Poll: Annual Housing cost/SF

[ExFlyBoy5]

Under $6/SF ($5.03 to be exact) for 2400 SF 'burb of Atlanta (about 30 minutes from downtown). It should be noted that there is no mortgage and includes the following:

Taxes, insurance, all utilities (including internet/TV/alarm) and $5K/ year in maintenance. If I leave the maintenance allocation out, then it's $2.96 per SF.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

That approach would be more accurate with opportunity costs factored in. That cost plus other ongoing costs (taxes, insurance, etc.) would keep it from ever really being negative...as appealing as that might be.

Negative housing cost is a boomerang kid to whom Mom hands $20 each day as the kid walks out the door.

Sorry, I am not sure what the boomerang comment means or the math / logic basis for your generalizations on prices and costs. Do you have a resource link or formula you are using? Many long time owners in California have very low property taxes due to Prop 13 and live in areas with rapidly increasing prices these past few years due to gentrification / yuppification. An extreme example of possibly negative costs would be the uninhabitable hoarder house that sold for $1.8M in Palo Alto.

 

[target2019]

Location is NJ, USA

$-	Mortgage
$-	Rent
$1,100.00	Homeowner’s or Renter’s Insurance (OK to include umbrella)
$-	HOA/condo fees or the equivalent
$1,425.00	Electricity
$1,460.00	Gas/propane/whatever you use to heat/cook
$1,051.80	Internet/TV
$100.00	Landline or VOIP phone
$5,000.00	Typical maintenance/repair cost (averaged)
$12,000.00	Property taxes
$-	Maid/gardener/housekeeper costs (or equivalent)
$660.00	Water
$22,796.80	Subtotal
3000	square footage
$7.60	per sq ft

 

[MikeyInMarin]

Wow - off the top end at $28. I guess that's because I have a fairly small home (1215 SF) in an expensive area (San Rafael).

I included the costs you asked for, but not others like water, sewer, trash. That wouldn't change it much anyway.

There are many reasons the SF Bay area is expensive. If I had to leave due to COL, there is nowhere else (in the US) I'd like to live. Coastal So Cal used to be cheaper, but it seems less so than it used to.

 

[target2019]

Apologies if this comment seems negative, but I'm having a bit of difficulty seeing how the figure of housing cost/sq ft is a useful metric. Housing costs tend to get quite expensive on a per sq ft basis as the space gets smaller - it's not a linear relationship.

I've always liked numbers and am comfortable with them, but am definitely not as analytical as many in this forum. My housing cost turned out at $28.72/sq ft for a 285 sq ft studio apartment in the SF East Bay (including the cost of electricity, internet and landline). Thing is - I'm not really sure how that figure is helpful, other than giving me a number I can post here in order to somehow "compare" with others. More meaningful to me is that in a normal year, I spend around $17K total on this thing called life (isn't that a Prince lyric?)

My financial life is so uncomplicated that it seems to defy any attempt at analysis - at least, in the mind of this simpleton!

Isn't it helpful for someone to know the costs?
Our cost is relatively high, and we know that moving to the urban area means less sq footage. A move to the city means essentially trading a home with higher costs to something much smaller, with similar costs. It is better to have a thread with a variety of costs laid out, so I can view it later, when I move.

We looked at smaller in the same area, and the monthly costs would be similar. We also found that we aren't ready to give up this environment, so we stay for a few more years.

 

[Major Tom]

Isn't it helpful for someone to know the costs?

Obviously, I find it very useful to know the cost of accommodation. I'm just not so sure that the cost per square foot is of use (to me, at least).

When I worked in retail, the metric of "dollars per square foot" (referring to money taken from customers) was much touted. As our particular type of retail went through increasingly challenging times, we developed a new plan based on smaller stores, and did our best to maximize the dollars/sq ft. In retail, it's easy to see why that's a useful metric.

For me, the cost/sq ft of housing is not such a useful figure though, because my quality of life and enjoyment of a living space is not directly related to the actual square footage, or the cost for each of those square feet. There are too many other variables that affect the value of an apartment or house to me, such as whether it has windows with pleasant views, whether it's quiet, in a nice neighborhood, as well as the unquantifiable factors, such as whether it has a good "feel". My last 3 apartments were all bigger than my current place, but this one has so much more character. Hard to express that as a number.

 

[target2019]

Obviously, I find it very useful to know the cost of accommodation. I'm just not so sure that the cost per square foot is of use (to me, at least).

When I worked in retail, the metric of "dollars per square foot" (referring to money taken from customers) was much touted. As our particular type of retail went through increasingly challenging times, we developed a new plan based on smaller stores, and did our best to maximize the dollars/sq ft. In retail, it's easy to see why that's a useful metric.

For me, the cost/sq ft of housing is not such a useful figure though, because my quality of life and enjoyment of a living space is not directly related to the actual square footage, or the cost for each of those square feet. There are too many other variables that affect the value of an apartment or house to me, such as whether it has windows with pleasant views, whether it's quiet, in a nice neighborhood, as well as the unquantifiable factors, such as whether it has a good "feel". My last 3 apartments were all bigger than my current place, but this one has so much more character. Hard to express that as a number.

That is all rational Quality of Life stuff. Very important to longevity. I alluded to that somewhat. To explain our situation, we could go total urban. Would mean significant downsize, but even more important to us now, is losing the "living in the woods" atmosphere. Some are doing their darndest to eliminate the trees and animals in this area. Seeing wildlife each day is very important to us. So the QoL factor we apply more than offsets some additional costs. But you can apply some rank to your living arrangement.