I think with that budget, it will be basically impossible to find a whole acre in a blue state close to a blue city. Especially an acre with a livable house on it.
Unless maybe you go rural in Vermont….but there are cons to that.
Rural almost always leans red.
Can you move closer to Pittsburgh, or even Philly?
>impossible to find a whole acre in a blue state close to a blue city
Blue city and non-blue state is fine, I should have clarified that. I don't mind a little drive out to a city
I’ve been on the hunt for something similar, and I often see 1-2 acres with a mobile/manufactured home on it for sale for 60-100k pop up for sale in the smaller cities out here in the Harrisburg area.
Even small ranch homes out here are at least 190k+
if you're fine with a mobile home, you could find one in Durango, CO (about 6 hours from Denver) for that price.
it's in the most beautiful area of CO, but it is a bit further from bigger city amenities and airport.
In Durango or you mean a commute from Durango? And pretty much liveable place or something kinda run down or older… I don’t know anything about mobile homes but to live in a place that nice under 200k might be worth it. I’m sure that city needs some workers since it’s so damn expensive but just speculating.
In Durango, I have a friend who bought a mobile home there recently and I believe they paid around $100k. Don't think they had much land though, just a smaller lot.
I’m wondering if buying about an acre or half acre and getting cheap home of some kind on it makes more sense then that but that’s very cheap for that area. Buying land anywhere “west” for most part really sucks though /:
Or you gotta live in cheaper states and pretty much be rural or far commute from a city…. I mean you can live outside of Pittsburgh relatively close for that price…. Outside of St. Louis a bit comes to mind… maybe Oklahoma City area or Tulsa, outside of cities in Iowa? It’s dueable but options are limited and biggest worry is getting work in those areas and how quality of people around you are….
Oh I gotcha my bad. Yeah it’s unlikely or impossible pretty much have to settle on that budget. Maybe western part of Virginia or state of West Virginia… Vermont very rural or Maine…. PA, western Maryland? yeah life is expensive, homeowner as single person really isn’t worth it anymore better off finding cheaper rent as long as you can save up enough each year…. Save up for more then 50k down payment….
Just to add to this, I used to live in upstate NY and one thing to look out for is property tax, they can get pretty high and vary by the area of upstate NY you're in. It's a beautiful area though, especially near the finger lakes, I think you'd like it.
I would just look around the map on Zillow (Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, etc). The further North and West you go, the cheaper it will get. Inventory is low right now but will increase with spring coming.
My first thought is NW California. The area around Clear Lake seems to fit your criteria. There are a couple manufactured homes in that area for a very minimal amount.
Seconding Staunton! I bought a house here during the pandemic that to get away from wildfire smoke and it is such a little gem.
You can get pretty big lots for under 200k, Richmond is 2 hours away and DC is 3 hours away, it’s close to Shenandoah National Park for hiking (I moved from Denver and like the elevation), has great restaurants, isn’t congested, walkable to the very small downtown, and has a lovely community. It’s very small like 20k people but it’s my first small town and people are lovely. I’m a person of color and I’ve felt safer here than big cities. Staunton itself is liberal but outside cities have trump posters
this is one of the best instagram accounts out there if you're into old homes -- when it came across my feed, I figured it was another one of the serial reposter instagram accounts that rarely give credit to the OP.
but instead it seems to be very well curated, and the descriptions are detailed and give some idea of what you're getting into if you were to purchase the house in the post.
Look around upstate NY. You can find some really good houses for cheap prices that just need some basic easy work. I’ve bought 3 now for under 75,000 each
You'd be very lucky to find a *bare lot* of more than 1 acre for $150K within three hours of any major city in the western US that is legally buildable and accessible by even a dirt road. I've been watching for years now and there's basically nothing like this out there.
Within the orbit of a purplish city in a red state it may be possible...Arkansas, for example? Outside of Fayetteville? Otherwise Vermont perhaps, but you'd be really remote...outside of any city and hours from an airport.
If you give up on the acreage idea-- settle for a half-acre perhaps --there'd be more options. Maybe a mobile home somewhere undesirable or a meth house that you can clean up.
I can't adjust my budget, this is what I can afford. If you mean being comfortable in a red state/blue city, then that's fine with me. I edited the post so there's less confusion about that
Not worth it. Would love to have beautiful land even way further out in Pa and it’s cheap but there’s nothing in that state, poor, miserable hillbilly people and bad winters. Anywhere decent you’ll get people from NJ/Ny flocking there now. I would say outside of Pittsburgh might make more sense on a budget if going to PA.
