Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Apr 8, 2021 14:24:49 GMT -5
The flipper house behind me just sold for 480K. It was originally a two bedroom/1 bath house - the main floor is 1000 square feet. <snip> the house was originally 3 beds/1bath - the flipper took out a bedroom to put in the stairs to the attic... to create the 2 bedrooms with crazy angled ceilings and no head room. <snip> They remodeled the basement with another bathroom - but as far as I can tell they didn't put in a "flood gate/check valve" to prevent sewer back up (our 100 year old sewer system is sewer and storm drains combined - so a good rain storm and you've got water backing up into your basement. I'm hoping for 480K they solved the water back up issue. You do what's showy and sexy- who cares about the plumbing and the infrastructure? I once saw new construction with the requisite fancy kitchen- granite countertops, island, stainless-steel appliances- and a nearby bathroom had one of those plastic pre-fab shower enclosures. Totally agreed. Heck, for 480K I want water shutoffs on all the toilets/sinks/washer/water heater. For that kind of money - having to replace the float in the toilet tank, or replacing a faucet shouldn't mean I have to shut the water off to the house. No shutoffs (and the garage issues) makes the house a "fixer upper" cause it's up to you to put in all the conveniences and nice to haves. For 480K - those things should already be part of the house. Or maybe it's a matter of if you have the income to support a 480K house/mortgage - you've to money to burn every time and inconvenience happens or to put in the "nice to haves".
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Apr 8, 2021 21:48:11 GMT -5
For any price, it should have water shut-off valves.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 8, 2021 23:18:01 GMT -5
You do what's showy and sexy- who cares about the plumbing and the infrastructure? I once saw new construction with the requisite fancy kitchen- granite countertops, island, stainless-steel appliances- and a nearby bathroom had one of those plastic pre-fab shower enclosures. Totally agreed. Heck, for 480K I want water shutoffs on all the toilets/sinks/washer/water heater. For that kind of money - having to replace the float in the toilet tank, or replacing a faucet shouldn't mean I have to shut the water off to the house. No shutoffs (and the garage issues) makes the house a "fixer upper" cause it's up to you to put in all the conveniences and nice to haves. For 480K - those things should already be part of the house. Or maybe it's a matter of if you have the income to support a 480K house/mortgage - you've to money to burn every time and inconvenience happens or to put in the "nice to haves". It is all relative. In some markets, $480k won't even get you a with no plumbing at all.
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hurley1980
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Post by hurley1980 on Apr 9, 2021 11:18:37 GMT -5
Right! In SF or Seattle, 480k won't even get you a run down shack!
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Apr 9, 2021 11:30:22 GMT -5
I doubt there has been a vacant lot in the city for years, but you probably couldn't get that either if you found one.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Apr 9, 2021 11:40:11 GMT -5
For any price, it should have water shut-off valves. My house didn't have water shutoffs, except maybe one in the basement, plus the water main. First thing our handyman did when remodeling our house was to put some in. I don't know if it was a 1970 thing, when the house was built, or what. We bought it as a livable fixer-upper, so it wasn't a huge deal to us. If a bought a house that was completely remodeled already and it didn't have any, though, I'd be pissed
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Apr 9, 2021 12:11:50 GMT -5
For any price, it should have water shut-off valves. My house didn't have water shutoffs, except maybe one in the basement, plus the water main. First thing our handyman did when remodeling our house was to put some in. I don't know if it was a 1970 thing, when the house was built, or what. We bought it as a livable fixer-upper, so it wasn't a huge deal to us. If a bought a house that was completely remodeled already and it didn't have any, though, I'd be pissed DH paid for them to put shut off valves under every sink and on every toilet in our house. He failed to check to make sure said valves actually worked. He did not find out they were not functional until we were in the house a few years. He was very Mad about it when he found out, but we were past our 1 year warranty at that point. DS is buying a fixer upper from his grandparents, but my in-laws lived in that house for about 7 years. I think my FIL would have made sure the house had shut off valves. It is mainly age related stuff DS will have to deal with.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Apr 9, 2021 13:53:12 GMT -5
My parents' house is in a desirable neighborhood. A builder bought a house down the block for over $600K, tore down the house, and advertised that he was putting up a house to be sold for $1.5mil. It has sold already; construction hasn't started yet. Two doors away from that, the property owners sold their side yard as a separate lot, for $300K. It's probably only 25' wide and 100' deep. We have had several people in the area interested in my parents' home, which hasn't been updated for years, but looks nice on the outside and has a large, flat lot.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Apr 9, 2021 23:05:56 GMT -5
My parents' house is in a desirable neighborhood. A builder bought a house down the block for over $600K, tore down the house, and advertised that he was putting up a house to be sold for $1.5mil. It has sold already; construction hasn't started yet. Two doors away from that, the property owners sold their side yard as a separate lot, for $300K. It's probably only 25' wide and 100' deep. We have had several people in the area interested in my parents' home, which hasn't been updated for years, but looks nice on the outside and has a large, flat lot. DH has a friend in Chicago that lives in a new house in an older neighborhood (Glenview). Everytime we visit there are more and more McMansions. Same is going on in Skokie where other family lives. They owned some duplexes in an older area of Chicago and just tore one down to put in some high end multi family housing.
