The Money Mustache Community

Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: Villanelle on November 13, 2015, 07:39:44 PM

Title: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Villanelle on November 13, 2015, 07:39:44 PM
DH and I are in a temp living situation and absolutely love the area. It's pretty much perfect.  Except housing costs.  Single family homes seem to start at about $775, and that's usually something pretty dated and/or in need of some work. Average is probably $800-900. It's nearly impossible to get in to a single family for less than a million, and that may not have a garage of any off street parking.  That's not in the cards, so I'll have to admire from afar after we leave. 

But it got me wondering, where do you live and what is an average $/sqft?

Oh, and we are in Coronado, CA.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Jeremy E. on November 16, 2015, 11:26:22 AM
In Lewiston, ID, single family homes start at $115,000, average is $160,000. Average square footage is about 1,800.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Jack on November 16, 2015, 11:37:20 AM
When I bought my house 6 years ago, it cost $77/ft2 (for a fixer-upper). Average in my neighborhood nowadays -- for a "fixed-up" house -- would probably be $150-$200/ft2. Really fancy parts of town (e.g. Midtown, Ansley Park or Buckhead) might go as high as $300-$500/ft2 and the middle-class suburbs probably average $100/ft2.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: JLee on November 16, 2015, 11:44:12 AM
I paid $76.71/sq ft for my house in Phoenix in February 2013.  I'm in NJ now, and the house where I'm renting a room is valued at $177.47/sq ft.

Taxes are killer, though. $10,409 in NJ for this house (~3k sq ft home, 5001 sq ft lot, built in 1901).  $748 for my AZ house (1825sq ft, 10,110 sq ft lot, built in 1976).
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: ShoulderThingThatGoesUp on November 16, 2015, 02:12:08 PM
I paid $85-$90 per square foot for my house just outside of Allentown, PA. Fully detached homes in good school districts usually sell for over $100 per square foot.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Dartwa on November 16, 2015, 02:25:03 PM
I was actually just looking at this map a couple of weeks ago. It's semi-useful, but averages across the whole state, so semi-unuseful at the same time (especially for big states like California).

https://www.discover.com/home-loans/blog/how-expensive-is-your-state

Looks like I just moved out of one of the top 5 cheapest states for real estate... whoops.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Bearded Man on November 16, 2015, 07:20:15 PM
A million dollar home doesn't sound very mustachian to me. A million dollar home with an old and dated house, no garage. Meh....
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: PaulMaxime on November 16, 2015, 07:42:09 PM
Here in San Francisco it's over $1100 now. Some of the fancier locations are way over 1100/sf.

3 years ago, we paid $560/sf, so it's turned out OK for us. But I wouldn't want to buy now.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Bracken_Joy on November 16, 2015, 09:38:12 PM
Here in San Francisco it's over $1100 now. Some of the fancier locations are way over 1100/sf.

3 years ago, we paid $560/sf, so it's turned out OK for us. But I wouldn't want to buy now.

I knew SF was expensive, but that seems insane. That means a 1,000 sq ft house is over a million bucks? That seems... especially high.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Krolik on November 17, 2015, 07:49:41 AM
We are closing on a house in 3 weeks. South Florida, Broward County, very good neighborhood with good schools. Average price per sqft  = $170
Insurance and taxes are high. Wind proofing your house is a must. Without it we would have to pay 7.5K for insurance. With wind mitigation discount annual premium will be 3K. I can't imagine what people are paying for waterfront properties.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Jack on November 17, 2015, 08:40:12 AM
Here in San Francisco it's over $1100 now. Some of the fancier locations are way over 1100/sf.

3 years ago, we paid $560/sf, so it's turned out OK for us. But I wouldn't want to buy now.

I knew SF was expensive, but that seems insane. That means a 1,000 sq ft house is over a million bucks? That seems... especially high.

That's what happens when the people in charge of the city's zoning code go literally insane. People want to live there but they refuse to allow more density, so prices skyrocket. Then because land values are so high, whatever housing does manage to get approved has to be "luxury" in order for the developer to make his profit. It's a vicious cycle (or virtuous cycle, if you're a long-time property owner or developer... which is why the insane planners aren't replaced).
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Spork on November 17, 2015, 09:25:00 AM

I think I remember the average being around $90-100 here.  We built ours for about that.  It was heavily skewed to be more than that when we moved in, but we had a lot of unfinished space.  We've since finished most of it, bringing the cost down to average.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Terrestrial on November 17, 2015, 12:24:09 PM
A million dollar home doesn't sound very mustachian to me. A million dollar home with an old and dated house, no garage. Meh....

