What Will $583,000 Buy in Your Neighborhood? [Archive]

Lynchmeister

11-24-2009, 10:38 AM

Wow. I'm shocked by some of the comments above regarding what 600k will buy you. I broke into the IT field about 4 years ago and began (slowly) climbing my way up the corporate ladder starting with a paid internship and eventually an entry level position. Through hard work and sacrifice, my wife and I were able to build our first home on a beautiful, 2 acre lot just 30 minutes outside of the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Total cost? Under $200,000. Can you imagine what $600,000 would have bought us?!? For that amount, we could have had ourselves a McMansion with cash left on the side for necessities like a 10 person capacity bath tub and bottles of Crystal.

GFlanagan3

11-24-2009, 10:40 AM

wonder how many razor blades you could get out of that thing.....obsessed? me? nahhhh

Seraphim

11-24-2009, 10:49 AM

Just signed a P&S for a house out west of Boston $500k.

Not quite as spacious as that real estate shown in the OP!

ouch

11-24-2009, 11:49 AM

In Manhattan, it will get you a decent parking spot.

82R100

11-24-2009, 11:55 AM

Through hard work and sacrifice, my wife and I were able to build our first home on a beautiful, 2 acre lot just 30 minutes outside of the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Total cost? Under $200,000. Can you imagine what $600,000 would have bought us?!? For that amount, we could have had ourselves a McMansion with cash left on the side for necessities like a 10 person capacity bath tub and bottles of Crystal.

There's always been a real difference between the coastal cities and the midwest that way.

Good for you.

- Chris

82R100

11-24-2009, 11:56 AM

Just signed a P&S for a house out west of Boston $500k.

Not quite as spacious as that real estate shown in the OP!

"Out west" as in Newton or Worcester or somewhere in between?

kwk285

11-24-2009, 11:57 AM

30 miles east of Seattle it will get you a home of about 3000 sq feet with maybe a 1/2 acre lot.

BlackBard

11-24-2009, 12:04 PM

The City of Pontiac claimed they were spending $1.5M/yr to maintain it. If nothing else, you have to keep it inflated.

Not a problem, just have some politicians spend some time there.

MMCCX

11-24-2009, 12:49 PM

probably every house on my block.

got our post WW2 3 bedroom Cape Cod for $48.5k in 2001.

Commander Quan

11-24-2009, 01:04 PM

Yeah but it's in Detroit. I would have thought for that price you could have purchased everything between Windsor and Grand Rapids.

DavidMGunther

11-24-2009, 01:05 PM

I'm in NYC. 583K will get you a nice 1 bedroom apt in a good neighborhood (Upper East/West Side, Chelsea, Midtown).

Not nearly as spacious as that. Property tax might even be more.

SmoovD

11-24-2009, 01:12 PM

One almost new double-wide on a 1/2 acre, one tree and a lifetime supply of Shiner.

DGS

11-24-2009, 01:17 PM

Well this is 2 1/2 miles up the road from my house and that's what it went for (http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/729769--toronto-developer-snaps-up-vacant-pontiac-silverdome), including 127 acres of land.

http://football.ballparks.com/NFL/DetroitLions/front.jpg

Property taxes might be a little steep though. :smile:

- Chris

It can buy a stadium... Too bad it can't buy a decent defense, and and o-line for Stafford.

82R100

11-24-2009, 01:20 PM

But, but,

they won a game!

by a point.

against the Browns.

Point taken.

Swampfox

11-24-2009, 01:27 PM

$500K would probably give half this town....or at least a good bit of it.

kp217

11-24-2009, 03:29 PM

i'm in houston. in my neighborhood at least 583K will buy you nothing. half a house. like that guy in highland park (go SMU by the way)

ChrisG

11-24-2009, 03:30 PM

Just signed a P&S for a house out west of Boston $500k.

Not quite as spacious as that real estate shown in the OP!

How west? West like Pike west? Or route 2 west? 500k for Anything past Netwon will get you something nice unless you go towards Route 2 west and lean towards Concord.

jsrdrnr

11-24-2009, 03:40 PM

http://www.tidewaterfsbo.com/files/8946326763-1.jpg

Huge Ultra Modern Home on Corner Lot in Exclusive Community. 4000 sq. ft., 4/5 BR, 4.5 BA, marble foyer, tile in kitchen, 1/2 & master bath and h/w floors in living & dining room. Huge master suite with sitting room, fireplace & balcony. Master bath with sunken tub & separate shower. Other bedrooms generous in size & each has bath. 5th BR/ FROG also has closet and full bath. All appliances convey. Neighborhood amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center, tennis courts & a community pool. Sold AS IS. Home has huge potential, but needs TLC. City assessment $546,900.

