North Valleys, New Perspective: Where Reno’s Dollar Still Works

If you’ve heard that “nothing affordable exists in Reno,” the North Valleys would like a friendly word. Head north on 395/580 and you’ll find a cluster of neighborhoods—Lemon Valley, Golden Valley, Stead, and Cold Springs—where first-time buyers and value hunters can still land real houses for $400,000 to $450,000. Are there trade-offs? Sure. But as the freeway improvements wrap up and amenities expand, the North Valleys is looking more like a smart launching pad than a last resort.

Map check: Lemon, Golden, Stead, Cold Springs

Think of the North Valleys as a string of communities just north of Reno proper. You’ll pass Lemon Valley and Golden Valley, then hit Stead, before Cold Springs further out. Each area has a slightly different vibe. Lemon and Golden have a mix of classic tract homes and acreage spots with actual elbow room. Stead puts you close to shopping and Sierra Sage Golf Course. Cold Springs adds cul-de-sacs, wide sidewalks, and plenty of quiet—plus a bit more commute.

House 1: 8480 Corrian Way (Stead) — Move-in Ready Around $425,000

This one’s a crowd-pleaser because it’s genuinely easy to move into. Built in the mid‑1990s and clocking in around 1,260 square feet, the floor plan opens to a flexible living/dining area and loops into a functional kitchen. What used to be a slider to the backyard has been upgraded to a proper door, and the lot size benefits from a gentle curve in the street—so both front and back yards feel generous.

Highlights you’ll notice right away: a brand-new roof, a two-car garage, and space for RV access (even if it’s more “weekend warrior trailer” than Class A bus). The sellers have owned it for years and it shows in the best way—little things have been done, and you’re not inheriting a punch list as long as your arm.

Who this fits

• First-time buyers who want low-stress, low-surprise ownership.
• Anyone priced out of central Reno but still wanting reasonable access to services.
• Light DIY-ers who want room to personalize without needing a full makeover.

Reality check: Stead’s commute can stack up during construction hours, but freeway work is actively improving that bottleneck. If you can handle a bit of patience now, you’ll enjoy smoother sailing later.

Streets With Stories: Big River Drive and the Sweat‑Equity Hunt

Drive Big River Drive and you’ll see why some shoppers smile at the word “upside.” Houses from the same era as Corrian Way dot the street—some crisp, some with paint that’s seen better, sunnier days. The home at 7770 Big River Drive is a good example of where sweat equity can pay: these are places that might not have AC from the builder era, may have trim begging for paint, and occasionally sport yards that never got their landscaping glow-up. But if you’re willing to roll up sleeves, you can sometimes find options under $400K or on the low end of the $400s and build value.

General rule of thumb here: the closer you get to Red Rock Boulevard, the newer the pockets become. It’s an easy way to sense what era you’re driving through—older to newer as you push north.

House 2: Bear River Drive (Cold Springs) — Corner Lot, Under $450,000

Cold Springs turns the tempo down—wide sidewalks, mature trees along the main drags, and a neighborhood design that pours into cul-de-sacs. The Bear River Drive home sits on a corner, with that nice “one neighbor” setup on one side. Pricing is expected to land comfortably under $450K.

Inside, the living room opens up large, anchored by a pellet stove for cozy winters. The kitchen connects to a flexible area that functions as a dining space, a second living spot, or a play zone—buyers have configured it all sorts of ways. Counters aren’t the basic builder laminate, and the appliances have been tastefully updated. Down the hall, bedrooms are straightforward and comfortable, with double closets in the primary. The bath offers a tub/shower combo and neutral finishes; easy to live with, easy to refresh. There’s also a dedicated laundry room on the path to the garage.

About that garage: it’s a bit oversized compared to the typical squeeze—you’ll notice a few feet between the entry door and the wall, plus storage and a door to the backyard. Outside, there’s a wood deck, freshened grass, and space to extend RV parking from the front if you want the full adventure rig setup.

