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Today, a divorced 55-year-old man shares how he and his adult kids decided to leave the high prices of the Bay Area for Rochester, New York, rated the number one city for first-time home-buyers.

While soaring prices and inventory constraints are consistently keeping young homebuyers from stepping onto the property ladder, this buyer found that by moving across the country, he could buy a home and gain twice as much square footage.

Speaking to Realtor.com®, he explains why he wanted to move, what he and his kids were looking for, and what was so appealing about Rochester. He found his ideal home that doesn’t stretch the budget, and a community that is far more welcoming than he expected.

Do you have a story to share about your journey to homeownership? Email us at news@realtor.com

Who is the homeowner?

Age: 55

Household setup: Divorced with two adult children at home

Occupation: Data analyst 

Household income: $115,000

What is the home like?

Location: Rochester

Property type: Single family home

Rooms: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom

Square footage and lot size: 1,700 square feet on a >0.10 acre lot

What was the budget and the final costs?

Max budget: $300,000

Asking price: $164,900

Closing Price: $164,900

Down Payment: 3%

Mortgage: $1,525

Taxes: $1,600

Inside the homebuying process

What was your home experience growing up?

My parents divorced when I was 2. My dad owned the house in South Carolina where I grew up. I didn’t go to college until I was 50, and didn’t expect to own a house ever. Then, after graduating, I worked for start-ups in the Bay Area. Even though I made good money, I still couldn’t afford a house in the Bay Area. 

Why did you start thinking about buying?

Things feel so uncertain right now, especially in the housing market. Rent prices could keep going up, whereas if I bought, I would lock in the mortgage rate. I’m divorced and have two adult kids, and owning a house with enough bedrooms secures housing for them as they get started in life. Housing prices are insane in the Bay Area, and they would have a hard time getting established.

Were you looking in the Bay Area or was the search larger?

I had a few years until my kids graduated high school, so I couldn’t move right away. I asked them if they wanted to come with me, and they said yes, so I included them in the search. I wanted to move somewhere rural, but because my kids were coming, it had to be a good fit for young people. 

I wanted to be out of the drought zone, and also somewhere blue or blue-leaning. I didn’t want to deal with hurricanes, so the South was out. I looked from Alaska to Arizona. Along the way, I became enchanted with the idea of New York state because it’s blue, and near Canada. I also thought it would be good to be near a college town. That led me to Rochester, which seemed like a diverse city.

How did your home search start?

It was all online. I’m a numbers person, and made spreadsheets tracking list price, sale price and days on market for the homes that matched what I was looking for.

Did you have any non-negotiables?

I wanted at least three bedrooms, and ideally two baths. I wanted to be in a walkable neighborhood with access to bus lines. My kids don’t drive, and I want it to be easy for them to get around. I wanted something very affordable. I could have bought a more expensive home, but my thinking was that my start-up job may not last forever, and if it didn’t, I wanted a mortgage I could afford easily if I took a lower-paying job. With this house, even if my kids and I all had minimum-wage jobs, we could afford the mortgage.

How long did you look before finding your home?

I was looking online for years. Then, once the kids were both 18, I had to wait for my apartment lease to end. Once I connected with a realtor, the search took about 5 weeks.

How many homes did you see in person?

Zero. We didn’t even see this one in person before I made an offer. My realtor did Zoom calls to show me houses.

Did you make any other offers?

Yes, four. On one house, I was outbid–it ended up going for $100k over ask. I was outbid on two more. With another one, I offered the asking price, and the seller came back and said he wanted $20k more than ask. That felt greedy to me, so I walked away.

How did you know this was the one?

At first, I thought it was ugly from the outside, but pretty on the inside. It was a big, honking house—if that house was in California, it would cost $2 million. We liked that it is in town, and on two bus lines. We were looking in February, and there weren’t many homes on the market.

What offer did you make?

This was my fifth offer and my lease was about to end, so I either had to resign or buy. My

My apartment in Oakland was 875 square feet for $3,000 a month. I was ready to move, so I offered the asking price. The seller was having a family emergency and wanted a quick sale.

When did you see the house in person?

My kids and I flew out for the inspection. We saw it in frigid snow, and I asked them, “Can you live here?” They said yes. We ended up loving the home. It hadn’t been flipped, so it still had the original charm. It needed some work, but anything it needed, I could do myself.

How did the numbers on the house work out?

I now have twice as much house for half as much money. I went from 875 square feet to 1,700, and from paying $3,000 to $1,500 a month. 

Where did the down payment come from?

I only put 3% down on a conventional loan. Even though I put so little down, I was able to do a conventional loan, not FHA, because I had an 840 credit score. I didn’t save up and instead, borrowed against my 401K using Rocket Mortgage. My credit score and income made it easy, and they gave me good terms. That made this possible, as I couldn’t have set aside money when paying $3,000 a month on rent. In the Bay Area, a burrito is $20.

What do you like about Rochester?

I present as a white guy. I moved to a diverse neighborhood that’s half Black and half white. I’m trans but you can’t tell by looking. In the Bay area, you can wear a t-shirt that says ‘I am trans’ and it’s fine. I was uneasy about what it would be like here, but every block has a rainbow flag and every 20th block has a trans flag, so I feel a lot better. Before I moved, I looked to see how the city voted. I also noticed that the airport is the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport. All of those things are the identity of the city. When I walk around and meet people, everyone is very warm. I didn’t know I would like Rochester this much.

What do you love most about your home?

I find these old houses really beautiful. This home has so much space, including a sleeping porch that is all windows, with heating and electricity. I use it as a backup den when the kids are playing video games. I have a TV and arm chair and watch my shows, like “Shrinking”. I also use the room as a secondary office. We have so much space that we don’t use it all–it’s a nice change.