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Cheapest places to buy a home in U.S.

NSX GT

NSX GT

Experienced Member
Joined
26 July 2007
Messages
1,842
Location
California / Monterey County
Besides the list below, I know there are many other Mid States home prices are really low. The median prices are what our down payments are in Cali. At that price i would too have a couple sports cars.:)
10 Cheapest Places To Buy a House (list courtesy of CNN Money June 2011)

Youngstown, Ohio. Median price: $55,400
Lansing, Mich. Median price: $64,400
Toledo, Ohio. Median price: $64,900
South Bend, Ind. Median price: $68,700
Akron, Ohio. Median price: $74,900
Ocala Fla. Median price: $75,400
Dayton, Ohio. Median price: $78,000
Cumberland, Md. Median price: $80,700
Grand Rapids, Mich. Median price: $81,100
Decatur, Ill. Median price: $81,300
 
The next question is do you like the color of the double-wide that you're going to live in for that price? The median price for a home in my county is $111k, but the areas where you can purchase a home that cheap are in high crime areas.
 
Grand Rapids, MI, is an awesome town. Big enough, yet small enough. Nice downtown, and close to Northern Michigan's many playgrounds.
 
It's all about cost of living.
Houses in Monterey California cost 250% more than in Richmond, Va.
To put it another way, in Richmond I can get a pretty awesome mansion type house with a 2 car garage, huge vaulted ceilings in a great area where all you see are BMW and Mercedes. And I can get it for around $4-500,000. In Cali that identical house would cost 2-3 million.

Add to that that salaries aren't adjusted 250% higher, and you're in an interesting situation.

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/?salary=50000&city1=55167000&city2=50648872

.
 
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Monterey try Pebble Beach.
 
NSX GT said:
Besides the list below, I know there are many other Mid States home prices are really low. The median prices are what our down payments are in Cali. At that price i would too have a couple sports cars.:)
10 Cheapest Places To Buy a House (list courtesy of CNN Money June 2011)

Youngstown, Ohio. Median price: $55,400
Lansing, Mich. Median price: $64,400
Toledo, Ohio. Median price: $64,900
South Bend, Ind. Median price: $68,700
Akron, Ohio. Median price: $74,900
Ocala Fla. Median price: $75,400
Dayton, Ohio. Median price: $78,000
Cumberland, Md. Median price: $80,700
Grand Rapids, Mich. Median price: $81,100
Decatur, Ill. Median price: $81,300
Click to expand...

I think the cost just to "build" a house should be a lot more than the price listed above (material + labor, not even counting the value of the land). How does the math work? Does anybody know? I'm confused.
 
Ultraman said:
I think the cost just to "build" a house should be a lot more than the price listed above (material + labor, not even counting the value of the land). How does the math work? Does anybody know? I'm confused.
Click to expand...

You are right, the cost to build, even at a very low $100 per sq ft finished rate would cost a lot more than those avg. prices for even a very small 1000 sq ft home, excluding the land cost!! The problem is location and market, which can negatively affect values substantially.
 
alum04org said:
Grand Rapids, MI, is an awesome town. Big enough, yet small enough. Nice downtown, and close to Northern Michigan's many playgrounds.
Click to expand...

Been there many times on overnights, glad I'll never have to go back. The winters are just wonderful. :rolleyes:

sent from my crappy cell phone.
 
DocL said:
The next question is do you like the color of the double-wide that you're going to live in for that price? The median price for a home in my county is $111k, but the areas where you can purchase a home that cheap are in high crime areas.
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Or Kings Point :D
I think my parents' place is worth something like $25K. I pay about that in rent each year.
 
The cost of construction has little to do with the sale price. A case in point:

* In 2008 a contractor in Pebble Beach placed a NEW home of over 4,200
sq ft for sale just off 17 mile drive for 3.4 million dollars.

* Cost of land $700K

* Cost of construction at contractors actual cost 1.2 million

* Home sells after foreclosure for less then 1.2 miilion

This same pattern has been repeated many times all over the US and has impacted the sales of homes because of it. What sales you see in reviewing
actual home sales are the foreclosure sales dominate current sales and those willling or desperate enough to lower the price of their home can sell
if they are willing to take the hit.

What will happen is that there will be a home shortage in just a few years as nobody is really building and that will cause sharp increases in homes as a result. Every boom has a bust and every bust has a boom. Mark my words.
 
The markup premium in Coastal Cali is due to the weather. Everything else in CA sucks imo. My current home is 3 miles from the beach and you simply cannot beat the weather. Many of my friends who live in places where their expense burn rate is significantly less than their income. They often travel and spend a ton of money on vacations just to get away. I simply ride my bike or jump in the NSX for a short drive.

