Boise is a Great Place for First-Time Home Buyers

We're lucky in Boise that for the most part, the job market is steady and houses are affordable.

That makes us one of the Top 10 places in the country to buy a first home, and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.

WalletHub’s analysts looked at 300 different-sized cities and factored in housing affordability with real-estate tax rate and property-crime rate.  Boise cracked the Top 10.

The best place for first-time home buyers is Overland Park, KS.  Others ranked ahead of Boise include Greeley, CO; Thornton, CO; Cedar Rapids, IA; Westminster and Longmont, CO.  Boise is #7.

The worst/most expensive places for first-time home buyers are in California, New York, New Jersey, and Arizona.

This is good news.  If you have a job with a decent salary in Boise and you have good credit, buying a house here is a practical step that's not out of reach for most people.  But here's the down side -- there are a lot house-hunters with decent salaries and good credit who are right there with you, and they might beat you to the perfect house.

The Boise real estate market is hot and highly competitive.  But overall, we're in a great spot, especially for first-time home buyers, and we can be glad we aren't paying inflated prices like they are in New York, San Francisco, or Honolulu. Life if good.