July 14, 2008

How’d You Like To Buy A Home For $250 A Square Foot?

In case you didn’t know (or care), prior to my life in the world of writing for real estate, I worked in the field of architecture. I don’t dabble with designing, drafting, and figuring out what the detail for an insulated wall would look like much anymore. But I do try to keep up on what’s going on in residential architecture because it’s still an interest of mine. I found this recent blog post on Inhabitat that talks about two homes being built out in Philadelphia.

They call the it the $100K House Project. The scope for one of the homes is for 1,000 square feet of space built for $100 a square foot (thus, the name of the project). Now keep in mind that doesn’t include the price of the land and other fees (I’d imagine things like permitting, architect’s fees, etc.). They expect the final sales price to be in the realm of $200,000 to $250,000 for a home.

The homes, which will be built on urban infill lots, will be LEED certified. This means the homes are “green” - use less waste, conserve water and energy, and are healthier to live in.

After reading about the $100K House Project, I started to wonder exactly what you could get for $250 a square foot (if anything) in the LAX area. Here are a few examples of what I found.

In Playa del Rey, the cheapest condo I found based on price per square foot was 8701 Delgany Ave., #207. It’s selling for $340 per square foot for a price tag of $450,000. You get two bedrooms and two baths. But keep in mind that $250 a square foot isn’t entirely far-fetched. I counted condos that sold for under the $250 a square foot mark in the last three months and one came awfully close to it.

The closest to $250 a square foot in Westchester goes to 7107 S. La Cienega Blvd., a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home way east in the neighborhood. The price tag for this one is $640,000 at $305 a square foot. I counted just two properties that recently sold in Westchester for under $250 a square foot.

5625 Crescent Park W., #114 in Playa Vista comes closest at $277 a square foot. With two bedrooms and three bathrooms, you are looking at a listing price of $610,000. Not surprisingly, there haven’t been any homes that sold for under $250 a square foot in the 90094 zip code.