What kind of home will $500,000 buy you in your area?

[Steve-French]

Wow you can get those big ass homes for under 500k and near lake superior why so cheap?

Those homes look like they should cost at least a million or more especially with the land.

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is kind of a little hidden treasure imo. The winters are long and harsh, so I think that's what keeps people away. It's very low crime too. There has only been about 4 murders in the last 15 years in the city I live in and you can always feel comfortable leaving your doors unlocked.

It's pretty desolate up here though I live in the biggest city in the Upper Peninsula and it's only about 23,000 people plus a University of about 8,000. The winters can be alright though if you want to do snow stuff. We have a ski hill and a ton of snowmobile trails. Ice fishing and fat tire bikes are big too.

In case you're wondering these are fat tire bikes (basically snow mountain bikes). This was taken several blocks away from my house.

My house (2 bed 2 bath) would probably sell for around 130K and this is the view from my back deck.

This is right after the snow melted, so everything is kind of brown...

I caught this after I was up all night drinking

It also makes a lot of top 10 lists as far as places to raise kids and outdoors kind of stuff goes. Here's a short little tourist hype video that can give an idea of what it's like.

 

[Karasu-Hanta]

Half a mil will get you a refurbished public housing property.

 

[steeldragon]

I'm from Sydney northern beaches a 2 bedroom unit costs 1 mill so can't buy shit for 500k

 

[Orgasmo]

10 years ago in Vancouver, $500k would get you a new 1200sq feet townhouse with three bedrooms.

Today in Vancouver, $500k would get you a studio apartment approximately 500 sq feet.

10 years from now in Vancouver for $500k:

 

[bref]

This shit house is 2.4 million dollars in my neighborhood. I sorted by lowest prices and this was at the bottom.

 

[Orgasmo]

So all you guys living in markets where a mil will get you a shack...how do working class people survive? Do they pay mechanics, machine operators, etc like $100/hr?

Your options are pretty limited.

1. Live with parents
2. Live with multiple roommates
3. Move elsewhere

If you're not making at least $50k gross a year, you won't be able to afford rent in Vancouver.

 

[TidWell]

This shit house is 2.4 million dollars in my neighborhood. I sorted by lowest prices and this was at the bottom.

lol wtf why is the cost of living so high there?

 

[gspieler]

Your options are pretty limited.

1. Live with parents
2. Live with multiple roommates
3. Move elsewhere

If you're not making at least $50k gross a year, you won't be able to afford rent in Vancouver.

So people who own homes, even in a relative ghetto, could sell it for ~1mil, move to a cheaper market, and live an upper middle class life?

 

[Orgasmo]

So people who own homes, even in a relative ghetto, could sell it for ~1mil, move to a cheaper market, and live an upper middle class life?

Yes, in the city of Vancouver itself, I don't think any detached home sells for less than a mil. A rundown place like this in the Strathcona neighborhood (worst neighborhood in Vancouver) will sell for a minimum of $1.2 mil.

The skyrocketing prices are causing housing values in surrounding areas to shoot up rapidly too, since people from Vancouver sell their properties and move into those areas. It's a cascading effect from allowing foreigners to speculate on the housing market unchecked for the past 15 years.

lol wtf why is the cost of living so high there?

1. A flood of foreign money in the past 15 years causing massive speculation and turning the city into a destination for laundering dirty money from China.
2. Artificially low interest rates and low down payment requirement (5% down just two years ago)
3. FOMO (fear of missing out) sentiment from locals

 

[Jballer]

In my current town 500k is about the average rate for a decent but nothing special 3 bedroom house.

 

[gspieler]

Yes, in the city of Vancouver itself, I don't think any detached home sells for less than a mil. A rundown place like this in the Strathcona neighborhood (worst neighborhood in Vancouver) will sell for a minimum of $1.2 mil.

The skyrocketing prices are causing housing values in surrounding areas to shoot up rapidly too, since people from Vancouver sell their properties and move into those areas.

Wow...so anyone with a middle class home can sell it, and retire comfortably in a cheaper market. Where I live, you could live an upper middle class life off of investment income from 2 mil alone, for the rest of your life. Would've been nice to buy up property 20 years ago.

 

[CWMMA]

“Conservative shithole area” detected.

Yawn. Not everyone wants to live in a progressive sewer.

 

[Orgasmo]

Wow...so anyone with a middle class home can sell it, and retire comfortably in a cheaper market. Where I live, you could live an upper middle class life off of investment income from 2 mil alone, for the rest of your life. Would've been nice to buy up property 20 years ago.

Yes, but historically Vancouver's real estate market had been heavily speculated upon. The average housing price for detached home was already $500k back in 2000, which is about twice the Canadian average at the time. If you want to enter the market today, you need a household income of at least $100k for condos and $200k for detached homes. Think about it this way, my boss (VP of Operations) makes $200k a year and he finds the market ridiculously unaffordable.

There are some low rent housing available, but those are scarce and always filled with disabled, mentally ill, seniors or junkies.

 

[gspieler]

Yes, but historically Vancouver's real estate market had been heavily speculated upon. The average housing price for detached home was already $500k back in 2000, which is about twice the Canadian average at the time. If you want to enter the market today, you need a household income of at least $100k for condos and $200k for detached homes. Think about it this way, my boss makes $200k a year and he finds the market ridiculously unaffordable.

Feel bad for younger people, in this regard. Must be tough getting established in a market like that.

 

[irish_thug]

In my area that would get you a 3-4 bedroom on a few acres. Maybe on the river.

 

[Andersons Foot]

527k

 

[Orgasmo]

Feel bad for younger people, in this regard. Must be tough getting established in a market like that.

It is. My friend works for RCMP, which is the federal police force. That means salaries are the same across the country. His classmates from training 5 years ago already bought a second house in Nova Scotia, while my buddy just cobbled up enough for a down payment on a one bedroom condo. Funny thing is his condo is almost the same price as his classmates' two houses put together.

$400k in Halifax, Nova Scotia:

 

[DeepCover]

Yawn. Not everyone wants to live in a progressive sewer.

I was just making fun of the comment 12 posts before yours. I couldn’t agree more. Progressive is a relative term anyway.

 

[gspieler]

It is. My friend works for RCMP, which is the federal police force. That means salaries are the same across the country. His classmates from training 5 years ago already bought a second house in Nova Scotia, while my buddy just cobbled up enough for a down payment on a one bedroom condo. Funny thing is his condo is almost the same price as his classmates' two houses put together.

$400k in Halifax, Nova Scotia:

On the plus side, I'm guessing most professions salary's will be relative to the market. If you save a reasonable amount in a market like that, you could retire rich most other places.

 

[Orgasmo]

On the plus side, I'm guessing most professions salary's will be relative to the market. If you save a reasonable amount in a market like that, you could retire rich most other places.

Nope, income in Vancouver isn't significantly higher than elsewhere in Canada, with average of $45k a year. You're not going to save much unless you got a good gig.