How cheap is the cheapest home for sale in your city/region?
How cheap is the cheapest home for sale in your city/region?
In Utah County the cheapest "House" for sale is 600 square feet, 2 bed, 1 bath, at $300k.
So at current interest rate it would be $1,800 a month mortgage(assuming you put the 60k down payment! A decent amount more if you do 3% down.)
The cheapest condo/town in utah valley is 205k, 1,100 square feet, on a 400 square foot lot. But due to a $500 HOA fee the monthly cost is still 1,700 a month (assuming 20% down).
With 3.5% down they'd both be closer to 2.1k +PIMI.
So yeah, how is where you live doing?
I'm in Ashburn, VA. I just looked at Zillow and saw that the cheapest single family home right now is $625k for 2060 sqft. If you have a credit score >719 and put $100k (~16%) down, it's only $4438/month according to their estimates.
So my wife and I live in an apartment with no kids or pets, and we both work a lot... Maybe one day we can afford a townhouse? I just found a decent looking one that's only $450k so $3200/month...
For more fun, calculate how much money you would have to make to meet the rule of having your mortgage only cost 30% of your take home pay!
To buy a home with a 2k mortgage and keep that rule, you'd need a TAKE HOME pay of nearly 80k, so easily needing 6 figures gross pay to afford these two homes while still keeping this rule.
Like $15k if you want a total gut & remodel
Edit: found one for $10k. Fun. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1205-Mill-St-Pittsburgh-PA-15221/11379395_zpid/?utm_medium=referral
Here in Victoria BC the cheapest detached house is just shy of $1m cad. What a shithole
This is for an area of western, suburban Tokyo. Edit: most are going to be around 1.25+ hours into Shinjuku involving transfers and up to a 20 minute walk to the nearest station.
In USD terms, around $76,000. 52.x square meters 3 rooms, bath, dining+kitchen (so one room is presumably getting used as the living room). Another few hundred a year in maintenance/condo fees. But it's in a building from 1976 which is before the latest major earthquake law revision and I would absolutely not live there (property can appreciate in Japan, but houses are not seen as investments and lose value really quickly).
Poking around, there are freestanding houses as well in that range, but they cannot be rebuilt so you're stuck with the existing structure (I don't know to what degree one could legally "Ship of Theseus" the thing; interior renovation is fine). This is mostly due to a change in law requiring at least a 4-meter-wide (IIRC) road connecting to the property (and mostly for emergency services access). You can buy these on the cheap but it's because they're not a long-term solution and you'll be stuck holding the bag on worthless land to all except maybe a neighbor who might want to buy it (but if it's for sale now, they don't).
There are actually a surprising number of buildings after 1981 (latest major earthquake law revision, basically required for mortgage + insurance), but a lot of them are in areas with heavy restrictions (landscape laws, height laws, aviation laws (I have no idea what that one means; maybe it's in a flight path (noisy) or has some additional height/light restrictions?)), etc.
The search site I used doesn't have any good way of searching for used homes without restrictions built after 1981 for comparison and I got tired of clicking.
Prices jump a lot within a 20-minute walk of the closest station; most people don't want to live further.
600 square feet? What do you do with all the space? I can't even conceive of having such a large house.
The house I live in is about the cheapest in my area that has an actual land deed. So it's an effective minimum for a house in my city -- smaller houses can't get land deeds, so you can't properly buy them. It costs about the equivalent of USD 150k.
I live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The median salary is not so high here. So correcting for cost of living, that's 'something like' the equivalent 600k in the USA.
The other catch is that the house is 2.3 meters wide and maybe 9 meters long (including the walls). That's about 225 square freedom units. No yard in the front or back. Typically 2-3 families would live in a house like this, but it's just my wife and I, because I need half the space for my business. My previous residence was smaller, about 2 meters by 4.5 meters. The roof fell on me once, but otherwise it was quite acceptable. That cost about USD 5k to build (building only -- not land price), but you can't legally buy or sell it.
Home ownership is basically impossible here except through inheritance, or owning a successful business (which is quite a battle in a cost-driven market). Even then, most families get a small room, with no ownership paperwork or land deed -- the theoretical value of these is about 60k USD based on the rent vs. value of other buildings. So, equivalent to ~240k in the USA.
The other other catch is that bank interest rates are very high -- and unless you are already rich, chances are you cannot get a loan. So typically buying a home is done in cash. Some people who work at big companies with upper middle class salaries have been able to get loans in recent times too.
