The average rent in NYC is now over $4,000. Everyone knows that the prices in this city have gotten ridiculous. You could easily spend $100 or more on one night out. Lunch by your midtown office costs you at least $10 every day.
Our bank accounts are like our bellies when we’re on a diet—we keep feeding them, but they’re never quite full. So why does everyone stay in NYC in this perpetual state of financial hunger?
Well, as it turns out, not everyone is staying. Gothamist recently reported that millennials are moving en masse to Buffalo, a city that seemed like it died 40 years ago. But there’s been a recent movement to revive it. And thanks to cheap housing programs and plenty of new breweries, young people are moving upstate and bringing the city back to life.
In Buffalo, you could rent a two bedroom apartment for as little as $150 a month. You could buy a three bedroom house for only $16,000. You could even buy an abandoned house for only $1 (that’s right—$1), if you’re willing to do the work to fix it up.
Imagine what you could do with all the money that you wouldn’t be spending on rent.
If you want to take advantage of this ridiculously low-cost housing, you’d better jump on it quick. The prices of homes in Buffalo are already rising rapidly because of the gentrification, and rent prices may soon start rising as well.
But even if the rent does go up, you can be fairly certain it will never catch up to New York City. You could have a whole new cheap and luxurious life waiting for you upstate.
So the only question is: What are you still doing here?
Cover photo credit: Andrew Nash/Flickr