“Not true! I read about some nice homes at affordable prices in northern suburbs of Indianapolis (Hamilton county). Around $100/sq ft SFRs (my idea of fair price for a nicer neighborhood – not ghetto stuff). Same with many nicer places in Ohio and Atlanta too. For cash buyers, there are many places where you can live nicely for $100/sqft.”

My wife and I recently left San Diego for the Denver area. Yesterday we finalized a contract on a brand new construction 3450 sq ft SFR house by Centex, who is a solid, reputable affordable builder. Add in the unfinished 1500 sq ft basement and it’s ~5000 sq ft total. It has a beautiful unobstructed view of the Rockies, and is 30 minutes from downtown Denver, and 20 minutes from Boulder.

The price after we added in every single option they had? $295K, or $85/sq ft. Add in the space in the unfinished basement and the price is $59/sq ft, for a nice brand new house in a good suburb of a great city. So there are definitely affordable houses out there, just not in SoCal or San Diego.

Edit: The Buy vs Rent calculation came out for a buy here. We have a super cheap rental at $1400, the buy after taxes will be right around $1400 ($2100 total PITI minus ~$700 tax break). Other comparable rentals are going for $1600 to $2000.