Off in the countryside, you can still get a decent plot of empty land for ~30k USD and build your own home (10k to 200k depending on whether it's a hut or a villa). However, there are basically zero employment opportunities out there, and you're far from advanced hospitals and so on. Basic services are available, roads and power are OK, and it's quite lovely. If you're in good health, know how to catch fish, and speak Vietnamese, it's actually a pretty good good life.
Anyway there are many things about life here that are really great (I mean, I chose to immigrate), but the path to home ownership is brutal. I thought it was brutal in North America but really I had no idea.
This housing crisis won't change until we start to move into politician's lawns and garages.
For a “cheap “ suburb of Boston
- $580k for 1,038 sq ft 2 br on a 5,000 sq ft lot. The homes on this area were originally built as summer cottages so they’re going to be expensive to heat. Of 12 single family homes for sale, 7 are over $1M and one is in a different town
- $265k for a 1 br condo, 579 sq ft. The only feature listed is “private entrance”. Second cheapest is a new townhouse for $1.5M
$229k NZD for a 2 bed, 1 bath 80sqm slumlord rental in a shit neighbourhood in Christchurch, New Zealand
$200,000 for a 1 Bed 1 Bath with an hour and a half commute to the city. It's a unit, so probably has a bunch of other fees attached for upkeep but they aren't listed. Area is far away from necessary services, highly car dependent and notoriously crime ridden. The unit is run down and requires renovations.
Double that for a 2 Bed 1 Bath in a similar area.
My house is a small two story granny cottage with a total floor area of 90sqm (1000sqf) though the upstairs have a low ceiling so the "true" floor are is closer to 60sqm (650sqm). The plot is 1000sqm (10500sqf) and has an additional building with a sauna and a small workshop space. It's located about 10km (6 miles) from the city centre on a residential neighbourhood in Finland. It's one of the major cities in the country. I paid about 105k€ for it which means 450€/month
The cheapest livable in Paris, FR would be a 35m2 with two rooms, a kitchen and a tiny basement room for 30k€. It’s actually sold by the courts in April in an auction after being seized for whatever reason and I currently wonder whether I should make an offer for it as it’s so dirt cheap and I could pay it cash.
Not answering the question really, but it prompted me to check out property prices in my home town in New Zealand - small town near a small city in the south. Example: 3br "character" wooden villa on a small section, NZ$700k (US$434k, £350k). I had heard about the explosion in NZ house prices, but that really took me aback. The house I live in now, 3br mid-terrace with garden in a similar sized Scottish town, would sell for about £250k. Even that seems crazy expensive, but at least it's within half an hour of a fantastic city.
(The estate agent's website lists previous sale prices, it shows the kiwi horror story: 2022: $570k; 2019: $430k; 2011: $271k; 1988: $52k; 1984: $26k.)
The cheapest one is apparently in the town next door. It's a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, 984 square foot single family home built in 1955, on a third-of-an-acre lot with no HOA.
All the pictures are of the outside only, so I'm assuming the inside is pure shit. However, I also have to assume it's some kind of liveable shit, because the places that aren't liveable generally have to list as "0 bedrooms".
It's $60,000, in south/central New Jersey. Or $665 per month, which includes 30 year mortgage as well as property taxes.
Definitely under 50K (USD), but that's because I live in the sticks.
With a quick search on Zillow for Lincoln, Nebraska (~300k pop college town), cheapest I can find is $90k for a 1 bed/1 bath 500 sqft condo. $100k for a 1 bed/1 bath 500 sqft house, though technically that's a foreclosure so you might not consider that to count. The cheapest normal house for sale that I can find is $110k for a 2 bed, 1 bath 1500 sqft house. It's an older home, but actually a pretty decent location (close-ish to downtown).
(£1 gbp = $1.27 usd = €1.17 eur)
Cheapest land - £15,000 (0.56 acres)
Cheapest "house" - £50,000 - The dwellinghouse may be suitable for renovation or as a building site for a new property
Cheapest livable house - £85,000 - looks like it was lived in at least.
Cheapest flat - £85,000 (1 bed)
Church - £100,000 - The adjacent cemetery is not included in the sale.
$80k cad - 3 bedroom and 1 bath. Probably needs a good cleaning and upgrade. Bus stop close by. Not so good area but it's ok.
Too fucking expensive for me, that's how much.
in saigon you can pitch a hammock for $0
if you are Vietnamese, sometimes you can apply for some free farm land
Saw a listing for a house which has had a fire and all the copper pipes stolen being sold as is for 300K in a really gritty location in the city.
439k, 3 bed , 2 bath.
