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Any place that's cheap is cheap for a reason. Those reasons could be reasons that you can tolerate. For example, when I bought my first home, I found cheaper homes in areas with bad schools but really good crime rates. So the homes were cheap, I didn't need the good schools, and the area was very safe.
I think Buffalo has seen better days, but that doesn't really matter if YOU like it and can find a good job. Job would be the crucial part. There's a certain population of people moving back to places like Pittsburgh and Buffalo, making it better. Its not for me, as I work primarily outdoors and dislike the cold, but if I worked in an office and made decent money, you might be able to live well.
That said, my primary concern would be property taxes and home appreciation rates. So choose wisely.
Well right now I love my current job here in Stamford, CT. It's great. I get 5 weeks of vacation, work 40 hours a week and get paid $75K plus 10-20% bonus. But an entry level home around here is at least $300K, so it's forcing me to look at cheap places like Buffalo. But if that $75K job will suddenly pay only $55K in Buffalo, then I may be in the same boat.
Well right now I love my current job here in Stamford, CT. It's great. I get 5 weeks of vacation, work 40 hours a week and get paid $75K plus 10-20% bonus. But an entry level home around here is at least $300K, so it's forcing me to look at cheap places like Buffalo. But if that $75K job will suddenly pay only $55K in Buffalo, then I may be in the same boat.
Put me in the camp that finds Buffalo beautiful.
To me most of NY is pretty flat and boring if that's what I was looking for. I like the West with its huge mountian backdrops.
If you wanna see some rugged county within NY Buffalo/Rochester have a lot of it. Letchworth isn't the West but it will do until the real thing gets here.
The city of Buffalo doesn't impress me either. It's in pretty rough shape. But it has great suburbs. The whole area outside the city is great. To me at least. Nice suburbs with a decent sized city next door.
But I hate snow. All snow. Every flake. So I gotta find a place like Buffalo but with less (a lot less) snow.
Well right now I love my current job here in Stamford, CT. It's great. I get 5 weeks of vacation, work 40 hours a week and get paid $75K plus 10-20% bonus. But an entry level home around here is at least $300K, so it's forcing me to look at cheap places like Buffalo. But if that $75K job will suddenly pay only $55K in Buffalo, then I may be in the same boat.
If you make $55k in Buffalo, you could live in most places in the area. If you pick an area of the city with some demand, you should be fine in terms of appreciation and even with property taxes, which can vary, you can make out fine.
Also, why not consider Syracuse? I'm not telling you pick it, but it may be a good fit. Here's another neighborhood nearby: http://goo.gl/maps/CtP8K
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 01-22-2014 at 04:20 PM..
If you make $55k in Buffalo, you could live in most places in the area. If you pick an area of the city with some demand, you should be fine in terms of appreciation and even with property taxes, which can vary, you can make out fine.
Also, why not consider Syracuse? I'm not telling you pick it, but it may be a good fit. Here's another neighborhood nearby: http://goo.gl/maps/CtP8K
Now that's a very nice neighborhood. See, IMO, the landscape of Syracuse is far more appealing than Buffalo. It's more reminiscent of CT. Plus, it's a 3.5 hr drive from my family in CT. So I wouldn't have to waste as much vacation time visiting family. The gay population, however, is smaller than the other cities, but that's not a deal breaker.
You know what though? Currently, I have $37K saved up for a home down payment. An entry level home in my county goes for at least $300K, typically. That means I have to save up another $40K just to make a 20% down payment plus closing costs, points, etc. That's difficult for a single person to achieve. It actually makes me kind of depressed thinking about it. Because, even if I did make the down payment and purchase a home here, the monthly payment (PITI) would be at least $1,800 a month, which is a bit too much for me to do on my own.
From looking on the MLS, it appears that a decent house can be purchased for about $100,000 in Syracuse (unless that means it's in a bad area?). If that's the case, I could put 50% down and have a total monthly payment of under $500, as long as I could get a job that pays at least $55K.
Well right now I love my current job here in Stamford, CT. It's great. I get 5 weeks of vacation, work 40 hours a week and get paid $75K plus 10-20% bonus. But an entry level home around here is at least $300K, so it's forcing me to look at cheap places like Buffalo. But if that $75K job will suddenly pay only $55K in Buffalo, then I may be in the same boat.
If you love your job and are making a minimum of $82.5k a year, plus 5 weeks vacation, I wouldn't even consider living anywhere else. No offense, I kinda doubt that you have 5 weeks paid vacation at a new-ish job, but accepting your premise, I think you're setting yourself up for a disappointment by moving somewhere just to save money.
Assuming you can make $55k in Buffalo, you're making $24k less a year. That's $2 grand a month. Any increase in mortgage in the Stamford area is NOT going to equal $2 grand a month. Its simple math. Add in the fact that you'll never get 5 weeks vaca off the bat, it seems silly to move.
I'm in Stamford twice a month. Plan B Burger Bar is my joint! Its an expensive area, for sure, but there are places to live there that are reasonable. A co-worker of mine lives in Stratford and commutes a 1/2 hour in. She lives in a similar house to this, in this same neighborhood. Bottom line, its affordable enough to someone making over $80k.
BTW, you don't need 20% down. FHA loans are more like 5% down. Like I said, if you want it bad enough, you can make it happen. You seem to put up a lot of roadblocks.
Now that's a very nice neighborhood. See, IMO, the landscape of Syracuse is far more appealing than Buffalo. It's more reminiscent of CT. Plus, it's a 3.5 hr drive from my family in CT. So I wouldn't have to waste as much vacation time visiting family. The gay population, however, is smaller than the other cities, but that's not a deal breaker.
