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.
You need not look further than the picture to know these are not starter homes. They should be a lot smaller
Seems a safe rule of thumb is that two stories and detached is not a starter home.