It gets cheaper, but they are mobile homes and restricted to 55+
Oh fun. $330k for a 500sqft shack that is partially collapsed. The only info on the listing states the lot will need to be scraped, so basically that is the cost of an empty lot.
Going out a bit further, you can find a couple of houses around $350k that are liveable. They are 700-900 sqft and 0-2 bedrooms.
Lithuania, Telšiai county
14000 Euros
4 rooms
66 square metres
25 ars of land
Does HOA mow your lawn, make you food and drive you anywhere?
SE MI - $100k for a rundown piece of shit
2 bedroom, 1 bath mobile home from 1960: $26,900.
$650/mo. HOA fees.
Genève (Geneva), Switzerland
Cheapest apartment is 38m², 2 rooms, 570'000 CHF (646'000 USD)
That's very cheap. It's a shitty flat but livable if need be.
https://www.immoscout24.ch/buy/4000814125
Cheapest house is 240m², 6 rooms, 2'950'000 CHF (3'347'000 USD)
$59,900 (Canadian)
704 sqft, 1 story, built in 1905
Not, of course, in a desirable neighborhood, and most of the "recent renovations" scream flipper, but it is cheap...
https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/26213715/655-magnus-avenue-winnipeg-north-end
Regional Australia.
$250k will get you a 90s apartment or a shitbox in bumsville.
Avg wage is about $80k.
$70k USD - 3 bed, 2.5 bath, 1400sq ft., 0.3 acre lot, two stories and a detached garage. The interior needs plenty of non-cosmetic work (e.g. - new flooring)
$75k USD - 2 bed, 1 bath, 800sq ft., 0.15 acre lot; newly redone floors, electric and paint.
After that, there's about 10 more in the 125-150K range.
Damn, I didn't realize I just wasted 45 minutes. No definitive answer, but it seems €30-40k for something that should be repaired, but could be barely lived in.
The absolutely cheapest I found was €17,000 with no photos from indoors, only with description saying it is not suitable for living in the current condition...
I bought my 3BR 1bath SFH, west side of Chicago, for $61K... kinda. To be actually livable it needed another $21K in immediate repairs (electric, plumbing, HVAC).
Luckily I refinanced right before inflation went crazy, so my total mortgage + escrow is $945/mo.
We also looked at a 3-flat building for $2K, but it had a $10K lien on it and all the copper had been stripped, sooooo
In the city at large, I see the cheapest apartment 750sq feet for 18k but you can be sure the whole building is falling down; cheapest empty lot $30k 2,500 sq feet (so maybe do-able if you can build up 2-3 stories, since you aren't actually allowed to build out to the edges of the lot).
Cheapest actual detached house in my 'inside the city, close to work and everything' neighborhood is an eye watering $440k and 1,500 sq feet, cheapest for sale apartment 700 sq ft $140k.
Most EXPENSIVE house in my neighborhood $2,250,000, and most expensive house listed in the whole city, add another zero to that price.
Handful of townhouses for sale. Cheapest is $225k for 2 beds/1 bath, 1100 sq.ft. The others for sale are about 20k more expensive and are bigger (and there are some that are $$$).
One of the older (60s?) homes in the area is for sale $525k. It's 3 bed/3 baths, 2100 sq.ft. and an ingroind heated pool and half an acre. This is far too cheap for the area so it might be a divorce or something.
Most lots go for about 400k and other houses are 600k. This is in one of the big upper middle class suburbs in the Midwest
Bay Area... Don't even want to check, too depressing
$47,900 for a duplex in the bad part of town.
Very pricey is all i can say.
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There are some very small houses in my neighborhood that can be had for under $150k so long as you're ok with them falling off their foundation, the occasional holes in the roof, and the infestations.
My house is a total ground up rebuild at a whopping 730 square feet on an eighth acre lot that I bought a little over a year ago for $230k.
When I search in a 30KM radius, the cheapest house starts at 140K euros. You only get 19m² (204 sq ft) so it's like just one room? But for 150K you can get a 55m² (592 sq ft) house that's probably a bathroom, livingroom and bedroom.
Per square feet actually more expensive, but houses in the Netherlands aren't that big anyway.
Legal or illegal? Legal is around 220k in local currency, illegal is 80k. Divide that by 5 to get the approximate price in dollars
110.000€, 1942 - fit for demolition, 3 room/88 sqm, no heating, 780 sqm 'savage' garden.
In Tuscaloosa, AL it looks like the cheapest is $99k, with a fair few under $200k. Granted they are in rough shape but they are here and somewhat affordable.
A tiny 2 bed house that is in poor condition is about £55,000
$80k for a ~600 sqft condo here in CT, it doesn't look all that bad
