Challenge: Find a nice home, on a half acre or more, under $75K

[Flaxbee]

within a 1-2 hour's drive of a major airport.

Anywhere in the country except Alaska (too damn far away and cold).

The half-acre requirement can go out the window if there is a decent-sized backyard for a garden and some privacy from nosy, noisy neighbors -- old trees screening the house, etc.

Home can need some work, but must be in livable condition while work being performed.

But the neighborhood and/or area must not be in an economically devastated area nor in an area overrun by drugs, crime, etc. - other things that run down home value and make a neighborhood frightening to live in.


Anyone up for it? :shrug:

[grace0418]

1. Well, in Chicago $75,000 won't buy you much more than a tiny studio condo in a

questionable neighborhood so I'm not much help. But I'll be interested to read if your parameters can be met somewhere in the country.

[Flaxbee]

2. I think they definitely can... I'm just interested to see what comes up.

Of course, lots of rural areas have homes in that range (or in the $25K and up range) but the livability of the small town these homes are in / near is also an issue.

There are some beautiful areas in Virginia, one little town where the people I've met are super nice, but you'd have to be self-supporting.

[XemaSab]

3. Define "major"

You could get a kickass spread out in the sticks, but the "major" airport will probably only get United Shuttle and Horizon flights. :shrug:

[Flaxbee]

6. flights directly into Europe, no hopping around from Charlotte to

Atlanta or Raleigh to New York... just straight outta here to there. :)

[LeftyMom]

13. Then south of where she's at.

If you want to be close to an international airport in NorCal, but in an area where you can get a fairly cheap spread, look into Yolo or Sutter counties, which would be within 2 hrs of SFO from the Northeast, or San Joaquin and Stanislaus to the SE (those are also not horribly far from San Jose's airport, which handles some international flights.) The traffic tends to be very bad during commute hours and can back up at bridges the rest of the time, but from either direction you only have to get to the edge of the bay area and can take BART straight to the airport from there if you prefer.

As far as really cheap places to live near an airport with significant international flights, you probably can't do a whole lot better. Maybe rural Georgia, but then you'd have to live there, and honestly, having experienced both, I'd take San Francisco's traffic over Atlanta's.

[XemaSab]

25. Sacramento has an international airport

:D

[LeftyMom]

26. With flights to Mexico AND Canada.

:D

[vadawg]

4. why are you looking

a good place is the blue ridge in VA, about an hour or so from Dulles, i bought a second home there for under 150k on close to 50 acres, no neighbours close by, take a look at the shenandoah valley as well as the west virginia panhandle.

[Flaxbee]

7. when was that?

I'm very familiar with the area - are you talking Front Royal / Winchester etc.? I don't think what you bought exists now, but I could be mistaken.

Don't want West Virginia, actually - a friend bought there, and while the house was inexpensive, his insurance is out of this world.

[vadawg]

10. yep front royal/winchester area is correct, was a bank sale

property needed a lot of work, but the house is in great shape, and the land is split, but there are still deals to be had, this was last year when the market crashed bigg time. also this year ive bought land in wva, and i am looking at buying a couple more properties in wva and southern va. i advise you to get a real good local realtor and they can find gems before they go to foreclosure etc.

[dgibby]

22. The area around my hometown is great.

Clifton Forge, Va, approximately 40 miles north of Roanoke, on I-64 in the beautiful Alleghany Mountains at the headwaters of the mighty James River, and 12 miles from Douthat State Park, which was built by FDR's CCC. Within an hour's drive of two 5 star resorts, the Homestead and the Greenbriar. If this reads like a travel brochure, it's because my mother used work for the local Chamber of Commerce, (before it became corrupted.

[InkAddict]

5. Try Arkansas - Russellville, specifically. n/t

[Flaxbee]

8. Hm. OK, I will. Thanks!

Will check it out tomorrow....

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. No major airports nearby. You can't get anything direct out of LIT,

and it's a long drive to either MEM or DFW. A relative of mine lives in Mountain Home, and he can't get anywhere from there unless he drives. The real estate is cheap, though.

[stray cat]

21. You can get direct flights - just not many

[LeftyMom]

9. Sacramento and surrounding burbs and small towns.

Thanks to the magic of foreclosures, there are quite a few homes in good shape to be had here for 75K or less. In town you'd be hard pressed to get a quarter acre, but almost every yard here has an 8' privacy fence and we've got more trees per capita than most any sizable city in the world.

The airport's one of the nicest I've ever used, recently expanded and not far outside of town. Flights are fairly cheap and most major carriers service our airport. Within two hours you can get to Oakland or SFO if you need an international flight or happen to score a better deal there, but for domestic flights the better deal is usually here.

[murielm99]

11. I think my area might qualify.

We need more Democrats here, too.

[Jim Warren]

12. Me too

Cannot suggest anything actual because I'm looking too.
Guess: Ozarks?

[MrsBrady]

14. you can find a house for 75k

in some part of some suburbs in DFW...but
like I said, it's in the burbs...not much privacy.

I should know. *sigh*

What you speak of is down the road...and I've already checked the prices. 125k. And that's the one that needs work.

[bluedigger]

15. I like realtors.com.

I have several searches set up in areas that I might like to live in. Every day I get email updates on new properties that fit my parameters that have been listed. It also updates details and changes on individual properties I have saved. It isn't an all inclusive service, but it gives me a good feel for local markets, and it's free! And my searches "top out" at $70,000. There is stuff out there. I'm looking at N. California, in general.

[Nikia]

17. Western Wisconsin and much of Ohio would probably have something for you

I would say more of Wisconsin, but it turns out that the Milwaukee airport does not have direct European flights
I am not sure what you mean by economically devestaed. Is unemployment at double digits and low retail vacancy considered economically devestaed? Some areas of Ohio that I am thinking of meet the criteria I just described, but crime is still low.

