I sometimes take a peak at what the real estate market looks like to stay fresh on pricing and what our current housing situation is. You never know, I may want to flip a house or two in my future.

However, if the pricing is correct on this, I may have no future buying homes.

I stumbled upon a gem in Portland and couldn't help but be immediately struck by the $500,000+ price tag. It has three bedrooms and two baths and was listed on the market for under a month when I looked at it.

Intrigued, I dived deeper and discovered that this seemingly small home is only about 1,300 square feet.

Naturally, I had to find out what makes this small house have such a hefty price tag, in my opinion at least.

While I know that homes with top-of-the-line renovations can boost their value, the idea of a 1,300-square-foot residence priced at half a million dollars still left me wondering.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!

I took a look at the property, emphasizing the importance of location in the home-buying process. Notably, this house is within walking distance to Back Cove, which could explain its relatively high price tag.

Beyond its prime location, the interior is pretty stunning. This place is undeniably special and wonderful to look at, so I get why someone would want to scoop this place up.

And while I might find the price to be high for me (I'm definitely not flipping any houses anytime soon), I did some more digging and saw many places for sale with around that same square footage going for a similar price or even higher.

You can take a look at the numerous places with less than 1500 square feet in Portland, Maine, and their prices here.

A real estate agent even mentioned the market trend of "single-family properties with less than 1500 sf of living space that have sold for well over $500k over the past year in Portland."

That just seems to be the market these days.

So while I might not be getting a home like this, there may be plenty of you out there ready to nab up some of these great homes waiting for a new owner. Happy house hunting!