Price is not what makes something 'mustachian' or not - value is....it's not synonymous with 'cheap'.  You are probably right that a million dollar mansion somewhere in the midwest miles away from civilization could be considered unmustachian under most circumstances.  A million bucks to live in the downtown of a booming city in easy walking distance to extremely high paying jobs and where the rental rates exceed your cost of ownership might actually be very mustachian.


Price in my area 150-200/sf for pretty nice houses.  Not a very high COL area.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Wile E. Coyote on November 17, 2015, 01:06:49 PM
About $400 per square foot.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Bearded Man on November 17, 2015, 01:13:48 PM
A million dollar home doesn't sound very mustachian to me. A million dollar home with an old and dated house, no garage. Meh....

Price is not what makes something 'mustachian' or not - value is....it's not synonymous with 'cheap'.  You are probably right that a million dollar mansion somewhere in the midwest miles away from civilization could be considered unmustachian under most circumstances.  A million bucks to live in the downtown of a booming city in easy walking distance to extremely high paying jobs and where the rental rates exceed your cost of ownership might actually be very mustachian.


Price in my area 150-200/sf for pretty nice houses.  Not a very high COL area.
Not a ton of value in buying a 1mil house to live in when posting on a retirement forum....Spending more on a house for pleasure is not helping retire faster...
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Villanelle on November 17, 2015, 04:06:03 PM
Here in San Francisco it's over $1100 now. Some of the fancier locations are way over 1100/sf.

3 years ago, we paid $560/sf, so it's turned out OK for us. But I wouldn't want to buy now.

I knew SF was expensive, but that seems insane. That means a 1,000 sq ft house is over a million bucks? That seems... especially high.

That house would be over a million in this area as well.  Which is why, even though we love it here, it will probably never be a longer term home for us. Our medium term furnished rental (6 months, off season, with a military discount), which is okay but somewhat dated, is about 1100sqft (as a guess), 2 bed one bath, and is an apartment-style condo unit in a very dated building, and we are paying $3000/mo.  And we picked it because compared to everything else, it was a screaming good deal.  Most comparable places wanted $3500+.  In the summer, our place is $4500.  The owner plans on selling it after we leave and asking will probably be about $850,000.  For a dated 2 bed 1 bath second story condo. 
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Bracken_Joy on November 17, 2015, 04:22:35 PM
Here in San Francisco it's over $1100 now. Some of the fancier locations are way over 1100/sf.

3 years ago, we paid $560/sf, so it's turned out OK for us. But I wouldn't want to buy now.

I knew SF was expensive, but that seems insane. That means a 1,000 sq ft house is over a million bucks? That seems... especially high.

That house would be over a million in this area as well.  Which is why, even though we love it here, it will probably never be a longer term home for us. Our medium term furnished rental (6 months, off season, with a military discount), which is okay but somewhat dated, is about 1100sqft (as a guess), 2 bed one bath, and is an apartment-style condo unit in a very dated building, and we are paying $3000/mo.  And we picked it because compared to everything else, it was a screaming good deal.  Most comparable places wanted $3500+.  In the summer, our place is $4500.  The owner plans on selling it after we leave and asking will probably be about $850,000.  For a dated 2 bed 1 bath second story condo.

I'm officially never complaining about Portland's housing market again.

That sucks.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: redcedar on November 17, 2015, 05:04:27 PM
Ignoring basement sf even if finished....
$85-100/sf starter to early family homes
$120-140/sf for family homes with quite a few higher end finishes
$150-175/sf for homes that show you really like expensive homes
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Terrestrial on November 17, 2015, 06:12:00 PM
A million dollar home doesn't sound very mustachian to me. A million dollar home with an old and dated house, no garage. Meh....

Price is not what makes something 'mustachian' or not - value is....it's not synonymous with 'cheap'.  You are probably right that a million dollar mansion somewhere in the midwest miles away from civilization could be considered unmustachian under most circumstances.  A million bucks to live in the downtown of a booming city in easy walking distance to extremely high paying jobs and where the rental rates exceed your cost of ownership might actually be very mustachian.


Price in my area 150-200/sf for pretty nice houses.  Not a very high COL area.
Not a ton of value in buying a 1mil house to live in when posting on a retirement forum....Spending more on a house for pleasure is not helping retire faster...

