A neat little house has been built at 610 Sherman St. S.E. (Photo taken 1/18/2025)
For years I have followed what was happening on a lot across from Albany’s Hackleman Park. A bike ride took me past the address again last month, and what I saw might be one partial answer to Oregon’s so-called housing crisis.
The address is 610 Sherman St. S.E., where the city condemned a dilapidated house for code violations and had it torn down in 2020. If you want a refresher on this long and sad story, you can find it here.
In May 2024, two Albany builders bought the vacant lot, which Linn County says measures a mere 2,574 square feet. Then they put a house on it that is modest in size but pleasing in its appearance and design.
The city building permit says the house measures 843 square feet. It has two bedrooms and one bath. That is tiny by contemporary standards.
But it’s the same size as the houses in which many Americans managed to live in relative comfort two generations ago. Sure, those families probably added a room or two as soon as they could when the size of their households increased. But they got a start in home ownership even though they were of modest means.
Based on its size and number of rooms, the building permit for 610 Sherman valued the construction at $141,000. I’m pretty sure it actually cost more than that to build. But if it comes up for sale, it might be far more “affordable” to more people than most of the houses being built in new subdivisions these days.
Smaller houses that cost less? Seems that would help in giving more people a start at owning a house. (hh)
$231.00 + a square foot may be a lot? No really up on materials cost, but labor is surely higher than it was a couple of years ago, based on what I’m having to pay for work around my place
Maybe with some innovative financing someone in the lower income brackets could make it.
I’d like to see more of these small houses for those of us who want to downsize.As we get older we are often ready to give up both older houses and also bigger house that we don’t want to spend time or effort to upgrade and maintain.Large yards just don’t have the appeal for us anymore.
Often we really need to sell for health reasons and expenses but aren’t ready for a care facility.Often one spouse is caring for the other but the cost of replacing a current older home with a newer one these days is cost prohibitive.
Love this. Thank you for a positive post and looking forward to more.
I agree. The market for 1st time homebuyers is ludicrous at best. I recently viewed a 1 bedroom home with about that same footage and the realtor was asking close to a quarter million dollars. Granted it was in Corvallis, but seriously? How does the “middle class” afford that?
It’s too bad it won’t change anything for first-time homebuyers. Landlords and downsizers can make all-cash offers. The City is focused only on increasing rental density. The few available homebuyer assistance programs have income limits incompatible with actual home prices.
Good point. In my childhood during the late 50’s and early 60’s we lived in a modest house in Youngstown Ohio. Built in 1951 in the suburbs, it was perfect for raising three kids. Not sure, but I’m guessing that the original mortgage was less than $20k. My mother continued to live there until her passing in 2023 at 99 years old !! After the estate sale and some simple upgrades it sold for over $120k.
I think your estimate of the cost of the house built in 1951 is way over-valued.
My parents bought a 3 bedroom house on a 1/4 acre lot in a development in Hurst, Texas in 1958 and the cost was $12,500. They sold it in 1968 for $18,500 and bought a similar sized house with a pool on a 11,000 sq ft lot in Phoenix at the foot of Camelback Mountain for $25,000. It was sold in 2005 for $575,000.
Nothing wrong with small and cozy. I had to downsize some years back and enjoyed it a great deal. It was mazing how much stuff I didn’t need.
Not to mention Corvallis’s extremely high property taxes! I have a 1600 sf 50 year old house that the property taxes on it are 6k per year! The sidewalks are crumbling and need replacing, but no help from the city of Corvallis.
What I want to know is where all of my tax money is going??
The bulk of your Property Tax payments goes to pay for Police Department, Fire Department, Parks, and Library.
You can look online at the City of Corvallis budget for the General Fund to see for yourself.
https://archives.corvallisoregon.gov/public/ElectronicFile.aspx?dbid=0&docid=3823333
There is another wrinkle in home ownership that many people may not know about, and that’s Investor Owned Homes that are turned into rental properties.
I don’t know how deeply it affects Albany but this website includes Corvallis because of OSU.
https://ark7.com/blog/learn/cities/investment-properties-oregon/
After the end of WW2, there were places like Leavittown on Long Island where little crackerbox houses which were constructed for veterans and they were very small but were practical for them (until they got a handful of kids) many of the homes still exist but are worth a lot more money in 2025. The same for Lake Count Gardens in Illinois where I grew up. An immense project.