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As the headline states, which area to focus on in Buffalo. Aiming at a single family home. I know I wont have a premium area but wish to avoid the really bad ones. Simply a lower/middle blue color class area with honest working people.
Depends on what you are looking for in a neighborhood. At 30-40K your pickings are going to be a bit slim and you'd better be handy. If you're not a racist or don't mind people who are poor, there are many areas of the city you could live quite comfortably. I wouldn't go any lower than 30. The area between bailey and main (in parts) is not so great near south campus. Landlords ran the place down for a bit and took their cash and banked it without re-investing into the area. Consider the auctions, you can do quite well.
There are crime stats websites but I wouldn't take them too seriously. Just be cautious about your property and don't stay out until 2AM looking for drugs and you'll be fine anywhere.
Go to www.2findyourhome.com and you'll see postings there. Post properties that you think are interesting.
I think the pickings will be slim indeed at that level, but you might be able to find a small cottage or carriage house in a decent neighborhood at that price. Maybe somewhere on the West Side, or in the older neighborhoods of South Buffalo or the Old First Ward. Maybe somewhere in Cold Springs or Masten Park might work, but it depends on the street and even block in a lot of those neighborhoods.
I would say Black Rock or Riverside, but I'm not sure you'll be able to find anything quite so cheap, and those houses tend to be larger.
You can get a good deal at tax auctions, but it can also be a big undertaking and I have heard the closing process can be a nightmare. They won't give you the keys until you close, but in the meantime you may have busted pipes that are flooding the house and you can't get in to turn the water off. So if you go that route, just make sure you do a lot of due diligence before you bid.
If you are willing to up your budget a litle bit, you can find smaller houses in places around Cheektowaga, closer to the city border that aren't terrible neighborhoods. In 2007, my wife and I lost out on a home that was literally right down the street from Cheektowaga town park, off Genesee (I believe it was on David Ave), that ended up selling for just over $50,000. The house was small, about 1,300 SF, and the lot wasn't much bigger, but it was a well built home, and I'd imagine the prices aren't much higher now.
Last edited by topchief1; 04-18-2013 at 08:13 AM..
Auction season for government auctions are mostly done for this year but you can have great success with those. There are several houses in Riverside right now under 50k.
You can get a good deal at tax auctions, but it can also be a big undertaking and I have heard the closing process can be a nightmare. They won't give you the keys until you close, but in the meantime you may have busted pipes that are flooding the house and you can't get in to turn the water off. So if you go that route, just make sure you do a lot of due diligence before you bid.
I don't know what auctions your friends deal with but we never have had problems with closings on tax auctions and unless the place is occupied, we have never had keys. We meet the neighbors with the deed and ID so they dont call the police, then break the locks. The majority of the time the doors are already broken and just covered by wood. The closings are so simple because its not dealing with banks.
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