<p>"It’s hard to imagine a home selling for the price of a car, but nonetheless, some home prices in some sections of the country are now comparable to prices of luxury cars. And, no, we’re not talking about Bentley’s and Rolls-Royce’s, we’re talking about Acura’s and Hyundai’s and cars that are purchased and accessible by many Americans.</p>
<p>Some of the homes are distressed sales - no surprise there - but some are simply low-priced homes that need a new owner. All of them appear to have good bones, but need lots of TLC. Take a look at five homes with four bedrooms or more, that are selling for the price of four wheels in places throughout the U.S."</p>
<p>It seems like the land does not have much value. I assume that many of these homes need a lot of big ticket items fairly soon (ie: new kitchen, roof, heating/AC etc.), perhaps more than elbow grease and paint. The land value should still be there, and obviously it is not worth a lot right now.</p>
<p>Friends of mine bought a nice 3-bedroom Victorian with a large yard for under $60,000. In the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. If living hours away from any large city/town is OK with you - you too can have a house for the price of a car.</p>
<p>All the locations,with the possible exception of the Iowa home,are areas where there are little job opportunities …I bet you couldn’t even rent those places out to cover your investment…I wouldn’t live in any of those places for that price,and likely not even if it were free</p>
<p>Interestingly, I know two of the houses. The one in South Bend was the home of a childhood friend, spent many hours there. The one in Aurora, Iowa I have friends who live about a block away.</p>
<p>Sounds high to me. Family lore is that my aunt’s Victorian in small town Nebraska is only worth $25,000 or so. But this is not necessarily news, as it never has been thought to be work more than $50,000. Dying small towns, so sad. And this is a nice town, in the midst of beautiful rolling hills. Though Nebraska is reasonable regardless. This summer, I was very impressed by the suburban Omaha houses bought in recent years by extended family. They are priced reasonably, and set in tidy developments with nature reserves nearby. And again, rolling hills.</p>
<p>I noticed 12 or 14 tennis courts next to a baseball field on Google Earth so maybe that’s Notre Dame. Looks very nice from a satellite but you can’t get a feeling unless you’re on the ground. Many of us can work wherever there’s an internet connection but it is nice to live near the office for the social and intellectual aspect of talking with your coworkers.</p>
<p>I liked two of those homes but the city itself may be crumbling around you. That first home would probably be about $300K in my town and the other one that I liked would be more. If you look at the Best Places to Live guides, they have a number of metrics of desirable cities and towns: access to health care, education, cost of living, recreation, access to airports, availability of jobs. Home prices (part of cost of living) is just one metric. It isn’t that important if there are no jobs there unless you are retired or you can telecommute. It’s expensive to live on the coasts but there are reasons why people want to live in those expensive areas.</p>
<p>There are limits to how much to give up in exchange for cheap houses. I don’t want to live in a small town on the plains–unless it’s Lawrence Kansas and a few others. Most are more like Anarene Texas.</p>
<p>BCEagle, the house is about 2 miles from the Notre Dame Campus. The tennis courts and baseball fields are part of a city park that is a couple blocks from the house.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is a little NE of that home. Definitely close enough to rent to students. 7 bedrooms, $500/student per month…Indiana real estate taxes are disproportionately low for older homes–take note, all investors out there :)</p>
<p>An earlier poster said enough rent couldn’t be charged. Not sure I agree. I have rentals that cost $25000 and $35000 and I’m getting $500 and $525/mo. Another duplex that cost $48000, getting $825/mo. These are not in S Bend and are not student rentals. That market is very lucrative. Being a landlord is a pain though.</p>
<p>Some people don’t want to live in congested cities and some skills/professions are well-paying no matter the locale. Just saying’…some people love living in smaller towns or in the country.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why it’s that low. South Bend is a working class, industrial, rust-belt city. The west side (where this is) is rough in parts. I am not very familiar with this neighborhood, but S lives in a nearby neighborhood.</p>
<p>ND charges ~$11000/yr room and board. I seriously considered buying a house, but S was only living off campus for 2 years and I didn’t want to make that investment nor be a student landlord. There were many houses (2 years ago) in the $50000-70,000 price range. I know prices have dropped with foreclosures and distressed sales. Prices never much boomed here, so there is no bubble to burst.</p>
<p>There are 2 major student landlord players in SB. They have to be raking it in. They make $4000/mo, plus $4000/deposit, at S’s rental house, and it’s a 1910 big four-square, complete with 1950 everything, linoleum and lead paint included, I’m sure. The house could not have cost over $80,000. No matter the size of house, they charge $500/student/bedroom.</p>
<p>Yes, they do, don’t they? They are taking in $48000/yr on an $80,000 house. They have $4000 to repair the place after the kids leave. Plus, based on parental income/student loan repayment stats, etc., the financial risk has to be one of the lesser ones for any college rental market…</p>
<p>but, like you say, there’s the landlord factor. It’s bad enough doing it from one mile away. If he had been going to rent for 4 years, I would have bought something.</p>
<p>bc–I don’t think it’s just supply and demand. I guess a good portion of it is the value of the land. I am blown away by cc posters and what their housing costs are. I’d be interested to know what various professions pay in other areas of the country. The people are still eating and driving and living somewhere, so it must be made up in large part by wage variation. </p>
<p>What does your plumber charge? They are usually priceless when I need one…What does your CPA charge? Teachers? Here, that’s probably $65-75/hr plumbers, $125-150 CPA, and $55000/yr teachers. Appreciate those inputs and your area of the country from any posters on those!</p>