What constitutes a "starter home"?

[Singuy]

As for houses built in 1964. Many people want new constructions because it is just easier to live in an up to date house that meets the newest code. No one wants to deal with lead in their paint or corrosion in their copper pipes and unsafe electrical wiring. It's not always about the granite countertops and the vaulted ceilings (but doesn't hurt).

Almost all of the above statement is BS promoted by realtors, new home builders, home improvement shows, etc.

CODE -
For starters there are darned few code requirements in residential construction to start with, and not many that would make a 1964 house non compliant. Many states don't even require contractor licensing.

LEAD PAINT -
You are going to be hard pressed to find lead paint in a house, period. That stuff was mostly used in industrial applications, and hasn't been used since the 60's. Homes were traditionally painted with oil based paints before latex became so popular.

COPPER PIPES -
There is nothing wrong with, or hazardous about copper water pipes. It is still very commonly used in commercial and institutional projects because it is a better, more durable product. They use the new plastic PEX piping in most homes now primarily because it is simply cheaper and requires far less skill to install.

UNSAFE ELECTRIC -
There are very few homes surviving that don't have breakers and aren't wired with modern Romex type wiring which is the same stuff new homes are wired with. You might find a real antique type place with knob & tube wiring and screw in fuses, but anybody buying this sort of thing knows they are taking on a restoration project to start with. A ****ty wiring job is a ****ty wiring job whether it's old or new. have a competent electrician look it over before you buy if you are concerned.

I build for a living, and there are exceptions, but most of the new homes I've looked at are pretty cheap construction and won't last near as long as an older one. They just throw them together as cheaply as possible, and everything is focused on flash & show.

You maybe right..but that's not the point. What is real and what is perceived as real are both the same....You can tell people how your 50 yo house is better in everyway..but that doesn't mean anyone will believe you. BS or not, it was sold to us as such and even if there's only one old house with lead paint in it that gets on the news..all old houses will have lead paint in it (is how it is perceived).

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I think the median price where I am not is $600k. I think where we left it was closer to $750k and older and smaller. What I'm not understanding is where is all this money coming from to afford this?

I thought 10% of the US makes more than $100k. And how many make $150k? Or more? It seems like with housing prices this high that people make that much. And I get singuy point of $300k, but seriously how many people at 30 make that as a couple? $150k is the new norm?

[Singuy]

I think the median price where I am not is $600k. I think where we left it was closer to $750k and older and smaller. What I'm not understanding is where is all this money coming from to afford this?

I thought 10% of the US makes more than $100k. And how many make $150k? Or more? It seems like with housing prices this high that people make that much. And I get singuy point of $300k, but seriously how many people at 30 make that as a couple? $150k is the new norm?

I struggle to see how that makes any sense mathematically. Perhaps all that top 1% of the U.S lives in HCOL areas while the rest of the peasants live in the rest of the U.S

[tripods68]

I think the median price where I am not is $600k. I think where we left it was closer to $750k and older and smaller. What I'm not understanding is where is all this money coming from to afford this?

I thought 10% of the US makes more than $100k. And how many make $150k? Or more? It seems like with housing prices this high that people make that much. And I get singuy point of $300k, but seriously how many people at 30 make that as a couple? $150k is the new norm?

This is the breakdown of household median income level in our area.

Income Less Than 15K 5.77%
Income between 15K and 20K 2.54%
Income between 20K and 30K 5.35%
Income between 30K and 40K 6.40%
Income between 40K and 50K 6.74%
Income between 50K and 60K 7.86%
Income between 60K and 75K 12.18%
Income between 75K and 100K 16.24%
Income between 100K and 150K 20.98%
Income between 150K and 200K 9.77%
Income greater than 200K 6.18%

[tripods68]

I think the median price where I am not is $600k. I think where we left it was closer to $750k and older and smaller. What I'm not understanding is where is all this money coming from to afford this?

Is this in Canada?