Cold Springs trade-offs (and why they work)

• Quieter streets, fewer immediate services: You’ll head back to Stead for grocery runs.
• Commute adds minutes: A fair trade if you prize space and lower pricing.
• Construction now, benefit later: 395/580 work is inconvenient today but designed to ease flow long-term.

Daily Life: Schools, Parks, and Quick Escapes

Families appreciate that O’Brien Middle School has been refreshed, and the elementary next door is on the community’s radar as well. Little League fields dot the area, and Sierra Sage Golf Course sits only about five minutes from Stead. Need to get back into town? In typical weather, you’re around 20–25 minutes to the airport. For neighborhood pocket-hunting, pull up Military Road; there are solid streets tucked behind the main corridors that many shoppers overlook.

What $400K–$450K Buys in the North Valleys

Budgets are real, so let’s talk in practical terms. In today’s North Valleys market, you’re likely to see:

• Single-story homes in the 1,000–1,300 sq ft range, with occasional two-story options nearby.
• 1990s build era with a mix of original and updated finishes; roofs and systems vary—some brand-new, some ready for attention.
• Two-car garages, often with side yards that can fit small RVs or trailers.
• Yards you can actually use, especially where streets curve and lots get a little wider.
• Fixers under $400K pop up—expect paint, landscaping, and cosmetic refreshes, with room to add value.

Prefer a bigger home? Those exist too, pushing toward the $500K mark depending on size, condition, and exact pocket.

First-Time Buyer Playbook (North Valleys Edition)

1) Get your numbers right first

Before you fall in love with a kitchen island, get pre-approved. It narrows your search and strengthens your offer. Bonus: local lenders know the quirks of Reno/Northern Nevada appraisals and can keep things moving.

2) Test the commute—twice

Do the drive at the exact times you care about: morning rush, school pickup, or late-shift returns. Today’s freeway work won’t last forever, but it’s smart to set realistic expectations.

3) Walk the schools and parks

O’Brien Middle has been updated; check it out in person and peek at the nearby elementary. If weekend sports matter, look for those Little League fields and see how busy they get.

4) Inspect the big-ticket items

In this era of homes, roofs, HVAC, and exterior paint are the money players. A fresh roof (like at 8480 Corrian Way) is a huge win. Don’t forget to check window seals and that garage door clearance.

5) RV gates and side yards

If you need space for a toy hauler, look for homes already set up with a side gate and hardscape. It’s a small detail that saves big dollars later.

6) Keep your wish list flexible

Cold Springs and Stead reward open-minded shoppers. Maybe you compromise on immediate groceries but gain a corner lot, a bigger yard, and quieter streets.

Investor Snapshot

The North Valleys pull in steady interest from renters working nearby and from folks moving over from California who want to “try Reno” without overcommitting on price. Homes that are clean, easy, and updated carry strong appeal. Fixers with paint and landscape opportunities can be compelling too—just run the numbers on rent, renovation timelines, and property management.

The Commute Question (Answered Honestly)

There’s no sugarcoating the current freeway work: certain times of day, it’s a mess. But it’s a temporary mess with a clear goal—future traffic flow that makes life easier from Lemon and Golden Valleys through Stead and up to Cold Springs. If your schedule is flexible or you work closer to the North Valleys employers, it’s a much lighter lift.

A Walkthrough Recap

• 8480 Corrian Way, Stead (~$425K): 1,260± sq ft, updated entry to the backyard, new roof, two-car garage, RV potential, move-in ready vibe.
• Big River Drive: Similar mid‑’90s homes; some need paint and tune-ups—solid value plays, sometimes even under $400K.
• Bear River Drive, Cold Springs (under $450K): Corner lot, cul‑de‑sac living, pellet stove, versatile dining/living space, oversized two-car, deck, RV expansion potential.

Between the two, pick Stead if you want quicker access to shopping and Sierra Sage Golf. Pick Cold Springs if you want calm streets, cul‑de‑sacs, and a bit more elbow room for the price.

