Are Homes Really This Cheap? (Rochester, Syracuse: for sale, real estate, foreclosure)

[The Magicians Eye]

I currently live in Phoenix AZ and I plan on moving my family to the Syracuse area next summer around July. For the last month or so I've been searching all over the net and it seems like you can find a pretty respectable place for under $80,000. Is this true? What's the catch? In the Phoenix area nothing under $200,000 is really worth a crap in the single family home market within the city. I know you can move way out to the outskirts of town and find a nice place for less but then you have to live way out in the middle of flat dirt area were every house looks the same as the next one.

So again are house in the Syracuse area truly this cheap and what's the catch? Do these homes need a ton of work? (Old cast iron plumbing, asbestos, lead, ????) What's the story?

I saw this listing in Auburn and about had a heart attack. This is a dream home for someone like me and it's listed at $194,000?!?!? This home would sell for nothing less than a million in Arizona if we had stuff like this out here.

http://www.cnyhomes.com/Listing/Sear...i?mlnum=200096

Any help or advice would be great. Right now things seemed to be priced way to good to be true.

[ckhthankgod]

Yes and you can get some decent homes for affordable prices. That's is one good thing about living here. You can get some decent suburban homes in the 70-80k range.

Auburn is known for having some great houses for really affordable prices. It's not a bad city in terms of crime or anything either. So, you can get some steals there. Here's another good site to check out too: CNYREALTOR.COM | #1 in Syracuse real estate and homes for sale. Search over 6,000 listings.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by The Magicians Eye

I currently live in Phoenix AZ and I plan on moving my family to the Syracuse area next summer around July. For the last month or so I've been searching all over the net and it seems like you can find a pretty respectable place for under $80,000. Is this true? What's the catch? In the Phoenix area nothing under $200,000 is really worth a crap in the single family home market within the city. I know you can move way out to the outskirts of town and find a nice place for less but then you have to live way out in the middle of flat dirt area were every house looks the same as the next one.

So again are house in the Syracuse area truly this cheap and what's the catch? Do these homes need a ton of work? (Old cast iron plumbing, asbestos, lead, ????) What's the story?

I saw this listing in Auburn and about had a heart attack. This is a dream home for someone like me and it's listed at $194,000?!?!? This home would sell for nothing less than a million in Arizona if we had stuff like this out here.

CNYHomes - Detailed House Listing Information for

Any help or advice would be great. Right now things seemed to be priced way to good to be true.

Syracuse was recently listed as one of the top 10 places for buying an affordable home - so yes, what you heard is true. However, watch out for the taxes, that's were living in the northeast can get pricey!

I am moving to Syracuse myself but not buying because I won't be there more than a couple of years. Otherwise I'd say buying in Syracuse would be a good idea.

[phaelon56]

Auburn's challenge is the employment market. It's not close enough to Syracuse or Rochester for many people to think of it as a reasonable commute so housing prices are depressed but there are indeed some fantastic old homes for low prices. $80,000 can get you a decent home in some parts of the city and suburbs but $150K to $200K can get you something really really nice with no catch (I assume you will get a reputable and qualified home inspector before you purchase). Homes really are this cheap here.

[The Magicians Eye]

Thank you very much. With the age of these homes I'm assuming that finding cast iron plumbing, asbestos and or lead in these homes is not uncommon. Am I correct in this assumption or does the county step in and force the home owners to fix these problems? And yes I'll be getting a good home inspector to check things out before I buy. I also have a pretty respectable home construction background. I'm just trying to prepare for the worse. No surprises.

[The Magicians Eye]

So here is an off the wall question. Why do the people selling or renting many of these homes in your area post pictures of a dirty or cluttered homes? Many of these pictures show crap all over the house. That's not common in Arizona. Hell some people out here pay to have their home staged for sale. Many remodel before they sell. But then again houses out here are WAY WAY more expensive and many look the same as everyone else’s on the outside of the home. Both me and my girlfriend thought it was kind of weird that so many people just seem to grab the camera and take pictures of rooms without any cleaning or hiding of their very personal belongings. I just ran across one posting where the person taking the pictures clearly wanted to show off his love for music. Pictures of his drums in the dining room. Pictures of his piano in another room. Pictures of his video game "rock band" in another room hahaha. I do find it interesting and rather enjoy being able to see into these people's lives like that but when house shopping I think I'd rather stick with the pictures that sell me the home. Sorry I just had to bring this up. This is something I'm not use to seeing and I thought it was a little funny.

