The Best and Worst Cities to Buy a Home for the First Time

You want to buy your first home! Congratulations! We’re so excited you’ve decided to invest your money in this way. You will love being a homeowner.

Before you jump into it though, you should consider where you are going to live. Some cities are much better for first time homebuyers.  Home sale prices, taxes, and crime rates are a consideration, along with a few other factors.

The Best to the Worst Cities to Buy Your First Home

You care about money. We know you do. That’s where we will start.

The most affordable houses are in:

• Flint, MI
• Detroit, MI
• Dayton, OH
• Joliet, IL
• Akron, OH

You’ll want to avoid these cities if you don’t have gobs of money:

• Glendale, CA
• Berkeley, CA
• Santa Barbara, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Santa Monica, CA

Real estate taxes can be expensive in some cities. You should research the rates before you buy a home because it may increase your mortgage payments significantly.

The cities with the lowest real estate tax rates are:

• Honolulu, HI
• Montgomery, AL
• Baton Rouge, LA
• Tuscaloosa, AL
• Colorado Springs, CO

The cities you want to stay away from are:

• Detroit, MI
• Bridgeport, CT
• Rockford, IL
• Waterbury, CT
• Waukegan, IL

Appreciation is another factor when considering a place to buy your first home. You want your home to worth more after you buy it. Not all cities have houses that appreciate quickly over the years.

The best cities for people interested in investment opportunities through home appreciation are:

• Sunnyvale, CA
• Frisco, TX
• New Orleans, LA
• San Francisco, CA
• Dallas, TX

Cities that doesn’t see much appreciation in home prices are:

• Newark, NJ
• Paterson, NJ
• Elizabeth, NJ
• Flint, MI
• Detroit, MI

Crime rates are important. You want to be safe. The other benefit is that when you go to sell, you want interested buyers to know that they are going to feel stay if they buy your home.

The cities with the lowest property crime rates:

• Mission Viejo, CA
• Centennial, CO
• Yonkers, NY
• Thousand Oaks, CA
• Naperville, IL

Cities that have the highest crime rates in the United States are:

• Salt Lake City, UT
• Little Rock, AR
• Springfield, MO
• Spokane, WA
• Miami Beach, FL

Buying a home for the first time is so exciting that you probably want to get into one right away. Home vacancy should be a consideration for you if that’s the case.

The states with the highest home vacancy rates are:

• Arkansas
• Florida
• Nevada
• New York
• Louisiana

Vacancy rates are the lowest in these states:

• Utah
• Minnesota
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Iowa

It’s Time to Start Making a Decision

You now have the factors you should consider when buying your first home. You also know which cities and states have what you need. Take some time to determine which factors are most important to you and then see if any of them fall into the same city. When you narrow down your list of places to live, you’ll be able to make a well-informed decision for your first home purchase. Good luck!