5 ms·

My house is a ~700 sqft. condominium, gov. subsidized for lower income individuals, and even my mortgage is more than 300k… maybe I’m just basing my info off of

by topato 20d ago

My house is a ~700 sqft. condominium, gov. subsidized for lower income individuals, and even my mortgage is more than 300k… maybe I’m just basing my info off of coastal city prices, but is it possible to buy a reasonably nice home located in a reasonably nice amerikkkan city… for $300k in 2026?

esseph 20d ago
That would buy you thousands of square feet and often several acres within 20 minute drive to a lot of US city downtown areas.
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 20d ago
  Not from what I've seen. The desirable neighborhoods are 500-600k. Suburbs outside major city
  - esseph 20d ago
    You didn't read what I said. I mentioned acres of land. You normally don't have multiple acres of land in the suburbs.
    - hdjrudni 20d ago
      Well then you didn't read parent's comment > is it possible to buy a reasonably nice home located in a reasonably nice amerikkkan city… for $300k in 2026? Who wants acreage? We want homes.
      - esseph 20d ago
        > is it possible to buy a reasonably nice home located in a reasonably nice amerikkkan city… for $300k in 2026? What does "city" mean to you? For some, it's 500 people, or 5,000. For some, it's 5 million. Define that first. The US is a big place, and I know people that don't live within 50 miles of another human. Otherwise: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/424-Olive-St-Kansas-City-MO-64124/2281859_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/424-Olive-St-Kansas-City-... 4 bed, 3 bath, 1,580 sq ft, beautiful! $342,500, built in 1900. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3508-N-College-Ave-Kansas-City-MO-64117/71147494_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3508-N-College-Ave-Kansas... 4 bed, 4 bath, 2,295 sq ft, $365,000, built in 2022.
        anon48293 20d ago
        That’s 350, which you can’t buy for 300..
        esseph 19d ago
        These are midrange. Most of the homes in those areas are around $225k. You'd be surprised how much house and land you can get for that price.
        irishcoffee 19d ago
        If the extra $200/month means you can’t afford it, you probably shouldn’t be buying a house… Yeah that sounds cruel and messed up, because it is. I don’t like how expensive real estate is and I wish we could have another 2008 without a bailout. But the point stands. If you hafta pick between eating and paying your mortgage, you made a bad financial decision. Blame whoever you want, I am of the opinion that people still have agency and are responsible for their decisions, as unpopular as that seems to be these days.
        anon48293 12d ago
        I don’t know about the US, but in my country the loan for mortgage is tied to your income. So you could afford 200/month more, but they won’t lend it to you if your max mortgage is 300 and not 350.
  - catlifeonmars 20d ago
    Desirable neighborhoods are by definition expensive. The trick is to find a neighborhood you like where your home can just be a home and not a top-heavy investment. Acknowledging this isn’t always easy or possible, but just pointing out that this is a self reinforcing problem.
    - hdjrudni 20d ago
      > The trick is to find a neighborhood you like where your home can just be a home and not a top-heavy investment I meant desirable for me to live there, not as an investment. Who wants to buy a home in place they don't want to live?
    - dboreham 20d ago
      Assuming you are not married.
- AlotOfReading 20d ago
  Can you ground the discussion by mentioning what you think these cities are? Taking Columbus, OH as the most average of American cities and a 20m isochrone map from city center, there are currently 0 parcels for sale with 3+ ("several") acres under $300k. There are a few within 30m drive, one of which even has a possibly habitable structure. The rest are bare agricultural land you'd need additional investment to actually live on.
  - esseph 19d ago
    I'm just looking at Kansas City as an example right now. Tons in the $200s btw, and this is in the city less than 20 minutes from the Nelson-Atkins Museum, WW I museum, the river, farmers market, KC Chiefs / Royals / Sporting KC / KC Current teams, parks, schools, newly rebuilt international airport, etc.
    - AlotOfReading 19d ago
      I picked the convention center as city center (union station would also be a reasonable choice) and I was only able to find 2 improved lots under $300k. Notably, neither is quite 3+ acres or within 20 minutes of the things you listed, and both are on septic. And this is in a metro where home prices are 36% below national median. [0] https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67th-St_Kansas-City_KS_66104_M89460-32687 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67t... [1] https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20118-E-Truman-Rd_Independence_MO_64056_M78381-67578 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20118-E-Tr...
      - esseph 19d ago
        First if you us the convention center, you place the housing center off of where most of the housing actually is. Maybe 40% is in Kansas, with another 60% in the metro being on the Missouri side, roughly. The population density of the metro drags further south though if you look at it on a heatmap. That said, look around: https://www.zillow.com/kansas-city-mo/?category=SEMANTIC&searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-94.765917%2C%22east%22%3A-94.385522%2C%22south%22%3A38.827176%2C%22north%22%3A39.356662%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Kansas%20City%20MO%22%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A18795%2C%22regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22globalrelevanceex%22%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A175000%2C%22max%22%3A350000%7D%7D%7D https://www.zillow.com/kansas-city-mo/?category=SEMANTIC&sea... Between $175k and $350k center on KCMO alone there are over 760 results. Note: your first link https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67th-St_Kansas-City_KS_66104_M89460-32687 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67t... is 23 minutes from the WW I museum. Note 2: Your second link is way out in Independence, MO but is still only 29 minutes away from the WW I museum.

by topato 20d ago

esseph 20d ago

That would buy you thousands of square feet and often several acres within 20 minute drive to a lot of US city downtown areas.

