68° and Overcast
Home ownership is the answer to beating rent, building wealth. Rent is through the roof.
A reasonable, two bedroom apartment in Niagara Falls is going for roughly $1,100 per month on Ferry Avenue. https://www.zillow.com/b/1805-ferry-ave-niagara-falls-ny-98CkFT/
But if you are a first time homebuyer, you might be eligible for an FHA loan.
Consider a home listed at $150,900 in DeVeaux, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. https://www.comehomebuffalo.com/listing/mlsid/401/propertyid/B1561829/
- FICO® score at least 580 = 3.5% down payment.
- FICO® score between 500 and 579 = 10% down payment.
- MIP (Mortgage Insurance Premium ) is required.
- Debt-to-Income Ratio < 43%.
- The home must be the borrower's primary residence.
- Borrower must have steady income and proof of employment.
That means with a fair fico score, you would need a down payment of $5,285 or so. Add in fees and things I didn’t think of and you need $8,000 or so. M&T Bank has a program that would make it easier.
Here’s the payoff: Get a 3.5% FHA loan and you have a $936 monthly payment, including taxes and homeowners insurance.
Flash forward 15 years and you are ahead. Especially when that $1,100 rent has grown at 3% per year and now you owe $1,700 per month. Meanwhile, your mortgage is still $936 and your home is now worth somewhere around $225,000 and you have $125,000 in equity with the principal you’ve paid off and appreciation.
Home ownership is affordable in Niagara Falls and a better deal than renting.
No discussion of residential real estate in the Falls is complete with mentioning the two-decade branding campaign facilitated by the Gazette through radio house Shredd and Ragan.
Once a week, for about a half hour, the radio hosts share the Niagara Falls Police Blotter as reported by Rick Pfeiffer. They laugh about crimes and talk about Falls chicks.
The result is most people in our region thinking of the Falls as a shithole, not a great place to live.
On the top of the Gazette’s Page 1 every day is a banner that says “Community Matters” only not really.
