How Much House Will You Sacrifice for Location?

The difference between what you can afford in the Northeast versus some parts of the Southern U.S., including Florida, could not be more stark.

I wanted to show you a couple of photos that may blow your mind. I was poking around on Zillow this morning, comparing house prices. 

First, I looked in Southern Maine, where the median home price is over $400,000, and some urban areas are much higher, including Portland, at $712,750. Next, I picked Inverness, Florida, a small town, centrally located, with a cute downtown area that includes a coffee shop and a few eateries.

A Modest Budget

Let’s work from what is now considered an entry-level home budget. What if you wanted to spend $350k to live in Southern Maine? Here’s a sample listing, showing what your money might buy. Note that this link may not be live if the house has sold.

The house shown is being sold ‘as is,” and doesn’t even include any interior photos, presumably because those would scare away all but the most intrepid buyers. It’s also just a few feet from a moderately busy road.

Now let’s plug in the same budget for Inverness, Florida. First, you can find several well maintained homes for UNDER 350k. Let’s just pick one:

For less money, you get a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, just under 2,000 sq. ft., on a half-acre lot. In Maine, this would be considered a luxury property.

Want something with a pool? Check out this place:

Is your jaw dropping yet? This house would be a mansion by Maine standards, and has all of the bells and whistles of living large. I’ve heard so many people fixated on moving to Maine say “Oh I would never live in Florida,” without really having a reason, other than preconceived notions that every person you meet is driving a pickup with a confederate flag dangling off the tailgate.

I won’t deny that you occasionally see something like that, but the state is not as right-wing as the news headlines would have you believe. Republicans have a larger percentage of the registered electorate, but they’re still less than 50 percent, and the State is way more diverse, in case you care about your kids growing up to accept differences in race and creed.

Political Party Registration Source: Independent Voter Project and Florida Department of State

Test Your Assumptions

My point is that when you’re choosing a place to live, it’s easy to base your lifestyle choices on stereotypes or hearsay. And when it comes to the huge decision to buy a house, you’re giving up a tremendous amount of quality and amenities to live in a place that may come with many caveats.

For example, you might assume that the crime rate is way higher in Florida than in Southern Maine. The real story is more nuanced, and varies by town. Check this out:

The two locations have almost identical crime ratings from neighborhoodscout.com. On the other hand, public schools in Scarborough rank about 9 on the same site, while Inverness only hits 5 or 6. How important is this metric? Are you committed to public education? Add a weight to every metric before jumping on one alone. 

Of course, other metrics matter too: walkability, bikeability, proximity to commerce—these are all important considerations. Even in Florida, for example, as you zoom in on walkability, in places like Gainesville’s Haile Plantation, prices rise dramatically. But they’re still well under what you’d pay in Maine for a house in Portland.

Other factors also deserve a look. What’s the energy performance of the home? It’s likely that even the large homes I gave as examples in Florida would outperform that drafty old fixer upper in Maine. And how much is your life energy worth? In Inverness, you won’t be spending the next two years fixing everything that’s broken in an “as is” home like the Scarborough property (although you might be upgrading insulation and heat pumps). 

I’m not saying Florida is the perfect place to live. But there’s a reason tens of thousands of people keep moving to the Southeast, despite the storms and floods. You might find the lifestyle perks you desire, for a lot less money. 

Why not broaden your search to places like St. Augustine, Savannah, Raleigh, N.C., and other temperate destinations? I grew up in the Northeast. I get its appeal. But I believe the cost of living there for people not already established has come to outweigh the benefits.

Publisher’s Note: This content is made possible by our Today’s Homeowner Campaign Sponsors: Whirlpool Corporation. Whirlpool Corporation takes sustainability seriously, in both their products and their operations. Learn more about building and buying homes that are more affordable and less resource intensive.