Local Logistics You’ll Actually Use

• Groceries & everyday errands: Clustered around Stead Boulevard and the Lemon/Golden Valleys corridor.
• Schools: O’Brien Middle’s renovation is a community win; elementary next door is a solid plus.
• Parks & play: Little League fields nearby; golf at Sierra Sage; trails north if you like your cardio with a side of sagebrush.
• Airport access: About 20–25 minutes in normal weather.

Next Steps

Ready to see these pockets in person, compare floor plans, and stress-test the commute? We’ll line up tours around your schedule and your budget, then help you zoom in on the home that fits how you actually live.

See also our Reno first-time buyer guide. For more videos, check out our channel.

Full Video Transcript

Today we are going to go visit a different area of town and we're going to show you some houses that we can find that are priced between $400 and $450,000. And the North Valleys is not
an area that we have visited recently, but it is an area that is very affordable. So, if we throw the map up on the screen and we can show you as you drive on 395/580
north of town, it starts to go out towards the west, then you're going to have Lemon Valley, Golden Valley, Stee, and Cold Springs. And that's what I kind of think of as the north valleys. There
are some other areas that people might loop into there. And Lemon Valley and Golden Valley will have some tracked homes, but they'll also have some homes in those areas that are on acreage that
have a lot more elbow room that you can find properties that would be in other parts of town that might be a lot more expensive. But today, we're going to go show you a house instead. And we're
going to show you a house out in Cold Springs that are a little bit further out that you can still find homes between 4 and $450,000. Now, I know the negatives to coming out to this area
right now are they've been working on the freeway. So, right now, certain times of day, the traffic is a mess, the freeway is a mess, and that is getting resolved because they're working on that
project. But in the short term, it is a little bit of a disaster, but long-term, it's going to be a good thing. And part of it is is when I first lived out here, I bought a home. We're going to drive
you through the front of it and show you what it looks like, is that it um there wasn't nearly as many people living out here at that time that there is now. And as these areas and everything keeps
growing, I know they just redid O'Brien Middle School. There's an elementary school right next door that I'm sure they're going to do the same, too. As I'm driving, we're driving by some
Little League fields. It is definitely improved out in these areas, but there are some pockets that are better than others, and we're going to show you what some of those pockets are today. The
first home we're going to bring you by is a home that we're going to be putting on the market here in a few weeks, and it is built in the mid 1990s. The second house that we're going to show you is
going to be a little bit newer. It's a little bit further out and you'll see the house that I'm going to put for sale is in really good shape. They've done a lot of great updates and it is the exact
same floor plan as the house I used to live in. And I'm going to drive you down that street that I used to live in way back in the day and show you that house when I drove by there the other day is
in much worse condition. Meaning, those houses need a lot more maintenance. There hasn't been paint done on them in a while. And there's just some things that need to happen to those houses that
the one we're going to list has done and some of these others have not. So, if you're looking for something affordable for younger people, first-time home buyers, potentially someone even looking
to buy some rental property, these are some of the areas that people need to come to because if you drive out north of town a little ways, then you can find a little more affordable housing. Some
of the jobs are even out this way. The, like I said, the big negative is that commute time back and forth. So, we've made it out to the Stead area and we're going to show you house number one. And
that is a house we're going to be putting on the market here relatively soon. And I want you to see what you can get. This one's going to go on the market for $425,000
and it is pretty damn movein ready as far as it's got a new roof. They've done a lot of good things to because they've lived here quite some time. And I want you to see like what people can get that
I think they think that there's nothing affordable out here. And this is an area. Yeah, you do have to drive a little bit and some of the negatives that we just mentioned. But I want you
to see what this house looks like. We're going to show you some photos of the inside and then you can see that there still is affordable housing. It just might be something you have to drive a
little bit to. Like I said, I lived out here 30 years ago. Yes, traffic's gotten a little more difficult, but we want you to see what some of the options are. So, this is 8480 Corrian Way. What's funny