My point was that if said million dollar house lets you live close to a job where you can make 250-400k (or more) per year and it's cheaper than renting for the area, it could very well be a good path to early retirement.    Not all million dollar properties are opulent pleasure splurges. 

Huge swaths of the bay area, NYC, many large international cities, are 7 figure properties but a household with the right jobs can make a half million bucks a year. 
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: PaulMaxime on November 17, 2015, 07:31:26 PM


My point was that if said million dollar house lets you live close to a job where you can make 250-400k (or more) per year and it's cheaper than renting for the area, it could very well be a good path to early retirement.    Not all million dollar properties are opulent pleasure splurges. 

Huge swaths of the bay area, NYC, many large international cities, are 7 figure properties but a household with the right jobs can make a half million bucks a year.

Correct. We pay less now for our mortgage than we would renting here, and we are insulated from future price increases. My good friend had the rent on his 2br 1000 sqft apartment raised to over $5000(!) and it wasn't even a really especially nice place. Above that, the price of our own place has basically doubled since 2012, so it's worth close to $2M now.

Also, we love the area and are approaching FI, even here. I bike to work, we hardly ever drive, the weather and lifestyle suit us well. In a few years I'll pay off the house and our cost of living will plummet. I'm not a fan of keeping the mortgage around forever (personal choice).

If we ever need to downsize or want to move somewhere else, that will just be a bonus. But I don't see us doing that any time soon.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: clarkfan1979 on November 18, 2015, 01:09:48 AM
$300/sq. ft. for something that needs work. Closer to $400/sq. ft. for something that is finished. Older construction houses are on the smaller end with patios and decks that don't count in the square footage. More outdoor living.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Fishindude on November 18, 2015, 09:19:13 AM
You can buy some pretty darned nice existing homes in Indiana for $80 to $125 per square foot if you stay off the waterfront and out of the high demand metro areas and college towns.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: OkieStache on November 18, 2015, 03:43:20 PM
Ignoring basement sf even if finished.... [No basements in Okie land for houses built in the last 100 years]
$85-100/sf starter to early family homes
$120-140/sf for family homes with quite a few higher end finishes
$150-175/sf for homes that show you really like expensive homes
About the same here.  You can find some really nice 3/2 homes in great schools for $110/ft. if you look hard.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: happyfeet on November 21, 2015, 08:07:23 AM
Condo owner.  Detroit suburb here.  Bought in 2009 at the low $75/sq foot.  Now $145/sq ft.  Upscale condo complex. 
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: undercover on November 21, 2015, 09:42:52 AM
A million dollar home doesn't sound very mustachian to me. A million dollar home with an old and dated house, no garage. Meh....

Price is not what makes something 'mustachian' or not - value is....it's not synonymous with 'cheap'.  You are probably right that a million dollar mansion somewhere in the midwest miles away from civilization could be considered unmustachian under most circumstances.  A million bucks to live in the downtown of a booming city in easy walking distance to extremely high paying jobs and where the rental rates exceed your cost of ownership might actually be very mustachian.


Price in my area 150-200/sf for pretty nice houses.  Not a very high COL area.
Not a ton of value in buying a 1mil house to live in when posting on a retirement forum....Spending more on a house for pleasure is not helping retire faster...

My point was that if said million dollar house lets you live close to a job where you can make 250-400k (or more) per year and it's cheaper than renting for the area, it could very well be a good path to early retirement.    Not all million dollar properties are opulent pleasure splurges. 

Huge swaths of the bay area, NYC, many large international cities, are 7 figure properties but a household with the right jobs can make a half million bucks a year.

I agree. Price is irrelevant. What's relative is salary and location, or simply how much you value a good location and nice house.

I personally think $/sqft is a useless number. It's analogical to a stock's P/E ratio. It's so loaded that it doesn't even make sense to compare $/sqft between two different houses, let alone two different cities. It encompasses location, size, age, condition, style, features, lot size, etc. You can't compare the subjective value of location vs style/condition, since some people might value one or the other more, or both, or neither. You also can't compare one stock's P/E ratio to another's, so why should you be able to in housing? The only way in which it could be useful is if you have identical houses with the same lot size.
Title: Re: What the average price per square foot in your area?
Post by: Spork on November 21, 2015, 09:46:49 AM
The only way in which it could be useful is if you have identical houses with the same lot size.

I used to live in that neighborhood.