I was dating a girl from Grand Rapids, MI. She claims it's a beautiful place when the weather is nice.
 
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RYU said:
The markup premium in Coastal Cali is due to the weather. Everything else in CA sucks imo. My current home is 3 miles from the beach and you simply cannot beat the weather. Many of my friends who live in places where their expense burn rate is significantly less than their income. They often travel and spend a ton of money on vacations just to get away. I simply ride my bike or jump in the NSX for a short drive.

I was dating a girl from Grand Rapids, MI. She claims it's a beautiful place when the weather is nice.
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Agreed. The weather in CAlifornia along the coast is what makes the real estate prices go into Viagra mode.

There are plenty of other places in the world that is better looking, but blows on the weather (too hot, humid, cold, windy, etc.).

Only other place that has CAlifornia weather is the Mediterranean.
 
Youngstown, Ohio. - No, it sucks and its in Ohio
Lansing, Mich. - No, born and raised there YAWN
Toledo, Ohio. - No, it sucks and its in Ohio
South Bend, Ind. - No, it sucks and its flat
Akron, Ohio. - No, it sucks and its in Ohio
Ocala Fla. - No, it sucks, its flat, its humid
Dayton, Ohio. - No, it sucks and its in Ohio
Cumberland, Md. - No, it sucks and its basically West Virginia
Grand Rapids, Mich. - No, it sucks although Founders brewery = good beer
Decatur, Ill. - No, it sucks and its flat

So what if the homes are cheap, go live in a better place, pay a little more, and have a much better lifestyle.
 
Steven Allen said:
What will happen is that there will be a home shortage in just a few years as nobody is really building and that will cause sharp increases in homes as a result. Every boom has a bust and every bust has a boom. Mark my words.
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Hard to say. I hope no one here got hurt too bad.
The question is how low will it go and how long will it stay flat?
I think in Japan it's taken 30 years or so of no movement after their housing mess.
 
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jond said:
Hard to say. I hope no one here got hurt too bad.
The question is how low will it go and how long will it stay flat?
I think in Japan it's taken 30 years or so of no movement after their housing mess.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure we've seen the bottom of housing, the latest news indicated many areas are on the rise, although at a very slow pace.

You can't really compare Japan vs US because it's like apple and oranges.

These 2 countries have very different policies. One example is Japan has very low immigration compare to the US. Also, their national debt is owned by their citizens vs. a big portion of our debt is owned by other countries.

What we need right now is a government that's pro growth and pro business to simulate the growth. Unfortunately the current administration is not doing their part of the job.
 
I live in the Toledo area. Yea there are some cheap houses here but it doesn't suck. There are great places like point place where you can live on maumee river or lake Erie for great price and its good area. I personally enjoy the weather changes also. Summer is great to be out on the water which there are a lot of lakes in Michigan and some of the smaller ones you can get cottage/land dirt cheap and in winter it is great to snowmobile and have fun in the snow. When it is time for a vacation it is only a days drive to the east coast or Florida and the Appalachian mountains are even closer. A trip to the Appalachian mountains can be nicer then you think to just google Tail of the Dragon. EDIT: Forgot that cedar point (greatest coaster park in the world) is just an hour away and 2 Six Flags are very close also Chicago, Atlanta and kings island
 
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If these prices are true, it's like you can trade in your NSX for a house with big land :eek:

That's unbelievable.

Note to all NSX owners: Sell your cars and buy yourself a house and become a landlord.
 
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Ultraman said:
I'm pretty sure we've seen the bottom of housing, the latest news indicated many areas are on the rise, although at a very slow pace.
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And we are going to stay at this bottom for quite a while. Foreclosures are still continuing at a steady pace and 95% of loans being written are FHA because banks can no longer sell the mortgages off their balance sheets. So the loan either has to be "golden" for the bank to carry it, or all the t's have to be crossed and i's dotted to get a FHA loan through.



sent from my crappy cell phone.
 
I live in Grand Rapids and enjoy this area very much. Have been in many different states but always long to go home to Michigan. I have a six year old home I had built with three bedrooms, finished basement and four stall garage. The house is mostly brick and sits on 3/4 acres in the city. The house is assessed at a value of $165,000. Those who trash West Michigan have not visited West Michigan. The people are warm and friendly.
 
Demand is already high in CA due to low inventory. Currently 1.5 months of available inventory in SF, and only 2.5 months in LA.

You listening Steveny? Here's your early warning.
 
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