is, and I didn't realize it till later, is this is the exact same floor plan I lived in when I was in my mid20s. When you walk in, it's 1,200 I think it's 60 square feet. You walk in that front door
and there's a room that's really supposed to be a living room, dining room combo that most people just turn into a living room. And then as you loop around towards the actual kitchen,
there's a space there that they typically use as the dining area. It's got a decent sized kitchen. What used to be a sliding glass door on this house, they have replaced and put an actual
door in to go to the back. And they've got a decent sized backyard cuz again, this road that we're on starts to curve a little bit. So their front and backyard's pretty good. You can see
though you got room for RV access, something small. You got a two-car garage. And again, they have done a lot of things this house to put it in a position where someone could move in and
not have to do anything. That roof literally just got put in a week ago. So, as you go up and down these streets, you can see some of these houses that are very similar. You know, there's a
one story. I think it's roughly a,000 square foot is the smallest model that you'll see out here. You can find something potentially even under 400,000. Or if you found something that
wasn't in actually great condition, you might be able to get something where you can put in some elbow grease and start to make some money as far as that stuff goes, too. But then right here next to
it, here's a twotory. So, there are some bigger houses depending on how many people that you have in your family or whatever you're trying to do as far as living in there goes. But again, it's
clean. It's nice. Not every street and every little section is like this. But you can see you can make this work as far as most people goes as far as their price points go. That would be a great
way to get started. Be a great way to get your first house. And yeah, you're going to have to drive a little bit and head out of town. And that commute's a little bit of a problem, but they're
working on that as we speak. So, we are now on a street called Big River Drive. That house right there in front of you is 7770 Big River Drive. It's a house I bought. I can't remember exactly if it
was 95, I think, anyway, or 94. That house, you can see there's some green trim that's peeling and painting. There's some brown trim around the other side. And these were houses that when we
bought them, you got no front yard landscaping, no backyard landscaping. They didn't have air conditioning, but you can see some of them are not in as good a shape of as others. That tree
literally was put there by me. So, that tree was a tiny little tiny little tree when we first started, but you can see in a neighborhood like this, as we go up and down the street, there are houses
that need a little TLC. So, you might be able to buy something like this, which honestly, this house is exactly the same as the house over on Oregon. Sorry, as I'm screwing up the camera work for you
guys a little bit, but basically that's the same exact house. And that house probably would sell for less money cuz it's not in as good a shape. I've never seen it come for sale again. So, the
same people have owned it for a long time. The one just right next to it right there, you can see the paint is, you know, coming off the side of the house. So the closer you get towards Red
Rock Boulevard, typically the newer these houses get. This section will be a little newer than we just came from. The further we go that way, they even get a little bit newer. So you can find some
stuff that would work as far as saving on your on your budget and those kind of things. But again, there are lots of good opportunities out here in the mid- high 3s to low mid400s and then you
could obviously go towards 500 if you get a bigger one that has more space. If you're just starting your journey to home ownership, do me a favor. Click the link in the description below. You get a
copy of our free buyer guide. It'll get you a lot of great information of what you need to know to get things started. And of course, you can always reach out to us. As we head out a little further
towards Cold Springs, I want to let you know a little about the amenities out this way, which are way better than when I used to live out this way. 5 minutes from here, you can play golf at Sierra
Sage Golf Course. Um the middle school and the elementary school, O'Brien Middle School, is literally right there, 5 minutes back. And then as you're on the freeway now between Lemon Valley,
Golden Valley, and Stead Boulevard, there is a ton now of grocery shopping, shopping centers, all the things that you're going to need. And you know, again, if you pull up on a map and pull
up Military Road, there are some good neighborhoods and stuff back not far from here, too. And so these areas I think sometimes are a little underrated as far as yes it's not usually people's
dreams home and yes people are moving out here because it's affordable but at the same time I think it's a great place to get started and you're not that far away from getting back into town. I mean
from out here you can be back at the airport in about 20 25 minutes um as long as the weather's good and we don't have any crazy traffic. Okay so we are now in Cold Springs. What I like about
