Homes over 1M dollars in 100 most populous US metros

[Beau Vine 54,230]

On 3/12/2022 at 4:41 PM, dingleberryswitzer said:

Only way ABQ is that high is if it included Santa Fe which seems to be missing from the list 

I literally just looked at Placitas on realtor.com and saw a bunch of $1M houses.

[Beau Vine 54,230]

On 3/11/2022 at 8:38 PM, TwiceHorn said:

And yeah, under 2000 sq feet is pretty small for anything not two bedroom.

Wife and I moved into a 1600 sf house a few years ago, and we literally don't use half the house unless we have guests.  

My one requirement is 2 bathrooms going forward -- the place we're looking to retire to seems to have lots of 3-1 houses for sale.

[hornian 5,219]

1 hour ago, Beau Vine said:

Wife and I moved into a 1600 sf house a few years ago, and we literally don't use half the house unless we have guests.  

My one requirement is 2 bathrooms going forward -- the place we're looking to retire to seems to have lots of 3-1 houses for sale.

My wife and I are remodeling our master bathroom at the moment. We are putting in separate toilet closets at her insistence. Not done yet, but she’s already saying she’ll never live in a house with only one toilet in the master again. 

[conVINCEd 21,469]

3 hours ago, Not a cat said:

Same time period for me- I recall after all the season ticket packages, rec center fees and student insurance fees, we were looking at 450 or 500 per semester.  That's like 1250 in today's dollars.  So basically 10k for 4 years of tuition- yeah I guess we had it pretty damn good. 

93-98 for me.  Feels like it started at around $800 and ended up around $1500.  The tuition was a small cost in the grand scheme of things.

[Loop 1604 227]

[BrazilHorn 6,608]

On 3/11/2022 at 3:11 PM, Pescado_Rojo said:

Same with my house in Georgetown. I'm actually going through this right now. Mrs Rojo and I are divorcing, and she's keeping the house. We have been in the house 9+ years. Built it for just under $300K, and had it appraised for the mediation at a hair under $800K. For now I'm renting a place nearby, but no way would I re-buy in this neighborhood at $250/sq ft. This is a production builder suburb too, and we've had a few larger homes sell over $1M. 

It would be interesting to see what $1M gets you in each of those markets. 

I do this on zillow all the time. It is fun to do it with college towns. The answer is a shit load more than in Austin.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,512]

On the 2k sq ft is too small, depends on your situation. I live in a 1600 sq ft house and maybe step foot in the spare bedrooms once a week.

the majority of my house was built in the 40s and there was an add-on at some point in the 90s.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Buzzrock 14,920]

I've been in my houston house for 15+ years. No way has my income kept up with the rise in home costs in my immediate area. I couldn't easily buy back into my neighborhood if I sold. I guess I'm the poor guy in my hood now. I can live with that.

I bought my house three years ago and wouldn’t be able to afford it now. It’s wild.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,512]

9 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

I bought my house three years ago and wouldn’t be able to afford it now. It’s wild.

Imagine in 2010 that you recall a friend making that statement in 2007 but not selling. 2010 you would think it was stupid to not sell the home in an apparent bubble. Our hesitation to hypothetically prevent lower profit can prevent us from making a smart decision.

you have to wonder if some people should sell right now and rent for a few years waiting for a market correction. 

[closetohumping 17,442]

30 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

I bought my house three years ago and wouldn’t be able to afford it now. It’s wild.

1.5 years ago out here in California.  And at the time, I thought we may be buying at the top of the market.  What you get for your money, if we're talking quality and size, is just horrible compared to other areas.  Of course once you factor in scenery and weather, it sort of makes up for it.

Edited March 14, 2022 by closetohumping

[closetohumping 17,442]

16 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Imagine in 2010 that you recall a friend making that statement in 2007 but not selling. 2010 you would think it was stupid to not sell the home in an apparent bubble. Our hesitation to hypothetically prevent lower profit can prevent us from making a smart decision.

you have to wonder if some people should sell right now and rent for a few years waiting for a market correction. 

A market correction that may or may not come? 

 

 

Switching gears, it's amazing how expensive Austin is compared to the rest of the south in both commercial and private real estate. It has passed Denver, another expensive market.  It's close to coastal prices and I'm not sure it's worth it.