8n4vidtmkvmk 20d ago
Not from what I've seen. The desirable neighborhoods are 500-600k. Suburbs outside major city
- esseph 20d ago
  You didn't read what I said. I mentioned acres of land. You normally don't have multiple acres of land in the suburbs.
  - hdjrudni 20d ago
    Well then you didn't read parent's comment > is it possible to buy a reasonably nice home located in a reasonably nice amerikkkan city… for $300k in 2026? Who wants acreage? We want homes.
    - esseph 20d ago
      > is it possible to buy a reasonably nice home located in a reasonably nice amerikkkan city… for $300k in 2026? What does "city" mean to you? For some, it's 500 people, or 5,000. For some, it's 5 million. Define that first. The US is a big place, and I know people that don't live within 50 miles of another human. Otherwise: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/424-Olive-St-Kansas-City-MO-64124/2281859_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/424-Olive-St-Kansas-City-... 4 bed, 3 bath, 1,580 sq ft, beautiful! $342,500, built in 1900. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3508-N-College-Ave-Kansas-City-MO-64117/71147494_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3508-N-College-Ave-Kansas... 4 bed, 4 bath, 2,295 sq ft, $365,000, built in 2022.
      - anon48293 20d ago
        That’s 350, which you can’t buy for 300..
        esseph 19d ago
        These are midrange. Most of the homes in those areas are around $225k. You'd be surprised how much house and land you can get for that price.
        irishcoffee 19d ago
        If the extra $200/month means you can’t afford it, you probably shouldn’t be buying a house… Yeah that sounds cruel and messed up, because it is. I don’t like how expensive real estate is and I wish we could have another 2008 without a bailout. But the point stands. If you hafta pick between eating and paying your mortgage, you made a bad financial decision. Blame whoever you want, I am of the opinion that people still have agency and are responsible for their decisions, as unpopular as that seems to be these days.
        anon48293 12d ago
        I don’t know about the US, but in my country the loan for mortgage is tied to your income. So you could afford 200/month more, but they won’t lend it to you if your max mortgage is 300 and not 350.
- catlifeonmars 20d ago
  Desirable neighborhoods are by definition expensive. The trick is to find a neighborhood you like where your home can just be a home and not a top-heavy investment. Acknowledging this isn’t always easy or possible, but just pointing out that this is a self reinforcing problem.
  - hdjrudni 20d ago
    > The trick is to find a neighborhood you like where your home can just be a home and not a top-heavy investment I meant desirable for me to live there, not as an investment. Who wants to buy a home in place they don't want to live?
  - dboreham 20d ago
    Assuming you are not married.
AlotOfReading 20d ago
Can you ground the discussion by mentioning what you think these cities are? Taking Columbus, OH as the most average of American cities and a 20m isochrone map from city center, there are currently 0 parcels for sale with 3+ ("several") acres under $300k. There are a few within 30m drive, one of which even has a possibly habitable structure. The rest are bare agricultural land you'd need additional investment to actually live on.
- esseph 19d ago
  I'm just looking at Kansas City as an example right now. Tons in the $200s btw, and this is in the city less than 20 minutes from the Nelson-Atkins Museum, WW I museum, the river, farmers market, KC Chiefs / Royals / Sporting KC / KC Current teams, parks, schools, newly rebuilt international airport, etc.
  - AlotOfReading 19d ago
    I picked the convention center as city center (union station would also be a reasonable choice) and I was only able to find 2 improved lots under $300k. Notably, neither is quite 3+ acres or within 20 minutes of the things you listed, and both are on septic. And this is in a metro where home prices are 36% below national median. [0] https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67th-St_Kansas-City_KS_66104_M89460-32687 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67t... [1] https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20118-E-Truman-Rd_Independence_MO_64056_M78381-67578 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20118-E-Tr...
    - esseph 19d ago
      First if you us the convention center, you place the housing center off of where most of the housing actually is. Maybe 40% is in Kansas, with another 60% in the metro being on the Missouri side, roughly. The population density of the metro drags further south though if you look at it on a heatmap. That said, look around: https://www.zillow.com/kansas-city-mo/?category=SEMANTIC&searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-94.765917%2C%22east%22%3A-94.385522%2C%22south%22%3A38.827176%2C%22north%22%3A39.356662%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Kansas%20City%20MO%22%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A18795%2C%22regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22globalrelevanceex%22%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A175000%2C%22max%22%3A350000%7D%7D%7D https://www.zillow.com/kansas-city-mo/?category=SEMANTIC&sea... Between $175k and $350k center on KCMO alone there are over 760 results. Note: your first link https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67th-St_Kansas-City_KS_66104_M89460-32687 https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67t... is 23 minutes from the WW I museum. Note 2: Your second link is way out in Independence, MO but is still only 29 minutes away from the WW I museum.