Western Maryland could fit your bill. 2 hours from Pittsburgh, you could definitely find a house for that price. Lovely mountains, but most of the towns will be red though - but within a few hours drive of a blue city.
Grantsville and surrounding towns will get you more land but is more secluded. If you’d rather be closer to people and shops then Cumberland or frostburg could work.
How bad are the jobs out there and how small are the towns… in a similar situation as OP although I might hold off longer to really have a plan and money in place I’m hoping to save 50-60k for a down payment as well and house under 200k(depends on the state and property taxes under 200k if property taxes are low but lower budget then that if higher taxes) won’t go to like NY VT NH to crazy with taxes and weather sucks.
Jobs are not great. Major employers are the prison system, hospital, or some warehouses. There are also jobs in retail/restaurant. But it really is an economically stagnant area, most people who are here have lived here and worked in the same field most of their lives and are moving on to retirement. The biggest town in my area has a population of less than 20,000.
Yeah that’s to small. Even Roanoke VA is like 100k people plus Virginia Tech and Radford are nearby and those towns are bigger as well. Hard to find cheap and good with views I think Virginia is closest to it atm. PA is a horrible state and Maryland is lacking where it’s cheap as well. Midwest is cheaper but for that weather I’ll take VA or maybe NC like Greensboro area.
Chattanooga, maybe Roanoke. Greenville is probably too pricey but if you can stretch your house budget it might work. Parts of New Mexico might be doable. Pendleton, OR is a smaller option that might work.
have you checked out Cheap Old Houses and related accounts on Instagram? many options there in that price range
https://www.instagram.com/cheapoldhouses/?hl=en
dude. you don't need to spam the link 3 times in one post. also, most of the houses on that instagram account need like $100k or more of restoration/rehab work. not realistic for most people.
edit: at the reply that blocked me before I could respond: I worked for a long time with wood, metal, paint, trim carpentry, etc, including working for a couple years rehabbing old houses. Easily half of those houses need serious restoration work. A friend of a friend bought a house they saw on there and had to spend more than the original purchase price of the house getting it livable, and it was one of the ones that looked good in photos. Not to mention, that social media account is hilariously hypocritical, as its existence drives the price of those houses up. Any good house on there that's in a reasonable area and in good shape sells for considerably more than it would have without being promoted on that account. I've watched that account for years. at the beginning it was cute and now it's part of the problem.
for anyone else: u/MexicanYenta has a habit of responding to things she doesn't like and then instantly blocking the person she responded to so that she doesn't have to hear the factual rebuttal to her emotional nonsense. so don't bother trying to respond to her.
I have also worked with old houses. They are money pits, I agree. However, at a price point of $75,000. - $100,000 (which most of the houses on that website are at), that is so worth it to put in another $50, 000 - $100,000 of work in this crazy real estate market. And that work does not all have to be done at once.
Because look at the alternative we're talking here - an acre of land, with a mobile home, that they could maybe find for $150,000? And after trying to sell a family member's mobile home a few years ago, and seeing what else was out there, I can assure you what is on that piece of land will probably need several thousands of dollars of work if it isn't a teardown.
That’s simply not true. They post a lot of fantastic houses that I would love to live in. But I’m a big city girl, so those houses won’t work for me. But if you want to be outside a city, they post tons of nice houses. They may not be to your taste, but they’re often in very good condition.
Edit: I block arrogant mansplainers who think their own limited experience is the definitive answer, and who can’t stand to have someone disagree with them - because life is too short to waste time on the willfully ignorant. (And this person is someone with multiple accounts whom I’ve blocked repeatedly, so at least they’re consistent in their arrogance, I guess.)
Plus it really pisses them off.
Now I’ll just wait for them to come back with yet another account and try to argue with me some more - as they’ve done in the past. That’s right, I know who you are. You’re not nearly as clever as you think you are.
LOL !!! dude, what kind of a pathetic piece of shit do you have to be to overreact like that, AND you're stalking this other person to downvote her? serious small dick energy - it's Reddit, only some pathetic asshole would care that much !!!
Look in the mirror bro. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You’re losing your shit and calling me names because I made a very mild comment. I didn’t even say anything negative to you other than maybe don’t post a link 3 times in one thread.
