Biggest Houses For Lowest Cost??? (hardwood floors, transfer, buy)

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by person

Texas has very cheap housing. Even cheaper than AZ

Not in ALL of Texas. If you want in a nice area w/ quality housing, etc you will pay for it. If you don't care then you can join the ranks of those that think it is "cheap" and buy one of those slapped together overnight homes for next to nothing but realize your on the side of town that all of us natives steer clear away from.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

In my area of Dallas a good quality home in a family friendly area is going to start at around $350K and up from there. My neighborhood is more like $425K and up.

curious, how large of a house would these be?

[Steve-o]

Tennessee has some nice sized homes for dirt cheap.

[GraniteStater]

Olathe Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City would fit the bill.
They sell ugly cookie cutter houses by the truckload there. Generally, you can buy a huge 4 bedroom house for under 250K if it is older.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by dsv1496

Where in the U.S. can you get the largest house (in a safe area) for the least amount of money?

I have heard Houston and areas in Arizona are notorious for this. Anyone hear others???

I'd have to say on a price per square foot basis, you're most affordable homes will be in mobile home parks somewhere in tornado alley.

[person]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Not in ALL of Texas. If you want in a nice area w/ quality housing, etc you will pay for it. If you don't care then you can join the ranks of those that think it is "cheap" and buy one of those slapped together overnight homes for next to nothing but realize your on the side of town that all of us natives steer clear away from.

Let me rephrase. For comparable homes in comparable neighborhoods with comparable facilities, Texas is cheap.

Which means if you want slapped together houses, Texas slapped together houses are cheaper than the slapped together houses in AZ, CA. If you want houses with pools in nice neighborhoods, those houses would be cheap in Texas compared to the same ones in AZ.

[Twinkle Toes]

Some of those slapped together houses have pools too though.

[michiganbob]

I believe the area of the country with the lowest overall housing costs is Pine Bluff, Arkansas with a median price around $70,000.

That being said, if you don't have a job or the area around the big, cheap house is a disaster, what good does it do you? There are lots of big cheap old mansions available near downtown Detroit these days (under $20,000) but do you want to live there?

Unfortunately, most parts of the country where housing is cheap also have high unemployment rates or undesireable weather or both. The more difficult question is: where are housing prices still reasonable, wages are good and unemployment rates low? Find THAT area and you might have something.

[dsv1496]

Those old Detroit houses on the other side of Grosse Pointe were probably really amazing at one point. It's a shame what happened to that area.

I personally liked, minus it's surrounding, the area west of woodward between 7 and 8 mile. I can't remember what it's called...

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by tahiti

curious, how large of a house would these be?

Well you can go just down the road from me where they are building some townhomes that run a little over $200 sq foot and the average size is from 1700 sq ft to 2200 sq ft. Or do you prefer a single family home in a gated neighborhood w/ nice sized lots? Then your looking at from $800K-$1.2M for homes around 4000 st ft. Or if you want to head to where it is row after row of small houses you can find some that are attracting a lot of transplants that run around $200K for a small house w/ 1800 sq ft and a teeny tiny lot and farther from downtown. Or the OTHER side of town in a not so great area where those really cheap homes are being thrown up w/ no extras that can run around $180K for 4000 sq ft. But us natives steer clear of that side of town as we don't like to live near landfills and sewage treatment plants. Or do you want the older more established neighborhood in the city? Then your looking at a house built in the early 1900's w/ about 1500-2000 sq foot and those puppies are anywhere from $350K and up.

It may be "cheap" in your eyes but I would not say it is "cheap". The term more reasonable is much nicer and has a less negative tone. I'd also unemployment is not high at all either. Wages are good and there is a lot of development going on.