Low cost (habitable!) single family homes

[Walt34]

A post I made on another thread got me to thinking about low priced homes that are actually suitable for someone to live in and where such homes might be found. I'm not talking about the ones that are "handyman specials" or in imminent danger of structural collapse, or in areas where gunfire at night is normal, but suitable to just buy and move into with little to no preparation and are actually affordable for someone who has an average or below-average income.

So at random I picked Clay County, WV in the middle of the state that is a low income area and searched for SF homes. This would be about a four hour drive from where we are. Here is a set of listings I found on trulia.com https://www.trulia.com/for_sale/37....81.371663438262,-79.262288438262_xy/9_zm/2_p/

And this is one listing that at $39.9k asking price from the photos looks to be in move-in condition, although admittedly not the prettiest house I've ever seen. https://www.trulia.com/property/3269299705-3697-Summerlee-Rd-Oak-Hill-WV-25901

Nice to know that if TSHTF we can still afford to buy a SF house!

Closer to where we live the cheapest I found was $89.9k https://www.homesnap.com/WV/Gerrardstown/36-Almond-Trail

So - are there affordable SF houses in your location or do you know where they might be found?

 

[Meadbh]

There are mobile home parks that are both nice and affordable. But SFH prices have gone up rapidly in my area over the past few years.

 

[RunningBum]

When I saw SF I thought you meant San Francisco. Sometimes it's nice for one person to take 5 extra seconds and spell things out so that everyone else doesn't have to guess!

 

[Walt34]

Sorry, I thought it was a common substitute for single family homes. But I guess if one lives near San Fransisco or is familiar with the city that would be a logical assumption to make. I changed the title to make that more clear.

 

[RunningBum]

Thank you. Sorry for being a bit cranky. I was just reading another post in another thread where an acronym was used and I had no idea what it was, and then I came to this thread.

 

[rodi]

I would have to move to the desert to get anything affordable... and even then it wouldn't be very affordable. For about $75k you can get a 2bd/1ba in 29 palms... but it's in need of paint and tlc. (Not falling down... just not fixed up.) Of course in 29 Palms, CA you'll need an AC that works overtime since the summer temps are consistently above 100 degrees. But you have easy access to Joshua Tree.

 

[REWahoo]

A search of my zip code shows a total of 31 single family homes for sale, ranging in asking price from $109.9 to an even $1M.

 

[Another Reader]

A search of my zip code shows 8 single family homes for sale, starting at $1,059,950 for 1,640 square feet. No where near the Bay area will you find anything under $300k. Looks like there are a few out in Stockton, but I would not recommend Stockton as a nice place to live.

 

[braumeister]

Not possible to find one under $100K in my ZIP code, but very easy in the next county over.

 

[Just_Steve]

You can buy cheaper homes out in the sticks around here but you are not going to age in place because they are nowhere near stores or any county services.

 

[euro]

Not possible to find one under $100K in my ZIP code, but very easy in the next county over.

<100k is possible in my area, but only in pretty bad parts of town.

Now, just wait until BlueCollarGuy weighs in for NYC....

 

[imoldernu]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and "Home is where the heart is".

For our first 14 years of retirement, (1990 thru 2004) our Home(s) were split 6 months and 6 months, between Illinois, and Florida.

From a 2400sf home in the Chicago suburbs, we moved into our Woodhaven Lakes Campground Park Model... 400sf, 400sf add-a-room,and 400sf deck. Total annual cost for dues, taxes, water, sewer, basic electricity and insurance is less than $2500. Our cost for the land and the "home" was $50K. We're on a small lake and have access to the two olympic size swimming pools, a sand beach, 17 miles of trails, multiple function buildings and all 7 lakes as well as a managed year round activity schedule. Lots with homes range from $5K to about 80K for lakefront, like ours.

Our Central Florida Lake Griffin Harbor mfg. home 55+ gated park has 350 homes, with Pool, large clubhouse, a 53 slip marina 0n a connected lake system with 212 miles of shoreline and dozens and dozens of activities. Used homes range from $15K and new homes are about $70K. (It's a community where you own your home, but rent the lot on which it's located) Manufactured homes are not typically relocated so it's not considered a trailer park. total home sizes range from about 700sf to about 1300sf. Ours is about 1100sf.

Lest the size of the homes is offputting, I can only say that both communities are so continuously busy with fun things to do, that we never ever felt restricted.

Now, we live in a regular single home 1600sf in our Liberty Village CCRC where we hope to live out our remaining years.... Price range now 170K to 200K. Still going to the lake in the summer, and using the FL home for our kids vacations (ages close to the average age here on ER. )

 

[Cobra9777]

I just checked my little patch of Texas and the average is $192K, with only one for sale under $100K and next closest at $139K. Both houses look fine, small and old, but perfectly livable. The issue is that one is in a very bad part of town and the other is borderline. In smaller towns and more rural areas not too far from here, there are much better options in that price range. If TSHTF to the that degree however, I'd more likely head for the central mountains of Costa Rica.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I just checked my zip code. cheapest 1 family is 599,000, However, its a wreck ad says being sold for land value only. So that doesn't meet your post of suitable to live. Cheapest is 658,888, Its nice and about the size of a shoe box.

