Huron County among most affordable in the state

Huron County is the fourth most affordable county in the state to buy a house, according to the website SmartAsset.com. Huron County has average closing costs of $2,773, average annual property taxes of $1,240, average annual homeowner's insurance of $1,485, average annual mortgage payment of $9,638, and median income of $61,318, according to SmartAsset.com. Counties in Ohio listed as more affordable than Huron County are Columbiana County, which ranked first, Meigs County, which ranked second, and Jefferson County, which ranked third. Rounding out the top ten of the most affordable counties to buy a house in Ohio are Wood County (5th), Williams County (6th), Hancock County (7th), Harrison County (8th), Defiance County (9th), and Lucas County (10th), according to SmartAsset.com. Here is SmartAsset.com's methodology: To find the most affordable places to buy a home, SmartAsset analyzed closing costs, real estate taxes, homeowners insurance, and mortgage rates across the United States. SmartAsset started the analysis by including all cities with a population of 5,000 or greater. SmartAsset then measured the total cost of owning a home using the average home cost in each city throughout a five-year period. That five-year cost was then measured as a proportion of median household income in each place to determine affordability, with extra weighting on mortgage payments. The most affordable places were those in which total housing costs were smallest compared to the median income in each area. Each city was then indexed on a scale of 0 to 100, with the most affordable location receiving a score of 100. In addition to mortgages, SmartAsset.com offers information about taxes, retirement, financial advisors, banking and investing. SmartAsset.com is based in New York, NY.