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by The Magicians Eye

So here is an off the wall question. Why do the people selling or renting many of these homes in your area post pictures of a dirty or cluttered homes? Many of these pictures show crap all over the house. That's not common in Arizona. Hell some people out here pay to have their home staged for sale. Many remodel before they sell. But then again houses out here are WAY WAY more expensive and many look the same as everyone else’s on the outside of the home. Both me and my girlfriend thought it was kind of weird that so many people just seem to grab the camera and take pictures of rooms without any cleaning or hiding of their very personal belongings. I just ran across one posting where the person taking the pictures clearly wanted to show off his love for music. Pictures of his drums in the dining room. Pictures of his piano in another room. Pictures of his video game "rock band" in another room hahaha. I do find it interesting and rather enjoy being able to see into these people's lives like that but when house shopping I think I'd rather stick with the pictures that sell me the home. Sorry I just had to bring this up. This is something I'm not use to seeing and I thought it was a little funny.

I hate to say this but, most people in Upstate NY aren't as sophisticated as people in fast growing metropolitan areas. A large percentage do not take pride in how they look, carry themselves or how their property looks.

Let's just say, keeping up with the Jones is not a priority in most places in Upstate NY.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by The Magicians Eye

So here is an off the wall question. Why do the people selling or renting many of these homes in your area post pictures of a dirty or cluttered homes? Many of these pictures show crap all over the house. That's not common in Arizona. Hell some people out here pay to have their home staged for sale. Many remodel before they sell. But then again houses out here are WAY WAY more expensive and many look the same as everyone else’s on the outside of the home. Both me and my girlfriend thought it was kind of weird that so many people just seem to grab the camera and take pictures of rooms without any cleaning or hiding of their very personal belongings. I just ran across one posting where the person taking the pictures clearly wanted to show off his love for music. Pictures of his drums in the dining room. Pictures of his piano in another room. Pictures of his video game "rock band" in another room hahaha. I do find it interesting and rather enjoy being able to see into these people's lives like that but when house shopping I think I'd rather stick with the pictures that sell me the home. Sorry I just had to bring this up. This is something I'm not use to seeing and I thought it was a little funny.

I have noticed this too and it surprised me. In today's buyers market I would think sellers would realize they need to market their homes as bright, shiny, decluttered and clean as possible. Here in Charlotte unless a home is in foreclosure you will find most homes are staged and look very lovely.

Another interesting note, which leads me to believe maybe realtors in NY are just behind the times a bit, a good friend has her home up near Lake Placid for sale. My friend is already living down here in Charlotte and has a realtor helping her on this end to find a new home. She says the differences in realtors are like night and day.

After she learned how common it is to offer home warranties or other incentives to buyers to get them interested in your home, she asked her NY realtor to help her better market her home there by offering a home warranty or job loss protection insurance. Her NY realtor looked at her like she was cazy and said, "we don't do those kinds of things here"! I asked her what exactly is it her realtor IS doing for her up there and she said, "not much". When I told her it HAS to be that particular realtor and she needs to change companies she told me this is the number 1 company and agent in that area!

So...I'm just saying it sounds like there may be some regional differences in how realtors approach their jobs. My realtor will not take a listing on a home that the buyer refuses to get staged.

[proulxfamily]

CNY isn't like other markets... I don't know how else to say it. There's no need to stage your home... or make special offers to buyers and agents. There isn't a housing slump- it's a steady market, here. Unless you're making major changes (ie extensive renovations), it's likely that whatever money you spend to make it "marketable", as in the manner shown on HGTV, will be for naught. Give it a good scrub, declutter, and list it.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by phaelon56

Auburn's challenge is the employment market. It's not close enough to Syracuse or Rochester for many people to think of it as a reasonable commute so housing prices are depressed but there are indeed some fantastic old homes for low prices. $80,000 can get you a decent home in some parts of the city and suburbs but $150K to $200K can get you something really really nice with no catch (I assume you will get a reputable and qualified home inspector before you purchase). Homes really are this cheap here.

Actually, my wife works in Auburn, but you are right, as not too many people travel like this for work.