Inflation Hits Close To Home..

[Jim Frye]

The last platt to be developed in our subdivision has been opened for buyers and building. The pricing is rather staggering to me. 1/4 acre lots that were $51,900 in the previous platt are now $56,000 and 2,200 sq. ft. custom homes that were around $389,000 are now spec. built for $524,000. The usual options will push that up a bunch.

[leehljp]

Prices here are nearing the equivalent Japan prices in 2008! They generally run 60 to 75% higher than the average US prices.

[capncarl]

$51,900. For 1/4 acre has quite the pucker factor doesn’t it! A lot of the cost/acre depends on the development, curbed with sidewalks, public green spaces, gated entrance etc. Another price factor I haven’t figured out is an HOA. Our development is a series of “plantations” that started the first subdivision with 15 - 20 acre lots that you could raise horses or gentelman farm. Their intention was to next start 10 acre tracts but they didn’t sell well so the went to 3 -5 acre lots. That seems to be the sweet spot because some of the odd shaped less than 3 didn’t sell as well. These are all paved with no curbs or sidewalk and all have underground utilities. No HOA. Prices held at $10,000 to $15,000 / acre, but the recent increase did jump the last 3 acre lots $5,000. per acre. Strangely the last 2 houses built in my development have been spec houses that were listed at twice the cost of complementary existing custom built houses. These new houses have slightly lower square foot living area, 2 car garage vrs 3 car, more, smaller bedrooms. Most existing houses are 2 story brick and these new are slab on grade Hardyplank with stupid looking 2’x8’ push outs that look like a McDonalds drive thru, and have sections of the roof sheet metal and the rest 12-12 pitch shingle. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig! The spec builder is raking in all the money he can, cutting corners everywhere!

[cwsmith]

Wow, you guys are way out of my price range. I can't imagine buying a home ever with those kind of conditions. Guess I'm just a poor boy . Our first home here in Binghamton's east side was on a 50 x 120 ft lot, in a middle-class neighborhood. The house was a two-story, with a single garage, formal dining room, den, living room, kitchen and a large foyer on the first floor and two bedrooms, walk out porch off the master and a play room off the 2nd bedroom and a nice sized bathroom. The house was built in 1915, had leaded glass, five pane custom windows on the 1st floor and a chestnut stair case and trim in the foyer with a full front porch. We bought the house in 1970 for $9,800, we were the 2nd owner. The lady who owned the home originally had passed away and we bought it from her brother. The interior wood work was all original, custom and had never been painted; and, the walls were papered and as smooth as glass. We sold it three years later when we moved to Painted Post.

We bought a small house there, right in the village, above the flood plain. 3-bedroom, formal dining room, living room, attached single-car garage, kitchen with dining area and 1-1/2 bathrooms. The lot is 60 x 110 ft. That was $32K and I could walk to work, school was three blocks away, and stores about the same distance. I sold that house last August to a young couple for $95K.

About 17 years ago we bought the house here in Binghamton for $112,000. Built in 1887, on a double-wide street here on the west side, it has approx 3,000 square ft. Large, kitchen with dining area and pantry, a formal dining room, very large living room, and a den, and half-bath on the 1st floor. The 2nd floor has a full-bath, with two bedrooms at the front of the house and very large master bedroom with a smaller room off the side. (We didn't need a bedroom nearly that large so we converted it to a library and made the smaller room into my wife's cookbook room.)

There's also a walk-up attitic with one large room and a 2nd smaller room which we converted to a walk-in closet. There are also three small storage rooms where the roof slopes. There's finished basement with a utility area (furnace, hot water tank and storage area), laundry room, my office/hobby area, and a separate storage room..

The yard is 70 x 130, with a 2-stall garage and a deck at the back of the house. I also now have my 12 x 20 work shed at the back of the lot next to the garage.

At the price we purchased it, we were able to put in a new kitchen, bath, all new hardwood floors on the first floor and in the upstairs library, refinish the rest of the floors and the attic, and put in new electrical service, upgrade the wiring, etc. and still have a decent amount in the bank.

While I'd love to have some acreage, that just never fell within my income range, so one does what one can.

CWS

[capncarl]

The houses you describe are infinitely better built than houses built nowadays! Probably the only corners cut when they were built were the sharp pointed edges on the handrails.

[capncarl]

Let this soak in.
A quarter acre lot is 117’9” dia circle…. This is about the same as the turning radius of a Ford extended cab (4 door) long bed F250 pickup truck!

[Jim Frye]

LOL Those 1/4 acre lots are roughly 80'Wx160'D, but then not a single neighbor has a 250 crew cab long bed pickup. Although nearly every neighbor does have a 150 sized crew cab (except me) and virtually none of them are used for work. This is suburbia after all.

[jabe]

1/4 acre vacant lots go for $100 K up to $285 + K in Hilo Hawaii depending on location. Outside of the city 1 acre $50 K to $285+ K of course the cheaper one has no water will be on water catchment, no electric, no gas, and internet or be next to a potential lava eruption. I was surprised to see a lot of people squatting and building on the recent lava flows. If it has an ocean or mountain view $$$$$. On Oahu, a 3 bd. rm. home on 3,000 to 5,000 sq. ft. lot in the city of Honolulu, 1+ M. a vacant lot goes for 8 - 900+K. Maui cost about the same as Oahu. Big Island is still the most affordable Home/Land prices of all the Islands although the prices has jumped up in the last year. We do have a lot of homeless people state wide.