<p>Know my son just bought last year in NC foothills. Paid 140K, new construction, 1800sq. ft., .33 acre lot, 2 car garage, nice neighborhood.</p>
<p>Friend just bought 5000+ sq. ft., 20 yo house, all updated, for 460K. in NC.</p>
<p>Half mil buys a ranch or cape for teardown. It will be in decrepit, nearly unlivable condition. Alternatively, same half mil buys a two bedroom bungalow, situated right on the highway, or a reasonable, but not beautiful two bedroom condo.</p>
<p>For $850-900K, you start to get a real house. It used to be that there wasn’t a thing to look at for under $1.1K. Since prices have dropped, there are houses for under that…not many though.</p>
<p>5000 sqft lot- -1000sqft house from 1900- unfinished basement- semi industrial urban neighborhood- liveable though- if you don’t mind reroofing or updating the wiring yourself</p>
<p>If you don’t mind moving to the burbs, you can get a 2300 sqft house with a 6500 lot for $500K to about $700K depending on condition- 60s vintage
better schools than the city too
but then unless you work at Microsoft- you are SOL for commuting</p>
<p>Dang! No wonder everyone is moving here! 2800-3000 square feet of newish, quality construction in upscale neighborhood w/ mature trees, neighborhood association w/2 amenity areas (pools, tennis courts, playscapes) hiking trails, granite countertops, 3 bathrooms, 2 car garage, etc. good schools, 10 minute commute to downtown Austin… $325,000. (This is not my house, BTW… we’ve got the smallest house in the neighborhood). Or you can get funky, cool bungalows in older neighborhood; smaller but less suburban - more new urban w/ character - same price but more like 1800 square feet or less. 
14 years ago we bought a sweet 1300 sq ft. home here for $39,900 - 4 bedroom, 2 bath. Prices have gone up a little since then ;)</p>
<p>barrons,</p>
<p>If you’d do a little homework, you’d find that property taxes in MA are quite reasonable compared to other parts of the country. There are sharp limits for how much taxes can rise year to year, so the locals can’t just rely on the rising tide. </p>
<p>For example, in the 8 years we owned a house there, as the price nearly doubled, the property taxes stayed the same, $4000.</p>
<p>With a 4% sales tax that exempts a lot of things like food and clothing, and an income tax of just over 5%, the true tax burden is not so bad. In fact, because of the lower property tax and sales tax, I paid less tax in MA than Texas in the mid 90s, due to Tx’s high sales tax and out of sight property taxes.</p>
<p>So do your homework before you slur a state again. I agree that its business climate is not great, but it is no worse than any other northeastern state, or Chicago or most of the west coast. Yes, your beloved VA may be more attractive due to weak land use regulation. So, what do you get for it? Total gridlock in northern VA near DC. If that’s better, you can have it.</p>
<p>My taxes on a 3,000 sf brick colonial with all the nice touches (slate roof, etc.) in the best neighborhood are just over $2000 in Central Va. A friend of mine from seattle moved to the Boston area a few years ago and pays around $9,000 on a similar house. Plus I did not make that name up as you well know–it has been around for decades. BTW I see the hit the business property at nearly three times the rate for homes–way to stick it to the job providers. No wonder they headed for NH asap. Ha Ha. How’s that auto insurance thing working for you these days?</p>
<p>Rush hour in Central VA lasts about 10 minutes. NOVA is another story.</p>
<p>NewMassDad, I don’t know how your property taxes have stayed stagnant, because ours in MA have just gone up $1000 a quarter, just in the eight years we have been in this house. We now pay over $12K a year in property taxes, and yep, I think that is pretty awful.</p>
<p>New construction. 4 BR 2.5 BA on 1.2 acres in one of the top school districts in the area…$300K.</p>
<p><a href=“http://realtor.com/Prop/1063174923[/url]”>http://realtor.com/Prop/1063174923</a></p>
<p>$500K buys this, also in a top neighborhood:</p>
<p><a href=“http://realtor.com/Prop/1068048642[/url]”>http://realtor.com/Prop/1068048642</a></p>
<p>I will say that I make a gigantic amount of money per hour, for the privilege of living in this expensive state. I couldn’t make a tenth of this if I lived in an area of $250K houses. So it all evens out.</p>