Edited March 14, 2022 by closetohumping

[troph 24,805]

19 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Imagine in 2010 that you recall a friend making that statement in 2007 but not selling. 2010 you would think it was stupid to not sell the home in an apparent bubble. Our hesitation to hypothetically prevent lower profit can prevent us from making a smart decision.

you have to wonder if some people should sell right now and rent for a few years waiting for a market correction. 

The correction between 2008-2010 in Austin was almost nonexistent. I wouldn’t sell in Austin or Houston/Dallas right now unless I had to. 

[TwiceHorn 31,475]

On 3/12/2022 at 8:02 AM, Not a cat said:

Is it really though?  I grew up in a middle class family of 4 in a 2000 sq foot 2 story and it felt plenty big.  

I currently live in a 4100 sq foot house for me full time and my son half time and I cannot wait to get rid of that albatross (the house, not the kid)

Well lets put it this way.  We're looking at houses most often built in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.   Much of the time, they are redone to include knocking out a wall between the kitchen and living room, among others, and to enlarge the master BR and bath.  We could live without the 14x14 mbr, but the larger bath is nice as is the open floor plan in the family room.

Also closets.  My parents house was 2500 sq ft 3br 2ba.  Had reasonable closet space in all three bedrooms.  We don't need the ginormous walk in that we have now, but the closet space in some of these houses is ridiculous.  And, sometimes, what little there was disappears in the remodel.

Once those things happen, a smaller floorplan tends to get awkward.  One really tiny bedroom that doesn't qualify really (remember, we probably need 3 for MIL). 

It's not the amount of space, per se, it's how it gets used.  We're spoiled af by a custom home.  And, if it were really truly just us, smaller would be ok.  The potential for MIL makes us want to have some separation between two of the bedrooms, which is hard to achieve on a smaller floor plan.

Edited March 14, 2022 by TwiceHorn

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,512]

5 minutes ago, troph said:

The correction between 2008-2010 in Austin was almost nonexistent. I wouldn’t sell in Austin or Houston/Dallas right now unless I had to. 

I can only speak to Houston and agree. Hasn’t the run up in Austin recently been very different then the rest of Texas and what was experienced in 2004-2008?

It’s not normal to see yourself priced out of your neighborhood in 3 years or less.

[TwiceHorn 31,475]

9 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Wife and I moved into a 1600 sf house a few years ago, and we literally don't use half the house unless we have guests.  

My one requirement is 2 bathrooms going forward -- the place we're looking to retire to seems to have lots of 3-1 houses for sale.

I might guess that like in my post above, the third bedroom was an add-on at some point?  But done without another bath because cheap?  Because it's oddness like that messes up a lot of houses we see.

One that I thought was fairly intelligent gobbled up one of the formal dining room or living room to make space.  We almost never use our formal living room, so I wish more would do that.

[troph 24,805]

4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I can only speak to Houston and agree. Hasn’t the run up in Austin recently been very different then the rest of Texas and what was experienced in 2004-2008?

It’s not normal to see yourself priced out of your neighborhood in 3 years or less.

I think with a global pandemic the predictive value of the past is pretty low but it doesn’t mean we will see a major (30%+) correction (even 10% wouldn’t warrant selling imo). There probably isn’t any scenario from history that would be predictive so I think it’s uncharted waters. I think the notion that real estate is generally a long term investment though and the high cost to buy and sell would suggest not selling especially with fixed interest rates so low.

[TKthunder2 4,991]

We’re currently adding about 1600 sqft to our 2600 sqft house.  Wife and I lived in a 1600 sqft house which was fine until we had kids and (because of the kids) guests all the time, add in both of us working remotely and we needed more space unless we were going to be zooming in rooms with paw patrol posters in the background.

[closetohumping 17,442]

1 hour ago, TKthunder2 said:

We’re currently adding about 1600 sqft to our 2600 sqft house.  Wife and I lived in a 1600 sqft house which was fine until we had kids and (because of the kids) guests all the time, add in both of us working remotely and we needed more space unless we were going to be zooming in rooms with paw patrol posters in the background.

I get the joke but that's why I have a digital background.

 

For my personal case, a big part of me wants to cash in on my california equity and almost pay cash in Texas or the midwest, or even a place like Pittsburgh or Philly.  But the appreciation, where I live, is astronomical.  And it's hard to build in California and once you leave, I'm not sure you can ever come back, given the price increase.  California market doesn't make sense at all.  People are leaving, but costs are continuing to rise.  Most places here aren't appreciating like Houston or Dallas, but my area seems to be. It's insane.