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pooks
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Post by pooks on Apr 12, 2021 12:29:30 GMT -5
I have always searched based on our middle school, because that was our priority when we were looking 7 years ago. There are currently, as of Monday morning, 2 single family existing homes zoned for our middle school. That is at any price or any condition. Both were listed Saturday, so it is likely they won't last until next weekend.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Apr 13, 2021 7:12:35 GMT -5
We're about an hour outside Dallas, so we get some significant over flow.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2021 8:00:19 GMT -5
DD/DSIL's house has appreciated so much that if they were to sell, they'd walk away with buckets of cash. I told DD that if that day comes, they'll have to sell with me as part of a package deal because I've put too much blood, sweat and tears (not to mention $$) into the garden to leave. Of course, if they were to sell, their buckets of cash would have to be spent on another house, and homes for sale at reasonable prices are few and far between. Guess I can plan on spending the rest of my days pouring more blood, sweat and tears into the garden
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2021 8:07:42 GMT -5
DD/DSIL's house has appreciated so much that if they were to sell, they'd walk away with buckets of cash. I told DD that if that day comes, they'll have to sell with me as part of a package deal because I've put too much blood, sweat and tears (not to mention $$) into the garden to leave. I know- I inherited a giant garden from the previous owners (she was a Past President of the local Garden Club, which I joined) and I've been simplifying it with native grasses and perennials but it's still a lot of work. I couldn't bear to turn it all over and plant grass but have to face the fact that someone might in the future. Yeah, that's the Catch-22. The only real way to make big bucks from a rising market is to downsize.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Apr 13, 2021 10:35:33 GMT -5
I just called and cancelled our appointment to go through the house thoroughly. We looked at what it would cost for a loan, crazy. I decided I didn't want to take that much money out of our savings either.
Then we looked at paying $170k, if we could get it for that, and then spend $40 to $50k on it and not be able to resell if we needed to. Also here renting a $1k a month house is iffy. Like hubs said we wouldn't like the paneling in some areas or the wallpaper. And the kitchen cabinets are dated, and he is betting when furniture is moved new floor covering. And reselling with a green and yellow bathroom, well issues. That doesn't bother me kind of pretty but it would most people.
So yes, I love the place and if we could get it for $130k and spend that much money it would work. Even then you might be lucky to get $200k with it totally redone. Such a shame it costs so much to fix them.
