This is a beautiful old home in rural upstate NY in the Finger Lakes region. 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3/4 an acre of land, and a gorgeous old design , for only $70k. Yes, this house needs work and could be beautified, but it is habitable in its current state. And it’s not super far from Rochester or Fulton either.
It is honestly staggering not only how cheap the homes are in rural upstate NY, but how little in value they have appreciated since COVID, far under pacing the rest of the US. Sure , the homes are cheap because of the Rust Belt nature of the upstate NY economy, heavy snowfall, and opiates/ methamphetamine epidemic. But if you’re a person who keeps to themselves, works from home, or retired, and enjoys the outdoors/rural living, Upstate NY seems to be one of the best kept secrets in throughout the US.
Disclaimer: I’m not a realtor. Just stumbled across this listing while combing through listings.
It's my husband, me, and our newborn daughter (8 days old!). My husband grew up on a farm in rural Netherlands, close enough to a small city that he had the best of both worlds, and we're thinking that might be nice for our daughter. My mother lives in Brooklyn so I'd like to be able to visit her a few times a month (it's easy to drive in and park right in front of her house, but public transport is always a plus). My father is in MA, but I think he'd move out to Upstate NY if we were to relocate there.
As the title says we're looking for a town, or rural area close to a cute village, and nature, where we could purchase a home on at least an acre of land for under $400k, within a 2-3 hour drive to NYC. Is this wishful thinking? Our idea is the spend a summer up there and travel around/stay in different places to check out if we're feeling it. We are not looking for your typical suburb, that is how I grew up (New Jersey) and my husband always says he didn't leave Amsterdam to live in an American suburb. No offense to anyone who has suburb as their American dream!
We currently live in New Orleans and I know it's not sustainable to buy a home here. I used to think I missed out pre-pandemic when prices were just right, now I realize I dodged a bullet because folks' insurance and taxes are twice their monthly mortgage. I love living here, so I am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that we might need to leave in the next few years.
ETA: thank you so much to everyone who has made a recommendation, we’re going to look into all these places and hopefully be able to visit a bunch next summer to see how they match up, thank you!
Hi all. Asking this question as an outsider. What is with the extremely affordable home prices in Upstate NY? I know wages and economic opportunity tends to be lower here, but even still, the home prices are remarkably low. Here are some examples, according to the 2020 US census- this is going by median value of a single-family home.
Larger cities:
Jamestown, NY- $62,000
Elmira, NY- $76,000
Rome, NY- $80,000
Binghamton, NY- $88,000
Syracuse, NY- $89,000
Rochester, NY- $91,000
Utica, NY- $94,000
Buffalo, NY- $100,000
Schenectady, NY- $110,000
Troy, NY- $155,000
Albany, NY- $160,000
Large Suburbs-
Johnson City/Endicott NY (Binghamton)- $91,000
Cheektowaga, NY (Buffalo)- $99,000
Irondequoit, NY (Rochester)- $115,000
Tonawanda/North Tonawanda, NY (Buffalo)- $120,000
Clay, NY (Syracuse)- $125,000
Greece, NY (Rochester)- $140,000
Cicero, NY (Syracuse)- $155,000
Colonie, NY (Albany)- $240,000
Even in towns associated as being wealthier, home values are still quite low:
Manlius, NY (Syracuse)- $210,000
Mendon, NY (Rochester)- $260,000
Guilderland, NY (Albany)- $270,000
Aurora, NY (Buffalo)- $270,000
Ithaca, NY (ivy league college town)- $280,000
Skaneateles, NY (Syracuse)- $290,000
Saratoga Springs, NY (Albany)- $360,000
There are many rural, moderate-sized towns, with median home values lower than anything aforementioned, some as low as $50k. Examples include Salamanca, Hornell, Dunkirk, Gloversville, Ogdensburg, Norwich, and Lyons to name a few.
Metro areas like Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and Utica are consistently named in lowest cost-of-living metro areas in the United States.
What I'm ultimately wondering is, why is housing so cheap in Upstate NY with very little exceptions? Just seems crazy to me considering NYS is also home to some of the most expensive home values/high COL places in the NYC metro area like in Westchester or Long Island. Is it really as simple as the "rust belt", or are there other and more covert factors at play? Even with the massive home price inflation from 2021-2022, upstate NY property values barely moved? Given the extremely low comparative home values of Upstate NY, I could see millennials/ Gen Z folks moving to this part of the country from places they are priced out of, even in spite of a poor economy, bleak winters, and "brain drain" in many areas.