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Try looking at this table of Median Sales Prices of Existing Single-Family Homes for Metro Areas (http://www.realtor.org/wps/wcm/connect/882586804e108aadb922ffec21680fb0/REL09Q1T.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=882586804e108aadb 922ffec21680fb0 - broken link).
According to the chart, the median sale price in Raleigh-Cary was $223,400 in 2008. In Durham, it was $180,600. The national average is $196,600. The average for the south is $169,400.
So housing in the Triangle is consistent with the national average. Here is a small sample of results from the table for comparison.
Market -- 2008 Median Sale Price of Existing SF Homes
Chicago -- $245,600
Columbus, OH -- $139,300
Hartford, CT -- $246,200
Lansing, MI -- $97,700
Las Vegas -- $220,500
Minneapolis -- $202,000
Omaha, NE -- $135,200
Orlando -- $208,900
Portland -- $280,100
San Diego -- $385,600
San Jose, CA -- $668,000
Toledo, OH -- $91,200
230k will get you a rural cookie-cutter house in an area like Mebane, Clayton, Holly Springs, SE Raleigh, Wake Forest, Fuquay in maybe the 2500 square foot range, new construction, minimal options, 0.2 acres.
It will also get you a city cookie-cutter house in an area like Durham. It also can get you a non cookie-cutter, very nice and charming house in and area like Mebane, Clayton, Holly Springs, SE Raleigh, Wake Forest and Fuquay.
You will get more square footage here than in many other regions. So you have to adjust that frame of reference!
For example, coming from Long Island, 2,500 sf is a big house, costing $500+ in a "good" area. Not huge, but respectable. Here, that is common.
In terms of a neighborhood being a good fit for you, you will have to visit. When you do you will see that desireablity is based on other factors tha are hard to convey in an MLS listing.
There are so many variables at play here. What size home are you expecting to buy? Do you want a new house or an existing home in an established neighborhood? How important is specific location? Do you want a large lot? I just ran a search on a local RE website and there are 377 homes for sale between $230,000 and $250,000 in Wake County alone. If you increase the price to $270,000, there are 647 houses from which to choose.
Can you get a good house in a good location for $250,000? Absolutely! Will it be 3000 square feet? Not likely! I don't see why you can't get a nice newer 2000 S.F. house in a good location on a decent lot for that price.
I just ran another search for some newer suburban parts of south/central Wake Co. using 230-270K, 1500-2500 S.F. built since 2000 as search criteria. It came back with 43 houses, most of which are over 2000 S.F. Some are in Holly Springs. Some are in Fuquay Varina and some are even in Cary. I have no idea if these are the sorts of places where you'd like to live or not. They are all safe family areas that are relatively new and growing rapidly with new suburban development.
Apartments are a good deal if you stay out of the "yuppie magnet" areas where prices can approach NYC or LA levels.
The homes are cheaper but beware of sinking soil and very weak building/fire codes. Be sure to get a thorough inspection, especially on new construction.
We lived in LA in the 70's when it was cheap and civilized. NC is a slower pace. Do visit first to be sure it fits your needs. Consider the climate too. Can get hot and humid here compared to LA.
very weak building/fire codes. Be sure to get a thorough inspection, especially on new construction.
I see you post this a lot. Do you have info to provide us on specific building codes here or is it just a talking point? Do you have the actual codes to provide us?
Market -- 2008 Median Sale Price of Existing SF Homes
Portland -- $280,100
I question this. They might be using the Portland Metro area which encompasses many burbs. But in the city of Portland 280K will not get you much and you will most likily have a neighbor who makes meth or uses meth.
Thus I question some of the other larger city's stats.
I see you post this a lot. Do you have info to provide us on specific building codes here or is it just a talking point? Do you have the actual codes to provide us?
Well, it's obvious.
Five floor multi-family buildings constructed of wood.
Five floor senior buildings of wood too with no fire escapes.
This is recent construction.
Siding that burns as in the Pine Knolls Townes fire a few years ago.
Pure trash. Builders just get away with whatever they want to do.
Apartments are a good deal if you stay out of the "yuppie magnet" areas where prices can approach NYC or LA levels.
The homes are cheaper but beware of sinking soil and very weak building/fire codes. Be sure to get a thorough inspection, especially on new construction.
We lived in LA in the 70's when it was cheap and civilized. NC is a slower pace. Do visit first to be sure it fits your needs. Consider the climate too. Can get hot and humid here compared to LA.
Good luck
The OP is from Sacramento, not LA. Look at her location.
Houses in poor areas can still look nice in an MLS listing.
That bears repeating. Half-a$$ houses can also looks nice in an MLS listing. If I had a nickel for every house I looked at that fell into either or both of those categories....
Anyway, as others have said or implied, it's really hard if not impossible to say, since "nice" is so subjective. I personally think there are extremely few "nice" areas where you'll find a house in that range unless you go way out in the boons, but I'm pretty particular that way and maybe more so than you, so.......
I will say this: comparing it to LA or NY is quite silly and pointless, yet I can't believe how common that is on this site. "The traffic isn't as bad as LA" or "the houses are cheaper than NYC areas" is kind of like saying "a sharp stick in the eye isn't so bad compared to having your arms hacked off" - well duh, but that isn't exactly saying much.
good luck
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