[dawnwes]

In my actual town/city:

These are from City-Data:

Median Home Price: $550K
Median Income: $155K

In the large city near us:

Median Home Price: $165K
Median Income: $51K

[TexasHusker]

The house next door was a starter home...for a neurosurgeon. 4100 sq ft, Viking appliances, wood floors throughout. He lived there longer than I would have guessed - about 5 years!

[disneysteve]

The house next door was a starter home...for a neurosurgeon. 4100 sq ft, Viking appliances, wood floors throughout. He lived there longer than I would have guessed - about 5 years!

Why are you surprised that he stayed for 5 years? I can't imagine ever buying a house if I didn't plan to be there for a long time.

[JoeP]

In my opinion a starter home:
1. Has 2 or 3 bedrooms
2. Has 1 or 1.5 bathrooms
3. Has a 1 car garage, or no garage
4. Is pretty basic inside
5. Is in an area that is not highly sought after
6. Is roughly 2x the purchaser's yearly income (or equal if 2 parties)

Starter homes are great for many reasons. They are easy to find, you don't have to qualify for a massive mortgage, you can get your feet wet with home improvement (or correct the last person's attempts), they are easy to sell to first time buyers, and you don't get soaked with high property taxes.

[Nutria]

In my opinion a starter home:
1. Has 2 or 3 bedrooms
2. Has 1 or 1.5 bathrooms
3. Has a 1 car garage, or no garage
4. Is pretty basic inside
5. Is in an area that is not highly sought after
6. Is roughly 2x the purchaser's yearly income (or equal if 2 parties)

Up through 1980, but no one makes those house anymore (very low profit margin for the builder). And the existing ones are getting really old and/or have been enlarged.

[Singuy]

Up through 1980, but no one makes those house anymore (very low profit margin for the builder). And the existing ones are getting really old and/or have been enlarged.

Nowadays I feel like they are building new houses according to school districts and demographics. These starter houses of the past are being built in only poor poor neighborhoods in which families looking for a decent school district would shy away from.

Or..you can buy a small tiny starter house at a big house price in a decent neighborhood...by then you'll end up asking yourself..what's the point?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I just looked into the numbers for my city. Just for the core city, not including any suburbs. I live in a city whose boundaries have not changed since 1876, well before the introduction of the automobile as a suburb enabler. So as you can imagine, we have some old housing stock.

Nonetheless I was shocked to find out that our

-median household value is only $102,400
-median household income is only $34,384
-median household income of homeowners is $54,404.

When we bought a couple decades ago, we spent an amount equal to annual income. Yes, 1X. We were told that in our group of friends the talk was that Joan & her husband just like little homes, after all we'd had little apartments, too. A couple years later, my husband had a side business with a partner who said, "It's a pretty good starter house". Heh, I guess we are still getting started because we are still here.

[TexasHusker]

Why are you surprised that he stayed for 5 years? I can't imagine ever buying a house if I didn't plan to be there for a long time.

I figured he'd be there a couple...

[TexasHusker]

Our starter home was a custom built 1800 square foot brick home with three bedrooms, 2 baths, and a two car garage. We paid $80K for it in 1991, and sold it for $112K in 97, essentially getting back all of our house payments. We then bought a 4br home two blocks away for $168K. We sold it in 2000 for $195K, again getting most of our house payments back.

In 2000, we bought a 3500 sq ft home 1 block away, and it is now worth about $410K, though we've probably spent $75K on it through the years.

[TexasHusker]

Our starter home was a custom built 1800 square foot brick home with three bedrooms, 2 baths, and a two car garage. We paid $80K for it in 1991, and sold it for $112K in 96, getting back much of our house payments. We then bought a 4br home two blocks away for $168K. We sold it in 2000 for $195K, again getting much of our house payments back.

In 2000, we bought a 3500 sq ft home 1 block away for $257K, and it is now worth about $410K, though we've probably spent $100K on it through the years. It is completed renovated and updated right now.