The Christian Science Monitor article says,
"The "Lowe's Katrina Cottage" offerings range from a two-bedroom, 544-square-foot model to a three-bedroom, 936-square-foot house. The cottages will cost $45 to $55 per square foot to build, Lowe's estimates, meaning the smallest would run about $27,200 and the largest $46,800. Estimates do not include the cost of the foundation, heating and cooling, and labor."These cottages are designed by Cusato Cottages.
I heard someone say a 500 square foot condo was going for 300K in parts of Seattle. Interesting to think you could build a 500 square foot Lowe's Katrina Cottage for 1/10 that.
300,000 dollars sounds like a lot to spend for a 1 bedroom condo, but it's all relative. I used to think it would be really cool to live downtown near the Pike Place Market. I see a 1 bedroom 1 bath condo near Pike Place Market is about 1.4 million. The real estate listing says -
"Unbelievable oasis in the mist of the historic Pike Place Market with Majestic Puget Sound and Olympic Mountain Views. Truly a beauty in one of the most coveted condo Addresses in town. Extremely sophisticated with major updated interiors.Interior features include:double sided marble gas fireplace,marble/granite bathroom with 2 shower heads,granite kitchen counters with double ovens. This is a definite MUST SEE!!!"
Like my old real estate agent friend said - "location, location, location."
You can buy a 3 bedroom home on a 5000 square foot lot in Minot, North Dakota for $60K, a 2 bedroom fixer-upper on a 4000 square foot lot for $25K in Conrad, Montana, a 3 bedroom 2 bath mobile or manufactured home on a 12,500 square foot lot for in Choteau, Montana for $52K....or how about 80 acres with a well, septic, road and electric near Alturus California for $110K?
Obviously the key is to find a place you like - that everyone else, particularly the real estate boom/home flipping folks, haven't discovered. Aside from the temporary aberation of a real estate bubble - homes are worth some relatively fixed amount proportional to wages. Someone could buy a condo for $300K or $1.4M, but the vast majority of people are going to be in the market for homes that have a price that makes sense given the income available to average working people in that area. In the long term, homes like anything else are worth what someone is willing to pay.
There are lots of options - It's interesting to think you could build a brand new cottage for around 50 dollars/sq foot; and dream about where you might build it. Maybe build it in a backyard, and do your part to help combat sprawl? For people who are retired and don't have to be located near job centers there would be lots of potential nice spots to build a small cottage, or for someone starting out who could live simply and work locally, or someone who didn't mind commuting to a higher paying job in the city.
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How to Profit From a Cooling Real Estate Market: Why the Rich Get Richer - Yahoo! Finance
(I think the simple answer might to be a Real Estate Agent or a Banker).
Lots of interesting information on housing at patrick.net and other things as well like - How and why to bike to work and Build-UR-Own Housing.
Information on a variety of Modular Kit Houses-PreFab Housing Modular Construction, Manufactured Homes including the Cusato Cottages.
