J Correa

In San Jose, CA, the median price for a home is about $500K, which is your basic 3br, 2ba tract home in a regular suburban neighborhood, with a 2 car garage and a back yard.

Golfer

ddd,
Are you sure Phoenix has mild temperatures? I thought it got brutally hot in the summer.....??? Golfer

Dan

In San Francisco, CA the average price of a home is about $500,000 and consists of a typical suburban home in Sunset District with 3 bd and 2 ba with a yard and garage.

Don

Frank,

I realize that in Manhattan you don't get much for $500K, but how about in New York City's Staten Island? Neighborhoods there tend to be suburban in nature with ranch style homes, 2 car garges and yards. I thought you could buy something like that for about $500K.

xx

$500,000.00 will buy you a 1/4 of acre piece of land with a dilapitated barn on it that you will have to tear down after purchase so you can build dwelling that is actually inhabitable. And that purchase price is conservative.

Kathy

In Buffalo New York $500,000 will buy you just about anything you want. In fact $250,000 will get you a really great house. A $500,000 house would be a in very exclusive neighborhood of the suburbs or on one of the premier city streets and would have 4-6 bedrooms, 3+ bathrooms, top of the line everything, beautiful land, etc. People are amazed when they move to Buffalo from other markets what they can buy.

suzanne

In my neighborhood in Brooklyn, there are no apartments available at this price (I've been looking - NADA). For $600K you can get a decent-sized 1-bedroom that needs a little work. Of course the monthly maintenance fees are $1000+ a month, in addition to your mortgage.

x

A 3 bedroom townhouse in aptos,ca- (north monterey bay) 1 block to the beach- carport no yard.

Frank

suzanne: Check again, since when is Brooklyn more expensive than Manhattan? For $600K you might even get a small 2 bedroom in some of the better neighborhoods in Manhattan on both the east and westsides. With your budget, it's time for you to move to Manhattan. Seriously, check the Corcoran.com website, 2 dozen co-ops and condos came up for under $500k, many with 2 bedrooms and in neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill.

Don: $500K will buy a good mid level suburban home in most of the areas surrounding Manhattan. Areas like Long Island, Northern New Jersey, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, etc. You can actually get a starter home in the $300K price range in many middle income neighborhoods. Living in Manhattan, I'm more familiar with the price ranges in the city.

Cindy

Curious from any Hawaiian residents?? I'd love to hear from you.

MB

Just got $490K for my 1974, 3 bd/2ba home (1,525sf) in Morro Bay (along the central coast in California). Bought it 2 years ago for $245,000 - wow - what a profit! But it's sad to see housing prices so high now. I don't know younger people will ever be able to purchase homes. It just doesn't make since that the unemployment rate is so high, wages are way down and housing prices continue to skyrocket. Can someone explain the logic in this to me?

Kris

I'm no economics expert but it would seem to me that it's all supply and demand.
Face it, you guys in California probably have the biggest demand with the year around good weather, Pacific Ocean, mountains for skiing...kind of like a whole country rolled into one state. With the prices stated on this thread i guess I'll just have to settle for vacationing there. In the meantime, I'm saving and hoping to buy my first condo in Denver. Kris

Hank

In Erie, PA $500,000 would get you one of the most beautiful homes in the entire metro area. A nice home in Erie is about $140,000.

Ann

In a little town south of Erie, called Conneaut Lake, you can get a gorgeous, lake front home for $400k-$500k. Of course, you'd also have to live in a town where racoon hunting is a favorite activity.

NC

By reputation, Chapel Hill has the costliest real estate in NC, or at least in the Triangle area (there are expensive neighborhoods in all the main cities like Charlotte, Asheville, etc. but this is based on avg. cost for the whole municipality), and for $500K in Chapel Hill you could get a min. of 2000+ sq. ft. on at least 1/2 a forested acre if not more, with all the bells and whistles like jacuzzi's, fancy kitchen, etc.

But how many people, I've always wondered, actually use their jacuzzi after the first 6 months?

ddd

Golfer:
Yes it does get hot in summer, however, if you play golf early during that time of year(from 6-10 AM) it's not so bad over the summer months. Not a bad price to pay for 300-and-something sunny days per year, and about 8 months of perfect weather. It's not for everyone, but everything considered, for the great real estate values and golf and climate, it might work out well for you.

cb

My home, in Katy, TX (suburb west of Houston) is a 2-story, 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath, with 3400 sf. We paid $130,000 for it 8 yrs ago, it now appraises (not that we could get that) for $175,000. You could get a really really nice house here for $500,000 (depending on the sub-division). It is, however, just a bit humid...

Golfer

cb, Houston....just a bit humid??

Love this thread...very interesting info to share with each other. golfer

nina

There are no homes currently on the market for that low of a price. For $ 625,000 there is a tear down available on 2 beautiful acres that will no doubt be purchased by some developer who will build a McMansion on it, and price it for about 2M. There is a minimum of 2 acre zoning here in Weston, CT.

NYC

800 Sq foot 2 bedroom co-op in a 4 story walk-up on the West side of Manhattan.