In mid-Atlantic metros, a common way of building a 1000-1500 sq ft, 2-3BR, 1-car-garage "starter house" is as a "stacked townhouse" (particularly the smaller, lower unit)
https://ggwash.org/view/42112/in-pra...cked-townhouse
They can be had for <$400K in outer suburbs of DC, or in the $500s in better suburban locations.
Tysons
https://www.flickr.com/photos/payton...in/dateposted/
Alexandria
https://www.flickr.com/photos/payton...in/dateposted/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/payton...in/dateposted/
Phoenixville PA
https://www.flickr.com/photos/payton...in/dateposted/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/payton...in/dateposted/
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
There are no new construction starter homes in my town. The land is too expensive.
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That's a choice. Your town could legalize smaller lots and higher densities to cut the cost of land, and simpler construction techniques to cut the cost of construction.
Land in the postwar years was artificially cheap, because federal highway subsidies opened up a bunch of new land for homebuilding, and that's not going to happen again. If cities want to allow people to buy "starter homes", they're going to have to understand that those are going to look different -- maybe stacked vertically, or arranged horizontally like these for ~$550K in Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/payton...in/dateposted/
Mid-$500s is 5X median household income in both the DC and Seattle metro areas, which also happens to be
the long-term national average of house price to income.
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