One of the areas I'm job hunting in, it looks like my budget will need to be in the high $300s to buy a home with a yard, reasonable commute and good school district.
I know cost of living is different all over the country but I'm curious how far that would go within our HB community.
clementine / 770 posts
My town house cost about that much. Nice community and good schools but not a large home .
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
try doubling that. 
ETA - just did a real estate search in our town. There were 2 homes under $350K - one is a total fixer upper. One seems ok, just not updated at all and in a really remote location.
cantaloupe / 6634 posts
Depends on how you define "nice. " I have a feeling my expectations are lower than most bees.
clementine / 777 posts
No, we would have to live in the absolute scariest part of town and send our kid to public school (not a good idea in New Orleans).
pomelo / 5298 posts
Potentially. But my current dream house is harder to find because it's a single story, 4 bedrooms, pool and two car garage. Single story homes with all of those and a good district are hard to come by. Our current home is less than $300K and we are in a good district.
honeydew / 7622 posts
Yes- to a nice house, but the schools here are not top ranked in the state. For high 300s yes you could buy in top districts. But I love our town and DD will possibly go to private school.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Nope. Add $1 million to it.
A reasonable house in my town costs at least $500k. We just happen to not have invested in our school district, so we're in shambles, which is why my son is going the magnet route.
coconut / 8861 posts
In our suburb, you could definitely find a nice house in that price range. Back in the city, $300,000 was a little bit less than what we paid for our 2 bed, 2 bath condo.
In our old neighborhood, we got priced out of the single family home market. It was too expensive to buy a small single family home and then tangle with the messed up public school district.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
Yes! 300K would get you a really nice 4-bedroom, 2500-3000 sq ft house in my area. And the schools are excellent.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
@simplyfelicity: I know turn key is probably probably more than nice. So I think nice as in some of the rooms have been updated but still might need a bit of work.
pomelo / 5326 posts
You can get a nice brick, 2 story house in a good neighborhood with great schools for 300k CDN in my city. The neighborhood we choose to live in is quite a bit more expensive. A budget of 300k would get a small bungalow here.
pomelo / 5628 posts
Ha ha ha ha ha....
Some of the less central areas still with decent schools 500+
best areas/ districts 850+ less central, 1mil+ central.
watermelon / 14467 posts
Maybe. But you're not guaranteed to get the best school in your zone. Our county is weird. The next county over...haha not a chance. A few counties south... yes, it would be a sweet house, but then your commute is about an hour.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
@Adira: really?! I thought you lived in the same town as my parents? I may be wrong though!
grapefruit / 4545 posts
In a good school district...yes. In the most desirable area no.
In a solid school district here $300K would get you either 3k sq ft in a "good" area - relatively new. Or it would get you 1500-2000 sq ft in a great area and great district.
Taxes would be awful in the "great" ones...probably $5-6K a year.
persimmon / 1129 posts
Funny to see the differences! We live in the suburbs in the Midwest. $300,000 would get you a VERY nice house in the best school district in town. $175,000 would get you a normal nice house in the same district.
nectarine / 2641 posts
Yes, although $350 would be a more comfortable number. Median house price is $250. It's all one district, but in terms of individual schools, the houses near the best ones fall in that range.
pear / 1593 posts
$300-325k would get you a beautiful renovated ranch with a decent yard, curb appeal, and our target elementary school about 20-30min outside of downtown metro area. Move about 3-4 miles closer to town, and the same type of house with a lesser school district would cost $375-500k.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
Sort of? Depends on what you mean by nice house. You definitely couldn't get a new, super large, super nice house for that price, but our house was about that and what I would call a pseudo-fixer upper. Not a lot of major work, but quite a bit of cosmetic fixes.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@winniebee: I grew up around there, so yes, there it would! But I live closer to Boston now. You can definitely get a nice house for $300k where I live, but it won't be in a good school district! Or you can get a house in a good school district for $300k, but it won't be that nice!
honeydew / 7303 posts
Where I am now, absolutely.
Where I am moving in less than 2 months, NOPE!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
@Mrs D: I would bet taxes would be more than that!
Yep a decent house in a good school district. COL is great here.
honeydew / 7230 posts
Yes, you could get a nice house here for that! Our current (starter) house (4 bedrooms, big yard, the best district in the area) was much less than $300k. We are casually looking for our forever home in the same area, and our our budget is significantly higher than $300k. So there's a wide range.
I'm in central IL. You can all move here and be my neighbors. 
pear / 1955 posts
No - there's a single condo for sale in my neighborhood (1br, 537 sq ft) for less than $300K, and our school district is mediocre (rated 6 on GreatSchools.)
eggplant / 11824 posts
No. You could get something small that needed considerable ($$$$) work for $300k in a rural setting which feeds into a good school district, but for $300k you can't have it all: better location + nice home + great school district.
Additionally, we're talking also an additional $6k in taxes yearly, minimum (and likely much higher)
pineapple / 12793 posts
That would not quite get you a studio apartment without nearby schools and no parking. Good commute though!
pomelo / 5084 posts
@bluestriped bee: Nope. The acceptable public school districts here are ridiculous. You are looking at $600,000 for a house. Therefore, we will be staying in the city near work and choosing a private school!
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