3309 W Palouse St
- Price$380,000
- Beds / Baths2 / 1.5
- Sqft951
- Lot3,136 sqft (0.072 ac)
- Built2005
- HOANone
- Avg drive17 min
- School zoneBoise
Drive times 17 min avg
- Illya's house 19 min 8.6 mi
- Jay & Debby's house 22 min 7.9 mi
- Boise High School 9 min 3.4 mi
- Idaho Fine Arts Academy 18 min 10.6 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | $1,980.56 |
| 2024 | — | $1,917.24 |
| 2023 | — | $2,978.78 |
| 2022 | — | $3,216.12 |
Idaho has no cap on assessment increases — assessed value (and therefore tax) drifts up year over year. Budget for the drift.
Run June 7, 2026 · rate 6.5% (Freddie 6.48% / Bankrate 6.53%, 6/7/2026)
Price update (verified 2026-07-01): list is now $380,000 (was $390,000). The affordability math below was computed at the prior ask — the fit only improves at the lower price, but re-run the eval to refresh it.
Listing facts (Zillow)
- Off-street parking, back patio. ~$400/sqft at the $380,000 list — a steep price-per-foot (Brookover $303).
County record — Ada County Assessor (the truth)
- Land is ~48% of value on a tiny lot → location premium (near downtown / the Bench).
- List price is ~$32k (9%) ABOVE assessed value — priced to the top, not a discount.
The 2023→2024 drop (~$1,060) is the homeowner’s-exemption kicking in after Hall took occupancy. So the current ~$1,980/yr ALREADY reflects the owner-occupant exemption — Eric inherits roughly that (~$165/mo), no exemption adjustment needed. Effective rate ≈ 0.9% of assessed once you back out the exemption. Budget for modest upward drift (no ID assessment cap).
Affordability — VERDICT: FITS $2,500 with room; over the old $2,000
Same loan as Clinton → same P&I. Under the new params it clears.
- 20% down = $78,000 → loan $312,000
- P&I at 6.5%: ~$1,972/mo
- Property tax (actual, exemption already applied): ~$165/mo
- Insurance: ~$110/mo
- PMI: $0 (20% down)
- All-in: ~$2,247/mo → ~$253/mo UNDER $2,500 (and ~$247 OVER the old $2,000). Clears $2,500. ✓
Cash — comfortable now
- 20% down ($78k) + ~$11.7k closing (3%) ≈ $89.7k — inside the $105k fund, leaving ~$15.3k of cushion (at the old $90k this was maxed out with ~$300 left; the higher fund fixes that).
Flags
- $/sqft is brutal: ~$400/sqft for 951 sqft. You’re paying a 3-bed price for a 2-bed cottage.
- Listed above assessed value — no equity cushion at purchase; you’d be buying at/over market.
- 2 bedrooms — even tighter on resale/livability than Brookover’s 3bd/1ba.
- The one genuine plus: 2005 build = low deferred-maintenance risk vs. 1948 (Clinton) / 1962 (Brookover). And no HOA.
Bottom line
The monthly now fits (~$2,247 at the prior $390k ask; the list has since dipped to $380,000, so it only improves) with ~$15k cash to spare — so this is no longer a budget no, it’s a value/size no. It’s a steep ~$400/sqft (951 sqft), a 2-bedroom listed ~$32k / 9% over assessed with no equity cushion. Essentially a newer, smaller, more-expensive-per-foot Clinton: same payment, less house, worse layout (Clinton is a 3/1.5 on a bigger lot for similar money). The genuine plus is the 2005 build — the second-newest on the board, low deferred-maintenance risk — plus no HOA. But you’d be paying a 3-bed price for a 2-bed cottage. Affordability passes; value doesn’t. Only makes sense in the low-$300s (at/below the $348k assessed), and even then you’re buying 951 sqft. Newer house, wrong size for the price.