What is the downside to all of those cheap houses around Niagara Falls and Buffalo, NY?
Most of these homes are in crime ridden areas. Some have been abandoned and most need quite a bit of re-hab to be truly live-able. I would also be leery of lead paint, asbestos, etc. Buffalo’s East Side (and some parts of the South Side) are pretty rough. A lot of Niagara Falls is pretty rough. I don’t disagree about the property taxes, they generally run near 4% of value of per year ($4,000 a year on a $100,000 house isn’t uncommon), but on a $10,000 house, it wouldn’t be bad. Just like what usually makes a home nice, location and condition, isn’t nice on these properties. There are some very nice areas in WNY/Buffalo and there are some areas that have reasonable housing prices with reasonable neighborhoods, but these $10k houses aren’t it. North Buffalo and Kenmore are very close to the border and generally decent. Housing stock is about the same age, maybe a little newer (just pre-war) and the neighborhoods are nicer. Buffalo is a little cheaper for taxes, but the schools aren’t as