[Samson's Wig 3,192]

2 hours ago, closetohumping said:

A market correction that may or may not come? 

 

 

Switching gears, it's amazing how expensive Austin is compared to the rest of the south in both commercial and private real estate. It has passed Denver, another expensive market.  It's close to coastal prices and I'm not sure it's worth it.

/Narrator/. It's not.

[closetohumping 17,442]

Just now, Samson's Wig said:

/Narrator/. It's not.

Austin is one of my top 8 favorite cities.  But you right.

[Samson's Wig 3,192]

Just now, closetohumping said:

Austin is one of my top 8 favorite cities.  But you right.

I still live here, and loved it for a very long time.  Almost everything I loved about it is gone now, though.  The people who created the culture here have been priced out.  It's not a bad city now, but it's not anything close to resembling what it was.  Now it's just an overpriced big city with less than half the conveniences and perqs of a proper big city.   The culture looks and feels like the culture everywhere else, because no one here is from here anymore.  Again, Austin is still great for many reasons, but almost none of them are the same reasons that made it great in the past.

The cost to purchase a family home in this town passed ludicrous levels a while ago.  When the tech industry packs up and leaves (and it will at some point) things will get interesting around here.

[Bevo 13,577]

17 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

I get the joke but that's why I have a digital background.

 

For my personal case, a big part of me wants to cash in on my california equity and almost pay cash in Texas or the midwest, or even a place like Pittsburgh or Philly.  But the appreciation, where I live, is astronomical.  And it's hard to build in California and once you leave, I'm not sure you can ever come back, given the price increase.  California market doesn't make sense at all.  People are leaving, but costs are continuing to rise.  Most places here aren't appreciating like Houston or Dallas, but my area seems to be. It's insane.

Sold my starter home there with difficulty for $350K in 2000. $1.8mil for that home now. Sucks that I couldn't afford my Cali starter home anymore not that I would want it.

[Aqua Buddha 14,597]

California and Texas are similar in that neither are as good as they were 20 years ago.  Not one single thing in Texas has improved since the 90's and early 2000's.  The sprawl is worse, the traffic is worse, housing and the resulting property taxes are much higher, the infrastructure is terrible and the schools are worse in a lot of cases.  It's basically a state of sprawled out, expensive cities.

California is obvious. 

[Foosters 17,856]

48 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

The culture looks and feels like the culture everywhere else, because no one here is from here anymore.  

I've been saying this for years. Other than climate, cities are increasingly just mirror images of one another. Same food, same music, same clothes, same aesthetic, same everything. I think a lot of it has to do with the Internet and a shrinking world. In the 1970s, I'd imagine an average resident of Portland would have little in common culturally with someone from Nashville. Now, Portland, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, LA, Sacramento, Atlanta, etc. are the same except for weather and size.

 

[Aqua Buddha 14,597]

Oh, the number of bedrooms in a house is overrated.  Bathrooms are underrated.  

[BabaYaga 15,298]

34 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Not one single thing in Texas has improved since the 90's and early 2000's.

Let's leave the football team out of this.....;(

[We’reTexas 1,473]

2 hours ago, closetohumping said:

I

California market doesn't make sense at all.  People are leaving, but costs are continuing to rise.  Most places here aren't appreciating like Houston or Dallas, but my area seems to be. It's insane.

What parts of Prop 13, rent control and CEQA-loving shut-in boomer NIMBYs make no sense to you? The lawsuit against Cal’s proposed student housing is pretty much perfect distillation of everything wrong with California’s housing state right now. 

[SuperSport 1,333]

On 3/11/2022 at 6:14 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Were looking to downsize to reduce our tax burden heading into retirement.  I can't see paying what I pay now, even frozen at 65, in retirement.

And that means finding a house, in the City of Dallas, preferably inside 635 or just outside, no fucking outer burbs, for $1M or less, lesser the better.

Pickins are slim, unless you want something under 2000 sq ft.

If you're still looking a year from now, hit me up. We bought a fresh reno that checks all your boxes, but life is forcing us to upgrade again...waiting out the two years for tax purposes though.

