Most affordable housing areas: "Why not Minot?"

[Nords]

Business Week has published Coldwell Banker's home price comparison index.

The average home prices of the 10 cheapest areas:
Minot, N.D. $132,300
Killen, Tex. $140,310
Arlington, Tex. $140,975
Grayling, Mich. $144,250
Topeka, Kan. $148,050
Canton, Ohio $148,333
Tulsa, Okla. $148,575
Billings, Mont. $150,141
Fort Worth, Tex. $151,250
Cadillac, Mich. $151,530.

From Coldwell Banker's website:  "HPCI subject homes are based upon a single-family dwelling model with approximately 2,200 sq.ft., 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, family room (or equivalent) and 2-car garage. Surveyed homes and neighborhoods are typical for corporate middle-management transferees."

By their math our $850K home near Honolulu (which has just about the same specs as the HPCI) would be worth $5.6M $130K in Minot... seems about right.

 

[Sam]

Using that standard, I guesstimate $160K for Houston.

 

[REWahoo]

Killen, Tex. $140,310

Actually it is Killeen, not Killen (pronounced "kill-lean" rather than "killin"). Of course if you spent much time there or at nearby Ft. Hood, you might think the spelling in the article is the more accurate description.

 

[bbuzzard]

I can personally testify that there are no neighborhoods in Kileen with $140,000 houses that a typical middle managment transfer would be willing to live in. Kileen is a very transient town, with many testosterone filled young men milling about.

 

[REWahoo]

I can personally testify that there are no neighborhoods in Kileen with $140,000 houses that a typical middle managment transfer would be willing to live in. Kileen is a very transient town, with many testosterone filled young men milling about.

Ya' mean like Elvis?

Elvis Presley's Killeen rental home while stationed at Ft Hood:

 

[lets-retire]

To answer the question, "Why not Minot?" Freezin's the reason.

 

[REWahoo]

To answer the question, "Why not Minot?" Freezin's the reason.

Plus the fact the telephone pole is the state tree in North Dakota. Not that there aren't lots of very nice people living there, mind you...

 

[Caroline]

how many reasons do you need, Nords? I'm betting that whatever the number, I can come up with them...

 

[MJ]

Seems rather high for ND unless it includes 150 acres.

 

[Lazarus]

Well, I have not lived at Minot but I have lived at Loring AFB. No thanks to the winters. It could not ever be cheap enough.

 

[Telly]

A few years ago I came across data that showed North Dakota had the lowest crime rate of all of the states. It was interesting that Wyoming, which has the least number of people of any state, did not have a crime rate as low as ND. Maybe people are so spread out in ND, that a gang can only exist over the telephone! 

 

[Brat]

I think Wyo crime rate is impacted by the transient workforce in their prime industries: oil and mining. Drink to much, drive to fast, get in bar fights.

 

[Nords]

how many reasons do you need, Nords?

Lemme put that in perspective.

When I was on my first submarine in 1984, making 90-day patrols of the North Atlantic in wintertime and generally regarded as a scum-sucking FLOB*, life pretty much sucked while I studied and tried to qualify at something. I attracted plenty of attention, but the consolation was that I had plenty of company.

Life seemed to suck even worse for the department heads-- except for the Navigator, an O-4 named Dan Konkle. No matter how many pieces of his equipment broke, no matter how many times the OOD couldn't get a fix on the Navsat, no matter how his people screwed up on the training drills, no matter how many times the boss yelled at him-- he kept a quiet smile of contentment on his face. Sometimes, when he thought no one was looking, you could even catch him grinning.

Sensing that he shared the sacred secret to submarine success, I asked him how he was able to keep such a cheerful perspective. He told me: "I grew up in a small town in North Dakota called Minot. Their motto was 'Why Not Minot?' and now I know why not. I'm just happy to be here instead of there and to know that no matter how bad things are now, I'll never have to go back to Minot!"

*Free-Loading Oxygen Breather

 

[wabmester]

I recently visited McAllen, TX, which some list recently highlighted as one of the 10 most undervalued places in the country. I wasn't expecting much (except for fire ants, scorpions, etc).

