Cheap, but not Cheap, Housing!

Looking for housing in Lubbock?

After living in Los Angeles for 10 years, I had gotten used to paying well over $1,000 for a studio apartment – bed, TV, kitchen, bathroom and office jammed into about 500 square feet of “luxury” with no guaranteed parking spaces and the regular smell of gas leaking to aid me in my attempts to sleep in peace.  (I did live down the alley from a Ferrari dealership and three streets over was one of the most famous talent agencies in the world, though.  And I did see Brad Pitt grabbing a latte at the neighborhood Starbucks I went to.  So, there were perks…). You have to pay the big time to shoot for the bigtime, I guess.  And I paid big, and really I learned to think little of the cost.  I actually developed a California mindset that made me believe you had to be a millionaire to afford anything resembling a house.

But then, after years of starring as an extra in many TV shows and movies (“Background actor”/”Moving prop”, I moved to Lubbock, Texas, which is a fast-growing city in the Northwest part of the state.  And let me tell you, I have been blown away by the affordability of housing.  One example stands out to me.

There is a company in town called Betenbough Homes, which builds new Lubbock homes that range in price from $125,000 to $250,000.  I am being serious here.  These are nice, new Lubbock houses that at the lowest of the range, will only cost you like $950 per month.   That is cheaper than just about every apartment in the city and these are cottage-style homes with 3-bedrooms, a garage and some sort of extended new home warranty.  I could not believe this was true, but after talking with some of the company staff, I found that it actually was.  For about half the rent I was paying in LA, I could purchase a beautiful new home in a really nice community, near the best schools, and not even be close to millionaire status.

Why rent an apartment if you can buy a house?  Who needs noisy upstairs neighbors when you can have your own space for a cheaper price?  It didn’t take long for me to be sold.  This company has figured out how to build affordable housing and it is really well-designed.  I am shocked, to tell you the truth.  And I can hang a poster of Brad Pitt on my wife’s side of the third bedroom and let her enjoy the perks of that.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to this housing company and let my California friends know that they can be homeowners for the price of cheap LA rent.  They just have to  re-locate a few hundred miles to the east.

Anybody have experience with Betenbough homes?  Feel free to comment below.