Where to focus search? Advice needed (New York, Buffalo: real estate, houses, neighborhood)

[hlrmmr]

Hi all, we are moving to the Buffalo area this summer, my husband will be going to UB. We'd like to live close to campus and my son will be starting kindergarten so schools are important. I work from home (telecommute) so no worries there. It would be great to be able to walk to the playground, etc.

Any advice on where to focus a househunting search is appreciated. We are looking to stay around $200K. I'm a little overwhelmed looking through everything on-line.

Thanks!

[CAugust]

If schooling is impt - williamsville or clarence in regard to public...williamsville is a little more walkable - now that being said - williamsville has lower home prices higher taxes - clarence higher home prices lower taxes - imho it all works out even ................ you will get a bigger home in williamsville for your buck

[Coraggio]

Originally Posted by hlrmmr

Hi all, we are moving to the Buffalo area this summer, my husband will be going to UB. We'd like to live close to campus and my son will be starting kindergarten so schools are important. I work from home (telecommute) so no worries there. It would be great to be able to walk to the playground, etc.

Any advice on where to focus a househunting search is appreciated. We are looking to stay around $200K. I'm a little overwhelmed looking through everything on-line.

Thanks!

Hi!

I'll assume you want to be close to the North Campus of UB, which is out in the suburbs. (The South Campus is in the city.)

I live not far from there myself, in Williamsville, which is considered the best school district in the area according to local rankings. Williamsville also has a lot of great parks and playgrounds (people here do not take enough advantage of them!), and all of the elementary schools have great playgrounds, too.

Houses in my immediate neighborhood would go anywhere from about $185K to $210K, I think, based on recent sales, but most of them are 4 or 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. You should be able to get a very nice 3-BR for a little less than that.

If you go to Buffalo Niagara Homes.com - Buffalo New York Real Estate, Homes, Property, WNY, you can search by school district, price, number of bedrooms, ZIP code... if you're interested in Williamsville, the ZIP for most of the area is 14221.

Homes in the village of Williamsville are more expensive with smaller lots -- most listings on the site I mentioned above will say "Williamsville Vlg" if applicable -- but tend to be older homes with more charm and character.

Even closer to UB is the Sweet Home School District. I think that district is usually in the top ten?

Hope this helps! I think you'll be happy here... as long as you don't mind cold and snow. ;-)

[hlrmmr]

Thanks CAugust and Coraggio for the replies, good information, I will check it out.