Cold Springs, they have these nice good sidewalks with the wide, you know, landscape marks on them and then they have these huge trees. So, what's great is you have these main drags. Like, if I
walk out in the street more, you have these main drags and then every one of those streets, if you go both directions, if we go slow, they're literally all culde-sacs. So, this house
that we're going to go see right now is on Bear River Drive. It's the corner lot right here. We're getting ready to put it on the market right now and it's 17832. So, you'll be able to go look at
it online depending on how soon we list it versus when this video comes out. We're working on getting the grass redone, but this is a house here that again is going to come on the market. We
don't have the exact price yet. It's going to come on the market at a relatively low under $450,000 price. And if we walk you into the house, you're going to see Well, first off, before we
walk you in the house, let me back up. You've got RV access. You got a bit of a little oversized two-car garage. We'll show you that from the other side because you got some more room versus
the sides of the garage. And then as I walk you into the house, you can see what we have. So, we basically have some new floors. We got a little plet stove. Big room here. So, it's a big living
room. And then as we walk around the corner, this area here is the kitchen. You have a bunch of big space here with room. I see some people use this as a dining
room. I've seen it used a few different ways that you can use for lots of different things. I've seen people set it up many different ways. But you can see this one does not have
just regular for mica counters and things on those lines. That's not the original oven. And you can see it goes over and above. So these rooms are sort of connected soundwise.
And then all the bedrooms are down this way. Bedroom number one. Ceiling fans, nice blinds, big space, carpet's in great shape. Master bedroom, double closets. So, not a walk-in out in
these areas, but you got double closets. Also a ceiling fan. And then as you come into the master, single sink, shower tub combo. Pretty neutral done. Shower curve. Could easily be changed if that's
not something that's for you. And then as you come down towards the garage, you've got the third bedroom. You've got a laundry room. Sorry, it's kind of dark in here. And then because I
don't have Sydney this week and we're doing these on our own, when you come into the garage, you'll see see how between the door and the wall there's probably three or four, probably
three feet. A lot of times those things are super close together. So this one's actually a little bit bigger than normal. You've got some storage and then you got a door that leads out to the
backyard. Okay, we are now in the back corner of the yard. You got a neighbor dog barking. We got a nice wood deck though. We got some grass that we're watering again. And then over here, if
someone really wanted to, you could extend that RV parking that was out in the front and come take some of this grass out or just park right on top of it and have a big RV space. The nice
part is there's no air condition or anything on this side of the house. So, it's in good shape. Paint's in good shape. Roof's in good shape. That's what I'm talking about. These are the kind of
houses that are for people that are nice and easy. This one's only got neighbors on that one side cuz on that corner there's no neighbor and you're on the street and it's always super quiet out
here because again you've got to drive in a little ways to get back to the amenities. There's not grocery stores and stuff out on the Cold Springs offramp. You're going to have to go back
to the Stee area. But either way, like I said, not bad for a house that's going to be, you know, mid low 400s. All right. So, for those of you guys that are looking for entrylevel first-time
home buyers, we get a lot of things. You know, I always talk about affordability, trying to help people find affordable housing. And I think Stead, Cold Springs, and some of the areas around
here definitely make that work. And you can see right behind me, we got plenty of space, got plenty of room, and it's really nice house. So, if you have questions or want to know more about the
Stee area, Cold Springs, all these North Valleys areas, we're happy to help you figure those things out because again, I think for a lot of people that, let's say you're younger and you move from
California, you're just trying to get in the game. We can help you get that whole thing started out here. And yes, it's a little bit of a commute, but you will be happy as far as getting started and
getting in the game to home ownership. And again, it' be a lot more affordable out here than it is going to be in many areas of in town and many of the surrounding cities or, you know, on the
West Coast that people move here from. So there you go. Hope that helps you out and reach out if you have questions. So check out this video we did right here about all things cost of living. And
today's video, of course, was all about trying to find affordable housing.