You know what though? Currently, I have $37K saved up for a home down payment. An entry level home in my county goes for at least $300K, typically. That means I have to save up another $40K just to make a 20% down payment plus closing costs, points, etc. That's difficult for a single person to achieve. It actually makes me kind of depressed thinking about it. Because, even if I did make the down payment and purchase a home here, the monthly payment (PITI) would be at least $1,800 a month, which is a bit too much for me to do on my own.
From looking on the MLS, it appears that a decent house can be purchased for about $100,000 in Syracuse (unless that means it's in a bad area?). If that's the case, I could put 50% down and have a total monthly payment of under $500, as long as I could get a job that pays at least $55K.
Just to give you something to think about, the median home price for Onondaga County is around 125k. So, if you find a home for 100k, it should be a solid home. Homes in those areas can be had in the 125-150 range, give or take. Keep an eye on the taxes, but like I stated earlier, you can make out just fine.
If you love your job and are making a minimum of $82.5k a year, plus 5 weeks vacation, I wouldn't even consider living anywhere else. No offense, I kinda doubt that you have 5 weeks paid vacation at a new-ish job, but accepting your premise, I think you're setting yourself up for a disappointment by moving somewhere just to save money.
Assuming you can make $55k in Buffalo, you're making $24k less a year. That's $2 grand a month. Any increase in mortgage in the Stamford area is NOT going to equal $2 grand a month. Its simple math. Add in the fact that you'll never get 5 weeks vaca off the bat, it seems silly to move.
I'm in Stamford twice a month. Plan B Burger Bar is my joint! Its an expensive area, for sure, but there are places to live there that are reasonable. A co-worker of mine lives in Stratford and commutes a 1/2 hour in. She lives in a similar house to this, in this same neighborhood. Bottom line, its affordable enough to someone making over $80k.
BTW, you don't need 20% down. FHA loans are more like 5% down. Like I said, if you want it bad enough, you can make it happen. You seem to put up a lot of roadblocks.
Well, what I get is 23 days of PTO per year. That means it can be used as vacation or sick days; whatever. And yes, I am new to the company. So yes, it's about 5 weeks of PTO per year, which is fabulous.
I have been looking in Stratford as well, as it is more affordable, but still not quite affordable enough. I don't like to count bonus income in my budget, because it could be $10,000 one year and the next year it could be $0.
Also, FHA is usually not a smart idea. It means that the monthly payment will be higher, because of PMI and more principal to be paid per month. In my opinion, if someone has to go through FHA to buy a home, then they cannot afford that home. Personally, I am willing to wait and achieve an honest 20% down payment with no PMI.
And your MLS listing you showed me is a bit too much for my budget. It's also too far from my job. My absolute cut off is 30 minutes of a drive. Do you have any idea of how intense the traffic is down here? A 30-min commute is actually 45+ mins to an hour, going back home.
But largely, I see your points. (A) I like the job. (B) The benefits are fabulous. (C) Everyone I work with is fabulous. (D) It's low stress.
But what good is a great job if there's no light at the end of the tunnel with regard to achieving home ownership as a single person? I live in one of the most expensive counties in the U.S.
Just to give you something to think about, the median home price for Onondaga County is around 125k. So, if you find a home for 100k, it should be a solid home. Homes in those areas can be had in the 125-150 range, give or take. Keep an eye on the taxes, but like I stated earlier, you can make out just fine.
I can see the exact amount of property taxes on Zillow. And.....WOW! They are VERY low! Seriously...only $1,200 a year?!? Around here, the same house would have property taxes of about $6,000 a year!
I can see the exact amount of property taxes on Zillow. And.....WOW! They are VERY low! Seriously...only $1,200 a year?!? Around here, the same house would have property taxes of about $6,000 a year!
That is very low for here, but look more at about 2,5-5k depending on many factors.
Another area of Syracuse has a census tract with the second highest percentage of same sex households out of all Upstate NY census tracts, according to the NY Times ACS 2005-2009 map information. This is the census tract: Census Tract 001702 in Onondaga County, New York
Well, what I get is 23 days of PTO per year. That means it can be used as vacation or sick days; whatever. And yes, I am new to the company. So yes, it's about 5 weeks of PTO per year, which is fabulous.
I have been looking in Stratford as well, as it is more affordable, but still not quite affordable enough. I don't like to count bonus income in my budget, because it could be $10,000 one year and the next year it could be $0.
Also, FHA is usually not a smart idea. It means that the monthly payment will be higher, because of PMI and more principal to be paid per month. In my opinion, if someone has to go through FHA to buy a home, then they cannot afford that home. Personally, I am willing to wait and achieve an honest 20% down payment with no PMI.
And your MLS listing you showed me is a bit too much for my budget. It's also too far from my job. My absolute cut off is 30 minutes of a drive. Do you have any idea of how intense the traffic is down here? A 30-min commute is actually 45+ mins to an hour, going back home.
But largely, I see your points. (A) I like the job. (B) The benefits are fabulous. (C) Everyone I work with is fabulous. (D) It's low stress.
But what good is a great job if there's no light at the end of the tunnel with regard to achieving home ownership as a single person? I live in one of the most expensive counties in the U.S.
How you decide to buy is your decision, but all I'm saying is that there are affordable houses. There are 147 homes in Stratford right now that are under 200k that some may need a little elbow grease but are liveable. That's just one town. If you really want a home, you could get one on your salary, in that area. There are many people making it there on much less, trust me, I know several of them.
If you decide on Syracuse or Buffalo, ckh is the man when it comes to finding people the right spot there. All it may be is a matter of taking down roadblocks and refusing to see the world through the scope of grim and dire outcomes.
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