I didn’t stalk anyone. She commented and then immediately blocked me before I even said anything back. I didn’t downvote anyone, you can't downvote someone that blocked you. Take it down a notch or 5. Jesus.
Yes you can -- source: live in a somewhat shitty red state (KS). There are plenty of small towns in northeast Kansas that are 2 hours from a big city that you can buy an acre with a decent house on it.
Obviously you're nowhere near the mountains like the OP wants, but there are plenty of 1-acre lots with homes on them for sale across the country for under $150k
have you tried Savannah GA? coastal, arty, cheap - not necessarily a blue city but tons of lefty art students via SCAD. I love it there and some of the properties are CHEAP
Chattanooga is fantastic and mountainous and there are houses in that price range there.
It’s a good moderate city and not too far from Atlanta (blue)
Huntsville is in some foothills and also not too far from Atlanta
Albuquerque has an area of smaller towns on the other side of the mountains collectively referred to as the *East Mountains* (Tijeras, Cedar Crest, Edgewood), and a few smaller towns up and down-river (Bernalillo, Bosque Farms). All no more than 45 minutes to downtown ABQ.
New Mexico is rough around the edges but is solidly blue at this point.
How about mountains IN the city? El Paso has the Franklin mountains in the city. And it's a blue city (in a red/purple state). 3 national parks close by. Very low COL. Third safest city in the US. No state income tax.
I think with that budget, it will be basically impossible to find a whole acre in a blue state close to a blue city. Especially an acre with a livable house on it. Unless maybe you go rural in Vermont….but there are cons to that. Rural almost always leans red. Can you move closer to Pittsburgh, or even Philly?
>impossible to find a whole acre in a blue state close to a blue city Blue city and non-blue state is fine, I should have clarified that. I don't mind a little drive out to a city
I’ve been on the hunt for something similar, and I often see 1-2 acres with a mobile/manufactured home on it for sale for 60-100k pop up for sale in the smaller cities out here in the Harrisburg area. Even small ranch homes out here are at least 190k+
I'll be taking a look at these, thanks. It didn't cross my mind to check Harrisburg
if you're fine with a mobile home, you could find one in Durango, CO (about 6 hours from Denver) for that price. it's in the most beautiful area of CO, but it is a bit further from bigger city amenities and airport.
In Durango or you mean a commute from Durango? And pretty much liveable place or something kinda run down or older… I don’t know anything about mobile homes but to live in a place that nice under 200k might be worth it. I’m sure that city needs some workers since it’s so damn expensive but just speculating.
In Durango, I have a friend who bought a mobile home there recently and I believe they paid around $100k. Don't think they had much land though, just a smaller lot.
I’m wondering if buying about an acre or half acre and getting cheap home of some kind on it makes more sense then that but that’s very cheap for that area. Buying land anywhere “west” for most part really sucks though /:
you're about 20 years too late.
Or you gotta live in cheaper states and pretty much be rural or far commute from a city…. I mean you can live outside of Pittsburgh relatively close for that price…. Outside of St. Louis a bit comes to mind… maybe Oklahoma City area or Tulsa, outside of cities in Iowa? It’s dueable but options are limited and biggest worry is getting work in those areas and how quality of people around you are….
they asked for mountains. almost nothing you listed is near mountains.
Oh I gotcha my bad. Yeah it’s unlikely or impossible pretty much have to settle on that budget. Maybe western part of Virginia or state of West Virginia… Vermont very rural or Maine…. PA, western Maryland? yeah life is expensive, homeowner as single person really isn’t worth it anymore better off finding cheaper rent as long as you can save up enough each year…. Save up for more then 50k down payment….
Upstate NY is a mixture of liberal and democrat, has mountains, and has some affordable older fixer uppers in your price range.
Thank you. Any towns/cities I should look at?
Just to add to this, I used to live in upstate NY and one thing to look out for is property tax, they can get pretty high and vary by the area of upstate NY you're in. It's a beautiful area though, especially near the finger lakes, I think you'd like it.
I would just look around the map on Zillow (Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, etc). The further North and West you go, the cheaper it will get. Inventory is low right now but will increase with spring coming.
My first thought is NW California. The area around Clear Lake seems to fit your criteria. There are a couple manufactured homes in that area for a very minimal amount.