And yes, hubs does do them right, not just lipstick on a pig.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Apr 13, 2021 10:35:53 GMT -5
I'm not sure how I posted twice again but I have, deleted.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Apr 13, 2021 13:12:27 GMT -5
For any price, it should have water shut-off valves. My house didn't have water shutoffs, except maybe one in the basement, plus the water main. First thing our handyman did when remodeling our house was to put some in. I don't know if it was a 1970 thing, when the house was built, or what. We bought it as a livable fixer-upper, so it wasn't a huge deal to us. If a bought a house that was completely remodeled already and it didn't have any, though, I'd be pissed I think it's kind of a new construction thing - my sibling bought a 1980's new construction "cookie cutter" house from the builder and the builder only did what was necessary to meet the current building codes. At some point in his "improvements" he put shut offs everywhere needed - when he was doing some other project that required turning off the water. My nephew bought a 2000's era house as a rental property - and he (and my brother) wound up putting in shut offs everywhere - as there were no shut offs under the kitchen sink (they replaced the faucet) and behind a toilet they were replacing... since they had the water shut off anyway - they put in shut offs every place appropriate. They stopped at my house to pick up "odds and ends of plumbing supplies" to use and to get the Big Wrenches for another project... I find it funny that my relatives come to my house with a "shopping list" and their list of tools to borrow (and sometimes collateral to be left until the tool is returned).
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hurley1980
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Post by hurley1980 on Apr 13, 2021 18:24:49 GMT -5
When I bought my house it only had valves at the main valve and the toilet. It was built in 1953. Since I have been remodel (for the past 11 years, lol), I have added them just about anywhere water flows.
I dont think having a bunch of shutoff valves were a big thing back in the day, just one shut off was enough.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2021 18:51:02 GMT -5
When I bought my house it only had valves at the main valve and the toilet. It was built in 1953. Since I have been remodel (for the past 11 years, lol), I have added them just about anywhere water flows. I dont think having a bunch of shutoff valves were a big thing back in the day, just one shut off was enough. My house was built in the 60’s. It has shutoff valves at every sink and toilet, one for the water heater, one for the washing machine, and at least 1 separate one from the kitchen sink, for either the ice maker or dishwasher line. I can’t remember exactly. But over the years, as I had reason to use them, I discovered that most of them didn’t work. Distressing when a plumber discovered one didn’t work when he was changing a bathroom faucet I’d tried to replace myself but couldn’t get the parts to come aloose. Crisis averted! Very distressing when my water heater was running rivers down the original wood floors in the hall and the shut off valve didn’t work, so the tank just kept refilling as it emptied AND I couldn’t find the whatchamacallit I KNEW I had, to turn the water off at the street. Fortunately the utility company came quickly to shut the water off to the house for me. After that, I had all the ones that hadn’t been tested or replaced yet, replaced. Yeah, working shut off valves are very important IMO.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Apr 13, 2021 19:53:19 GMT -5
This house has them all over and there are even ones on lines in the basement, not overkill in my book.
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emma1420
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Post by emma1420 on Apr 27, 2021 11:35:16 GMT -5
I put my house on the market Easter weekend. I live in a suburb of Kansas City. Within 24 hours of list, I had 14 offers, with the average offer being about 10% over list price. Almost every offer agreed to an “as-is” sale. It was insane. Especially, for what is basically a cookie cutter subdivision house.
I am moving to a small town about 3 hours away. And most houses the are selling within a few days, especially if they’ve had any sort of updates. Although only a handful of homes are getting multiple offers.
And, you can never have too many shut off valves 😀.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Apr 27, 2021 16:49:31 GMT -5
My niece and her bf put a bid on a house last week in St. Paul. They bid $20K over asking price, with an inspection contingency. The couple that got the house bid $15K over asking, no inspection. That's nuts!
