Poll: Annual Housing cost/SF

[samclem]

$9 now, will be about $5 when the mortgage is paid off--about a decade from now (no hurry).

Kinda interesting to think that every square foot of this place costs us $0.75 per month. And yet, much of the cost wouldn't change a lot if we downsized. We'd still use the same amount of hot water, etc. Hey, ya gotta live somewhere . . .

 

[eta2020]

15-16 bucks a sqft. Western Suburbs of Boston, mortgage free.

Almost 50% of it is property taxes.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Under $6 ($4.65) in North East Florida. 3,300sqft 1 mile from the beach. No Mortgage.

 

[braumeister]

I think adding in mortgage P&I renders your poll less useful than it could be.

No doubt.
I included mortgage payments just because they normally go on for many years.
I did intend to list water/sewer cost, but just forgot to.

Since this is not a scientific poll, and I'm not related to Copernicus (a scientific Pole), I figured everyone could interpret the "rules" to their own satisfaction.

Even with only a small number of responses, it's already very interesting!

 

[Danmar]

I came in at about $15. This includes a fair bit of repair/maintenance/upgrading and professional management when we are not there. The Arizona house is the most expensive at about $20/ft. Every place is over $10/ft. No mortgages.

 

[btdt22]

Lake front home in mid-west with no mortgage= $5.40/sf

With just the basics; utilities, maintenance, tax & insurance drops to $2.75/sf

 

[Totoro]

Under $20, renter in urban city, The Netherlands. It's almost all rent.

Was tempted to included part of the car since I consider much of that cost as a result of not living in the inner city.

 

[Taxman59]

$9.75 per foot, $2.50 after mortgage is gone
Mid size NC city suburban

 

[prototype]

$12.48 - Renting Large TH in outer Va. "burbs" of DC.

Used the 2800 sq. ft. living space (per county tax records) not sure it's all really usable or in some cases even used or needed since there are just 2 of us. 2 car garage and deck sq footage not included.

 

[dunkelblau]

Mine is exactly $25/sqft so I can't vote. Coastal southern California suburb. My previous place in suburban south San Jose was $38/sqft when I left two years ago; I just checked and they're offered at $48/sqft now.

 

[VFK57]

Our home is paid for so there is no mortgage, it reduces the cost per sq ft.

 

[rodi]

$7.50/ sf. Paid off mortgage and temperate climate. It was $22.50 when we had the mortgage.

 

[W2R]

Kinda interesting to think that every square foot of this place costs us $0.75 per month. And yet, much of the cost wouldn't change a lot if we downsized. We'd still use the same amount of hot water, etc. Hey, ya gotta live somewhere . . .

For some reason, when I first looked at this poll I assumed that larger places (like a 4500 sf three story home, for example) would have lower upkeep per square foot than smaller places (like a 1000 sf one story home). But to me it seems difficult to find any pattern like that from casually reading this thread.

 

[samclem]

Kinda interesting to think that every square foot of this place costs us $0.75 per month. And yet, much of the cost wouldn't change a lot if we downsized. We'd still use the same amount of hot water, etc. Hey, ya gotta live somewhere . . .

For some reason, when I first looked at this poll I assumed that larger places (like a 4500 sf three story home, for example) would have lower upkeep per square foot than smaller places (like a 1000 sf one story home). But to me it seems difficult to find any pattern like that from casually reading this thread.

Some of my square feet are definitely pulling their weight more than others. My kitchen, bathroom, and MBR square feet should be grousing at my basement and guest bedroom square feet to be more useful.
If the "authorities" came around and actually charged me a buck per month for each square foot actually in use, and if I could just section off and "cede" unused square feet in my house to avoid the charge, I'd probably clean out a lot of junk and tell guests I'd be happy to put them up at a nearby hotel when they visit.

 

[6miths]

I'm thinking between USD 6 and 8 (in the Toronto area) depending on what maintenance needs to be done. Looking forward to downsizing and losing the pool. I'd be interested to here the numbers sans rent/mortgage. No mortgage here.

 

[zinger1457]

About 2.7 here in SE Arizona. Mortgage is paid off, cost of living is relatively low in this area, mild year round weather so no extreme heating/cooling costs.

 

[W2R]

Some of my square feet are definitely pulling their weight more than others. My kitchen, bathroom, and MBR square feet should be grousing at my basement and guest bedroom square feet to be more useful.
If the "authorities" came around and actually charged me a buck per month for each square foot actually in use, and if I could just section off and "cede" unused square feet in my house to avoid the charge, I'd probably clean out a lot of junk and tell guests I'd be happy to put them up at a nearby hotel when they visit.

That's essentially what I did when I moved from a 3 BR house to my 2 BR dream house. So far, it has worked out much better than I had thought it would. As in, nobody really cares except me, and I'll survive. I have saved considerable $$ compared with buying a larger house.

 

[stepford]

If we're going to get persnickety about "useful" square feet then I should certainly add my garage (which includes my laundry and shop areas). This would add about 40% to the "official" living area of my house and drop my $7/sf down to about $5.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I'm at about 7.25

 

[Mulligan]

About $8.... Still have a mortgage payment.

 

[sheehs1]

In southeast Virginia and if I include:
1. Homeowners insurance
2) Property Taxes
3) Utilities (electric, water, sewer and trash)
4) T.V. and Internet

It's $3.2 dollar/sf

If I add in $5,000/year for mulch and the occasional handy man to help mulch and weed beds and prune trees I can not get to, then it's $4.6 dollars /sf.

I cut my own grass, do not have a mortgage and do not have a maid. (although, thinking about it!).

I did not include that projects I elect to do for improvements (which have been plenty the last 3 years!) or projects coming down the pike, such as a new roof.

 

[scrabbler1]

About $14 PSF for a studio apartment in a co-op on Long Island. I have no mortgage but my co-op has its underlying mortgage. Besides the list of expenses, I include my monthly parking fee to park in my building's indoor, heated parking garage.

 

[Tom52]

1477 sq ft ranch in rural Iowa with the following yearly expenses:
Taxes $2708
Insurance $900
Gas/elect. $1800
Water/sewer $450
So just the re-occuring yearly costs are $5,158 or $3.49/sq ft
I consider internet/cable TV as entertainment, not cost of housing, but since it is listed in the poll that would be another $1,800/yr which would increase the total to $4.71/sq ft
If I estimate what is average spend for repairs, lawn maintenance and occasional roof, water heater, furnace a/c replacement, etc. it would probably add at least $5,000/yr which would increase the total to $8.10/sq ft. We do not have a mortgage.

 

[fleefromhome]

$16 per square foot in suburban Central Ohio with mortgage for 5 more years.
$7 without mortgage.

 

[CaliKid]

A lot depends on what you include. We spend a lot but we send an extra couple grand a month at the mortgage. Plus last year we probably spent $25k on improvements and repairs. Might spend more this year on home improvements if I am not able to slow things down with my better half. Lol.