Sterling Cooper

11-24-2009, 03:44 PM

2BR/2BA condo with one deeded parking spot in Lincoln Park

expatCanuck

11-24-2009, 04:40 PM

In the town of Brookline (adjacent to Boston), $583K should get you a 2-BR, 1.5-2BA condo with parking in a desirable location. Maybe a 3-bedroom condo without parking.

Tolduonce

11-24-2009, 05:06 PM

Today 583k will get you three three BR, 1 1/2 bath houses on 1/3 acre lots. Good schools, great parks and nice neighbors. As I see it, that's nine BRs and 4 1/2 baths.
Three years ago you'd have gotten two of the same houses.
Now if you shop foreclosures only, you'd get four of these houses and an empty lot.

thunderball

11-24-2009, 06:56 PM

In Osaka it'll get you a fairly-nice 4 bedroom apartment with a parking space or a rather small house on a ridiculously small plot of land. Depressing really.

pauls51

11-24-2009, 07:13 PM

583K US will get you a nice 3 bedroom apartment nice and close to Melbourne's glorious beaches!

FlatFork

11-24-2009, 07:15 PM

4BR 3BA in a really nice area of town it's listed for 189K it can be all yours in no where NC

KarthVader

11-24-2009, 08:06 PM

Yeah but it's in Detroit. I would have thought for that price you could have purchased everything between Windsor and Grand Rapids.

I just did an internet search on the house my parents bought. Lost over 1/2 the value of its original purchase price and we're in what's considered a "posh" neighborhood. Just down right depressing if you ask me :crying:

Edit: Lost more like 1/2 the value, not over a 1/2. Still not an improvement. My Dad just told me a few houses in neighborhood foreclosed as well.

jtoddaz

11-24-2009, 08:16 PM

In Suburban PHX, you could get a semi-custom 5/4, 3000 sf up against a mountain somewhere. I'm happy to say that my value has plummeted to roughly half this amount!

Topgumby

11-24-2009, 08:37 PM

Six hundred grand? For an old stadium?

He could have gotten two congressmen or senator for that.

Mazeman

11-24-2009, 08:53 PM

In Hanover NH (home of Dartmouth College) a basic, small 2-3 bedroom starter cape on the outskirts of town or on a busy road.

In Lebanon NH (next town over--my town), a very nice, spacious 3-4 bedroom home on 2 acres in a nice area.

Mazeman

11-24-2009, 08:56 PM

The median price for a home in Detroit is $7,500.

Link (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/median-home-price-in-detroit-7500/)

opliko

11-24-2009, 08:56 PM

60 miles southwest of Chicago it would get you 3-5 smaller houses (1-2 bedroom), 2-3 medium houses(3-4 bedroom) or 1 big house (4+ bedrooms). Now if you're talking out in the country probably a nice 3 bedroom house on 5 to 10 acres next to a lake.

Seraphim

11-24-2009, 09:23 PM

How west? West like Pike west? Or route 2 west? 500k for Anything past Netwon will get you something nice unless you go towards Route 2 west and lean towards Concord.

Bingo!:thumbup1::

Seraphim

11-24-2009, 09:25 PM

In Osaka it'll get you a fairly-nice 4 bedroom apartment with a parking space or a rather small house on a ridiculously small plot of land. Depressing really.

How many tatami per BR?

azmark

11-24-2009, 10:05 PM

I sold my house in CA for $475K for a 1500 sq ft 3/2 nice neighborhood but the crazy thing is I bought it for $185K.

Now the home we just moved into in AZ is 2700 sq ft on 2/3 acres and we got it for 260k. I love AZ:thumbup1:

thunderball

11-24-2009, 10:09 PM

How many tatami per BR?

A good and scholarly question sir! :thumbup1: Probaby 6 and possibly 8 for the main bedroom. :tongue_sm (though the fact that there are now different sizes of tatami being used, the old way of measuring by how many mats a room has can be deceiving).

strat1117

11-24-2009, 10:30 PM

A 3 bedroom house on a 1/4 acre lot.

82R100

11-25-2009, 05:35 AM

The median price for a home in Detroit is $7,500.

Link (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/median-home-price-in-detroit-7500/)

Bear in mind that this is a foreclosure-driven number and applies to the city itself. Detroit has about 80,000 vacant (and mostly derelict) housing units right now and rising. The problem with buying a $7,500 Detroit house is that you will end up paying property taxes based on a much higher assessment.