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Apr 27, 2021 21:47:21 GMT -5
I put my house on the market Easter weekend. I live in a suburb of Kansas City. Within 24 hours of list, I had 14 offers, with the average offer being about 10% over list price. Almost every offer agreed to an “as-is” sale. It was insane. Especially, for what is basically a cookie cutter subdivision house. I am moving to a small town about 3 hours away. And most houses the are selling within a few days, especially if they’ve had any sort of updates. Although only a handful of homes are getting multiple offers. And, you can never have too many shut off valves 😀. If you don't mind saying, what price range are you in? Around here, anything under $250k is gone within a day or 2. $250k-$500k seem to sell in a week or 2. I don't get it. There has never been that kind of demand in my lifetime. I bought my current house 5 years ago and I'm sure I could sell it quickly for 60% more than I paid for it, but where would I go? I got a good deal when I bought this place and after refinancing it, my payment is about half what a 2 bedroom apartment would cost. In the past, my houses only appreciated about 1-2% per year. I'm not sure why there are suddenly so many people wanting to buy houses around here.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Apr 27, 2021 23:42:59 GMT -5
I keep hearing the "low interest rates" are why everyone is buying - but I'm guessing it's the big run up of the stock market over the last two years that has given a lot of people the big down payments necessary for the 500K and up houses if they didn't previously own a house. And if you happened to have bought a house between 2010 and 2018 or so - you quite possibly purchased at the bottom or on the upswing which means you've got a lot of equity right now to use for the down payment on a the next more expensive home. And it's a good guess your mortgage paymnent won't go up by much. I'm also thinking there's a bit of FOMO going around. I've been hearing people in real life wondering if they should purchase an "investment property" or a "second home" to take advantage of the housing market (because I think it will keep going up and up and up ). I'm not sure what the housing market looks like when the this cycle ends.
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gs11rmb
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Post by gs11rmb on Apr 28, 2021 7:42:04 GMT -5
I keep hearing the "low interest rates" are why everyone is buying - but I'm guessing it's the big run up of the stock market over the last two years that has given a lot of people the big down payments necessary for the 500K and up houses if they didn't previously own a house. And if you happened to have bought a house between 2010 and 2018 or so - you quite possibly purchased at the bottom or on the upswing which means you've got a lot of equity right now to use for the down payment on a the next more expensive home. And it's a good guess your mortgage paymnent won't go up by much. I'm also thinking there's a bit of FOMO going around. I've been hearing people in real life wondering if they should purchase an "investment property" or a "second home" to take advantage of the housing market (because I think it will keep going up and up and up ). I'm not sure what the housing market looks like when the this cycle ends. I don't think the housing market can keep increasing the way it has been recently but at the same time I don't envision a 2008-style bubble. We're in the middle of refinancing to get a lower rate and the documentation is extensive. We have excellent credit, the LTV is very good, steady jobs, etc. but they're still requiring proof of every asset. So, I'm guessing that people who are getting into bidding wars can actually afford the payments. The only ones I'd worry about are those that require two incomes to pay the mortgage and would be in serious trouble if one person lost a job.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Apr 28, 2021 9:40:24 GMT -5
I have been reading that there is pent up demand b/c there was a period of about 10 years where most of the housing that was built was high end. There has been very little housing added to the market that is for middle and lower income families and b/c interest rates are low. I read they do not expect a crash, that prices may ease a bit, but they will not quickly deflate. Biden has something in his infrastructure bill about requiring cities to allow smaller residential lots. I am not thrilled about the idea of that type of housing being developed near my house. We have a development which I can see from my house that is houses similar to what is in my subdivision with a density that is 2-4 x what we have in our subdivision. People were very against the subdivision being allowed, but the Common Council and the Mayor said they could not disallow it b/c it met the city's long term planning requirements.
I expected to hear rumblings about that, but I have not. I guess there is so much in that bill, much of it that is really important to the country. I doubt anyone thinks it will pass in its entirety, so they are probably going to go with the most important parts and just leave the rest to die a quiet death in never-never land.
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ajmom
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Post by ajmom on Apr 28, 2021 13:10:08 GMT -5
This housing increase makes me sad and a little fearful. I’m still not sure where I will “end up” so I am renting at an astronomical price (to me it is!) in a HCOLA. I have to admit — if future me told me to buy something in 2018, I don’t know if I would have....
I don’t hope for any foreclosures for people — but I do hope the prices go back down in a year or so...otherwise, my decision may already be decided for me!
