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I live in Orange County California where the median home price is $645K. I just visited Houston last week and many of my relatives bought new homes for around $150K. In the OC, even if you have the land, the cost of building a new home is about $300K to $400K. I notice the built quality is not as good in Houston but why the building cost difference is so much?
How long ago were they buying those houses for $150k? That price point doesn't exist in Austin for new anymore. Appreciation has gone up double digits in much of Texas for the past 4-5 years, so it would be important to know if these relatives bought a few years ago at $150k or just the past few months.
How long ago were they buying those houses for $150k? That price point doesn't exist in Austin for new anymore. Appreciation has gone up double digits in much of Texas for the past 4-5 years, so it would be important to know if these relatives bought a few years ago at $150k or just the past few months.
I found a few brand new constructions in Houston for under $150k. Pretty sure OP's relatives are referring to these. I'd be interested to know how the developer make money. Cost to build must be super low in Houston. Perhaps a friendly building approval process is part of the reason.
I live in Texas and like someone else posted - the quality is ok, not great. And taxes - sheesh. I can't believe what people in my small town pay in taxes for rinky dinky falling down 50 year old houses.
In Cali they don't see the home for what it costs to build they sell it for the going rate of homes which is much higher than in Texas. Supplies and labor is also lower in Texas, so that's a factor too. Also the land in Cali if more expensive and most of it in desireable places is all taken up.
In Cali they don't see the home for what it costs to build they sell it for the going rate of homes which is much higher than in Texas. Supplies and labor is also lower in Texas, so that's a factor too. Also the land in Cali if more expensive and most of it in desireable places is all taken up.
The cost to build in San Francisco is $250 a sq ft for cheap materials, nice materials can be north of $400. A 1,200 sq ft house can cost $300,000 to $500,000 just for building cost.
These houses in Houston are selling for $95/sq ft completely built and it comes with the land. The cost to building in Texas must be several times less than the hub in CA. That is an exceedingly shocking difference.
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I live in Texas and like someone else posted - the quality is ok, not great. And taxes - sheesh. I can't believe what people in my small town pay in taxes for rinky dinky falling down 50 year old houses.
Population growth in the state would suggest people do want to live in Texas. I'm not sure you can compare your rinky dink town to Houston metro. Geographically size wise Houston metro and beyond is enormous, one reason why you can get a new house for 150k is because it's 1-1.5 hours away from downtown Houston during rush hour
The first home at the link above is on a tiny lot of 1/8 of an acre.
Having looked into the Houston area a few years back, I found there are a limited number of areas with good schools within Houston itself, and then a limited number of suburbs outside of Houston with good schools, like The Woodlands, Katy and Sugarland. Look into homes in The Woodlands and you'll see them priced significantly higher than in some nearby areas because of the school quality.
I have a few friends from Connecticut that moved down to Houston over the past 10 years or so, including one that did home construction in both Connecticut and Houston. He said that the build quality is definitely lower in the Houston area, even on the $1 million+ McMansion homes you can find in Houston. It was too tempting, in his opinion, for builders in TX to use cheap labor from south of the border. He said that even though they're hard working, they just don't have the skills and experience needed to construct a good, solid home that will last for decades.
So, labor costs are probably part of it.
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