Quote Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly View Post
500,000 isn't much at all for a house on on either coast.
It depends on your area. You can get alot of house for $500,000 in certain areas of the Lehigh Valley. And it won't be a beige McMansion with the only distinguishable characteristic from the other 300 homes in the development being a slightly different faux facade.

Of course it depends on the specific area as the NY City squatters have driven up the prices in some of the more popular areas like Saucon Valley. But even in the city of Bethlehem, my house has almost doubled in value in less than 5 years. Prices are still rising in most markets though. Nazareth is pretty popular right now, and certain areas of Allentown (Not the City of course where you pay 3 times your mortgage in school taxes for a system that doesn't even meet federal standards).