Curious: Prices of Houses where you live

snake_lady

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I know pricing is a little bit skewed right now, but it still reflects the cost of living where you are which can vary greatly.

I did this on another board I post on and was amazed at the differences, and that was just Canadian. I have no idea what houses cost in the US, or anywhere else in the world.

So what are the average home costs where you are? Let's say for a 2-3bdr home..... please give a little outline about the house and your area (city/town/country).

Location: Town in Ontario Canada
House: 2 storey, full basement living area
Age: New (we built it 5.5yrs ago)
Land: Lot size is 140 x 40' (comfortable backyard, not huge, but not tiny either)
Bdrms: 4
Bathrooms: 2 full, 1 half + 1 full once we finish the basement
Living room, living room 2, open concept kitchen + dining area, rec room, furnace room, laundry room, snake room (could be a small bedroom, or anything really, except firecode would have something to say if it was a bedroom)

Cost: $250-260K

For the same, in neighbouring city of London, Cost would be upwards of $450-475K.

For the same, in Toronto, cost would be approx. $600-700K (I'm guessing, and I could be very low in that)
 

monaxlisa

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Location: Small town in Maine
House: 2 story colonial, one car double story garage
Age: 100+
Land: 1.25 acres
Bdrms: 5
Bathrooms: 2 full
Downstairs living room, bathroom, closet, bedroom, dining, kitchen, breezeway/laundry (to garage) screened porch. Upstairs four bedrooms, bathroom, closet, three staircases going upstairs/downstairs.
Cost: $125k (its for sale, any buyers!
)
 

white cat lover

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That house would probably be $150,00.

Our house is a 2 story - 4 BR (2 up & 2 down) - 3 Bath (one with whirpool bath - other 2 are showers) - kitchen/living room forming a great room (vaulted 12' ceilings) - family room downstairs - laundry room on main floor - patio & deck - 3 car attached garage - 2 car detached garage - shop - 3 storage sheds - on 4 acres. Cost? $200,000. Master bedroom has walk in closet - 5 large closets simply for storage, all the under the stairs area is for storage, plus a smaller closet for broom storage, etc (cat food
).
 

strange_wings

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I agree, that house would only be about $115 to $150k where I live.

Here the average 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with garage on .3-.5 acres type homes are brick ranch styles built in the 60s or 70s. Most of these homes have fireplaces. These homes usually cost anywhere from $65k to 115k.
Add more land and rooms and the price goes up a little.


Mine is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, living room, den, utility room, detached 2 car garage/shop building, with a fully fenced backyard on around .3-.4 (I think?) acres in a nice neighborhood. It somewhat small at 1390sqft, but it was only $79k. (we do not have or plan to have children)


One that's currently going to $65k is a 4 bedroom, 2 full bath, on more land, but in a smaller town. So it varies.

$150K - 250K here are the rich neighborhoods or some of the newer homes being built in some areas... ironically they've had problems selling some of those new $150k 3bdr homes because they're really not that big. I certainly wouldn't paying $150k around here for something that's only 1900sqft.
 
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snake_lady

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

That house would probably be $150,00.

Our house is a 2 story - 4 BR (2 up & 2 down) - 3 Bath (one with whirpool bath - other 2 are showers) - kitchen/living room forming a great room (vaulted 12' ceilings) - family room downstairs - laundry room on main floor - patio & deck - 3 car attached garage - 2 car detached garage - shop - 3 storage sheds - on 4 acres. Cost? $200,000. Master bedroom has walk in closet - 5 large closets simply for storage, all the under the stairs area is for storage, plus a smaller closet for broom storage, etc (cat food
).
WOW. A house like that here would be at least $350K +, mainly due to the 4acres of land + garages and shop.

We have a 3 tiered deck that we finished this past summer, hottub on the highest part of the deck which is off of our bdrm
Walkin closet in master bedroom, good sized closets in the rest of the bdrms. Closet on 2nd story outside bathroom, closet on main floor by front enterance, closet in rec room. 2 car garage.

Our original blueprints had an additional room on them, but we had to modify them due to spacing between houses laws. A 2-story has to been ummm, 6 or 8ft from the property line, whereas a single story or raised ranch only has to be 4ft away.
 