I was pleasantly surprised. The weather is similar to South FL or even HI. The infrastructure is amazingly robust, including a small international airport. It reminds me of Orange County, CA about 10 years ago. Basically, the place has been growing like crazy since NAFTA was ratified (the city is a few miles from the Mexican border).

You can get houses there for under $100/sq ft.

 

[justin]

You can get houses there for under $100/sq ft.

This statement had me laughing. It is rather easy to find plenty of houses in many non-bubble areas for under $100/sf. From my admittedly non-bubble perspective, $100/sf is where houses start to get "expensive". Of course folks in bubble areas would be happy to snap up houses for under $200/sf.

By the way, there is a walmart in Minot, so it can't be that bad.

 

[wabmester]

This statement had me laughing.  It is rather easy to find plenty of houses in many non-bubble areas for under $100/sf.  From my admittedly non-bubble perspective, $100/sf is where houses start to get "expensive".  Of course folks in bubble areas would be happy to snap up houses for under $200/sf. 

I used $100/sqft as a benchmark because you normally can't build for less than that. But the building costs in parts of TX must be less than that, because you can buy new homes (even near Austin) for around $80/sqft.

I saw homes in McAllen for as low as $40/sqft, but I wouldn't want to live in one.

 

[haha]

Are you considering McAllen as a "get out of the dark" spot for winter?

Ha

 

[wabmester]

Are you considering McAllen as a "get out of the dark" spot for winter?

Not for me, but supposedly the population doubles in winter due to migration of North Texans.

 

[justin]

I used $100/sqft as a benchmark because you normally can't build for less than that. But the building costs in parts of TX must be less than that, because you can buy new homes (even near Austin) for around $80/sqft.

I saw homes in McAllen for as low as $40/sqft, but I wouldn't want to live in one.

Construction and land costs are extremely regional. If you have cheap immigrant labor and no unions, its cheap to build houses.

Here's a brand new house listed at $72.50/sf built by KB homes in Raleigh NC. $165,990 for 2,291 sf:
http://www.kbhome.com/Plan~PlanID~01350159-235.2290.aspx

Granted, KB isn't a luxury homebuilder, but nonetheless, it is really easy for them to build good, decent homes for uner $100/sf - they've got a ton of em.

 

[wabmester]

Construction and land costs are extremely regional.  If you have cheap immigrant labor and no unions, its cheap to build houses.

Yeah, rub it in. Land costs are the big driver in my locale -- nothing under $200/sqft, and desirable places go for $400/sqft.

 

[Brat]

Not for me, but supposedly the population doubles in winter due to migration of North Texans.

Yes, and labor contractors trying to entice recent immigrants to come north.  The yarns spun imply that streets paved with money.

 

[REWahoo]

Yes, and labor contractors trying to entice recent immigrants to come north. The yarns spun imply that streets paved with money.

Not only that, but they will be able to escape TX and the fire ants, scorpions, rattlers, dust storms, hailstorms, tornadoes, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty beaches, polluted air, droughts, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, rednecks, unbelievably high property taxes, and lack of real estate appreciation.

(You didn't think I'd let an opportunity like this pass, now did you? )

 

[73ss454]

REW,

I was going to drive to Texas to see the Alamo one day. I think I'll stay home. What made Santa Anna's men want to go there??

 

[REWahoo]

I was going to drive to Texas to see the Alamo one day. I think I'll stay home. What made Santa Anna's men want to go there??

Not sure they did.

When Sam Houston surprised and defeated Santa Anna and his army at San Jacinto, the Texicans cried "Remember the Alamo!" as they attacked. Rumor has it Santa Anna's men yelled back (in Spanish, of course) "Ve vas yust followink orders!"

 

[Nords]

Not only that, but they will be able to escape TX and the fire ants, scorpions, rattlers, dust storms, hailstorms, tornadoes, killer bees, mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, tarantulas, copperheads, cottonmouths, rabid skunks, wild hogs, oppressive heat & humidity, bleak desolate scenery, dirty beaches, polluted air, droughts, wildfires, water shortages, recurring floods, rednecks, unbelievably high property taxes, and lack of real estate appreciation.

I think you have this saved in a word-processor file that you call up with a few macro keystrokes.

Just like JG's five posts...