I agree with you! I especially love the PA house. I always enjoy checking out the real estate section of the NYT.

We stayed at an airbb in Phoenixville for a gymnastics meet and we thought the town was so cute.

Online pic, not mine…we were there in the dead of winter!

Thank you for sharing the article, I love the Times real estate section. I let the subscription lapse and the real estate might be the only thing I really miss.

LOVE the Pennsylvania house, LOVE the Maine condo - could happily live in either. Well, except for the fact that the older I get, the more I despise cold winters. :-)

I loved all three as well, then wandered over to see Portland, ME condos. I was surprised to see the prices, don't know why I should be. (They were higher than I expected.)

I would think that any home that sells for three-quarters of a million dollars would be a winner, or at least have some winning features. Even here on the west coast $750,000 will buy you an executive-style home. It'd likely be a large home on a small lot though.

Barncatz, Portland is kinda crazy these days. DD tried to find an apt. there last summer and it was impossible to find anything under $2000/month, and even with that, every apt. was being scooped up sooo fast. They ended up renting just outside of Portland, but are going to try again this summer as they really would like to live in the city.

Portland is a happening place! 😎

We haven't been there for ages, and so that was not my memory of it. It figures, though, I loved the city then. Best of luck to your daughter. It's kinda hard to watch that. DD was living in a shoebox apartment, where the Fed Ex driver fell through the collapsing deck stairs, and paying a fortune!

We were just in Hudson, NY and I've been trolling condos there, too.

I’m going to be the lone dissenter, sorry in advance.

I was expecting to love each one, based on the locations and descriptions, but I don’t care much for any of the interiors. I was just very underwhelmed.

I do like the exteriors of them all, though.

Ok. I’ll see myself out now.

🥸

I loved the decorating in ALL of them. Super remodels! The one in PA had a tiny kitchen and high taxes. But...I would love a pond and ducks...and turtles. Ooooooh......that looked so inviting. It's under contract and a lucky person who got that one.

Love the PA home. The Colonial Theater in Phoenixville is featured in The Blob, by the way. ;-)

If they showed $750K in my zipcode, the results would look quite different, even though allegedly it's not a super HCOLA

I would think that any home that sells for three-quarters of a million dollars would be a winner, or at least have some winning features.

Totally depends where. Here (central NJ, 1 hour from NYC), $750k gets you a small 3 bedroom on about 1/4 acre. Prices are crazy.

My townhouse I sold back in 1995 now sells for more than I paid for my 5 bedroom home in the same town. I just can't wrap my mind around paying that much for that townhouse.

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I was surprised that the taxes on the PA home were so high, and the price of the condo in Maine. Didn't realize Maine was so expensive.

One of the reasons I'm using to convince DH to move to PA for retirement (other than that's where the grandbabies are) is property taxes are so much less than here in NJ.

Love the PA house. We have family in Phoenixville so I may be prejudiced. DH would love to move to PA to retire, I am the stick in the mud. Love PA but I want to be close to my kids and soon to arrive grandson, kids are planning to stay in So Cal. Property taxes in our area would be less.

A $750k house in my area would be a dump or in an undesirable neighborhood. You can buy a condo with a $750k, but it won’t be fancy.

Hmmm I can't say I am crazy about any of the houses. I like the grounds of the PA house, but am not crazy about the exterior or interior. The NO house is not bad but I would not want to live in the area plus I cannot imagine not having a garage or basement parking. Although the area in Maine is nice, I could not live in a sea of brick and buildings so close together. Seriously. I need green! Trees, grass, flowers, and SPACE. I love brick, especially old brick (our house has brick), but so many clustered so close together, I just don't think I could do it. I seriously think I might feel claustrophobic or develop anxiety.

I love the renovated schoolhouse. The condo is nice. Don't care for the NO house at all.

Here's what you can get in Palm Springs for that price, and it is in a good neighborhood. Nothing in my neighborhood in L.A. for that price - not even a vacant lot.

I could consider living in NOLA, but not PA or ME. I like visiting the East Coast, but that's as far as it goes.

My DH would adore that stone house, Lars!

Love the schoolhouse and Phoenixville is a nice little town convenient to many things.

Lars, I recognize that house. Interesting to see the interior. Very unique. My favorite neighborhood in Palm Springs is fairly close, The Mesa. Would love a place there but it will not be $750k.

In Boston area for 750K…a not-house.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Ravine_Arlington_MA_02476_M93450-14654?from=srp-list-card

I would think that any home that sells for three-quarters of a million dollars would be a winner, or at least have some winning features. Even here on the west coast $750,000 will buy you an executive-style home.

Not at all my experience.

Maine’s population growth since 2019 has been twice the national rate. Portland is a great city. Beautiful architecture, great parks and water views. And a very serious foodie scene.

It's interesting, the market right now. One of my bosses is trying to downsize and said the stuff now at $1M in his area is not that great.

A house near me went on the market recently. For weeks beforehand, people were dragging all kinds of carp out of the house. Clearly a hoarder situation. The house isn’t very interesting looking; a center entrance colonial with no special features. The condition was so poor that potential buyers/viewers had to sign a waiver and wear masks. The house was listed for $1.1 and sold in one day for $1.4. The world has gone mad.

In my SF Bay Area town $750k will get you a bidding war for a 3/2 on small lot. Nowhere near the ”exec” category.

Demand - The NAR affordability index* fell from 148 to 98 from 2021 to 2023. But, in recent months affordability has improved pretty markedly, from 91 to 106. That's largely because mortgage rates are down 1% from the October 2023 local peak. So demand is picking up not just because it is Spring but because of marginal improvements in affordability.

Supply - About 85% of all homes sold historically are existing homes. Today, on average, homeowners' mortgage rates are 3% below current mortgage rates. So many people are unwilling to sell because they would be giving up that attractive mortgages (about 70% of all homes are mortgaged). As a result, supply is very very low. And new home supply is not that helpful, because NIMBY practices make it hard to add homes where they are most in demand

Low supply, increased demand -------> higher prices.

* essentially, when the index is 100, a person earning the median income can afford to buy the median priced house. When it is 150, they can afford 1.5 houses. When it is below 100, the median earner cannot afford the median house.

Loved the exterior of the PA house! As someone who lives in the South, I am always surprised at the lower ceiling heights, even on large houses up North (generally, ofc.) It would be hard for me to go from living with 10’ ceilings to 8’ (or less…I have seen some on This Old House that are under 8’.) I didn’t care for the kitchen, and thought the checkerboard tile foyer was too cramped for that floor treatment.

I liked both the Maine loft and the NOLA house (I just love NOLA , and that part is great shopping!) The exterior of the NOLA house wasn’t my taste, but I could tweak that. Thanks for sharing!