The amazing variance in the cost of housing...

This thread suggests to me that, outside of the coasts, housing prices are really pretty consistent.
 
Bamaman said:
NW Alabama-:3 bedrooms, 3 full baths and 2620 square feet upstairs. 9-10 foot ceilings and a oversized double car garage. Basement is another 2620 square feet with 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths and another double car garage. Man cave is 26' X 47' with 10 ft.ceilings and trimmed out like upstairs. $298k. Taxes are about $1700.

Houses on the street are up to 10,500 square feet and lots are 150' X 220'.
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I may have to move to AL. :)

My place is 3bd/1ba and only costs $110,000 but I pay $2300 in taxes.
 
aaronc879 said:
I may have to move to AL. :)

My place is 3bd/1ba and only costs $110,000 but I pay $2300 in taxes.
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Alabama's sales tax averages 8% between state and local levies. Wisconsin is at 5.5% in most of the state.
 
Mr._Graybeard said:
Alabama's sales tax averages 8% between state and local levies. Wisconsin is at 5.5% in most of the state.
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Unless they raised it and I didn't notice, the sales tax by me is just 5%. I think it's higher in Madison and some other places. I don't usually leave the Fox Valley though.
 
MichaelB said:
That's 'cause their sports teams are losers and the weather sucks ..
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I'm not from Illinois, but IIRC, the Cubs won the World Series about two years ago. Compare that to many teams which can't even break 500.

I know we are in trouble again this year as they keep advertising stuff like "Come out to the Park to see Joe Shlabotnik play in his 371st game of his career". But, we never hear "Come out to the park and help the Roosters battle for 1st place in there division."

Pathetic.
 
Chuckanut said:
Jobs and salaries drive home prices. .
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Right - which is why it is so tempting for retired folks to sell their home in the suburbs and buy a really nice home (for a LOT less) with some land in a place where jobs are scarce. If you don't need to find work, there are many decent places to live in the interior portions of the country where you can live comfortably for a lot less $$.
 
RAE said:
If you don't need to find work, there are many decent places to live in the interior portions of the country where you can live comfortably for a lot less $$.
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Very true. And the quality of life is still very high in many ways except for dollars.

I expect my children leave this area when they are out of school, due to the high cost of living here. I will probably follow them.
 
It would cost right around a million dollars for a an older, 3 bedroom detached house here - Bay Area suburb.
 
Chuckanut said:
I'm not from Illinois, but IIRC, the Cubs won the World Series about two years ago. Compare that to many teams which can't even break 500.
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And I think that the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup 3 of the last 7 years. I remember a guy named Jordan too and a pretty good basketball team but maybe that is too long ago to qualify. (No mention of Da Bears! as 30 years is quite a while although they did lose in the Super Bowl in 2007.)
 
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Chuckanut said:
I'm not from Illinois, but IIRC, the Cubs won the World Series about two years ago. Compare that to many teams which can't even break 500.
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Uh, yeah, the Cubs won the WS - once in a century. Gonna be a long wait 'til the next one ... :)

6miths said:
And I think that the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup 3 of the last 7 years. I remember a guy named Jordan too and a pretty good basketball team but maybe that is too long ago to qualify. (No mention of Da Bears! as 30 years is quite a while although they did lose in the Super Bowl in 2007.)
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Last century. Doesn't count.


I lived there when I was younger, and still spend part of the year there. And the weather still sucks. :)
 
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Yes it is hard to argue on the weather particularly for that nasty part of the year (and even the summer can be too far in the other direction for some) . And I know nothing better than poking fun at someone else's teams! ;)
 
Small town in northern Connecticut. 2100 sq ft 3/2 contemporary ranch built in 1991 on one acre. Property tax is $6k. Bought in 2016 for $290k; Zillow values it at $285k. Given CT's fiscal mess, I expect the taxes to rise and house values to drop.
 
