Stone Ridge / High Falls? (Kingston, Hurley: for sale, real estate, rental)

[joe moving]

My wife and I are trying making a case for ourselves to move out of Suburban, NJ.

We are looking for more like minded people: outdoors types (hiking, cycling, etc.), organic gardener, dog lovers and environmentally conscious (last but not least).

It is easy for us to tolerate where we are because we're surrounded by family,but still not sure that it makes this area correct for us. For this reason we want to be within a pretty easy drive of Bergen county, NJ (We make Exit 18 on the thruway within 1 hour easily).

One concern is being close to food store and prefer it to be one that has fresh food. We cook and eat a lot. I think there is a co-op right there in High Falls and not to mention that area is very cute.

In terms of a job, at the moment and for foreseeable future I am employed, assuming there is high speed internet available (at least DSL or cable, satellite will not work).

Budget - We might consider renting first, depending on the price. We would have to rent out our house in NJ in order to do this. Any idea about rents on a 1br+office/1ba? I see that 3br/1.5+ bath homes start around 170k. Is that about right? Should we expect that to be a complete fixer upper? What are taxes like (we pay 6500$ on a $400k house now).

Is there hiking close by to this area? Would we have to drive to Minnewaska? Is it safe to bicycle on these roads?

How would people in their late 20s with no children yet meet people? Are there clubs, groups, organizations focused around our interests?

What is going to be our biggest shock?

[highfallslover]

I grew up in the High Falls/Stone Ridge/Woodstock area, my parents still live in Woodstock. That house price you are talking about is really low, maybe a High Falls Park house except unless someone built on they only have one bath. I want to move back badly and am always searching the real estate ads or sites. A few months ago I found my dream house near Rosendale, we have horses so we need land. The house was $365,000 on 4 acres, the taxes almost $7,000 a yr. They dropped that price down from closer to $400,000. The realtor just sent me a listing for a house in Stone Ridge, nice place, $500,000 and taxes going are $8,000 a year. There are places that are cheaper I'm sure but I can't seem to find them and maybe it's because I am looking for acreage to go with the house. I do check Doorways which is the real estate paper from The Freeman and I check all the local real estate sites and I never find much that's affordable for us. They are asking over $350,000 for some houses in the development my parents live in now, they are on maybe an acre or less. There was one real pretty house for sale near them, the people were asking $295,000. I'm not sure what it sold for. Woodstock is a great place, always something going on there and there is hiking close. You never know who you'll run into in the local grocery store! Prices are high though, my parents taxes are 3X's more than ours on their one acre, we have 31 acres so I don't think I'll ever get back home.

It's a beautiful and historic area, I have always loved it and wish I never left because we can't afford to go back.

If you lived in High Falls or Stone Ridge you'd have to drive to Minnewaska. I'm not sure about hiking in the area, I know there is a trail around Hurley. I think High Falls has become "trendy", I know they've fixed alot of places up, it looks way different than when I grew up there in some ways, in others it's the same place I love and call home even though I left there a long time ago. Stone Ridge has some stores in a little strip mall. There might be other places around too. Good luck finding a home, I'd love to find a place up there we could afford but I don't know if that will happen. It's a beautiful area.

[joe moving]

actually, i think we'd end up renting at first.we found a cute rental for like 1100. not sure if its perfect or whatever but i don't know.

If i had to get a job, where does one work around there? kingston? poughkeepsie, new paltz?

[highfallslover]

That's a tricky question. I don't know where people work in the Kingston area. IBM was the big employer in Kingston and where so many people worked when I lived there but they are gone now. I worked at Metropolitan Life but I'm not even sure if they are there anymore. From what I can see alot of the people moving near my parents are retired people who don't need jobs or they are from the city and commute or just come on weekends. Good luck with the move, I wish I was moving back.