In answer to my own question, here's what you can get in Bloomfield Township:

http://attach.realcomponline.com/?PATH=PROPERTY/0EEE/0EEE9A8BBD394D/7Y07AHFA0QIA7T.jpg&h=240

$575,000
4 bedroom 5 baths
2 Car, Attached Garage
Finished Basement
4,227 Sq Ft

In the city of Pontiac (I live on the border) you'd have to buy three currently listed houses to reach $583,000.

- Chris

Wendy

11-25-2009, 06:27 AM

Holy cow. In MO where I am at you could get the average house of about 2500 sq ft nice new neighborhood will run about $300,000. I hate the loss we have taken on thee houses though, but I know that is everywhere. Did I mention a 5 car garage??? I am not complaining. We are fortunate here.

DGS

11-25-2009, 06:47 AM

Bear in mind that this is a foreclosure-driven number and applies to the city itself. Detroit has about 80,000 vacant (and mostly derelict) housing units right now and rising. The problem with buying a $7,500 Detroit house is that you will end up paying property taxes based on a much higher assessment.

In answer to my own question, here's what you can get in Bloomfield Township:

http://attach.realcomponline.com/?PATH=PROPERTY/0EEE/0EEE9A8BBD394D/7Y07AHFA0QIA7T.jpg&h=240

$575,000
4 bedroom 5 baths
2 Car, Attached Garage
Finished Basement
4,227 Sq Ft

In the city of Pontiac (I live on the border) you'd have to buy three currently listed houses to reach $583,000.

- Chris

I'd be interested to know if that 575K is the listing price, and if so, how long it has been listed. Around my neck of the woods (West Bloomfield), I've heard of large homes on lakes going unsold for nearly two years, only to have the starting price slashed from around $900K to roughly half that, and still no sale. The Silverdome is starting to look like a real bargain in comparison (and such close access to freeways; location, location, location!!), if it weren't for the fact that Pontiac schools suck almost as much as Detroit schools. Just more evidence that the Michigan economy is the absolute worst in the nation.

82R100

11-25-2009, 06:53 AM

I'd be interested to know if that 575K is the listing price, and if so, how long it has been listed. Around my neck of the woods (West Bloomfield), I've heard of large homes on lakes going unsold for nearly two years, only to have the starting price slashed from around $900K to roughly half that, and still no sale. The Silverdome is starting to look like a real bargain in comparison (and such close access to freeways; location, location, location!!), if it weren't for the fact that Pontiac schools suck almost as much as Detroit schools. Just more evidence that the Michigan economy is the absolute worst in the nation.

That's just the listing price. It's been on the market for two months and the listing price has been chopped by $50,000 in that time period.

As far as Pontiac real estate is concerned, you can always cough up $11,000/yr tuition and go to Bloomfield Hills schools. The big problem is that the police and fire depts have been gutted so there are other problems brewing. Not a happy place right now. We go to church in Pontiac.

bigred90gt

11-25-2009, 07:34 AM

i'm in houston. in my neighborhood at least 583K will buy you nothing. half a house. like that guy in highland park (go SMU by the way)

River Oaks?

In Baytown, $538k will get you an enormous house, probably somewhere near the bay if you want it, with a lot of land.

For $579k, you can get 5300 sq/ft on a little over 2 acres.

http://search.har.com/engine/4003-Roberts-Blvd-Baytown-TX-77521_HAR4977284.htm

How about a 5000 sq/ft house on just over 5 acres for $500?

http://search.har.com/engine/1719-Kilgore-Rd-Baytown-TX-77520_HAR32309544.htm

Or, you could sacrifice house size for acreage and go for a 2000sq/ft home with almost 17 acres a few minutes outside of Baytown.

http://search.har.com/engine/805-Fm-1724-Hankamer-TX-77560_HAR1757513.htm

I cant imagine living somewhere that $580k will not get you much.

bigmo

11-25-2009, 12:41 PM

Well we bought our house for about $77k, which is a pretty nice house, so that kind of money will buy the whole block

Wendy

11-26-2009, 09:34 AM

Bear in mind that this is a foreclosure-driven number and applies to the city itself. Detroit has about 80,000 vacant (and mostly derelict) housing units right now and rising. The problem with buying a $7,500 Detroit house is that you will end up paying property taxes based on a much higher assessment.

In answer to my own question, here's what you can get in Bloomfield Township:

http://attach.realcomponline.com/?PATH=PROPERTY/0EEE/0EEE9A8BBD394D/7Y07AHFA0QIA7T.jpg&h=240

$575,000
4 bedroom 5 baths
2 Car, Attached Garage
Finished Basement
4,227 Sq Ft

In the city of Pontiac (I live on the border) you'd have to buy three currently listed houses to reach $583,000.

