1816 W Lemhi St
- Price$500,000
- Beds / Baths4 / 2
- Sqft904
- Built1960
- HOANone
- Avg drive18 min
- School zoneBoise
Drive times 18 min avg
- Illya's house 20 min 10.4 mi
- Jay & Debby's house 23 min 8.2 mi
- Boise High School 9 min 3.4 mi
- Idaho Fine Arts Academy 18 min 11.1 mi
Driving estimates via OSRM (free-flow, no traffic) — routes drawn on the map above. Average across 4 landmarks.
Valuation & tax history
| Year | Assessed value | Property tax |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $463,200 | — |
| 2025 | $456,300 | $3,063.48 |
| 2024 | $452,000 | $2,975.30 |
| 2023 | $415,500 | $2,782.04 |
| 2022 | $529,800 | $3,517.86 |
| 2021 | $406,800 | $3,087.88 |
| 2020 | $319,800 | $2,614.58 |
Idaho has no cap on assessment increases — assessed value (and therefore tax) drifts up year over year. Budget for the drift.
Run June 19, 2026 · rate 6.5% (Freddie 6.47% 6/18, Bankrate 6.48% 6/19/2026) · cash fund $105k
Price update (verified 2026-07-01): list is now $500,000 (was $519,900). The affordability math below was computed at the prior ask — re-run the eval to refresh it.
Listing facts (Zillow)
- ~$553/sqft (at the $500,000 list)
County record — Ada County Assessor (the truth)
- List price is ~$36,800 (8%) OVER assessed value — a premium, no equity cushion at purchase.
Up ~45% in six years (2020 $320k → 2026 $463k), with a 2022 spike to $530k. The large lot (0.318 ac) drives a high land value ($258k) — that’s where the assessment sits. Budget for upward tax drift.
Exemption is applied. Owner is a long-time individual resident; 2025 tax $3,063.48 on $456,300 assessed = ~0.67% effective — below the ~0.92% un-exempted Boise norm, so the homeowner’s exemption is already in the bill. Eric, living here, inherits roughly this bill (~$3,063/yr ≈ ~$255/mo), no extra savings to capture. FILE FOR THE EXEMPTION after closing — it does not transfer with a sale. (Note: the big lot keeps the tax high even with the exemption — the exemption caps at ~$125k off and the land alone is $258k.)
Affordability — VERDICT: no on both axes
Assumptions: 6.5% 30-yr fixed, 20% down (no PMI), exempted tax ~$3,063/yr, ins ~$110/mo.
20% down (no PMI)
- 20% down = $103,980 → loan $415,920
- P&I at 6.5%: ~$2,629/mo
- Property tax (exemption applied): ~$255/mo
- Insurance: ~$110/mo · HOA $0 · PMI $0
- All-in: ~$2,994/mo → ~$494/mo OVER the $2,500 ceiling. ✗
Cash also fails. $103,980 down + ~$15,597 closing (3%) ≈ $119,577 — about $15k OVER the $105k fund. Misses both axes by a wide margin at list.
What would make it fit: a price into the low-$400s (~$90k / 17% cut). Not a negotiation — a different listing.
Flags
- Fails payment AND cash by a wide margin — ~$494/mo over $2,500, ~$15k over the $105k fund. Not a contender.
- 4 beds crammed into 904 sqft — that’s ~226 sqft/bedroom; expect tiny rooms and likely non-conforming “bedrooms.” At ~$553/sqft the price-per-foot is steep.
- Priced ~8% over the county’s $463,200 — a premium, though smaller than some.
- The one real plus: a large 0.318-ac lot (same generous Columbus Park lots as Tendoy nearby) — but the lot is also why the assessment and tax run high even with the exemption.
Bottom line
A no. At the prior $519,900 ask, 20% down landed ~$2,994/mo all-in (~$494 over the $2,500 ceiling) and ate ~$120k of cash (~$15k over the $105k fund) — it missed both, and the cut to $500,000 recovers only $20k of that. The lot is genuinely good (0.318 ac), but the house is a 1960 box squeezing 4 bedrooms into 904 sqft at ~$553/sqft, priced ~8% over the county’s $463,200. The price would have to fall into the low-$400s to pencil. Pass; the lot doesn’t rescue the math.