I Asked ChatGPT Where To Find the Best $100K Houses in America
Written by
G. Brian Davis
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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With home prices up 56% since early 2020 according to the National Association of Realtors, many first-time homebuyers struggle to find anything remotely affordable. The days of $100,000 houses seem as distant as VHS tapes and MTV.
Yet there are still cities in the country where you can buy a home for $100,000. Depending on your existing debts, down payment, interest rate and local property taxes and insurance, you could potentially qualify for a loan to buy a $100,000 house with an income between $25,000 to $45,000. Play around with your own numbers using any home affordability calculator.
I asked ChatGPT and human real estate experts for their thoughts, they came up with the following affordable cities to buy a house in.
Top Cities Listed by ChatGPT
I started by giving ChatGPT a simple prompt: “What are the best cities where you can buy houses for less than $100,000?”
It generated the following list of affordable yet desirable cities:
- Detroit
- Cleveland
- Pittsburgh
- Buffalo, NY
- Kansas City, MO
- St. Louis
- Indianapolis
- Birmingham, AL
- Tulsa, OK
- Syracuse, NY
- Toledo, OH
- Little Rock, AR
- Wichita, KS
- Jackson, MS
- Shreveport, LA
While the list does include many smaller cities, it also features some major metro areas like Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Indianapolis. These cities come with amenities ranging from museums to major league sports teams, diverse dining to international airports.
Still, the larger the city, often the greater the range of home prices and neighborhoods. You can definitely buy houses in Detroit under $100,000 — but not in gentrified neighborhoods.
Real Estate Experts Weigh In
Just because you can buy a $100,000 house in a city doesn’t mean you should. Human real estate experts can bring more nuance to the conversation, pointing out some excellent options both on and off ChatGPT’s list.
Harrison Stevens, vice president of marketing for TurboTenant, recommended Cleveland as an affordable major city. “With an average home price around $113,000, there are plenty of houses below the $100,000 mark. Ohio is a great state for affordability and has remained pretty stable even through the post-pandemic surge,” Stevens said.
As another option for a major city, Joe Ellul-Turner of real estate platform Darscover likes Buffalo. “Buffalo is experiencing a resurgence, but still ranks as one of the cheapest cities to buy a home. It has a solid reputation for schools and a vibrant food scene and its proximity to the Great Lakes offers plenty of water sports,” Ellul-Turner explained.
Austin Glanzer, professional real estate investor with 717HomeBuyers, has owned properties in Williamsport, PA and raves about it as a smaller city off the beaten path. “One of the best places in Pennsylvania to still find houses around $100,000 is Williamsport. In that market, you can pick up a property and invest $30,000 in updates at your own speed and often see it appraise for $160,000 or more,” Glanzer said.
As you scope out cities to buy a home for $100,000, spend some time there to make sure you actually want to live there full-time. The numbers might look great on paper, but if you’d be miserable living there, you’re better off not spending money on a move you’ll reverse a year or two later.
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