realistic housing budgets in the Metroplex...

[turf3]

Well, my neighborhood is near Stonewall Jackson Elementary. Original houses are 2 or 3BR/1BA or 3BR/2BA, typically 1000-1400 sq. ft if not added on to. These will run you around $250-350k depending on condition.

Brand new McMansions will ask $750-900k. I am not sure what they are actually getting. I think they are typically 3500-4500 sq. ft. For reference, the lots are 7500-10,000 sq. ft.

Older McMansions (back to, say, 2005) will run $500k to $750. I think these are probably a bit smaller.

Original houses with a bunch of add-ons are anyone's guess. A very very few of them are well done, most are really awful.

[stan4]

Apparently they are adking $700k for 3200 square feet old construction with no pool or club/amenities around here, so I don't even know what to do with that.

[kyam11]

Originally Posted by stan4

Apparently they are adking $700k for 3200 square feet old construction with no pool or club/amenities around here, so I don't even know what to do with that.

Makes sense. Elite city (relatively speaking when it comes to amenities/opportunities). Alternative would be to go to Miami, Boston, SF, Seattle, SF, LA, SD, NY, Chicago or DC where it will cost you 2x to 4x that amount in a similar type area you are talking about.

You could also go to Atlanta or Houston where it is pretty much the same.

So what I am reading is that DFW is an absolute bargain.

[CalTex Ranger]

Originally Posted by kyam11

Makes sense. Elite city (relatively speaking when it comes to amenities/opportunities). Alternative would be to go to Miami, Boston, SF, Seattle, SF, LA, SD, NY, Chicago or DC where it will cost you 2x to 4x that amount in a similar type area you are talking about.

You could also go to Atlanta or Houston where it is pretty much the same.

So what I am reading is that DFW is an absolute bargain.

It is a bargain, but there are still so many people that have this unrealistic expectation of what they can find and what it costs.

[WorldKlas]

DFW is indeed a bargain but the word bargain to many depicts under $100/sq st.

We bought a place in Las Vegas in 2017. Californians flock to this area to buy second homes, thinking to retire here someday. They rent out the homes or come on weekends. More than half our neighborhood here are former/active CA people. Our place, in a SW Valley area comparable to Plano, was $500k. Its a bit under 2100 sq ft. Finishes like a tract home in DFW. This house would sell for about $250-280 in a DFW NE burb.

[Lone Star Red]

Originally Posted by MarshaBrady1968

I am in the piece of Dallas that is like 2 steps (literally) from being city of Richardson. I have the Dallas address now because living across the street in Richardson, I was priced out at the time (2014) and would now also be priced out of my current neighborhood. I lived in Richardson for 15 years.
My home is one of the smaller in the neighborhood:
3bdr plus office, 2 bath
just under 2k sf
We bought for $180k in 2014 with ZERO updates since 1978 when it was built. The updated homes at that time were at least $100k more
City of Richardson (across the damn street- yes I'm still bitter) averaged $50k more in both categories (updated and not updated)
Today, our home, non- updated, would sell for about $225k, and updated (which we have done) about $325k
Property taxes right at $5k/ year, but increase about 10-15% every year

PS- Richardson is the best city in the Metroplex, but no, $250k will not get you a decent house- a shabby one yes, decent, no; but if you're handy, I highly recommend it!

I'll be honest, I find that surprising.

My wife and I have looked at a few open houses over the last few months in different neighborhoods/areas in Richardson (The Heights, Greenwood Hills, NorthRich) and all of the open houses were for homes right around $250K or under. None of the houses we looked at would I describe as "shabby" or anywhere close to that.