Maggie Wells briefly considered renting after her divorce. But she ultimately decided she and her three kids, including two teens living at home, needed the stability of homeownership.
She found one in Plain City. The 1,900-square-foot house with a one-car garage was priced below $450,000, and with help from the state’s down-payment assistance program, she bought it on her single income. It’s made all the difference.
Ooo … $449,000! Affordable starter home!
Jed Nilson owns Nilson Homes, the Utah-based developer that is building the JDC Ranch development.
He started building houses in 1999, when young people could reasonably expect to become homeowners early in their careers.
Today, he said, even two college graduates can struggle to afford a home together.
Utah has some of the highest housing prices in the nation. In September, the typical listing price here was $579,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That’s the ninth highest in the country.
So the delta between the “affordable” starter home and the average listing is $130,000. That figure is actually an affordable starter home.
Opinion here: Starter home should be a 2 bedroom with a small office. Well designed, minimal hallway, access to transit.
Instead we get, where I am, a 1MM “home” that’s a triplex with two massive townhomes and a tiny studio basement apartment. You can’t buy a part of it, just the whole thing. So landlords buy them and rent out the units. These were the areas answers to not enough housing. They are built like they sound. Like total shit.
Which reminds me. I need to take some photos and report the builder for safety infractions. Sending cheap labor out with no ear or eye pro and safety gear to “build” these things is infuriating. Developer drives an H2. Which says it all really.