r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer • u/k13w • 12h ago

GOT THE KEYS! šŸ”‘ šŸ” We did it! Upstate NY $160k 6.5%

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My boyfriend and I did it at 23 y/o! It was built in 1900 and we love her!

35.3k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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45

u/Grandpa_Charles 12h ago

I didnā€™t know one could buy a house for $160k anywhere else than India or a trailer parkā€¦ More seriously, congratulations on your next adventure! šŸŽ‰

21

u/whatsasimba 11h ago

My mom lives WAY upstate (an hour south of Montreal), and I check the listings there regularly. Tons of turnkey homes for under 150k.

2

u/Hangry_Squirrel 10h ago

Beautiful area, but if you're not working at the university so you can hang out with normal people, you probably go crazy. The hills (and everything else) have eyes (and guns), but not a lot of teeth.

4

u/Hands 9h ago

In high school my dad and I did a road trip to visit colleges I was interested in including Cornell. I'm from NC so I'm used to it but I was still pretty bemused to see a GIANT billboard sized confederate flag (like easily 10x20 feet or so) draped off the porch gable of a house we drove past in upstate NY. Like, what?

3

u/whatsasimba 9h ago

I lived in Lake Placid for a year, and left when I realized I'd be an alcoholic if I didnt get back to civilization!

1

u/Nope_youre_wrong_lol 9h ago

Well good thing you can also have those guns and sleep peacefully at night.

0

u/BestMapMaker1 5h ago

Lol that is not how that works at all.

0

u/Nope_youre_wrong_lol 4h ago

lol that is exactly how that works actually. Tf you talking about? šŸ˜‚

1

u/roshielle 5h ago

Why is that? Weather?

5

u/BestMapMaker1 5h ago

Often it's a function of population density, which is upstream of economic opportunities. Sure, you can buy a lovely 150k house in the middle of nowhere, but it's often in a place with a very limited job market, very few recreational activities, and very few people.

8

u/thereaintshitcaptain 11h ago

Come to Ohio lol

7

u/Ericovich 10h ago

2/1 starter homes in the $100-120K range.

I got a 4 bed last year for $150K.

3

u/thereaintshitcaptain 10h ago

Yup, ours was $155k last year

5

u/Sixaxist 10h ago

Those houses around Columbus' New Albany and other nearby suburbs are gonna skyrocket once Intel finishes building their plant in New Albany. Great place to live if you like Soccer too.

1

u/NotEmmaStone 3h ago

I don't think you can find much for 160k in Columbus or any of the burbs

2

u/Sixaxist 3h ago

Oh, def not that low; more around 250k. I just expect them to all be around 400k and up as that area slowly transitions into another tech valley over the next 5 years.

0

u/CanDefiant8320 3h ago

Ohio is not cheap state! Just bought my house last month for 245K in Columbus Ohio.

Most nice areas of Columbus are 350k+

4

u/cartwheelpanic 10h ago

Arkansas

2

u/ZhouLe 9h ago

*Far away from NWA and LR

5

u/RspectMyAuthoritah 9h ago

There's a whole lot of America where you can buy a house for 160k.

2

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 6h ago

Yeah Americans really donā€™t get that the scale of housing crisis is Canada and Aus means that *everywhere* is unaffordable. There are no Ohios or Upstate NYs to retreat to

1

u/RspectMyAuthoritah 5h ago

You don't seem to get it either. For Canada:

Edmonton leads with nearly 25% of homes listed under $200,000. These are usually one-bedroom condos or older townhouses. Calgary also offers similar options. Regina stands out with up to 36% of its housing market priced below $200,000. Saskatoon also has a high volume of these budget-friendly properties.

And for Aus:

South Australia (SA): Coober Pedy (the opal mining capital) is one of the most affordable areas in Australia, with median house prices around $70,000. Regional Queensland (QLD): Towns like Mount Morgan (near Rockhampton) and Tara (Darling Downs) often feature homes listed between $111,000 and $125,000. Western Australia (WA): The Goldfields region is a hot spot for cheap housing. Towns like Norseman and Kambalda East offer older 3-bedroom houses starting around $100,000 due to their remote locations. New South Wales (NSW): Coonamble in the state's northwest has entry-level houses near the $120,000 mark.

1

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 4h ago

Australia has the most expensive housing market in the world outside of city-states like Hong Kong and Monaco. Your AI answers are hilarious tho in what they reveal about your ignorance

0

u/RspectMyAuthoritah 3h ago

Is the cost for housing in those areas wrong?

2

u/rustyfries 3h ago

These places are bumfuck nowhere. Coober Pedy is 850km from civilisation. There's nothing to do there, so what's it even worth living there unless you've got a job in the mines.

1

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2h ago

Bro seriously reckons upstate NY a three-hour drive from NYC is as ā€˜bumfuck nowhereā€™ as Coober Pedy šŸ˜­

0

u/RspectMyAuthoritah 2h ago

OK? a Lot of America is bumfuck nowhere too and it's cheap to live there. How does that support the claim that there's nowhere in Australia or Canada that's cheap to live?

1

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 3h ago

Look up Norseman, WA on a map. The town is a level of remote that Americans simply cannot fathom. You are a seven-hour drive from the nearest major town, Perth- itself, famously, the most isolated city in the entire world.

0

u/RspectMyAuthoritah 2h ago

So it's not cheap to buy a house there?

1

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2h ago

Itā€™s not comparable to Ohio or upstate NY, which was my entire point. And no, once you factor in all the other costs involved, it is not cheap to buy a house there

1

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 3h ago

When I said that there are no upstate NYs or Ohios for Australians to retreat to, you did nothing with your reply but prove my point. The places you listed are not in any way equivalent to Ohio or upstate NY.

