250k to buy a home, where in the US should do I get the best deals?

Jesus, 250k for a house, that's cool.

In Sydney you cant buy one below 500k, and this one is total rubbish.

Decent houses/location are well above 700k.

The government never allowed home prices to crash in Australia, because they never allowed developers to over develop. Hence the prices now are just insane for piles of shit in the suburbs.

You're still going to pay outlandish prices for anything of decent size in a major US city, but the prices 5-10 minutes out have (mostly) dropped like rocks.
 


you're right, check my answers:


3) How much of a factor is weather for your really. Do you suffer from SAD? Can you handle very consistent weather (like the sun in Denver or the rain in Seattle) or will you go crazy without variation? Can you handle extremely humid summers or 6 months of winter (Florida or Michigan)
I prefer hot over cold weather. Hate the rain though. I like the idea of having 4 seasons, as long as I can still jog outside in winter, so fuck the north.

Sounds like you'd hate living in Seattle... $250k isn't even close to getting you a house in a desirable area.

I'd look into Vegas or different cities in Florida where homes are still undervalued and it's cheaper to buy vs rent.
 
Phoenix.

The outskirts of the city are nice areas, real estate is cheap, and we are the second largest city west of the Mississippi.

Anthem is a suburb that I always recommend. Really nice clean quiet area.

ANTHEM AZ HOME FOR SALE IN ANTHEM COVENTRY 4 BEDROOM

Home for Sale in Anthem, AZ (4bd 2ba)

Anthem, AZ Home for Sale - 4bd 3ba

We just got medical Mary-J legalized, you can buy and carry guns, and we have California to one side, Mexico to another, and snowy woods an hour and a half drive north.

Also, sluts. Lots of sluts.

Did I mention the girls? :)

I grew up in Carlsbad (SD) and moved out here like 7 years ago. Yes, I miss Cali, but there is no fucking way I could afford to live back there right now without moving out to some east-county shithole trailer.

Phoenix isn't bad, just don't try to move to the center of the fucking city.
 
In Canada, there is huge correlation between home prices and proximity to hospitals and good schools. Like for example all the private schools are located in Vancouver Westside. Also, Vancouver metro area has four hospitals while the suburbs like Burnaby and Surrey have one each. The Surrey hospital is notorious for overcrowding.

I wonder if it's the same in the US. Yeah, you can bitch about expensive house prices in older neighbourhoods but if you live in a 4000 square foot house that's an hour drive from a hospital and the schools are shitty (and hey, no decent restaurants anywhere, let's throw that in), then who's got the better deal?

Besides, gated communities are just creepy. There, I said it. WTF is up with that.
 
wow looks like the subprime shit really hit you guys hard...

in my country, 250k would get you a nice 2500 sq feet apartment at best. (In the major cities)...you would have to move to the interiors if you want a house for that amount...

and like the other thread states, i live in a 'third world shithole' :D
 
In Canada, there is huge correlation between home prices and proximity to hospitals and good schools. Like for example all the private schools are located in Vancouver Westside. Also, Vancouver metro area has four hospitals while the suburbs like Burnaby and Surrey have one each. The Surrey hospital is notorious for overcrowding.

I wonder if it's the same in the US. Yeah, you can bitch about expensive house prices in older neighbourhoods but if you live in a 4000 square foot house that's an hour drive from a hospital and the schools are shitty (and hey, no decent restaurants anywhere, let's throw that in), then who's got the better deal?

Besides, gated communities are just creepy. There, I said it. WTF is up with that.

Where I live in the US, most of the better schools are in the suburbs. I don't think anyone in the entire metro area of 3.6 million+ is more than about 15 minutes from a hospital. Gated communities are very rare in this part of the country, but more common in parts of the south.
 
Airport requirement means rule out San Diego. Too bad, it's pretty nice, even today (I grew up there), but...

California is going down the tubes fast. With another $16 Billion in red ink you are going to get the crap taxed out of you, well you already do don't you know and it's going to get worse. Get out now.

I never thought of NY as next to a coast even though it is. It's just so, meh...

From your list I would probably pick Miami.

SD -> Heathrow direct yo.
 
I'd have to disagree with that. I've had several good HoA's, more-so with free-standing houses.

I have a problem with people telling me what I can and can not do to my house*. What my neighbor does or doesn't do to his house is his business and not mine.
A HoA might be good now, but you can't guarantee it'll be good 4 years from now.

*The city is excluded for obvious reasons.
 
I have a problem with people telling me what I can and can not do to my house*. What my neighbor does or doesn't do to his house is his business and not mine.
A HoA might be good now, but you can't guarantee it'll be good 4 years from now.

*The city is excluded for obvious reasons.

I agree with you. The HoA on one of my properties basically won't let me do anything to the appearance of the townhouse (except put a dish up). They do however shovel snow 7 days a week, and do a fucking awesome job of maintenance. Given it's in Illinois, I'm happy to put up with a HoA that deals with all of the shit I never want to.

My HoA in Cali is however annoying. They don't care too much about the appearance of the property, but they get nitpicky about stupid shit.

A place like the Country Club in Vegas however, the HoA isn't doing a whole lot to annoy you.
 
I agree with you. The HoA on one of my properties basically won't let me do anything to the appearance of the townhouse (except put a dish up). They do however shovel snow 7 days a week, and do a fucking awesome job of maintenance. Given it's in Illinois, I'm happy to put up with a HoA that deals with all of the shit I never want to.

My HoA in Cali is however annoying. They don't care too much about the appearance of the property, but they get nitpicky about stupid shit.

A place like the Country Club in Vegas however, the HoA isn't doing a whole lot to annoy you.

You're an investor. You liking HoA makes a whole lot more sense now. If I was an investor I'd like them as well.