- Chris

Heck in Detroit if you pay more than 5k for a house you are getting ripped off. I lived in Canton MI in 1993 and the house I lived in then sold for 189,000 and the highest selling house in that neighborhood is going about 120,000 these days.
I had a friend (CRAZY) I must add that made a great income and did not care where he lived and he purchased a 4,000 sf house in the real rough part of Detroit he paid $4,500 (less than one month salary). I went to his house 3-4 times only with a large group of people. When you drive down the street you see hookers and trash walking around the streets and people sitting out drinking their 40's. I must say I was always scared to death but no one messed with him. Now that I am a "real" adult I would never even take my car within miles of that place.

sklegg

11-26-2009, 09:49 AM

30 miles east of Seattle it will get you a home of about 3000 sq feet with maybe a 1/2 acre lot.

In my north Seattle neighborhood you can get a 1920s house half that size on a quiet street or a posh ten-year-old condo.

sandmountainslim

11-26-2009, 10:10 AM

It would buy you six houses and quite a bit of land.

I bought St Pottersburg in 2004 and gave $70,000 for it. For the price I got a 1600 square ft house, a detached 800 sq ft Garage and 1/2 acre. The garage was 2 years old and the house had been renovated.
Wp

funkyb

11-26-2009, 10:41 AM

Gets a heck of a lot of house in west st. louis county:
CB Gundaker (http://www.cbgundaker.com/search/advanced/results.jsp?startPage=1&currentPage=1&min_price=500000&max_price=600000&city=&zip=&type=res&recent=&st_num=&st_name=&subdivision=&trans=S&openhouse=null&mls_num=&area=&county=St+Louis&beds=3&baths=2&style=)

knlgskr

11-26-2009, 10:59 AM

In the Sacramento area abut what $800 MX would have a short time ago; a verrry nice house in a verrry nice neighborhood.

Blondie

11-26-2009, 01:45 PM

The property taxes won't be too excessive. They will likely base the taxable value on the sales value. I would defy them to try and prove it is has a higher market value than the sales price.

Well now that depends. Taxing entities have this little thing called "best use" that try like to apply to the property values. Luckily, we just passed an amendment in Texas preventing this from happening.

Alacrity59

11-26-2009, 01:56 PM

Hmmmm. Bit of drywall and we can rent it out to xx,xxx students?

Swampfox

11-27-2009, 09:16 AM

Six hundred grand? For an old stadium?

He could have gotten two congressmen or senator for that.

rotflol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thatguy1807

11-27-2009, 03:57 PM

In my neighborhood 600k will buy three to five 3 room 1.5 bath average houses!

crowdog

11-27-2009, 06:08 PM

This in Poctello Idaho:

http://www.homes.com/listing/90444544/5710_W_Buckskin_POCATELLO_ID_83201

My neighborhood is upper university area, and they top out for about 200K, got mine for 100k in 2001. 6 bedroom 2 bath 3000 sq feet brick ranch.

There are a lot of builders as well, so pretty much whatever you wanted.

Marty

TstebinsB

11-27-2009, 07:41 PM

A friend's daughter bought a 4BR Colonial in South Carolina for $200,000. :blink::glare: I live in NY though... and I wouldn't leave for all the square footage in the world.

arghblech

11-27-2009, 08:43 PM

River Oaks?

In Baytown, $538k will get you an enormous house, probably somewhere near the bay if you want it, with a lot of land.

For $579k, you can get 5300 sq/ft on a little over 2 acres.

http://search.har.com/engine/4003-Roberts-Blvd-Baytown-TX-77521_HAR4977284.htm

How about a 5000 sq/ft house on just over 5 acres for $500?

http://search.har.com/engine/1719-Kilgore-Rd-Baytown-TX-77520_HAR32309544.htm

Or, you could sacrifice house size for acreage and go for a 2000sq/ft home with almost 17 acres a few minutes outside of Baytown.

http://search.har.com/engine/805-Fm-1724-Hankamer-TX-77560_HAR1757513.htm

I cant imagine living somewhere that $580k will not get you much.

