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A visit to the new Elmwood development made me rethink starter homes
I drove through the new Elmwood subdivision in Springfield last weekend, just out of curiosity. Every single house I saw under construction looked huge, easily over 2,500 square feet. The real estate sign out front listed starting prices at $550,000. It got me thinking about where smaller, more affordable homes for people like us have gone. I remember my parents' first house was a simple 1,200 square foot ranch. Are builders just not making those anymore, or are they all in different areas now? For those who have been looking, are you seeing any new builds under 1,800 square feet in your town?
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the_robin4mo ago
Read some article online that said lumber prices and labor costs have pushed builders toward bigger, more expensive houses because that's where the profit margin is. Makes sense they wouldn't bother with small starter homes when they can get 600k for a 3,000 square footer instead. The whole thing is backwards, you'd think cheaper smaller houses would be easier to sell but the builders don't see it that way. A buddy of mine in construction told me it's actually cheaper per square foot to build big, so the small houses end up costing almost as much as the big ones. That's why you see those tiny lots with overpriced little houses crammed in, they're trying to make the numbers work. Honestly feels like the whole starter home concept is dead unless you're willing to drive an hour out.
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wells.evan6mo ago
My buddy Jake was looking last year in the Brookfield area. He found one new build community offering 1,400 square foot models, but they were all on tiny lots the size of a postage stamp, like 4,000 square feet total. The price was still over $400k, and the HOA fees were crazy high for basically a patch of grass. He said it felt like they were building townhouses without the shared walls. He ended up buying a 30 year old house instead because the math just didn't work.
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caseya746mo ago
Yeah, I used to be all about new builds, thought that was the smart move. But hearing stories like Jake's totally flipped my view. They're squeezing so many houses in now, you're paying a premium just to stare into your neighbor's kitchen window. That math really doesn't add up, you get more house and land going with something older.
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