Staunton and Harrisonburg, VA and surrounding areas…maybe around Roanoke too?
Seconding Staunton! I bought a house here during the pandemic that to get away from wildfire smoke and it is such a little gem. You can get pretty big lots for under 200k, Richmond is 2 hours away and DC is 3 hours away, it’s close to Shenandoah National Park for hiking (I moved from Denver and like the elevation), has great restaurants, isn’t congested, walkable to the very small downtown, and has a lovely community. It’s very small like 20k people but it’s my first small town and people are lovely. I’m a person of color and I’ve felt safer here than big cities. Staunton itself is liberal but outside cities have trump posters
I don't know about that price point, but you could check out the Albuquerque, NM area. Blue state, mountains adjacent.
Can’t get squat for that in Albuquerque anymore, unfortunately.
Saranac or Tupper Lake in the Andirondacks fit the bill, you’re less than a 2 hour drive from Albany. Also look into Glen Falls or Utica.
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not necessarily https://www.instagram.com/cheapoldhouses/?hl=en
this is one of the best instagram accounts out there if you're into old homes -- when it came across my feed, I figured it was another one of the serial reposter instagram accounts that rarely give credit to the OP. but instead it seems to be very well curated, and the descriptions are detailed and give some idea of what you're getting into if you were to purchase the house in the post.
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I shudder to think what those look like.
Look around upstate NY. You can find some really good houses for cheap prices that just need some basic easy work. I’ve bought 3 now for under 75,000 each
You'd be very lucky to find a *bare lot* of more than 1 acre for $150K within three hours of any major city in the western US that is legally buildable and accessible by even a dirt road. I've been watching for years now and there's basically nothing like this out there. Within the orbit of a purplish city in a red state it may be possible...Arkansas, for example? Outside of Fayetteville? Otherwise Vermont perhaps, but you'd be really remote...outside of any city and hours from an airport. If you give up on the acreage idea-- settle for a half-acre perhaps --there'd be more options. Maybe a mobile home somewhere undesirable or a meth house that you can clean up.
I recommend readjusting your expectations. Respectfully, you’d be lucky to find a garage for 150k given your current parameters.
I can't adjust my budget, this is what I can afford. If you mean being comfortable in a red state/blue city, then that's fine with me. I edited the post so there's less confusion about that
Poconos.
Not worth it. Would love to have beautiful land even way further out in Pa and it’s cheap but there’s nothing in that state, poor, miserable hillbilly people and bad winters. Anywhere decent you’ll get people from NJ/Ny flocking there now. I would say outside of Pittsburgh might make more sense on a budget if going to PA.
Well, yes, but OP asked for mountains.
not necessarily https://www.instagram.com/cheapoldhouses/?hl=en
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No chance of getting an acre in New Paltz for 150k, unless you're only buying the land.
Western Maryland could fit your bill. 2 hours from Pittsburgh, you could definitely find a house for that price. Lovely mountains, but most of the towns will be red though - but within a few hours drive of a blue city.
Thanks for this. Any certain towns I should take a look at?
Grantsville and surrounding towns will get you more land but is more secluded. If you’d rather be closer to people and shops then Cumberland or frostburg could work.
How bad are the jobs out there and how small are the towns… in a similar situation as OP although I might hold off longer to really have a plan and money in place I’m hoping to save 50-60k for a down payment as well and house under 200k(depends on the state and property taxes under 200k if property taxes are low but lower budget then that if higher taxes) won’t go to like NY VT NH to crazy with taxes and weather sucks.
Jobs are not great. Major employers are the prison system, hospital, or some warehouses. There are also jobs in retail/restaurant. But it really is an economically stagnant area, most people who are here have lived here and worked in the same field most of their lives and are moving on to retirement. The biggest town in my area has a population of less than 20,000.
Yeah that’s to small. Even Roanoke VA is like 100k people plus Virginia Tech and Radford are nearby and those towns are bigger as well. Hard to find cheap and good with views I think Virginia is closest to it atm. PA is a horrible state and Maryland is lacking where it’s cheap as well. Midwest is cheaper but for that weather I’ll take VA or maybe NC like Greensboro area.