 

[Bamaman]

Our zip code is 35630, and it's very affordable on the low end--probably in the $50's for a livible place. If you jump to $100Kish, you've got 3 bedroom all brick with garage.

 

[48Fire]

And this is one listing that at $39.9k asking price from the photos looks to be in move-in condition, although admittedly not the prettiest house I've ever seen. https://www.trulia.com/property/3269299705-3697-Summerlee-Rd-Oak-Hill-WV-25901

A nice little house. Looks very similar to DW grandparents house, where they lived 60 years and raised five children!

When I was contemplating ER, I liked to look at housing minimums. Or maybe if DW gives me the boot

 

[Fedup]

I think you can get mobile home here for $149k.

 

[meierlde]

I just checked and if you don't mind winter the median house price in Decatur In is 92k and the median house price for the entire state is 122 k. Indianapolis median is 133k. If just being near a big city is ok Lebanon IN to the west of Indianapolis has a median of 133 k (the Indy Airport is on the west side of the city, and Lebanon is on the Interstate from Indianapolis to Chicago.) Emporia KS is 89k and the whole state is at 129k. Ar exhibits the same behavior in terms of pricing.
So I suspect its the middle of the country that has the low prices (so called flyover country).

 

[rodi]

If we're doing our zipcode...

33 single family homes for sale or pending (I included pending since there are a couple on my block.

Cheapest is $715k for a 1700sf house.
Priciest is $1.25M
Average price: $869k.

Mind you this is an older neighborhood... Most houses were built in the early 60's (and small) with a few small developments in the 80's... nothing newer than that. Average size of the listings is 2100sf.

 

[aja8888]

Our zip code in The Woodlands, TX (really Conroe, TX zip)

SF homes:

Cheapest - $169,000 (1500 sq ft)

Most expensive - $1,620,000 (5400 sq ft)

 

[brucethebroker]

Sorry, I thought it was a common substitute for single family homes. But I guess if one lives near San Fransisco or is familiar with the city that would be a logical assumption to make. I changed the title to make that more clear.

Usually, the abbreviation is SFR, for single family residence. But, many many not know that one either.

 

[brucethebroker]

Gotta watch those property taxes, though. Cheap home is nice, but if the property taxes are 2%, with min. senior reductions, it may not be a bargain. HOA fees on condos, ditto.

In our area, property taxes are capped at 1%. Homestead credit for owner occ. is a reduction of assessed value by 45k. Low income senior is another reduction, if applicable. I know some seniors whose tax bill is only 1/2 of 1% or less, or around $500 a year on ave. Pretty cheap!

 

[GravitySucks]

Sorry, I thought it was a common substitute for single family homes. But I guess if one lives near San Fransisco or is familiar with the city that would be a logical assumption to make. I changed the title to make that more clear.

I was hoping you were going to link to a SF home under $40K in SF....

 

[haha]

So - are there affordable SF houses in your location or do you know where they might be found?

I guess "affordable"is a term that depends on who is doing the affording. One of my kids just bought a brand new infill 3 bedroom house in a close-in quality but far from luxury neighborhood for $850K. Was this affordable? I guess so, since this young couple got a mortgage and can handle the payments.

Town homes on very crowded lots are going up all around me for $700 to 800K. If you get a full lot for your town home, a $million or so should suffice. For me, definitely not affordable, but it works for lots of young couples since they sell fast, and prices keep going up. For now anyway. My neighbors across the hall are a young couple who just bought their first home. They went a bit North to Northgate, which as I remember is about 5 miles from Seattle CBD. The woman in this couple was kind of pissed, because she has liked living right here where she can walk to her job, and pretty nearly everything else. The man is afraid that if they didn't adjust a little, they would miss the RE train that most think will never stop.

Seattle has always been a boom or bust city, since the gold rush anyway. Boeing continued this pattern. Now we have software, and of course Amazon. Most people think these are more stable sources of employment, but for me this remains to be seen. Clearly these programmers and engineers are very skilled and intelligent. But I lived in SoCal during the big aerospace crash in the early 70s, and then came here to see any even bigger aerospace crash. All these engineers and technicians were also very smart and well educated/trained. We'll see I guess. I am glad I own my place, but I am also glad that I am not faced by buying at today's prices.

And no, I don't think that there are any "affordable" houses in the sense that your original original post suggested, at least not within 100 miles.

Ha

 

[haha]

A search of my zip code shows 8 single family homes for sale, starting at $1,059,950 for 1,640 square feet. No where near the Bay area will you find anything under $300k. Looks like there are a few out in Stockton, but I would not recommend Stockton as a nice place to live.

Not if you want to go on living anyway.

Ha