5 ms·

Even in rural Indiana isn't $89k for a 20k sq.ft. home really cheap?

by awb 7y ago

ptah 7y ago
that was my first thought. the upkeep will be expensive though
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
Touche 7y ago
Yeah but this isn't a home. Most people don't want to buy a 20k masonic template and live it in. Given what the upkeep must be, your most likely buyers probably want to rent out the space to businesses. So it's priced according to what the demand is, which is apparently small.
SavageBeast 7y ago
I grew up in that part of the world and I can safely say nobody there has $89K laying around to make a purchase of this type (renovations aside, imagine heating the place). The absence of qualified buyers drive prices around there. People who have never been to the rural areas of the midwest simply have no perspective on the economics of that region. Its not impossible that the equity from their San Diego home sale made them the richest people in the county (I don't recall the town being mentioned in the article).
- OrangeMango 7y ago
  > richest people in the county Any farmer who has land passed down through generations is a multi-millionaire. A good friend of mine in high school lived on about 600 acres. His family made almost $10 million selling half of it to Walmart.
  - triceratops 7y ago
    Surely the location of that land matters? Not every farm is worth so much, right?
    - OrangeMango 7y ago
      Oh, without a doubt you are right. "Good" farmland is quite valuable however. https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/agletter/2015-2019/november-2019 https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/agletter/2015-2019/n...
OrangeMango 7y ago
That article has a link to the family blog, which has a photo of a WWII postcard they found in the building (with the address, confirmed with Google Street View). That's not even rural Indiana. It's a town within a 500,000 person metro area and about a 25 minute drive from the downtown of the central city, complete with skyscrapers and everything. The town itself has a very solid looking (streetview) walkable downtown area. I looked on Zillow and fixer-upper houses within a few blocks of this building are listed for $35,000 to $90,000. Really nice, immaculate homes in the area appear to sell for $150,000 or so. My guess is that $89,000 is right on target for this area, and I'd bet they spend multiples of that on restoration.

Even in rural Indiana isn't $89k for a 20k sq.ft. home really cheap?

by awb 7y ago

Even in rural Indiana isn't $89k for a 20k sq.ft. home really cheap?

ptah 7y ago

that was my first thought. the upkeep will be expensive though

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

Touche 7y ago

Yeah but this isn't a home. Most people don't want to buy a 20k masonic template and live it in. Given what the upkeep must be, your most likely buyers probably want to rent out the space to businesses. So it's priced according to what the demand is, which is apparently small.

SavageBeast 7y ago

I grew up in that part of the world and I can safely say nobody there has $89K laying around to make a purchase of this type (renovations aside, imagine heating the place). The absence of qualified buyers drive prices around there. People who have never been to the rural areas of the midwest simply have no perspective on the economics of that region. Its not impossible that the equity from their San Diego home sale made them the richest people in the county (I don't recall the town being mentioned in the article).

OrangeMango 7y ago
> richest people in the county Any farmer who has land passed down through generations is a multi-millionaire. A good friend of mine in high school lived on about 600 acres. His family made almost $10 million selling half of it to Walmart.
- triceratops 7y ago
  Surely the location of that land matters? Not every farm is worth so much, right?
  - OrangeMango 7y ago
    Oh, without a doubt you are right. "Good" farmland is quite valuable however. https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/agletter/2015-2019/november-2019 https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/agletter/2015-2019/n...

OrangeMango 7y ago

That article has a link to the family blog, which has a photo of a WWII postcard they found in the building (with the address, confirmed with Google Street View). That's not even rural Indiana. It's a town within a 500,000 person metro area and about a 25 minute drive from the downtown of the central city, complete with skyscrapers and everything. The town itself has a very solid looking (streetview) walkable downtown area. I looked on Zillow and fixer-upper houses within a few blocks of this building are listed for $35,000 to $90,000. Really nice, immaculate homes in the area appear to sell for $150,000 or so. My guess is that $89,000 is right on target for this area, and I'd bet they spend multiples of that on restoration.