[BillyGoatHill 4,312]

Bunch of GD surly elites here!😀 

We've owned 4 houses and they have ALL been in the 1600-1700 sq ft range. All 3-2, 2 with a garage and 2 without.

I only had the one daughter (no pics) and the room in the house always seemed big enough. Heck I'm glad we didn't have more room as that just means more stuff/junk. We have a nice 3/2 (again 1600 sq ft) that we are thinking about selling, downsizing, but just realized that because of this market/ inflation/whatever, capital gains is gonna be a lot.  We've done some nice improvements in the 10 years we've had it (2 car garage, pool, pool house, landscaping) and our 275k (paid too much) has turned into a property that more than one realtor would like to list at 1.2-1.5 range. Sitting on a couple of acres and a good school district helps but, WTF? Crazy how this market is. 

Just recently, we almost purchased in Mexico (where my daughter lives now) but couldn't see ourselves moving down there full time. 3900 sq.ft. open, modern floor plan for 700k with a view of the Pacific was very tempting though.

[jimmyjazz 45,957]

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Oh, the number of bedrooms in a house is overrated.  Bathrooms are underrated.  

This.  We'll likely downsize to a 3/2.5, but those 3 bedrooms will hopefully be on the small size.  There is no need for a large bedroom in my view.  

[honolulu horn 6,158]

Honolulu may be 7th on the list with 37% of homes priced at $1M+, but good luck finding a single family home you want to live in for under $1M. They exist, but they are dogshit. You'll get an 1000sf single walled POS without central air and no trees in the middle of a forgettable part of town. If you're lucky you'll get one without termite damage and you might even own the land underneath the house -- though often in Honolulu you buy the house and lease the land underneath it. In Honolulu you're looking at condos for $1M. Single family houses worth living in are easily $1.5M+

Here's an example -- 950sf for $999K. Pretty sweet kitchen, though, unless you enjoy cooking.

It almost doesn't get any better than this in Kaimuki! A clear, corner lot on a tree lined street in the quieter part of Kaimuki, but still incredibly convenient. Kapiolani Community College and Diamond Head Theatre are minutes away. The slopes of Diamond Head are visible from your front yard. Need to ride the bus? No problem. There's a bus stop just a few steps away. Getting on and off the freeway is a breeze. As for the house, they just don't make 'em like this anymore. See and feel for yourself how this charming home will reward you for the love you pour into it. 3 bedrooms are downstairs and 2 are perched in a loft like setting upstairs. Little details throughout the home will compliment a creative renovation. It's the perfect home for that buyer who wants a fixer upper in Honolulu with just the right amount of city mixed with old Hawaii.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/702-10th-Ave-Honolulu-HI-96816/602577_zpid/

 

[BillyGoatHill 4,312]

20 minutes ago, honolulu horn said:

Honolulu may be 7th on the list with 37% of homes priced at $1M+, but good luck finding a single family home you want to live in for under $1M. They exist, but they are dogshit. You'll get an 1000sf single walled POS without central air and no trees in the middle of a forgettable part of town. If you're lucky you'll get one without termite damage and you might even own the land underneath the house -- though often in Honolulu you buy the house and lease the land underneath it. In Honolulu you're looking at condos for $1M. Single family houses worth living in are easily $1.5M+

Here's an example -- 950sf for $999K. Pretty sweet kitchen, though, unless you enjoy cooking.

It almost doesn't get any better than this in Kaimuki! A clear, corner lot on a tree lined street in the quieter part of Kaimuki, but still incredibly convenient. Kapiolani Community College and Diamond Head Theatre are minutes away. The slopes of Diamond Head are visible from your front yard. Need to ride the bus? No problem. There's a bus stop just a few steps away. Getting on and off the freeway is a breeze. As for the house, they just don't make 'em like this anymore. See and feel for yourself how this charming home will reward you for the love you pour into it. 3 bedrooms are downstairs and 2 are perched in a loft like setting upstairs. Little details throughout the home will compliment a creative renovation. It's the perfect home for that buyer who wants a fixer upper in Honolulu with just the right amount of city mixed with old Hawaii.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/702-10th-Ave-Honolulu-HI-96816/602577_zpid/

 

This week on MILLION DOLLAR FIXER-UPPER!..... 950 sq ft that needs to be gutted/burned? F that. At least it's on the bus line so you don't need to fill your truck with $5 gal gas. Just load up the ol' lumber on the bus!