PoorOldCountryBoy said:
Keep in mind the building codes in the Northeast are far more costly for good reason. Snow loads, a full basement due to frost and severe weather impact the costs.
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Yes, but....
It is usually about the land cost. Most large cities cannot expand more than 2-3 directions due to wide rivers, oceans, mountains, whatever. That creates a shortage of easy commute areas, and increases prices. In the Midwest, South and much of the West, many cities expand in all four directions, allowing more options.

Regarding commutes: In D.C., commuting seems to be the big deal in housing. My BIL (military) noted that the further away he was from the Pentagon, the more $$ he saved when he was house shopping. Of course, many people do not want the hours plus commute...
 
Midcentury 3 BR brick ranches on 1/2 acre in our Midwest location run about $150-$180k. 20 min. to city of nearly 1 million people-arts, professional sports, museums, International airport. Property taxes are about $1200 for owner occ. Extra land will cost $15-25k an acre.

This is part of the reason why many can retire for under 1 Million in invest able assets, if they are willing to relocate.
 
Chicago Illinois suburbs: 2200 sq. ft., 1/8 acre lot, 4/2.5, taxes = $16k, value=$600k
 
I don't think there is anything amazing about the variance of real estate prices. It's a free market and priced by what the market will bring.

Supply and demand, same as it always was.
 
Three reasons for the variance: Location; Location; Location.
 
MichaelB said:
That's 'cause their sports teams are losers and the weather sucks ..
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What?!

I'm from Chicago originally, and almost spit out my coffee when I read this.
Agree about the weather... But let's look at the facts:
'Hawks 2010, 2013, 2015 stanley cup champs
Cubbies 2016 world series champions
Sox: 2005 World Series Champions
Bulls, well 6 NBA titles in 10 years in the 90's says something.
Bears - OK yeah... It's been a while

So, really, you can't make a general statement like that without pushback :cool:
 
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rayinpenn said:
Care to share what a 3 bedroom, 2 bath rancher with enough room for a couple tomato plants cost in your neck of the woods?
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In my zip code, in an inner suburb of New Orleans, asking prices right now for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath one story SFH on a small lot with enough room to grow a few tomato plants are between $245K-$525K.

The $245K home is ~1700 sf, and the $525K home is ~3100 sf. Relative to the rest of the country, these are neither rock bottom nor the highest home prices.

As for the ongoing debate about Chicago, there is only ONE thing to know. Who cares about sports (not me, anyway). Chicago is the home of the Museum of Science and Industry, the most wonderful, fabulous, mind-boggling museum I ever saw (from what I now remember from my visit in 1956, anyway). That says it all.
 
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Eugene-Springfield area of Oregon. 3/2 ranch home, attached 2 car garage, built in 1976, 1781 sqft on 2.84 acres (no idea how many tomato plants would fit!) Bought in 2006 (near a market high) for ~350k.

As of April 2018, Redfin (Zillow doesn't seem to know our home exists) claims a current market estimate of ~$430k.
The Chase bank home value estimator gives a range of ~$375k to ~$588k.
I am skeptical of the high skew by both tools - prior to using those tools my own assessment was ~$380k.

At least in our area, it looks to me that these online estimation tools are estimating too high. I've seen homes go up for sale near Zillow's estimates and invariably after several months the sellers drop their asking price to make the sale - this in a market that had an average 1.9 month inventory during 2017.
 
W2R said:
As for the ongoing debate about Chicago, there is only ONE thing to know. Who cares about sports (not me, anyway). Chicago is the home of the Museum of Science and Industry, the most wonderful, fabulous, mind-boggling museum I ever saw (from what I now remember from my visit in 1956, anyway). That says it all.
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Agree on the Museum of Science and Industry. That and the Museum of Natural History. Both awesome.
With that, I end my digression :)
 
I live in a small waterfront neighborhood on the border of Sarasota and Bradenton . The homes vary from tiny two or three bedroom ranches to large waterfront homes . The prices vary from $350,000 for a tear down to $900,000.Taxes are based on purchase price so I pay the same taxes on my 4,000 sq. foot home as my neighbor pays on their 1600 sq. foot home.
 
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