Ryan, KC8PMX wrote:
Around here in this county I live in, home ownership is next to impossible,
except for spending at least $75,000 or better. The average small 3 bedroom
house, no basement or garage (slab built) on a half to full acre runs *at
least* 75 grand or better. Go immediately outside of the county lines of
this county, and the similar/equivalent structure is anywhere from 25-50%
less. I guess it is something about Midland county I guess.

The cost of a home always seems to be "next to impossible" relative to
the place it is located in, with the "next to" part being key. The other
constant since the end of World War II has been that the "next to impossible"
price very often looks cheap when viewed in retrospect, though I'm not sure
one should count on this being true everywhere forever.

As an example of how "next to impossible" can vary with location, the
house next door to me in Palo Alto, CA, which sold a few months ago after
a few years of unpleasant economy here, sounds a lot like yours. It's
a 1,300 square foot bungalow, no basement, 50 years old. It does have a
one-car detached garage, but the lot is only 8,000 square feet. It was
listed at $885,000, and it sold for that on the first day it was listed.
They didn't even put a sign up.

If there were $75,000 houses where I lived and intended to stay I think
I'd struggle to buy one. You have to live somewhere, and even if the
post-WW2 trend doesn't hold the prices other places have a lot further
to fall.

Dennis Ferguson