Broome County

Broome County sits at a gross rent-to-price ratio of 8.16%, which places it firmly on the cash-flow side of the spectrum for upstate New York. A median home price of $189,468 against median rent of $1,288 produces a cap rate of 5.3% in the model, which is respectable for a New York county. The 93rd-percentile national ranking (54th out of 1,000 counties) and a third-place finish within New York's 62 counties confirm this is one of the better-valued rental markets in the state on paper. The complication is the bottom line: at 6.85% financing with 20% down, the modeled cash flow comes in at negative $156 per month and a cash-on-cash return of -4.3%. That gap between a workable cap rate and negative levered cash flow is entirely a function of today's rate environment, not a broken market. Home prices are also moving, up 4.62% year-over-year, and the appreciation score of 85 suggests the model sees continued upward price pressure. This is not a market where you clip a fat cash-flow check on day one at conventional financing, but it is a market where equity is building from two directions: price growth and a cap rate that covers debt service if rates ever come back down.

The negative cash-on-cash figure means a pure cash-flow buyer financing at current rates needs to either pay down the price, add a unit, or wait for rates to move before this pencils. The buyer this market actually suits is someone running one of two plays. First, a cash or low-leverage buyer: at all-cash, a 5.3% cap rate on a $189,000 asset is a real yield in a state where most downstate counties can't touch that number. Second, a value-add operator who can push rents above the $1,288 median on a repositioned asset, closing the roughly $150 monthly gap through operational improvement rather than rate relief. The affordability index of 81 and median income of $58,317 suggest a tenant base that is renter by necessity rather than choice, which generally supports occupancy stability but also caps how aggressively you can push rents. The appreciation score of 85 running alongside the cash-flow score of 82 is an unusual combination at this price point, and it argues for a hold-and-accumulate strategy rather than a quick flip or pure yield harvest.

The stability score of 50 is the number that deserves the most scrutiny in a Broome County underwrite. A population of 198,365 in a county anchored to Binghamton creates concentration risk: if the primary employment base contracts, rental demand follows. That score sits materially below the other category scores and should inform how conservatively you underwrite vacancy and how much deferred maintenance you leave in the budget. A market scoring 82 on cash flow but 50 on stability is telling you the yield is there but it is not coming from a diversified, insulated economy. Investors with concentration risk tolerance who have already diversified across other markets can absorb that, but a first-time landlord putting a single asset here carries meaningful downside if local employment softens.

The tax and insurance load deserves its own line on your underwrite. The monthly tax and insurance figure comes to $310, which is a significant slice of the $1,288 median rent. The state-average effective property tax rate is 1.72%, which, as this is a state-average estimate and county and township rates may differ, could run higher at the parcel level. At 1.72% that rate is high enough to deserve its own line on your underwrite and it is the primary reason the modeled expenses reach $451 per month despite a relatively modest purchase price. New York's property tax burden is a structural headwind for cash flow throughout the state, and Broome is not an exception. Insurance at 0.24% annually adds $455 per year, which is relatively benign compared to coastal or hurricane-exposed markets. The combined carry cost is the thing to stress-test: if actual county rates come in above the state average, that negative $156 monthly figure widens before you've even considered a vacancy month.

Against its neighbors, Broome's edge is the combination of price point and rent level. Chemung County offers a higher gross yield at 9.17% and a lower median price of $151,982, making it the stronger pure cash-flow option if your only metric is rent-to-price. Steuben County also clears Broome on that ratio at 9.76%, with a median price of $163,769. Both neighbor counties score 72 to 73 overall versus Broome's 74, but the differences are narrow. Oneida County has a higher median price of $225,470 and higher rent of $1,472 but a lower rent-to-price ratio of 7.84%, making it the appreciation-leaning option in this peer group. Broome sits in the middle of the yield-to-price trade-off but earns its higher overall score through better appreciation metrics than Chemung or Steuben. Choose Broome over its neighbors when you want the combination of above-average price growth and still-acceptable gross yield, when you're running a value-add play in a county with name-recognition in the regional rental market, or when you're comparing across the state and want a top-three New York ranking at a sub-$190,000 entry price. Choose Chemung or Steuben when levered cash flow is the primary constraint and you're willing to trade appreciation potential for a yield that survives today's rates with less pain.