Yahoo Finance How much house will $325k buy in Shandon versus Rosewood — and are the trade-offs worth it?
The Shandon area has some of the most expensive homes for sale in the heart of Columbia, with some recent home prices approaching nearly $1 million.
Shandon has long been considered among the city’s most desirable neighborhoods for homeowners, who all seem to be looking for the American Dream of a three-bed, two-bath home and a fenced backyard, said Columbia realtor Graeme Moore, who runs The Moore Company.
“People have been wanting to live in Shandon for decades,” Moore said. “It’s had more time to mature and appreciate.”
But how far does your money go in one of the city’s most idealized communities?
A budget of $350,000 will get you about 1,300-1,400 square feet in Shandon, and those homes may have an updated kitchen or bathroom, but you’re not going to see any major renovations.
“Homes would still need work, maybe a lot of work,” Moore said.
In Rosewood, that $350,000 would get you a similar sized home, if not a little smaller because of what’s available in the neighborhood, but those homes would be nearly completely updated. Think new kitchens, new living spaces, landscaping and other improvements.
Homes in Shandon have sold for a median price of $425,000 over the last six months, Moore said. Compare that to Rosewood, where the median sale price has been $350,000.
A look at homes currently available on the market bears out Moore’s data. A $325,000 home in Shandon built in 1920 offers 1,227 square feet with two bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms.
A $325,000 home in Rosewood built in 1944 offers 1,280 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Compare Shandon to the Earlewood community in the North Main Street corridor, you can stretch your money even further.
A home currently listed for $347,000 in Earlewood offers three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and nearly 1,600 square feet. That home was built in 1920 but was completely renovated in 2006, according to the listing.
“Maybe you get a little more for your money” in Earlewood versus Shandon, Moore said. But there are some obvious trade-offs as well, such as access to grocery stores.
The North Main corridor has often been called a near food-desert, because the grocery stores in that area are far away and difficult to access on foot.
The Shandon and Rosewood area has a Publix and Rosewood Market.
The Earlewood home scores a 1/10 for access to grocery stores, compared to the Shandon home’s score of 8/10 on the real estate listing.
For walkability, the Earlewood home scores a 5.3, while the Shandon home scores a 6.2 out of 10.
But the Earlewood area, and all of the North Main corridor neighborhoods, are still hot markets where people are eager to buy homes, Moore added. They just aren’t as hot as Shandon or Rosewood.
Whatever neighborhood home buyers are shopping in, however, their buying power has gone down from where it was three or four years ago.
“It’s still a sellers market,” Moore said.