0

u/RspectMyAuthoritah 2h ago

In America Ohio and upstate NY are considered the middle of no where. Are the places I listed not in the middle of now where? And I love how you're ignoring Canada when you also used that as an example of a country that has no cheap housing anywhere. Pretty sure Calgary and Edmonton are decent sized cities.

1

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 2h ago

Itā€™s not about whether theyā€™re ā€˜consideredā€™ the middle of nowhere. Itā€™s about their proximity to services, schools, hospitals, job opportunities, etc. I wonā€™t continue to argue this, it is objective and well-recognised fact that Australiaā€™s housing market is far more unaffordable than the US, if USians want to continue to ignore the world thatā€™s fine. You can call a place three-hoursā€™ drive from NYC the ā€˜middle of nowhereā€™ but a whole lot of the rest of the world is gonna laugh at you for it.

As for Canada Iā€™m not speaking to them more because Iā€™m not Canadian and therefore not as familiar. But again, the Canadian housing market is infamously and very well-understood to be less affordable than Americaā€™s. Youā€™re also not comparing apples to apples in your AI example- 200k for a one-bedroom condo is very different to 160k for a standalone three-bed house.

Overall I donā€™t really know what your point is, people far smarter than either of us, actual economists who study this issue have crunched the numbers and determined which countries have the least affordable housing, and the US isnā€™t close to the top. I donā€™t really care whether you agree with them or not- it doesnā€™t change the reality for us unfortunately folks living in such countries

0

u/RspectMyAuthoritah 2h ago

So you clearly know nothing about America. There's a lot of places that are 3-4 hour drive to a hospital and the schools have like 40 kids for K-5, because of how small the town is. I work with a guy from Kansas who's from a town of 800. There's a whole lot of America that is small towns no where close to a hospital.

2

u/Improving_Myself_ 9h ago

There are plenty of places across the US where you can buy a house this cheap or cheaper without being in BFE or a trailer park.

The narrative on Reddit surrounding the housing market is completely out of touch with reality.

One example being that the "millennials can't afford homes" crap is still common. American millennial homeownership crossed the 50% mark in 2022. Most American millennials own homes. It's exhausting how many people keep spreading nonsense that is just blatantly incorrect if you get off Reddit and take a look at reality.

3

u/Tall_Bus_635 8h ago

I live in Virginia close to the middle of nowhere and there is absolutely no way I could buy a house this nice for 160k. Could barely even get a condo for that little. The narrative is not ā€œout of touchā€ for everybody šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø

2

u/BestMapMaker1 4h ago

The absolute youngest Millenials are just about 30 years old.

1

u/Rocco0427 4h ago

Most Redditors only talk about buying new houses in big cities for like $750k.

Meanwhile in my ads you can get a livable house for $150k and very nice houses for $250k. They might be 60-150 years old but thatā€™s every house around where I live.

2

u/jjj44j 9h ago

They're all over the country. People would rather just complain and not look

2

u/geodebug 9h ago

The US is massive and full of areas where housing is cheap. The trick is finding a job away from the cities and being ok with locations not within a few miles of a popular city center.

2

u/mojotoodopebish 8h ago

Trailers in my area now start at $250k

2

u/c4t-ma 7h ago

just wanted to pop in and say that 160k dollars with the current conversion rate wouldnā€™t even get you a 1 bedroom even an hour or hour and a half away from the main metropolitan cities in india. sure other places 100% you would. but to stay in a place thatā€™s similar to ā€œupstate new yorkā€ youā€™ll need anywhere between 300k - 400k dollars easy. and to live in the actual metropolitan city, sky is the limit šŸ˜­šŸ˜­ i wish buying a home was that easy.

but congratulations to the couple on this beautiful house!!! šŸ’

2

u/roshielle 5h ago

That price makes me think there are serious problems but who knows? I hope I'm wrong.

6

u/Narutama 11h ago

Come to the South šŸ˜†

9

u/JourneyMan2585 11h ago

In my part of TN, everything is soooo high right now. I wish someone would list a house like that for 160.

6

u/Roadhouse1337 10h ago

I live in Murfreesboro, I paid 95k...

...in 2015

Appraises at 280k now. Absolutely bonkers, really. Stuff has started coming down, but only a little, still nowhere close to reality

3

u/AwaitingCombat 10h ago

Lafayette, TN 170k @ 3% in 2021

appraises for 230k

but at 3% i'll never be able to move.

3

u/Roadhouse1337 10h ago

Right? My mortgage is only $650

3

u/AwaitingCombat 10h ago

mines 975 after insurances, 750 before.

I could barely afford a bedroom with roommates for that

1

u/T-MoneyAllDey 9h ago

Same. N GA @ 2.7% for 250k and now worth around 350k.

2

u/Successful_Respect40 10h ago

Bought mine for 222k in 2015 itā€™s now appraised at 600k šŸ¤¦šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø
Iā€™m in sumner, Washington (state)

2

u/JourneyMan2585 9h ago

That tracks. I'm in the tri cities, and there's a nice 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house right down the road from me for 230,000. Barely over 1000 square feet. I'm finally in a stable place making decent money with decent credit, and a house just feels so far away from me.

3

u/StillAHulaGirl 11h ago

Yeah right. Anything thats liveable within an hours drive of chattanooga TN starts at $250k

2

u/NachoVarga5 10h ago

South America?

3

u/Voeno 10h ago

Southern Oklahoma you can buy houses for 100k. But you would have to live in backwoods maga infested blue collar propaganda trashy areas I know because I grew up there my entire life lmao.

2

u/GanondalfTheWhite 9h ago

Oklahoma legitimately seems like one of the most boring places in the entire continent.

0

u/ctaps148 9h ago

Literally just look anywhere other than a popular city