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Anything at $50,000 here is likely going to be a trailer or need extensive work. That's way below median in this area.
My girlfriend used to live in a Rust Belt city in central IN called Anderson. There are all sorts of towns like that where the manufacturing jobs have left, and many are commutable to Indianapolis. Rural Indiana and probably rural Ohio will have much lower property prices than much of Tennessee.
$50,000 might be a stretch, but $100,000 is very doable.
I've been using Estately.com and I've found that to be very true. For $98,000, I saw the most gorgeous little Victorian house just outside Pittsburgh, and it was even CLEAN! But anything I've seen under $50,000, well, they say you have to see it to believe it and you do and you won't. Plus, if you're gonna look, you better have a really strong stomach. There are some houses and manufactured homes I wouldn't even go near before they were tented and treated at least twice. You'd have to wear a biohazard suit just to go inside and look at them.
Heck even out here in the middle of nowhere South Dakota those houses are gone. You have to be at least 30 minutes from a major job center and you'll probably be able to find houses in that price range. Around here that would be Estelline and Egan which is far enough away from Brookings and Watertown that nobody wants the commute but you can still get a decent paying job.
Otherwise go out to the middle of the state. You can get homes in and around the badlands pretty cheap because there's nothing out here and the rich would rather live on other places.
If you raise your price range up to $100K you can get homes in White and Bruce which are considerably closer to the jobs. Bruce is kind of a pit to be honest though.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Our first house cost exactly $50,000, in 1978. That was 40 years ago. It's just amazing to know that there are still any homes still available at that price, regardless of condition or location.
Our first house cost exactly $50,000, in 1978. That was 40 years ago. It's just amazing to know that there are still any homes still available at that price, regardless of condition or location.
My father's house cost $22,500 around the same year. Now 4 years of his property taxes cost more than his house did. Also interest rates were very high back then.
I think we could help the OP better if they mentioned a specific part of the country they wanted to live in. Otherwise as I stated earlier, most states will have some housing in the $50k price range. Not saying it will be in a good area or condition, but it's available.
I've been using Estately.com and I've found that to be very true. For $98,000, I saw the most gorgeous little Victorian house just outside Pittsburgh, and it was even CLEAN! But anything I've seen under $50,000, well, they say you have to see it to believe it and you do and you won't. Plus, if you're gonna look, you better have a really strong stomach. There are some houses and manufactured homes I wouldn't even go near before they were tented and treated at least twice. You'd have to wear a biohazard suit just to go inside and look at them.
A lot of people get this impression that very rural is cheap, and that isn't necessarily so.
The town I work in is pretty much full blown Rust Belt. Drugs are everywhere. Crime is high. The house below is about a mile from a large paper mill. It smells awful most of the time. The job market is weak for anything about $15/hr or so. Would you want this house even though it's below $50k?
I have to agree that even if houses below $50K do exist in some cities, they will still be less than desirable. You might regret that purchase. It might be a better idea to rent. There are plenty of advantages to renting.
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