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How much does a starter home cost where you live?

  1. prettylizy

    GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts

    We bought a 3 bdr 2 bath Raised Ranch in an established area for $190 2 years ago. Mind you, we're in a smaller town about a 30 minute drive from the nearest city.

  2. HLK208

    pineapple / 12234 posts

    For our starter home we decided to buy a flipped house. It's 1500sqft and sold for 121k before it was remodeled. The location is prime though for being south of Seattle. We live near a golf course that will be hosting the US open in 2015 so we're banking on our neighborhood's value increasing.
    We bought the 1/2 acre property for around $230k. It's decent but we'd rather be in Seattle. Townhomes in Seattle start at $200k.

  3. kayakgirl73

    clementine / 750 posts

    In the DC burbs in a good school district you need at least 500,000 and that still at least a 45 min commute into the city. We own a condo about 4 miles outside of the beltway near metro but not quite walking distance and my hubs paid 352,000 back in 2005. It now would sell for 270,000. We are doomed. Almost makes me want to scrap TTC and be a DINK.

  4. LuLu Mom

    GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts

    We bought our first home a year ago in Lincoln, Nebraska, 3 BR/2 1/2 Bath for 150K, and it is only 5 years old. We are looking to build new in about 5 years and we are looking at 250K for a 4 BR/3 Bath with some land. We are fortunate to have a lower cost of living here!

  5. twodoghouse

    honeydew / 7230 posts

    I live in Central IL where the cost of living is extremely low. Our starter home was about $220k in 2008. It's 4 bed, 2.5 bath, finished basement but needed some work (we've put on a new roof, completely changed the landscaping, etc.)

    I have noticed though that the idea of different people's "starter home" really varies. I know a married couple that bought in 2010 and they have a much smaller (2 bedroom), older house, but it is in really good shape. They bought it for around $70k. The cost of homes really varies around here depending on what neighborhood/school district you're in.

  6. LAGS

    clementine / 916 posts

    In Central Maine you can get into a 3 bed house starting around $100,000 if you want to do some work. Otherwise, you could find a moderately updated starter home for about $150,000. Although I'd NEVER encourage anyone to move to central Maine despite the cheap homes!

  7. Mrs.KMM

    grapefruit / 4355 posts

    DH and I are looking to move (and buy a house in) Atlanta soon and we're looking to spend around $200K to get a nice (aka new-ish and has some extras like hardwood, granite, etc) 3-4 BR, 2+ bath house.

  8. Rescuemom10

    pear / 1965 posts

    I live in Northern WA. I decent starter home would be around 220-250k around here. We bought ours a little over a year ago now. We wanted more land, and wanted something we would stay in and not a starter. So we got a 3 bedroom 3 bath 2330sf on 2.5 acres. was valued and for sale at 340k, which was low. They took 300k. Motivated sellers. we lucked out. Wife was already in HI and waiting on her DH (retire) so they said YES when we offered 300k. Very lucky.

  9. Mrs. Pickle

    blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts

    I live in Northeast Houston. My husband and I just bought our first home. It has 2200 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2 car detached garage. It was built in 1984. We bought it for $139,900. The standard of living in Texas is amazing.

  10. keiki_mama

    nectarine / 2504 posts

    We live in the bay area (California) and a starter home will cost us somewhere in the ballpark of $500,000. We're still saving our pennies for a down payment.

  11. lavender

    grapefruit / 4554 posts

    We live in a suburb 45 mins south of Boston, and bought our starter home 3 years ago (at the tale end of the housing bubble). It was built in 1994 and is 1700 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath with a finished basement for just over $300k.

  12. DillonLion

    GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts

    WOW I am thankful for where I live. We are in our starter home and it is a 3 bed/2 bath single family home in a nice neighborhood and it is about 5 years old. 1700 sq feet. It cost us $127K, It was in perfect condition and needed absolutely no work. We are in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas.

  13. 808love

    pomelo / 5866 posts

    400k for a 3bdrm/ 1.5 bath. That is a good deal. Maybe a couple neighborhoods slightly cheaper, almost all way more expensive. Very simple home...outer suburbs. We said it's going to be our forever home. That was 2 years ago. Hmmmm, that may change one day.

  14. yoursilverlining

    eggplant / 11824 posts

    We’re in southern Maine and a decent home in the areas we want will be $300k+ for 3bed/2bath. We bought a condo several years ago for $250k which has retained (and gained) its value, thankfully. Putting 20% cash down on both purchases (plus equity for the second home) helps, luckily we live in an area where its not impossible to save 20%.

  15. meaganceleste

    apricot / 302 posts

    We're in Dallas and we've been looking at smallish homes (3/2, less than 1500sqft) in the $150-$200k range in the city. We're trying to stay in a decent school district without moving to the suburbs because we love being close to everything, but we haven't found a house we love yet.

  16. mrskc

    bananas / 9357 posts

    I'm in the central valley of California, and homes in my neighborhood are going for the low 100s. You can definitely find a decent home for under 150k.

  17. BSB

    hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts

    Oh, before I moved out to Seattle, we were house shopping in the suburbs of Philadelphia (Chester County). We were looking at starter homes in the $200k range. We were looking for homes in the $190k range. We had to look in cities where the school system wasn't the best. It would definitely be a starter home for us since we would have to move before we put kids in school.

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