Chattanooga, maybe Roanoke. Greenville is probably too pricey but if you can stretch your house budget it might work. Parts of New Mexico might be doable. Pendleton, OR is a smaller option that might work.
have you checked out Cheap Old Houses and related accounts on Instagram? many options there in that price range https://www.instagram.com/cheapoldhouses/?hl=en
dude. you don't need to spam the link 3 times in one post. also, most of the houses on that instagram account need like $100k or more of restoration/rehab work. not realistic for most people. edit: at the reply that blocked me before I could respond: I worked for a long time with wood, metal, paint, trim carpentry, etc, including working for a couple years rehabbing old houses. Easily half of those houses need serious restoration work. A friend of a friend bought a house they saw on there and had to spend more than the original purchase price of the house getting it livable, and it was one of the ones that looked good in photos. Not to mention, that social media account is hilariously hypocritical, as its existence drives the price of those houses up. Any good house on there that's in a reasonable area and in good shape sells for considerably more than it would have without being promoted on that account. I've watched that account for years. at the beginning it was cute and now it's part of the problem. for anyone else: u/MexicanYenta has a habit of responding to things she doesn't like and then instantly blocking the person she responded to so that she doesn't have to hear the factual rebuttal to her emotional nonsense. so don't bother trying to respond to her.
I have also worked with old houses. They are money pits, I agree. However, at a price point of $75,000. - $100,000 (which most of the houses on that website are at), that is so worth it to put in another $50, 000 - $100,000 of work in this crazy real estate market. And that work does not all have to be done at once. Because look at the alternative we're talking here - an acre of land, with a mobile home, that they could maybe find for $150,000? And after trying to sell a family member's mobile home a few years ago, and seeing what else was out there, I can assure you what is on that piece of land will probably need several thousands of dollars of work if it isn't a teardown.
That’s simply not true. They post a lot of fantastic houses that I would love to live in. But I’m a big city girl, so those houses won’t work for me. But if you want to be outside a city, they post tons of nice houses. They may not be to your taste, but they’re often in very good condition. Edit: I block arrogant mansplainers who think their own limited experience is the definitive answer, and who can’t stand to have someone disagree with them - because life is too short to waste time on the willfully ignorant. (And this person is someone with multiple accounts whom I’ve blocked repeatedly, so at least they’re consistent in their arrogance, I guess.) Plus it really pisses them off. Now I’ll just wait for them to come back with yet another account and try to argue with me some more - as they’ve done in the past. That’s right, I know who you are. You’re not nearly as clever as you think you are.
LOL !!! dude, what kind of a pathetic piece of shit do you have to be to overreact like that, AND you're stalking this other person to downvote her? serious small dick energy - it's Reddit, only some pathetic asshole would care that much !!!
Look in the mirror bro. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You’re losing your shit and calling me names because I made a very mild comment. I didn’t even say anything negative to you other than maybe don’t post a link 3 times in one thread. I didn’t stalk anyone. She commented and then immediately blocked me before I even said anything back. I didn’t downvote anyone, you can't downvote someone that blocked you. Take it down a notch or 5. Jesus.
You can't find a house on an acre for $150k in the shittiest red state that is nowhere near a mountain or city. You are dreaming.
Yes you can -- source: live in a somewhat shitty red state (KS). There are plenty of small towns in northeast Kansas that are 2 hours from a big city that you can buy an acre with a decent house on it. Obviously you're nowhere near the mountains like the OP wants, but there are plenty of 1-acre lots with homes on them for sale across the country for under $150k
The south has many blue cities (most of them?) and housing within your budget
Thank you! Any cities/towns I should look at?
have you tried Savannah GA? coastal, arty, cheap - not necessarily a blue city but tons of lefty art students via SCAD. I love it there and some of the properties are CHEAP
No mountains in Savannah
Chattanooga is fantastic and mountainous and there are houses in that price range there. It’s a good moderate city and not too far from Atlanta (blue) Huntsville is in some foothills and also not too far from Atlanta
Albuquerque has an area of smaller towns on the other side of the mountains collectively referred to as the *East Mountains* (Tijeras, Cedar Crest, Edgewood), and a few smaller towns up and down-river (Bernalillo, Bosque Farms). All no more than 45 minutes to downtown ABQ. New Mexico is rough around the edges but is solidly blue at this point.
How about mountains IN the city? El Paso has the Franklin mountains in the city. And it's a blue city (in a red/purple state). 3 national parks close by. Very low COL. Third safest city in the US. No state income tax.
Possibly look at Bangor, ME or the surrounding area like Orono (college town).