<p>You may be surprised what white collar professionals and techies can make in some markets with affordable housing…</p>
<p>My property taxes on a modest home went up $4,000 just this year! My home value may have jumped, but we don’t plan on moving, so big whoop. If we’re not “cashing in,” the increased value is just an excuse for our town to boost taxes. And that value could sink like a stone at any time. Meanwhile, our quality of life remains unchanged. (Except we now have $4k less discretionary spending money.) We’re not an “A” list town, but as the NJ “A” list prices are out of sight, we are seeing plenty of tear-downs of charming, turn-of-the-century modest homes replaced with ugly monstrosities that are too big for the lots. The “A” list is filled up, so extremely wealty people are heading to the “B” list, & we’re just 10 miles west of Manhattan. A neighbor just put his house on the market for $999,999. (Isn’t that cute?) I doubt he’ll get it, and he has plenty of upgraded features that we don’t have. I think we could get $700,000, but I can’t say I’m jumping for joy because property values are still high. It just feels like a house of cards & makes me uneasy. Our house is over 100 years old, & we love the charm. Four bedrooms, not enough closets, and an old kitchen. Lovely fireplace, Parquet floors & chestnut trim that we’ve lovingly restored. It would kill me to turn it over to someone who’d demolish it because they want jacuzzi tubs & heated floors & ammenities that an old house just can’t accomodate. I’m also seeing additions that completely destroy the line & scale of lovely old homes. As if blind architects prepareded the plans. </p>
<p>We almost bought in a town about a mile or so away. Their taxes on modest homes can now approach the cost of a year’s tuition.</p>
<p>The median income in my Lynchburg nieghborhood is well over $100,000. Lots of doctors and nuclear engineering types as well as several execs from companies like Genworth and Fleet.</p>
<p>My current tenant makes around $300,000+/year and is building a$1M home at the NC beach. I was hoping a hurricane would come along and slow the construction but no such luck this year.</p>
<p>m&sdad – Yeah, but our roots might be too deep by now to consider moving. Or we’re too lazy. At least in Pennsylvania, I’d be fine with the climate. I have relatives living like kings in the Carolinas, but they can’t leave their house all summer unless they are in a swimming pool. And big snakes fall out of the trees in their backyard.</p>
<p>barrons – I am always amazed that in many national companies, the execs make the same salaries regardless of cost-of-living differences. It used to drive us NY/NJ types crazy. How are the housing costs in Lynchburg? Virginia is a beautiful state.</p>
<p>Nissan has relocated its US headquarters from LA to Nashville. The people who made the move are able to buy or build incredible houses. They can live right near Dolly Parton! The housing market is hot in Nashville, but I think the housing prices are quite a bit lower than in Dallas. Property taxes seem very low, too.</p>
<p>You can buy a beautiful all brick quality 1930’s construction 4,000 sf home in a great neighborhood for $400-$500k. The property taxes would be only $3,000 or so. Three years ago it was $100K less. You can walk to Starbucks and there is a good selection of restaurants etc. Shopping is OK and C’Ville with more highend stores and UVa is just an easy hour drive away. The Blue Ridge Parkway is about 10 minutes away.</p>
<p>Maybe this will work. Look at listing 224709</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.lynchburgmls.com/default1.asp[/url]”>http://www.lynchburgmls.com/default1.asp</a></p>
<p>Speaking of gridlock, the national headquarters of the American Automobile Association moved from their spot near the NOVA beltway to Orlando a few years ago. Ironically traffic and the cost of housing were the main reasons they cited.</p>
<p>Reading posts in these threads inspired me to check some figures. There is a condo on the market (top floor of a Victorian house) with 2000 square feet on a 10,000 square feet lot. It’s not far from where I live. It is listed for $1,150 million with taxes of $6,400.00. It’s not as low as $2,000.00 but not as high as $12,000.00 either.</p>
<p>A portion of the tax for the land and common areas is likely in the Condo fees. The tax on the unit is just to the unit’s walls.</p>