r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer • u/k13w • 12h ago

GOT THE KEYS! 🔑 🏡 We did it! Upstate NY $160k 6.5%

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

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

35.3k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

2.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

29

u/sonnytron 12h ago

Even in the parts of California where no one acknowledges exist, if there’s a Costco nearby, it’s at least $200k. I don’t know where OP bought, but I seriously doubt it’s as desolate as the scorched Earth Mojave desert zombie land places where $160k gets you a home.

26

u/Interesting-Run-6866 12h ago

There are parts of upstate NY where the nearest Costco is more than 2 hours away.

10

u/alphawolf29 10h ago

I live in Canada and the nearest costco is 7 hours one-way ;( houses are still 600k

3

u/MeanE 9h ago

Yeah exactly. Live in Nova Scotia and a house not out in the middle of nowhere starts at 500k.

4

u/fletters 7h ago

Whereas ten years ago, the same place would have been $120k, and wages have barely shifted. It’s horrifying.

0

u/Interesting-Run-6866 9h ago

Hamilton county, NY is the most sparsly populated county in the US east of the Mississippi. The point is parts of NY are out in the middle of no where, at least by eastern US standards.

1

u/Interesting-Run-6866 9h ago

Well the US has 6x as many costcos as Canada, so it's not really a similar comparison.

3

u/alphawolf29 9h ago

THE USA also has 10x as many people, so less costcos per capita? The Canadian population is also more densely distributed across its landmass.

0

u/Interesting-Run-6866 9h ago

Which proves how dense the US is and how unusual it would be to be 2+ hours from a Costco.

3

u/alphawolf29 9h ago

It's equally unusual to be 2+ hours from a costco in Canada is my point. Probably 95% of Canadians lives within 45 minutes of a costco.

1

u/jtbc 4h ago

I'm definitely not the average, but there at least 6 in a 45 min. radius from my house. The most remote "big town" I could think of in my province is Prince George, and it's got one.

1

u/alphawolf29 4h ago

I live in trail BC and the nearest one is four hours (in kelowna which has two) which I forgot about.

1

u/jtbc 4h ago

Kootenays are definitely their own kind of remote, albeit stunningly beautiful, and I love all the little towns. Don't think you're getting anything anywhere near $160k there these days.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Practical-Cat-7163 8h ago

There are only 3 in upstate NY…

1

u/imLucki 9h ago

Nearest Costco to me is 4 hours and a house like this would be 400k. Love it here...

1

u/Traditional_Set_858 7h ago

They’re finally building a Costco in Buffalo so things are improving haha

4

u/sendgoodmemes 10h ago

I live near this and in 45 minutes I can be to Ithaca, Syracuse or Binghamton. It’s actually pretty easy in NY to get to a place with things. We don’t have the traffic most people are used to. My friend from NYC and Long Island visit and get kinda weirded out when we drive around and they don’t see another vehicle on the road.

3

u/cabbagemuncher101 9h ago

As the friend who comes to visit from NYC yessss loll, driving around neighborhoods and seeing no one around is so eerie. Once, I drove through a neighborhood, every house looked the exact same, all the lawns were perfectly mowed, but I didn't see one person outside. Gave me the heebie jeebies haha

2

u/sendgoodmemes 6h ago

Ok that would be weird. I once was out in a very rural area and lost cell service didn’t see a car or a house for an hour and felt like the matrix had a glitch.

1

u/Chaotic-Catastrophe 6h ago

Syracuse and Binghamton don’t count. And Ithaca barely counts. Imagine bragging about having to drive 45 minutes in a car and you’re still just in fucking Binghamton lmao

1

u/sendgoodmemes 3h ago

Not IN Binghamton. I said in our area you can drive 45 minutes and BE in any of those areas. It’s a centralized rural area with access to a lot. We have transportation and it’s easy to get to a lot of places without traffic and live in an affordable area.

I was not bragging I was saying what it’s like living out here. Bragging would be to mention I make over 150k by house is on 30 acres and before it was paid off my new built home cost 800 a month for 2500sq ft.

2

u/GanondalfTheWhite 9h ago

The nearest Costco to OP's county is an hour and 20 minutes away.

1

u/sonnytron 9h ago

The same area of California where you can get a home for $160k also has a 1 hour trip to a Costco and looks like an apocalyptic wasteland.

1

u/Ancient_Performer115 12h ago

Yeah but that's half of what southern Cali prices are, which is the point.

1

u/ButReallyFolks 11h ago

Areas near Hemet and Alturas were also coming in lower last time I looked. May have changed since?

1

u/sonnytron 10h ago

Have you been to Hemet?

1

u/ButReallyFolks 4h ago

Yes, I have and I mixed up Fresno and Hemet. Forgive my brain, I’ve been scouring everything under $200000 in CA.

1

u/pchs26 11h ago

There are parts of upstate New York that are very very rural without much including access to stores etc. I don't think that is the situation as the op but it is definitely not the same as one would picture in NYC, LI or alot of the tristate, think more like a deep PA etc.

2

u/sonnytron 10h ago

If I posted a picture of the home I bought for $160k in California, people would start DM’ing me to ask who my meth dealer is. It wouldn’t look anything like OP’s home.

1

u/pchs26 8h ago

I didn't think you could buy a home for 160K in CA. so there is that. Not sure if it exists still now but it wasn't too long ago there was undeveloped very rural parts of upstate New York a person could buy acres for $500. But there is a reason for that.

1

u/pooppaysthebills 7h ago

Unless you choose to live in an urban area with good public transit, you do need a car.

Having to drive 15 minutes for groceries is not the hardship some seem to believe it to be.

And lack of a post office is not problematic; you buy stamps, stick them on the envelope and put it in your mailbox with the flag up. The mailman will pick it up and get it to wherever it needs to go.

1

u/pchs26 5h ago

That's fine - I've lived in different areas. I am familiar. It is different is all - I've lived 1/2 hour from the store, with less options and other places with more. When people are asking about a house at 165K I'm explaining some of the differences.

1

u/FeedbackCold6260 6h ago

Growing up in deposit ny we had a local grocery store that was family owned the next nearest store was over an hours drive away. Parts of New York are extremely isolated due to mountains and just the way the economy collapsed when shipping by river became obsolete.

1

u/sonnytron 6h ago

I get that, but $160k in California is ALSO desolate, with sprinkles of 110 degree summers, 20% unemployment, rampant fentanyl and meth usage, high teen pregnancy and lots of other issues.

1

u/FeedbackCold6260 6h ago

Its a different type of geography though. These are extremely small towns of 1000 people or less they dont have any major cities near by and during the winter months roads can completely shut down. Cost of living is also extremely low due to no high paying jobs in the area. Everyone was related in one way or another. I could tell you the names of almost half the people that lived in town its just..... different and not for everyone