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snake_lady

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Here the average 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with garage on .3-.5 acres type homes are brick ranch styles built in the 60s or 70s. Most of these homes have fireplaces. These homes usually cost anywhere from $65k to 115k.
Add more land and rooms and the price goes up a little.
$200K here for the above...difference being they are new, as in 0-7yrs old.
My immediate area has mainly raised ranches, and some side splits. There's only 2 other 2 story homes on my street.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

$200K here for the above...difference being they are new, as in 0-7yrs old.
My immediate area has mainly raised ranches, and some side splits. There's only 2 other 2 story homes on my street.
Some parts of town have 2 story homes, and they're very beautiful homes, but the older ones tend to lack one very important thing that Oklahoma heat really makes necessary.... central air. That alone really brings their value down - no one wants a bunch of window units hanging out all their windows and the cost of putting in central can be rather expensive.

I'm quite happy with my 60s ranch style home. It has central, it's brick, there's a fireplace, and once we refinish them there will be nice hardwood floors throughout most of the house. The den has carpet over concrete (converted garage) and the main bathroom has tile - no idea what's lurking under the kitchen linoleum - maybe more hardwood!
Newer homes tend to lack hardwood floors unless it was specified in the design.

...the only downside is that being a 60s ranch style, I have some ugly paneling to get rid of and a bunch of odd woodwork.
 

devanagara

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The housing market is a little haywire here in my area. My boyfriend's parents have found a house that is worth at least 400 k that is selling for 120 k. Unbelievable. It has 4000 square feet, either 4 or 5 bedrooms (can't remember) and a built in pool.
 
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snake_lady

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Some parts of town have 2 story homes, and they're very beautiful homes, but the older ones tend to lack one very important thing that Oklahoma heat really makes necessary.... central air. That alone really brings their value down - no one wants a bunch of window units hanging out all their windows and the cost of putting in central can be rather expensive.

I'm quite happy with my 60s ranch style home. It has central, it's brick, there's a fireplace, and once we refinish them there will be nice hardwood floors throughout most of the house. The den has carpet over concrete (converted garage) and the main bathroom has tile - no idea what's lurking under the kitchen linoleum - maybe more hardwood!
Newer homes tend to lack hardwood floors unless it was specified in the design.

...the only downside is that being a 60s ranch style, I have some ugly paneling to get rid of and a bunch of odd woodwork.
ah yes....the houses I've quoted, 95% of them have central air, central vac. Usually a combo of brick and siding.

When we built, we did not have central air or central vac. We had the piping for central vac... we didn't have a driveway either, just gravel and an unfinished basement.(saved money by doing that. We also did the electrical work ourselves, saved a good chunk of money plus got what WE wanted
) Over the 5.5yrs we've been here, we added the central air, central vac, a stamped colored concrete driveway, and our deck. Next on the list is finishing the lower level....all that's left is the bathroom, and carpeting the rec room... for now we just have some carpet remnants on the floor.

Here's a couple pics to give an idea:

Front:



Back:
 

addiebee

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The variance in the Detroit area is huge.

My boyfriends home in the city is worth about 80-90K, 50 y.o, 2 story brick 3 br 1 1/2 bath - needs a lotta TLC, about 1500 sq feet, city lot.

Mom's home in a very nice suburb with top notch schools about 320K - 40+ yr old home, 4 br 2 f 2 1/2 baths, on 5/8 acre. approz 3400 sq ft.

My home - a condo - also in a very nice suburb - about 100K - 2 br, 2.5 bath, att. garage townhome. about 20 y.o. About 1165 sq ft.

These are what we could likely sell them for - IF we can sell them.

Average home price in the metro area based on some quick internet research: $127,500 (across all neighborhoods/communities)
 

strange_wings

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Beautiful home Snake_Lady! I like your choice of brick.
Your neighbors are a little closer than I'd prefer, though.


Are you going to let the deck weather so that the wood greys and matches the house or did you seal it up to prevent it from weathering? Do all the windows open?


A little hint. Flower beds against the house hold moisture. This can be a problem, especially if termites are an issue in your area. They are here so that's a big no no where I live.
 

Ms. Freya

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...sounds like you're not too far from me, actually.

Location: Town reasonably close to Toronto (less than an hour commute)
House: 1.5 storey, full basement living area
Age: Almost a century. Built circa 1910.
Land: Lot size is 200 x 45'
Bdrms: 3
Bathrooms: 1 - 4pc, 1 - 3pc
Living room, dining room, kitchen, office/bedroom 3, 2 upstairs bedrooms, basement family room/den and craft room (or whatever)
Cost: $175-200K

I love your stonework. I've always like grey stone on homes and I think I have the same stone ringing my flowerbeds.
 

sarahp

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Using redfin.com, and searching only for 4 bedroom houses in my city, the average house price is $1,149,000.