The problem with living in Baytown is that it is a horrible "between" place. It isn't the country (65k people) and it isn't Houston (neat museums, theatres, theaters, restaurants, etc, etc). Big enough for gang violence and other big city problems but too small to be able to attract city officials who can reasonably deal with it. I lived there for 20 years. My folks still live out there. I wouldn't live there if you gave me one of those houses AND $500k. Life's too short to live somewhere like that.

bigred90gt

11-27-2009, 09:29 PM

The problem with living in Baytown is that it is a horrible "between" place. It isn't the country (65k people) and it isn't Houston (neat museums, theatres, theaters, restaurants, etc, etc). Big enough for gang violence and other big city problems but too small to be able to attract city officials who can reasonably deal with it. I lived there for 20 years. My folks still live out there. I wouldn't live there if you gave me one of those houses AND $500k. Life's too short to live somewhere like that.
believe me, I 100% agree with you. I hate this town. I grew up here, and my wife wanted to move back here, not I. Since I work alot, and sometimes out of town, she won. I was just pointing out what you could get here.

cesium

11-28-2009, 04:42 PM

here in Nova Scotia that would buy you two homes in a decent neighbourhood, or one absolutely beautiful home on a lake in a "high-end" neighbourhood. Hard to believe something with that much land went for so cheap!

82R100

11-28-2009, 05:02 PM

Hard to believe something with that much land went for so cheap!

The issue is that the stadium is expensive to maintain and "run" and very expensive to demolish. By buying it, the purchaser is signing up for a major commitment of one thing or another in an area that is in the midst of a depression.

- Chris

cesium

11-28-2009, 05:26 PM

The issue is that the stadium is expensive to maintain and "run" and very expensive to demolish. By buying it, the purchaser is signing up for a major commitment of one thing or another in an area that is in the midst of a depression.

- Chris

agreed- the attached article said it cost 1.5 million a year to maintain. But given it's location and size- it's still pretty cheap at half a million. Imagine you're a big company looking to relocate it's head office. How much would you expect to pay for something of that size? More than a half million for sure. Pre-paved for you too. But I get what you're saying and where you're going with it. Supply and demand for sure- lots of supply and little demand will drive prices down, and there aren't many companies out there looking for that much property in that location.

82R100

11-28-2009, 06:22 PM

...Supply and demand for sure- lots of supply and little demand will drive prices down, and there aren't many companies out there looking for that much property in that location.

We do have a bit of surplus office space in the area too. :frown:

toucanlamp

11-28-2009, 11:20 PM

In Edmonton, Alberta that kind of money will buy you a decent middle class sort of home in a nice neighbourhood, but nothing especially dramatic, 2000-2500 sq. foot. 2 car garage kind of thing.

It's absolutely rediculous now since the boom and even now that the bottom has fallen out of that, housing prices haven't fallen much at all. I see crappy little 1200 sq. foot 2 stories in decent neighbourhoods listed for $400k.

The house we lived in when I was a teenager my parents bought for $190k in 1997, sold for $240k in 2000, listed and sold earlier this year for $625k.

A crappy little 1 bedroom apartment is next to impossible to find for under $1000 per month.

But if anyone ever wants to get a kick out of craziness, look at real estate in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Way up North - heart of the oil patch - a freezing cold, dark (sunrise at 9:00 set at 3:00 this time of year), crime ridden, drug infested city of 75000 - a 1 bedroom apartment there is probably non-existant for less than about $2500/month. And most are probably higher.

The kind of residential ghettos like you see in the US don't really exist in Canada so you'd never see houses in any city over say 100k people going for less than maybe $150k these days, and generally much, much more. The bad high crime neighbourhoods in Canada are almost always just areas with lots of lower cost rental high rise apartments. When they say you can get a house in Detroit for $5000 bucks, I have to imagine it is one of those sort in some awful neighbourhood where all the houses are decaying and boarded up, so you're almost doing someone else a favour to take it off their hands, since there's certainly no work in these areas and no possible reason a person living elsewhere would want to move into these places.

82R100

11-29-2009, 11:29 AM

When they say you can get a house in Detroit for $5000 bucks, I have to imagine it is one of those sort in some awful neighbourhood where all the houses are decaying and boarded up, so you're almost doing someone else a favour to take it off their hands, since there's certainly no work in these areas and no possible reason a person living elsewhere would want to move into these places.

Detroit, along with a few other rustbelt cities is exceptional, in that some areas have gone beyond what you describe to what's sometimes described as "urban prairie":

http://www.detroitfunk.com/2009images/april2009/DSC_0827.jpg http://www.detroitfunk.com/2009images/april2009/DSC_0839.jpg

Credit for these images goes to detroitfunk.com, though one can find miles of similar footage through Google maps streetview.

This is what an area like this looks like from the air:

76918

This is inside the city limits.

Pontiac is a much smaller city, but it has a few areas almost as devastated as this.

- Chris