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

[Anonymous]

Huntsville, AL

[Anonymous]

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you should be aware of that what passes for “good housing stock” in many areas pales in comparison to around here. Expect lots of tile floors, carpeting & dark granite countertops.

Pretty much. There is very little inventory completely updated, unless the house is new.

I actually would think the opposite since a lot of “good inventory” around here is based on schools and not the actual house itself

PP here. Look at the interiors of houses with nice exteriors in places like East Grand Rapids or Charleston & you’ll see what I mean.

Nicer (at least in terms of visuals) big new builders like Toll Brothers & Ryan Homes also only build in certain markets and not at in others. In many areas there are basically no new builds.

I guess that’s where we differ. I don’t view toll brothers or Ryan as upscale but more builder grade suburban homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you should be aware of that what passes for “good housing stock” in many areas pales in comparison to around here. Expect lots of tile floors, carpeting & dark granite countertops.

Pretty much. There is very little inventory completely updated, unless the house is new.

I actually would think the opposite since a lot of “good inventory” around here is based on schools and not the actual house itself

PP here. Look at the interiors of houses with nice exteriors in places like East Grand Rapids or Charleston & you’ll see what I mean.

Nicer (at least in terms of visuals) big new builders like Toll Brothers & Ryan Homes also only build in certain markets and not at in others. In many areas there are basically no new builds.

I guess that’s where we differ. I don’t view toll brothers or Ryan as upscale but more builder grade suburban homes.

They’re far nicer than the average “nice” home in most places.

[Anonymous]

Outside Burlington VT like Essex

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you should be aware of that what passes for “good housing stock” in many areas pales in comparison to around here. Expect lots of tile floors, carpeting & dark granite countertops.

Pretty much. There is very little inventory completely updated, unless the house is new.

I actually would think the opposite since a lot of “good inventory” around here is based on schools and not the actual house itself

PP here. Look at the interiors of houses with nice exteriors in places like East Grand Rapids or Charleston & you’ll see what I mean.

Nicer (at least in terms of visuals) big new builders like Toll Brothers & Ryan Homes also only build in certain markets and not at in others. In many areas there are basically no new builds.

I guess that’s where we differ. I don’t view toll brothers or Ryan as upscale but more builder grade suburban homes.

They’re far nicer than the average “nice” home in most places.

True, that’s fair!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vestavia Hills outside of Birmingham has some great homes. Not sure about the schools but sometimes I just scroll zilllow to look at the interior design and Renos

The Vestavia Hills School District is very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alabama. But not near the coast.

You could buy “near” the AL coast if you are willing to live a bit inland, in a new development. The cute towns near the bay and beach towns have shot up in price in the last few years.

Articles like this aren’t helping:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/retirement-in-al...egratedwebview_share

[Anonymous]

Depends on what you mean by "nice." I don't consider Toll or Ryan nice. They're just Home Depot grade construction. People buy McMansions for the size, not quality.

500k will get you a pleasant and reasonably updated house in the suburbs of most midwestern/flyover cities.

https://www.redfin.com/OH/New-Albany/6960-Gra...-43054/home/79698480

https://www.redfin.com/KS/Overland-Park/11414...-66210/home/83185193

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what you mean by "nice." I don't consider Toll or Ryan nice. They're just Home Depot grade construction. People buy McMansions for the size, not quality.

500k will get you a pleasant and reasonably updated house in the suburbs of most midwestern/flyover cities.

https://www.redfin.com/OH/New-Albany/6960-Gra...-43054/home/79698480

https://www.redfin.com/KS/Overland-Park/11414...-66210/home/83185193

That kitchen in your first link, with the tile floors, backsplash & black countertops is not what most people would consider “updated.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you should be aware of that what passes for “good housing stock” in many areas pales in comparison to around here. Expect lots of tile floors, carpeting & dark granite countertops.

Pretty much. There is very little inventory completely updated, unless the house is new.

I actually would think the opposite since a lot of “good inventory” around here is based on schools and not the actual house itself

PP here. Look at the interiors of houses with nice exteriors in places like East Grand Rapids or Charleston & you’ll see what I mean.

Nicer (at least in terms of visuals) big new builders like Toll Brothers & Ryan Homes also only build in certain markets and not at in others. In many areas there are basically no new builds.

I guess that’s where we differ. I don’t view toll brothers or Ryan as upscale but more builder grade suburban homes.

They’re far nicer than the average “nice” home in most places.

Not necessarily true. It varies dramatically by location. I live in a small town in flyover country and the housing stock is much better than DC and Toll Brothers and Ryan are considered the cheap mass market builders. The well renovated homes here rival the best renovated homes in DC. I think it has to do with the fact that the older houses were mostly built during a time when houses were better built (and more attractive).

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

+1 Mt. Rainier, MD has very high property taxes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1 Mt. Rainier, MD has very high property taxes

Not anymore. Mt Rainier has been lowering taxes every year for the past several years now.

[Anonymous]

Mid-Hudson Valley, where I grew up. Hopewell Junction.

[Anonymous]

Abbeville, AL
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-de...L_36310_M78813-71063