[honolulu horn 6,158]

58 minutes ago, BillyGoatHill said:

This week on MILLION DOLLAR FIXER-UPPER!..... 950 sq ft that needs to be gutted/burned? F that. At least it's on the bus line so you don't need to fill your truck with $5 gal gas. Just load up the ol' lumber on the bus!

Haha. You joke but I've ridden the Honolulu bus with lumber before. Sad but true. 

[closetohumping 17,442]

19 minutes ago, honolulu horn said:

Haha. You joke but I've ridden the Honolulu bus with lumber before. Sad but true. 

a million dollars in the suburbs of LA can get you something decent.  Below is something that's close in to the city that I don't find appealing at all.

 

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Woodland-Hills/5290-Campo-Rd-91364/home/4175045

[VABuckeye 2,472]

Cape Coral, FL

Boy did they misspell Naples.  Cape Coral is a shithole compared to Naples.  Tear downs here are $700k to $1m plus. 
 

ETA: must be the population. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by VABuckeye

[CooterBrown 18,013]

We have a 4/2 1950 sq Ft house with 2 living rooms. It uses the space extremely well and people are shocked it’s that small. The only real negative is it lacks good closet space but I do have a 24x20 workshop in the backyard with one wall dedicated to shelf storage. We don’t need that much shit anyway.

As long as I’m in Austin, we aren’t moving. We couldn’t afford to buy into our neighborhood again and there’s no way I’m moving to the suburbs. Our same floor plan down the street sold for $1.3M a few months ago so if we ever do leave, we should make out really well since we paid $415K for it.

[Guest]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:43 AM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I've been in my houston house for 15+ years. No way has my income kept up with the rise in home costs in my immediate area. I couldn't easily buy back into my neighborhood if I sold. I guess I'm the poor guy in my hood now. I can live with that.

We had lived in our home in Oak Ridge for 14 years before selling in 2019- before shit got as stupid as it is now.  One of the challenges of our move was getting approved for the mortgage on the new house while also carrying the original mortgage.  Shared that with some closer friends and family and a couple of them asked why we didn't get more house if we qualify for more.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,512]

23 minutes ago, slorch said:

We had lived in our home in Oak Ridge for 14 years before selling in 2019- before shit got as stupid as it is now.  One of the challenges of our move was getting approved for the mortgage on the new house while also carrying the original mortgage.  Shared that with some closer friends and family and a couple of them asked why we didn't get more house if we qualify for more.

Attitudes of those friends and family will be why we could experience a bubble burst in the near future. 

[formermav43 4,606]

[Buzzrock 14,920]

Bunch of GD surly elites here! 
We've owned 4 houses and they have ALL been in the 1600-1700 sq ft range. All 3-2, 2 with a garage and 2 without.
I only had the one daughter (no pics) and the room in the house always seemed big enough. Heck I'm glad we didn't have more room as that just means more stuff/junk. We have a nice 3/2 (again 1600 sq ft) that we are thinking about selling, downsizing, but just realized that because of this market/ inflation/whatever, capital gains is gonna be a lot.  We've done some nice improvements in the 10 years we've had it (2 car garage, pool, pool house, landscaping) and our 275k (paid too much) has turned into a property that more than one realtor would like to list at 1.2-1.5 range. Sitting on a couple of acres and a good school district helps but, WTF? Crazy how this market is. 
Just recently, we almost purchased in Mexico (where my daughter lives now) but couldn't see ourselves moving down there full time. 3900 sq.ft. open, modern floor plan for 700k with a view of the Pacific was very tempting though.

As someone said: you don’t want to have your first heart attack in Mexico.

[huge 3,793]

22 hours ago, closetohumping said:

a million dollars in the suburbs of LA can get you something decent.  Below is something that's close in to the city that I don't find appealing at all.

 

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Woodland-Hills/5290-Campo-Rd-91364/home/4175045

$839/foot

At least there isnt a pesky front yard to mow.

[Caponata 151]

San Diego has to be way higher than that.

[Caponata 151]

On 3/14/2022 at 8:43 AM, closetohumping said:

I get the joke but that's why I have a digital background.

