesterday, Im sure its going under contract in 3, 2, 1....GONE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago for sure. You can DEFINITELY get a 3 or 4 bedroom in a good school district in either the city or close in suburbs with Metra access for under $500k.

-Lifelong Chicagoan currently living in the suburbs. 5b/2a corner lot, fantastic school district, walkable to metra that has express trains in the morning taking 28 mins to downtown, great community. Paid $335k.

Which suburb?!

Our house is in Mount Prospect, but we are Arlington Heights school district. Here's some close by-

Park Ridge- one of the best school districts in the state, AMAZING downtown, metra and L connected, 10 min to Ohare, 25 min drive downtown Chicago w/o rush hour, amazing community amenities
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Park-Ridge/1141-N-Knight-Ave-60068/home/13655798

Edison Park- this is in Chicago, best public school district in the city, great public trans connections, safest neighborhood in the city, good downtown area and parks, really involved community of families
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/7404-W-Everell-Ave-60631/home/13565715

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/7600-W-Everell-Ave-60631/home/13567099

Norridge is a "city within the city". It's technically a suburb so it has the suburb amenities and school district, but is fully encompassed by Chicago all the way around.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Norridge/4016-N-Ozark-Ave-60706/home/13552637

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Norridge/4137-N-Ottawa-Ave-60706/home/13553415

If you are open to being up to an hour outside the city, still connected to the Metra, low taxes, cute downtown, tons of fun lakes and waterfront bars/restuarants in the area, you can get something like this

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Johnsburg/3318-Christopher-Ln-60051/home/22946505

[Anonymous]

Tuscon, AZ. Multiple options under 500k with pools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greater Atlanta metro.

Emphasis on greater, still calling it Atlanta is a stretch.

No one said inside the perimeter and OP has modest expectations for amenities. Lots of lovely suburbs will fit.

Do give a few examples, I have moved to the Greater Atlanta metro area and still looking.

Need :
4 bed, 3 bath
Good Middle and high school
atleast 2,100 sq ft

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pay very close attention to the property taxes. Sometimes, the cheaper the house, the higher the property taxes, because the area is relatively economically depressed. The city or town has to raise residential property taxes because it doesn’t have enough of a corporate base to tax from. This leads to decreased demand & cheaper houses in that municipality because high property taxes scare off most buyers. Baltimore (City) is a good example of this.

This is not always the case, of course. There are many very wealthy towns in states like TX, IL, NJ, CT, NY and PA that have very high property taxes; high-performing, well-funded schools; and are in close proximity to high paying jobs.

There is a myth that you universally “get what you pay for” just because a municipality has high property taxes. This is not the case. Many municipalities have high property taxes because of pension liabilities to retired local govt workers, for pensions that arguably should never have existed in the first place.



Pay attention to property taxes, school district taxes, wage taxes, car taxes, income taxes and sales taxes.

For sure. I would recommend the Rochester NY area but some of the towns have crazy high property taxes. Which becomes an issue for school funding when people get fed up with the taxes and vote it down. But you could still find a pretty nice house in Rochester for well under $500k even with higher taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago for sure. You can DEFINITELY get a 3 or 4 bedroom in a good school district in either the city or close in suburbs with Metra access for under $500k.

-Lifelong Chicagoan currently living in the suburbs. 5b/2a corner lot, fantastic school district, walkable to metra that has express trains in the morning taking 28 mins to downtown, great community. Paid $335k.

Aren't the property taxes bonkers though? I am from Chicago and went to school in the 'burbs, but have only lived as an adult w/in the city; I have always heard stories about how the lower suburban housing cost is not real due to the high property taxes.

Ours are $6800 in mount prospect

[Anonymous]

You can probably still find something nice 4 bed 2 bath in the suburbs of Ohio cities- Cincinnati, Columbus or Cleveland. Taxes can be high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC proper. Zip codes 20019,20020 and 20032. I would say be careful but crime is all over the city.

20019 resident here. It'll get you a nice rowhouse or semi-detached, but even EOTR the days of renovated, sub-$500K SFHs are over.

Still a great place to live as long as you don't have to worry about schools.

NP. How's the crime over that way? We're feeling priced out of NW DC as we're not willing to go into Col Hghts, Petworth, etc.

Crime is fine as long as you're not dealing drugs or gangbanging. You'll hear gunshots but nobody is shooting at gentrifiers.

If you're in the neighborhoods and not on Minnesota Ave or Benning Rd. it's practically the Palisades over here. You get car break ins and package theft, but nobody is wandering around Hillcrest looking for randos to rob, shoot, or stab. Basically all the violent street crime is disputes between the hood rats who hang out in front of the liquor stores and carryouts on the main corridors. If it happens in a neighborhood it happens at a party I guarantee you won't be invited to between people I guarantee you won't know.

I honestly feel as safe walking around my EOTR neighborhood as I do walking through Tenleytown.

[Anonymous]

Phoenix area! West Valley. Many even have pools!

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17713-W-Maui-Ln-Surprise-AZ-85388/60996298_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/16640-W-Rimrock-St-Surprise-AZ-85388/59252697_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/19772-W-Devonshire-Ave-Litchfield-Park-AZ-85340/284859541_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13113-W-Citrus-Way-Litchfield-Park-AZ-85340/59254322_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chicago for sure. You can DEFINITELY get a 3 or 4 bedroom in a good school district in either the city or close in suburbs with Metra access for under $500k.

-Lifelong Chicagoan currently living in the suburbs. 5b/2a corner lot, fantastic school district, walkable to metra that has express trains in the morning taking 28 mins to downtown, great community. Paid $335k.

Aren't the property taxes bonkers though? I am from Chicago and went to school in the 'burbs, but have only lived as an adult w/in the city; I have always heard stories about how the lower suburban housing cost is not real due to the high property taxes.

I am not familiar with Chicago, but in e.g. New England, there are no income taxes assessed by the county or the town you live in (as there are by MoCo). Therefore the difference is awash, mostly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greater Atlanta metro.

Emphasis on greater, still calling it Atlanta is a stretch.

No one said inside the perimeter and OP has modest expectations for amenities. Lots of lovely suburbs will fit.

Do give a few examples, I have moved to the Greater Atlanta metro area and still looking.

Need :
4 bed, 3 bath
Good Middle and high school
atleast 2,100 sq ft

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/355-Barrington-Dr-E-Roswell-GA-30076/14673436_zpid/?
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/161-Towey-Trl-Woodstock-GA-30188/68129385_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2166-Carlyle-Dr-Marietta-GA-30062/14259597_zpid/