I love Buffalo. I also love winter. Just purchased a $160k home in Hamburg with $4200 taxes a year. Have a beautiful house, garage, big deck/yard. That same home in San Diego would be over a million one of my friends told me. The taxes are high here, but the cost of living is so low it more than makes up for it. My mortgage is $796 a month and got a rebate for the school taxes of over $400. So total with everything about $1,100 a month for my home including taxes. 3 bedroom 1/2 bath, finished basement. 1250 sq feet. not including basement.