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Apr 29, 2021 19:58:10 GMT -5
I keep hearing the "low interest rates" are why everyone is buying - but I'm guessing it's the big run up of the stock market over the last two years that has given a lot of people the big down payments necessary for the 500K and up houses if they didn't previously own a house. And if you happened to have bought a house between 2010 and 2018 or so - you quite possibly purchased at the bottom or on the upswing which means you've got a lot of equity right now to use for the down payment on a the next more expensive home. And it's a good guess your mortgage paymnent won't go up by much. I'm also thinking there's a bit of FOMO going around. I've been hearing people in real life wondering if they should purchase an "investment property" or a "second home" to take advantage of the housing market (because I think it will keep going up and up and up ). I'm not sure what the housing market looks like when the this cycle ends. I don't think the housing market can keep increasing the way it has been recently but at the same time I don't envision a 2008-style bubble. We're in the middle of refinancing to get a lower rate and the documentation is extensive. We have excellent credit, the LTV is very good, steady jobs, etc. but they're still requiring proof of every asset. So, I'm guessing that people who are getting into bidding wars can actually afford the payments. The only ones I'd worry about are those that require two incomes to pay the mortgage and would be in serious trouble if one person lost a job. Really? When I refinanced my house in December, they didn't want much documentation at all. Didn't even ask about assets. I asked if I could get a discount on the appraisal and he waived it altogether.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Apr 29, 2021 21:43:11 GMT -5
It does seem like no builders built anything smaller than 2000 sq ft the past decade or so...no real "starter homes" per se. The first house I bought (in 1999) was 1200 sq ft. Sold that in 2006 and bought the second house (ouch!). It was 1500 sq ft. Sold that a year ago ($70k less than I paid but $25k more than I owed) and bought this third (and hopefully final) one summer 2020. It's 978 sq ft with a full footprint basement that's mostly finished. I'm hoping to use that space to facilitate some workshops but that's veering from the point.
Nobody builds homes in the 900-1500 sq ft range. Granted, there's the "tiny house" thing going on but that's VERY niche.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 29, 2021 22:13:39 GMT -5
It does seem like no builders built anything smaller than 2000 sq ft the past decade or so...no real "starter homes" per se. The first house I bought (in 1999) was 1200 sq ft. Sold that in 2006 and bought the second house (ouch!). It was 1500 sq ft. Sold that a year ago ($70k less than I paid but $25k more than I owed) and bought this third (and hopefully final) one summer 2020. It's 978 sq ft with a full footprint basement that's mostly finished. I'm hoping to use that space to facilitate some workshops but that's veering from the point. Nobody builds homes in the 900-1500 sq ft range. Granted, there's the "tiny house" thing going on but that's VERY niche. My neighborhood was built post-war thru 1960 (mostly - there are some pre-war houses that are so frickin' cool). Most of the houses were 1600 square feet or less. There are a small number of houses that remain the "original footprint". The rest have added huge additions and the average house size is now like 2400 square feet. I don’t know if 1500 square feet is acceptable to people anymore. I think houses will only get bigger if 'work from home' stays a thing. Maybe some smart architect will create houses with 2 very small offices - like large cube size - but with giant windows.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Apr 30, 2021 6:21:42 GMT -5
It does seem like no builders built anything smaller than 2000 sq ft the past decade or so...no real "starter homes" per se. The first house I bought (in 1999) was 1200 sq ft. Sold that in 2006 and bought the second house (ouch!). It was 1500 sq ft. Sold that a year ago ($70k less than I paid but $25k more than I owed) and bought this third (and hopefully final) one summer 2020. It's 978 sq ft with a full footprint basement that's mostly finished. I'm hoping to use that space to facilitate some workshops but that's veering from the point. Nobody builds homes in the 900-1500 sq ft range. Granted, there's the "tiny house" thing going on but that's VERY niche. My neighborhood was built post-war thru 1960 (mostly - there are some pre-war houses that are so frickin' cool). Most of the houses were 1600 square feet or less. There are a small number of houses that remain the "original footprint". The rest have added huge additions and the average house size is now like 2400 square feet. I don’t know if 1500 square feet is acceptable to people anymore. I think houses will only get bigger if 'work from home' stays a thing. Maybe some smart architect will create houses with 2 very small offices - like large cube size - but with giant windows. I agree that the general consensus is 2500+. I think people are looking for their forever home from the get-go because so many mid-century 1900s people never moved from their homes back then, mostly due to lack of choice.
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