Should I cancel my trip? (Boise, Nampa: sale, real estate, rent) - Idaho (ID) - City-Data Forum

sillygal · 09-22-2006, 05:07 PM

Hi,
From what I am reading here on these posts, there isn't too much affordable real estate in ID anymore. I don't really care for the 8mos of snow/ice in the northern part.......am I downright out of my league. I am single and only have one income. I can do a fixer upper, but stetching my income to the max would be a $125,000 house, and that would be pretty tight. When I did a realtor.com search there wasn't much in any area of ID for that. That is for a 500.....or 600sqft house........Am I not looking in the right areas?
Why come out there, and fall in love with an area I can't afford.......It would just make me mad........LOL.

Pineboy · 09-22-2006, 05:45 PM

Try searching removed and follow the links to real estate or removed

Values in Boise have really escalated the past few years and most homes near downtown are a minimum of at least $200,000. There are still some homes in certain areas for around $100,000 to $150,000, but the further west you get from downtown the less expensive the homes are.

cleosmom · 09-22-2006, 07:50 PM

The 8 months of snow/ice is somewhat of a fib. Here in SE Idaho we start getting snow that sticks to the ground (most years) in late Nov. and snow melt is in March/April. Do we get snow in other months? Yes. Does it stick? Not usually. Heck, I saw it snow 4 inches in Omaha one year which melted the next day.

From what I've seen you could get a fixer upper on this side of the state for less than the west side.

Pineboy · 09-22-2006, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillygal

Hi,
From what I am reading here on these posts, there isn't too much affordable real estate in ID anymore. I don't really care for the 8mos of snow/ice in the northern part.......am I downright out of my league. I am single and only have one income. I can do a fixer upper, but stetching my income to the max would be a $125,000 house, and that would be pretty tight. When I did a realtor.com search there wasn't much in any area of ID for that. That is for a 500.....or 600sqft house........Am I not looking in the right areas?
Why come out there, and fall in love with an area I can't afford.......It would just make me mad........LOL.

That is true that 8 months of snow/ice is completely false-maybe on mountain tops. In North Idaho you would deal with 4 months: Nov through February or March.

anette · 09-23-2006, 01:52 AM

so i dont live there yet.... but we are moving too Idaho falls area in Nov. So we have been looking at newer houses, and it seems to me that there is a ton for that price. Especially fixer uppers, but there is also some brand new homes for that price. I think they were about 1500 square feet.

I have looked at Idaho Falls, bonneville county. My sister lives in Pocatello, and according to her it is even cheaper there....

do a search on these websites:

removed

Good luck,

Anette

bande1102 · 09-23-2006, 07:26 AM

I requested some information from the Boise Chamber of Commerce and a real estate agent sent me an average housing price chart. It looks like its broken down by neighborhood. I have no idea if this is accurate or not. I'll just type it in and then, hopefully, some of the locals can give their opinions. Iincidentally, there really isn't a description of the house, it just says an "average" home. Guess that would be a 3 bedroom. I was really surprised when I read these. I had no idea the prices had gotten this high. Especially compared to the pay for the job openings that I've been reading about.

Here it is:

North Boise: $305,422

Northeast Boise: 386,380

Southeast Boise: $300,000

Central Boise (the Bench): $172,177

South Central Boise: $241,624

Southwest Boise: $220,817

West Boise: $196,173

Garden City: $229,934

Northwest Boise: $290,699

Eagle Area: $477,499

Star: $292,885

Meridian: $256,407- $393,387

Kuna: $232,237

Middleton: $223,611

Nampa and Caldwell: $154,668-$202,456 (lower prices Nampa, higher Caldwell)

I've also heard that Pocatello is much cheaper, but I don't have any info. Hope this helps

micrguy · 09-23-2006, 08:16 AM

The days of finding a $125,000 house anywhere in the country are over. Especially if you want to live in a town that is a good place to live.

Personally I would rent for a year to get a feel for what I want and the right area. Maybe get a second job for a year, it stinks but it is only one year. Then I would save every penny that I could for a down payment, pay off all credit cards, other loans and make sure that I have a good credit score. With all of the creative financing out there right now, you might be surprised what you could qualify for.

I would rather make some sacrifices to live in a city that I want to live in than to spend the rest of my life in a city I hate.

California Carl · 09-23-2006, 06:27 PM

That is good advise.

my3arabs · 10-01-2006, 09:39 PM

Try Twin Falls, Buhl, Kimberly areas. They are cheap housing and cheap living so far. Twin has some beautiful views of the canyon and some great parks plus we don't get winter like most places. We got some snow that stuck for a few days last yr but that was it. I live on a hill and get more wind and nasty stuff then the valley gets. You are within a few hrs of many beautiful places to visit and if you like the big city to visit we are just 1.5 hrs away from Boise.

There is a wonderful trail just outside of Buhl by the Clear Springs hatchery turn off that goes to Niagra Springs park. We hiked it many times during the winter and my oldest son fished a lot in the ponds and river during the winter. I used my snow shovel more to shovel horse pooh than snow last winter LOL.

Richard Boyer · 10-03-2006, 08:01 PM

hey in the twin falls are there are alot of low priced houses! there are so many such as 4 sale by owners that arent even listed on mls listings I suggest rent a small place in twin falls ..they are not expensive and searchs for a few weeks or months i guarantee youll find the dream home in your price range!!! they are everywhere! Filer or Buhl are right out of town!driving 10 or12 miles to town is nothing , especially if youre use to driving in SO. Cal any way the people are awesome!!!I bought my house in Filer 6 miles from twin falls and I heard a knock on my door and diferent neighbors at different times brought canned jellies and homegrown veggies to us for aweek!!!! the people here are real!!!!! so dont be discouraged and take that step of faith! good luck in your search..oh yeah in Buhl I seen 4 bdrm houses for 105 thousands!!!!