[noamnety]

18. Royal Oak, MI

Fun trendy town with highly walkable artsy downtown area and a farmers market.

$69900 gets you .75 acres, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1588 sq. ft, looks well maintained from the photos, nice hardwood floors.

http://marketing.remaxdesigncenter.com/52662/282559/index.ipv

Or Warren, MI, which is more working class, less trendy - doesn't have a real downtown pedestrian area. $49,900 gets you 1100 sq. ft, hardwood floors, 2/3 acre with a creek running through it and an area that would be good for a garden:

http://www.trulia.com/property/25153623-32550-Linderman-Ave-Warren-MI-48093

They're both about a half hour to an hour from the airport.

[Crazy Dave]

19. I paid $65k for a 50 year old home on 0.65 acres 10 years ago

It has all those features too. Tall trees, two gardens and lots of kitties running around.

14 last count.

[stray cat]

20. Mississippi, Arkansas - maybe TN and southern MO

[MajorChode]

23. Grandbury, TX

It's not very far at all to DFW, and you can get flights to anywhere. The land is fairly flat, but there's lots of trees and some really nice lakes nearby. Texas has no income tax, and you'll pay roughly $1500 or so in yearly property taxes in that area.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4709-Plum-Bush-Street_Granbury_TX_76048_1109306844

[flvegan]

24. Pasco County, Florida.

Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel, Land O'Lakes. $75,000 will get you a place as you've described with pretty low taxes. Far enough inland to be unlikely to flood from a hurricane. Roughly an hour from Tampa Intl Airport.

[tigereye]

27. near Pittsburgh. Seriously. Our weather won't win many awards, but

we have seasons, it's actually quite pretty and green here, and there is more art and music than you would expect. The problem is usually jobs- if you are in health care, computers, or public govt-work or have your own business, there are more of those types of jobs than in other fields in general. Plus we are a very blue city and county, for the most part.

[femmocrat]

29. I was going to post Pittsburgh, too, but....

wasn't sure how "major" our airport is anymore. Don't know about direct flights to Europe, for example.

But someone could certainly find a $75K house with some land in Beaver Co. or thereabouts.

[distantearlywarning]

37. We have a direct flight to Paris. n/t

[tigereye]

38. I think they just added some/more flights to Europe, didn't they?

[distantearlywarning]

36. Another vote for Pittsburgh, PA

You could fairly easily get all of your criteria met here.

[txwhitedove]

28. Here, 5-mi North of Houston Intercontinental but not in the flight plan.

Cul-de-sac backs up to the woods, privacy fences, huge pine & oak trees, corner lot with enough yard for future 4-5 fruit trees, a raised garden all along back fence, a deck w/existing patio, and a dog run. No State Tax and property tax in $2000 area, safe and quiet.

[mnhtnbb]

30. I would think that 1-2 hours outside of St. Louis or Kansas City you might find something.

On edit: Possibly Omaha, as well.

[dysfunctional press]

31. have you looked around the detroit area...?

there are probably PLENTY of neighborhoods where you could buy a house for that, and not have to worry about nosy noisy neighbors, because there wouldn't be any.

[joey5150]

32. woof!

bunches in rural eastern nc. 90 minutes from raleigh int airport

[Maine-ah]

33. how about 3.1 acres for 80k?

http://www.villagesoup.com/realestate/ResList.cfm?ID=12117

Now priced well below assessed value. Early 1800's farmhouse with 3+ bedrooms, kitchen with woodstove and tin ceiling, living room with tin ceiling, 3 bedrooms, full bath, and 3-season family room. The upstairs offers 2 additional rooms, and attic space to be finished off or for storage. Detached barn for workshop or garage and 3 acres of field.




I paid 85k for 1 acre w/3 bedroom 1 bath ranch in 2002.

[northernlights]

40. oh well that's just craptastic

that's in my village, and not far from me. x(

I'm going to guess (and hope and pray) that it's not insulated. The electric is on a fusebox, so definitely needs to be updated. Probably the rest of it is not in good shape.

Otherwise, I'm totally fucked... x( x( x(

[Flaxbee]

34. Hi everyone - sorry to do a group reply, but my Internet connection

has been iffy today. I just got some semblance of regular service and will go through all you've posted; I really appreciate the input! :hi:

I hope this post has also been of interest to other DUers!

[Stephanie]

35. Detroit n/t

[Inchworm]

39. How about $42k for a house/outbuilding and an acre?

http://www.asherealtors.com/default.asp?content=expanded&search_content=agent_listings&this_format=0&mls_number=160733&page=1&sortby=2&listing_off_id=104&listing_agt_id=422

2.5ish hours to the airport though.

:D

[Flaxbee]

42. nearest airport being Charlotte?

Or the other direction into Tennessee?

[doc03]

41. Define (nice). My place is nice enough for me

it would probably sell for no more than $60000 have 1/2 acre and its a little over an hour from a major airport. The area is economically devastated but the crime rate is still extremely low one problem you would have to get used to living around narrow minded bigots. The area is about 2/3 registered Democrat but not this time.

[TreasonousBastard]

43. Not sure about now, but about 3- 4 years ago...

some semi-rural areas not far from the Scranton-Wilkes Barre airport were dirt cheap. I remember one big house on a little less than a half acre for 35 grand.

The airport sure ain't LAX, but it's not that small and it was growing.

[handmade34]

44. 4 acres and small house in Vermont(1 1/2 hr to BTV) for $70.000

and 5 acres and farmhouse and barns (+outhouse)in Southern Michigan(1hour to DTW) for just a little more than that.