Relocating from SoCal to Apalachin, NY (Ithaca, Vestal: real estate, house, schools)

[debhoth]

My husband and I recently visited the upstate NY area, ended up in Apalachin, and have become very interested in purchasing a home within the next couple years (two more years here in California and we can escape). We are interested in finding a realtor who can give us any and all info re Apalachin and since we won't be able to visit again until Oct. 2008, would like a realtor we can keep in touch with in case that perfect house shows up on the market. Looking for something off the beaten path with a little bit of land - nothing big, something for the two of us. Any info, real estate related or otherwise (what's it like to live in Apalachin, etc.), is appreciated. Thanks.

[Ex-Ithacan]

I'm no realtor, but I did find this site on the net. Might be a place to start:

Apalachin real estate and Apalachin homes for sale — Trulia.com

Good luck, hope you find what you're looking for.

[elliebee]

I came across your post while searching for something else on the web, but felt obligated to reply because we (myself, hubby and 2 kids) moved to Vestal, NY from Los Angeles 2-1/2 years ago and we love it. The kids actually go to school in Apalachin, and we found it to be a refreshing change from the schools in LA. The fact that they still offer "extras" such as art, music and gym was incredible to us when we first moved back!

There is good theater, music and art to be had locally, but obviously not as much as you're used to in SoCal. It doesn't bother us - the tradeoff of clean air and no traffic more than makes up for that. For us it was a quality of life issue, and I truly think that it is much higher here. The people are generally very nice, the land is beautiful, and NYC and Ithaca and other larger cities really aren't that far away. Of course, we do miss Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but not enough to make us want to move back anytime soon... And with this whole global warming thing, even the winters haven't been all that bad since we've been here. Hope this helps...