It’s indisputable – $300,000 means you can buy a home just about anywhere. But state by state, and city by city, how much square footage will that kind of money actually buy? Your real estate agent can give you the down low, but here’s a basic idea.
In Alabama, you can buy a home close to golf and other fun, with a sunroom and a patio to enjoy those balmy summer nights. Alaska, on the other hand, means a log cabin – but it’s on a nice sized chunk of tundra overlooking a lake. Arizona means a Tucson based artist’s home next to a fancy resort, and Arkansas could mean rubbing elbows with the new inhabitants of the original Clinton home.
Moving out to the west coast, California is a mixed bag – are you planning on LA, San Fran, or Big Sur? You can score a nice little place in Apple Valley. If mountain life is more your style, try a cabin in Manitou Springs, Colorado – just watch out for bears. Connecticut means a tidy little Colonial, and Delaware ensures a beauty of a home in Ocean View with easy access to Bethany Beach.
Florida may be a $10k a month investment to live in Forth Lauderdale, but a 4 bed 2 bath in Oviedo is within reach. Georgia mountain living means a big cabin close to a creek with fishing and kayaking in your future. Hawaii means a smaller home if you want beachfront access – but the view is spectacular. Idaho offers a sweet little cottage in the foothills of the Rockies.
Want the corn-fed life? A 4 bed 2 bath on a few acres means you can watch those rolling fields from your front porch swing. You can get an even bigger home in Kansas – just don’t forget tornado insurance. Louisiana may still be recovering from Katrina, but you can enjoy beignets in St. Martinsville next to the French Quarter in a tidy brownstone.
Maine may feel way out there, but you can snap up 70 acres of hills perfect for sledding down along with a nice 4 bedroom home with blueberry picking access. Massachusetts could yield a charming Victorian not too far from Boston. New Jersey has a 6 bedroom behemoth of a spooky home from the 1800s for sale (ghosts possibly included.)
Mississippi is the place to live if you want to be in a castle. Yep, we said castle. Check out Vicksburg, and oh, it comes with a carriage house. Does your kid want a pony? Try seven acres of country squire farm estate in New Hampshire instead. Worried about schools? Enjoy a Pennsylvania 3 bed 2 bath in one of the best districts in the state, (kind of makes up for it being semi-detached.)
Finally, talk to a real estate agent in New York, and you’ll quickly discover it’s perhaps the one place where the cash doesn’t stretch that far – you can expect a 350 square foot Manhattan apartment to run you the whole $300k plus maintenance fees.
