Rockland County (New York, New City, Pearl River: for sale, real estate, big home)

[Thom22]

My family and I are going to be moving to the NY Metro area and we are considering multiple options as to where to live (In NY and NJ). My wife will be working in Manhattan (E. 77th and Lexington), and I'm in sales covering all of NY MEtro.

Our requirements are:
1. No more than a 1 hour commute for my wife
2. Great schools with a high school student enrollment not to exceed 1200
3. A nice town
4. Somewhere where $500,000 can purchase a nice house

From what I have read about Pearl River is very nice, but I'm not sure that it can satisfy #4.

Can you give me other suggestions in or around Rockland County? Thanks for your help.

Dave

[Phish Head]

good luck, my friend.

[NickL28]

Originally Posted by Thom22

My family and I are going to be moving to the NY Metro area and we are considering multiple options as to where to live (In NY and NJ). My wife will be working in Manhattan (E. 77th and Lexington), and I'm in sales covering all of NY MEtro.

Our requirements are:
1. No more than a 1 hour commute for my wife
2. Great schools with a high school student enrollment not to exceed 1200
3. A nice town
4. Somewhere where $500,000 can purchase a nice house

From what I have read about Pearl River is very nice, but I'm not sure that it can satisfy #4.

Can you give me other suggestions in or around Rockland County? Thanks for your help.

Dave

HA, HA, HA Good luck with that!!! A 'nice' house for $500,000?? in Rockland?? You are about 4 years too late. You would need about $700,000 for a nice house with only about $10,000 a year in annual property taxes.

Nice town?? Do you mean 'Nice' like Homogenious Snobby People sipping Lattes who judge you by what label you are wearing and what model BMW or Mercedes you are driving?? and where they give you that 'look' and 'sneer' like they are better than you?? Or where the restaurants look quaint and look like they have 'character' but masks how bad they really are?? Or where life revolves & centers around shopping at 'The Mall', Costco & Target???

To summarize & put it bluntly, most of the suburbs around NYC including Westchester & Rockland suck and only good if you have a family income of $500,000 or more and where you life revolves around shopping and spending a couple grand each weekend in Manhattan because of the lack of culture in the suburbs.

But if you don't mind spending $700,000 for a ranch, and paying $10,000 or more in property taxes than go for it.

[I'minformed2]

NickL28 get a life..... seriously. Stop trying to convince everyone that New York is the worst place in the world.... especially those who are moving there because they HAVE TO, and go bother some other people.

[hjlacey]

I hate to burst your bubble, but... Rockland is on the expensive side. Median price is in the $400-$500,000.00 price range for a not too big home although $10,000.00 is realistic for the taxes. Remember you have property tax, and school taxes! separately. on in Sept, the other in Jan.
I live in Orange Co. above Rockland. Will be selling and moving next year. Good Luck

[allstateagent]

Originally Posted by NickL28

HA, HA, HA Good luck with that!!! A 'nice' house for $500,000?? in Rockland?? You are about 4 years too late. You would need about $700,000 for a nice house with only about $10,000 a year in annual property taxes.

Nice town?? Do you mean 'Nice' like Homogenious Snobby People sipping Lattes who judge you by what label you are wearing and what model BMW or Mercedes you are driving?? and where they give you that 'look' and 'sneer' like they are better than you?? Or where the restaurants look quaint and look like they have 'character' but masks how bad they really are?? Or where life revolves & centers around shopping at 'The Mall', Costco & Target???

To summarize & put it bluntly, most of the suburbs around NYC including Westchester & Rockland suck and only good if you have a family income of $500,000 or more and where you life revolves around shopping and spending a couple grand each weekend in Manhattan because of the lack of culture in the suburbs.

But if you don't mind spending $700,000 for a ranch, and paying $10,000 or more in property taxes than go for it.

Pardon my name calling but youve given me no choice. You may be correct about some of your mud slinging terms but that is certain neighbor hoods and every county has them. The prices of homes have come way down and you can absolutely find beautiful homes under 500K. I'm not sure why you have such a bad taste in your mouth about Rockland but I wish you do more research about it before you slam it so hard.

Pearl River is a great town to raise a family and still has that small town feel. Prices in that area are greater than most others but check around you'll be surprised. Good luck to you!

[mom2gurls]

What are the better school districts in rockland....I am looking for really great academic enviroments....

[Y-Move]

Try New City in Rockland County.
The Orangeburg School District.

[Y-Move]

I meant:
New City, Rockland County
CLARKSTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT (Not Orangeburg)

[SuburbanDweller]

Hi,

I live in Rockland and have all my life. I live in Clarkstown within Rockland so my information is based from my experience here.

As for homes - $500,000 can get you a pretty average, run of the mill home in Rockland. Anything under that, you are typically looking at an older, small fixer upper. New constructions can't be touched for under roughly $600,000 to $1 million plus in some neighborhoods. Our taxes are easily over $10,000 a year, though. School tax here in Clarkstown is quite high.

I am a product of the Clarkstown School system (graduated fairly recently) and have to say the schools are pretty great - school worth and ethic are highly stressed. All of my graduating class attended college. AP courses are plentiful and the music & arts programs are as well.

In the year 2005, Clarkstown was ranked the 2nd safest town in the nation according to a national study.

If I were moving to Rockland, I would keep a watchful eye in Pearl River & Clarkstown. Pearl River is a lovely town with great schools. Your wife can catch the train to NYC right from Pearl River. It reminds me of a typical "American town" like you'd see on TV. Home prices are generally in the range of Clarkstown.

I suppose I can agree that Rockland is perhaps becoming more 'snobby' as it once was. Income levels have drasically increased over the last few years - and even with an average of $100,000/a year in my town it doesn't seem to be 'enough' to cover expenses for new residents with home prices and taxes. You may find people who just moved to town with no furniture in their home because they can't afford it yet.

There's no denying that there is a sense of 'competition' here, but I'm sure that can be found in most towns. The 'bad' part about this is now younger couples and people with limited funding for a home are being pushed away up north towards Orange County and beyond.

I'm sure if you keep an eye on the real estate a good deal would be bound to come your way. Snatch it up fast, though. A house on my street had the 'For Sale' sign placed on their lawn on a Thursday and it was Sold by the following week. Good deals go fast, don't let them slip by.

Good luck to you and if you want to know anything else, I'd be happy to try and answer!