Those who are in the market for a home in the $1.05 million price range are in luck if they’re looking in Alabama. A New York Times piece reviewed three million-dollar properties in Colorado, West Virginia and Alabama — and found that the latter state offered the most bang for buyers’ bucks.
The Times profiled a home for sale in Mountain Brook, AL, just outside of Birmingham and found that it cost the least, at $104 per square foot, and a cool $1.04 million total.
The property is a 10,000 square foot contemporary home built in 1988, complete with five bedrooms and four and a half baths. Set on three and a half acres, the lot also contains a swimming pool, tennis court, and plenty of wooded land.
And 10,000 square feet is plenty for a family of any size to work with. Surveys indicate that 80% of home buyers prefer a home with two or more bathrooms, too, so the four and a half baths would suit the typical family just fine.
The Colorado property, set among the mountains on a whopping 45 scenic acres, was just 3,000 square feet, though, costing the most at $1,075,000 and $354 per square foot. It contained three bedrooms and two and a half baths in addition to a small guest cabin.
In White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, just at the edge of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, was a 2,400 square foot, three bedroom, three and a half bath cottage. Total cost: $1,050,000 or $438 per square foot.
So unless a buyer is looking for plenty of space in the Rocky Mountains, the property in Alabama would offer the best deal in terms of square footage and land.
Compared to the other two properties, however, the house in Alabama had much higher taxes, at $14,858 per year. Taxes on the home in Colorado were just $4,155.
In West Virginia, taxes are $6,000 per year but there were other fees. Membership to the Greenbrier Sporting Club near the property is mandatory, with an initiation fee of $120,000, plus annual club dues of $15,450.
But buyers looking for a more affordable home option in Alabama aren’t completely out of luck.
The Alabama Housing Trust Fund could get a boost soon that would generate $1.1 billion in economic impact and create 6,500 new full-time jobs over the next decade.
Although the AHTF, established in 2012, remains unfunded, lawmakers are looking for solutions to give all Alabamans, not just the mega-rich, the chance to own a home in the state.