 

For my personal case, a big part of me wants to cash in on my california equity and almost pay cash in Texas or the midwest, or even a place like Pittsburgh or Philly.  But the appreciation, where I live, is astronomical.  And it's hard to build in California and once you leave, I'm not sure you can ever come back, given the price increase.  California market doesn't make sense at all.  People are leaving, but costs are continuing to rise.  Most places here aren't appreciating like Houston or Dallas, but my area seems to be. It's insane.

I wish the mass exodus from California was true. It's either Californians moving within California or the people that go out of state are immediately replaced. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Caponata

[Foosters 17,856]

Our first home in Socal we bought in 2013 for $560k. 985 Sq Ft. 

Right now Zillow shows it with an estimate of 1.1m.

 

[RDCanecutter 26,445]

On 3/14/2022 at 7:37 AM, Buzzrock said:

I bought my house three years ago and wouldn’t be able to afford it now. It’s wild.

I told you not to take a swing at your boss.

[Homercles 10,205]

Does that shitastic crumbling mess next to Emmer and Rye on Rainey count?  Recall the ATXplained episode on it.  

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,512]

I feel for younger people. 6 figure in education debt by 22 and you’re encouraged to see how fast you can get a mortgage on a $1m property. Congrats you made it by being owned by a bank.

[Homercles 10,205]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I feel for younger people. 6 figure in education debt by 22 and you’re encouraged to see how fast you can get a mortgage on a $1m property. Congrats you made it by being owned by a bank.

Absolutely this.  I graduated OSU with ~$12k debt as my folks paid for year 1 and years 2-4 I held down a job (part time during school, full time in summer) that made a whopping $8 an hour to pay living expenses and books/etc.  Moved to Austin to do the same job for $13/hour, worked my way up a bit to $15, and after three years bought a starter home for $125k in 2005.  
 

That house in Pflugerville was 1,400 square feet, 3/2.5 with two living areas and a nice backyard, on a cul de sac, 2 car garage, built in the 90’s.  I was smart with money but not fanatical.  Despite some improvements I sold it for $125k in 2012.  
 

That same house is now expected to fetch about $425k and I guarantee the pay grades I had when I owned it are not paying over 3x more.  I barely make 3x more after 20 years at my employer and 6 jumps in pay grades.  
 

So for me to comfortably afford that house on a single income I’d have to do it at 40yo instead of the 25yo me that bought it 17 years ago.  And there’s no way 3 years of college would only leave me $15k in debt at a Div 1 school.  

[closetohumping 17,442]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I feel for younger people. 6 figure in education debt by 22 and you’re encouraged to see how fast you can get a mortgage on a $1m property. Congrats you made it by being owned by a bank.

I will be crochety, combative and contrarian asshole and say the 23 year old kid can buy a 1 bedroom condo or live further from the city center.  Or in Topeka.

17 minutes ago, Homercles said:

Absolutely this.  I graduated OSU with ~$12k debt as my folks paid for year 1 and years 2-4 I held down a job (part time during school, full time in summer) that made a whopping $8 an hour to pay living expenses and books/etc.  Moved to Austin to do the same job for $13/hour, worked my way up a bit to $15, and after three years bought a starter home for $125k in 2005.  
 

That house in Pflugerville was 1,400 square feet, 3/2.5 with two living areas and a nice backyard, on a cul de sac, 2 car garage, built in the 90’s.  I was smart with money but not fanatical.  Despite some improvements I sold it for $125k in 2012.  
 

That same house is now expected to fetch about $425k and I guarantee the pay grades I had when I owned it are not paying over 3x more.  I barely make 3x more after 20 years at my employer and 6 jumps in pay grades.  
 

So for me to comfortably afford that house on a single income I’d have to do it at 40yo instead of the 25yo me that bought it 17 years ago.  And there’s no way 3 years of college would only leave me $15k in debt at a Div 1 school.  

Is OSU a D1 school? 

[Homercles 10,205]

Yeah I expected Surly humor there but old 1/1 condos start at $200k in Austin and ‘further from the city center’ means Elgin or Buda now.  My old house had reasonable appreciation to $200k until about 3 years ago when it doubled in 18 months.  This thread is littered with examples like that.  
 

My point stands that housing has far outpaced earnings in most markets, and was simply agreeing that I feel for those shopping now because it’s ridiculous.  I feel like I got lucky with timing to be able to have a nice starter house on an entry salary back in 05.