The cheapest is $449,000, there's a couple at around $600,000, and the rest are $800,000 and above. Of the 31 houses meeting the 4 bedroom criteria, 4 of them are over $2 million.

There's also a 5 bedroom home available not too far away for $9 million, and a 7 bedroom home for $38 million!
Check it out - http://www.redfin.com/CA/Los-Altos-H.../home/12473625

This is why we rent, and will NEVER buy in the area!

In the cities directly surrounding us, the average house price is over $2 million in one area, $1.7 mil in another, and $850,000 (and there's a lot of bad areas in that city).

If we wanted to buy a 3 bedroom condo, with around 1500 sq ft., we'd still be looking at around $750,000 probably.
 

hopehacker

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Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

ah yes....the houses I've quoted, 95% of them have central air, central vac. Usually a combo of brick and siding.

When we built, we did not have central air or central vac. We had the piping for central vac... we didn't have a driveway either, just gravel and an unfinished basement.(saved money by doing that. We also did the electrical work ourselves, saved a good chunk of money plus got what WE wanted
) Over the 5.5yrs we've been here, we added the central air, central vac, a stamped colored concrete driveway, and our deck. Next on the list is finishing the lower level....all that's left is the bathroom, and carpeting the rec room... for now we just have some carpet remnants on the floor.

Here's a couple pics to give an idea:

Front:



Back:
This house would probably go for 750,000 to a million, here in Los Angeles, maybe a bit more, depending on the neighborhood.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

So what are the average home costs where you are? Let's say for a 2-3bdr home..... please give a little outline about the house and your area (city/town/country).
i live in a small town [pop 4,150]. my house is under 1000 sq. ft - 2 bdr/1ba/1car garage on a city lot.

similar type [only larger] is available right now for right around 100K.

something similar in size to mine is running around 75K.
 

wellingtoncats

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Chris - your house is GORGEOUS! That would probably sell for around NZ$500,000 here in NZ or US$251,000

For a house here in my area of NZ [built in 1960's, north of the city] - 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, garage, nice section would be NZ$375,000 or US$189,000
 
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snake_lady

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Beautiful home Snake_Lady! I like your choice of brick.
Your neighbors are a little closer than I'd prefer, though.


Are you going to let the deck weather so that the wood greys and matches the house or did you seal it up to prevent it from weathering? Do all the windows open?


A little hint. Flower beds against the house hold moisture. This can be a problem, especially if termites are an issue in your area. They are here so that's a big no no where I live.
Yup, that's one downfall, the closeness of the houses, but I've seen ones with only 2ft between em. Luckily we live in a neighbourhood where most of us get along, its safe and our neighbours all look out for eachother


We chose the grey brick to stand out...most of the other houses are the reddish brick or neutral. When we reseal the driveway it looks GREAT.

The deck is pressure treated, and we were told to let it weather for at least a year. (just finished it in May 2008). We've thought about staining it, because I really don't like how the wood weathers and would prefer the deck contrast the house a bit. BUT, once the plants grow in, alot of the lower deck won't be seen. So honestly, I dunno. It's definately not something we're looking to do in the near future.

Thx for the hint on the gardens. We don't have termites here thankfully
The beds around the deck are soil plus mulch. The beds in contact with the house are all raised with brickwork and soil. Our soil is sand, so we've had to add alot of "good dirt" to them (compost, peat moss, triple blend, etc.) Lots of work but I
how they look when the hostas are full out


Windows: the high one in the front does not open, its 20ft or so up...vaulted ceiling in that entry... the ones in the back pic, the window with 3 panes of glass, only the middle on opens. Every other window opens fully.

Originally Posted by Ms. Freya

I love your stonework. I've always like grey stone on homes and I think I have the same stone ringing my flowerbeds.
Thanks
I love the stoned gardens
The one side of our house is completely done with those stones. One bed runs the length of the garage, the next bed runs from after the AC unit to where you see in the pic of the deck. Then we have the mulch around the deck and part of the other side of the house. The rest doesn't have anything because we don't get much sun there BUT some of my hostas will be moving there this spring


The one side gardens:
 
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