What $300,000 Will Get You in a Few Metros

This weekend  I called my step-mom to catch up. She is currently enrolled in school to become an acupuncturist, which is quite interesting. She’s always sworn that acupuncture can cure just about anything, now she is learning the medical craft herself. Within our conversation, she mentioned my step-brother (her son) building a house within the next year in Colorado on some land he purchased a while back. My step-mom lives in New York, and I have to be quite honest, has no clue about money or finance. She briefly mentioned that he and his wife had looked at a model home they really liked and wanted to emulate. Her description of the model home was that it looked like a multi-million dollar home from where she comes from, New York, but in Colorado it would probably be about $700K or $800K. That got me thinking, is it really that expensive in Colorado? I don’t really know, because I live in Los Angeles, the second most expensive city after New York, according to Forbes Magazine.

So, I decided to research a few metros across the nation. Within my research, I stuck to my price range, which has been creeping up lately, that I feel comfortable with: $300,000. I also only checked Zillow.com, since I was running out of time to cross check against other real estate sites. Based on what my husband and I make annually, this $300,000 figure is above the 2.5 times our income estimate, a good base figure. What I found was surprising, but I wasn’t completely flabbergasted. As a disclaimer, I also don’t know the particulars about the neighborhoods that these homes are located in, so the homes may look grand, but the neighborhoods may be sketchy for all I know.

Here is my summary, the photos follow below:

• Northridge, CA (where I live) : $309,900 – Slightly older neighborhood, home built in 1952. 5 bedroom, 3 bath (however, the garage has been converted into one or two of the bedrooms) no square footage available, but judging from the photo, and what I know about these homes, maybe 1,300 sq. ft.  FIXER UPPER.
• Denver, CO: $300,000 – Built in 1890 (an old house, so this one may need some upgrades!) 5 bedroom, 4 bath, 3,440 square feet. This one doesn’t look like a fixer upper from the interior photos on Zillow.com.
• Dallas, TX: $299,900- 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 3,736 square feet, no build date and no interior photos. I’m not sure if this would need some work or not, exterior looks nice.
• Raleigh, NC: $299,200 - 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2,900 square feet, built in 1989. The interior and exterior look immaculate, no work would need to be required except personal choice. Very large lot in my standards, over 10,000 square feet.
• White Plains, NY (the closest I could get to Manhattan without going into the Bronx): $299, 900 – 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment, 750 square feet, built in 1987. So, I guess I am luckier than those who live in White Plains, at least I would get double this square footage!
• Colorado Springs, CO (where my step-brother and his family plan to build a house): $300,000 – 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2, 789 square feet, built in 1998. No interior photos, so again I’m not sure if this would need major repairs inside. The exterior looks nice.

Again, I’m basing this off what Zillow has in their database. I know nothing of these neighborhoods, so maybe, like Detroit, MI, the homes are inexpensive and large, but the neighborhood is really bad. Here are the images to go along with my above descriptions:

Based on these comparisons, Raleigh, NC or Denver, CO look like the best places by far. What do you think? Did I miss something in my comparison? Should I have also focused on crime rates in each of these neighborhoods? Do you live in an overpriced or under-priced gem of a city?