To Putnam County from Long Island (Poughkeepsie, Carmel: real estate, for sale, hotel)

[policar4]

I'm looking to move from Nassau County to Putnam county next summer. Can anyone tell me any differences between Mahopac & Carmel? Any advice on High Schools?

For those people moving to L.I., I noticed many posts saying it's impossible to find a house under 500,000 - no longer true. A real estate agent recently told me my house was worth about 475,000 - and it's definitely not a starter home! - last year it would have brought about 600,000. Prices are dropping like crazy.

Last - anyone know how easy it is to get art teacher or administrator jobs in Putnam?

Whew! Thanks for any responses!

[postman]

I think carmel is a better school system......You will pay alot of Tax...

[policar4]

Thanks for the reply! It's hard to tell about schools from the "State Dept. of Ed Website School Report Cards." Do you know anyone around there?

[mom2gurls]

why putnam county? Its one big rock of park..and NO industry!!! Why not pop over the 84 which is 10 minutes and end up in dutchess?

[BxRosie]

Originally Posted by policar4

I'm looking to move from Nassau County to Putnam county next summer. Can anyone tell me any differences between Mahopac & Carmel? Any advice on High Schools?

For those people moving to L.I., I noticed many posts saying it's impossible to find a house under 500,000 - no longer true. A real estate agent recently told me my house was worth about 475,000 - and it's definitely not a starter home! - last year it would have brought about 600,000. Prices are dropping like crazy.

Last - anyone know how easy it is to get art teacher or administrator jobs in Putnam?

Whew! Thanks for any responses!

Hi!

I've lived in NY all my life & in Carmel for the past 14 yrs, but I'm moving to NC next month. I LOVE NY & love the area here, it's beautiful, if I could I'd never leave. Unfortunately, we are being taxed out of the county. Living on a NYPD pension & still have to work FT to make ends meet. In NC, I'm getting more house for less $$ & less taxes. I have 1 son that's starts HS in the fall who would have been attending Catholic HS had we stayed. For us personally, it's a good move.

Carmel is growing...FAST!! There's tons of new construction popping up all over. Most new houses are averaging $600k & up in price, but you can still find older homes in the 450K range. Taxes are high. I have a 1500 sf house in town & pay $6200 in taxes a year (& they're going up again in Jan.) Right now, there's 2 houses on my street for sale, both are about 1600 sf, both are 40+ yrs old & they are selling for $424k. Down the road from me, there's homes in the $750K to $1 mil+ price range with taxes of $15000+ yearly. Mahopac is a tight re market with cost & taxes pretty much the same as Carmel. Carmel school district is good but it's overcrowded. So is Mahopac, but I think the HS has a better rating.

There's no industry in Putnam county. A few strip malls with supermarkets being the anchor stores. We do have 1 "mall", right off I84. It has Home Depot, Kohl's, LNT, Marshall's, Michaels, Appleby's, a diner & a few smaller stores. They are proposing to build another "mall" with Lowe's & Costco being the anchors one exit away on I84. It's a hot topic in town & many are protesting it's being built. We do have the Danbury Mall (CT) & the Jefferson Valley Mall (Westchester Cty) both a short drive away. There's a beautiful new golf course in Carmel. They want to get a PGA rating for it so they can have tournaments there & they are planning to build a new hotel/conference center on it.

What I'll miss in Carmel/Putnam County....it's BEAUTIFUL!! There's lots of lakes (NYC watershed system), open land, wildlife, woods & hills. Drive along the main road in town with Lake Gleneida on one side & white steepled churches on the other. It has a small town feel to it. Drive along any of the back roads in autumn & the colors will take your breath away. I'll miss "Santa" coming down my street every year on the back of a fire truck, handing out candy canes to the kids (& some adults, too) & taking pictures. It's peaceful & quiet here, my front door is never locked.

If you're young with a young family, it's a nice place to be. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Rosie

[policar4]

Thanks Rosie! It's funny that I'm leaving Long Island because it got too crowded and now Putnam is being built up... According to a real estate agent I talked to, they can't build it up too much because of laws about the watershed thing - that if there are too many people the water would get polluted. I don't know whether to believe that... I did notice that Mahopac seemed a little more crowded than Carmel - also that Carmel H.S. is putting on a huge extension. The area is absolutely beautiful - we really fell in love with it! As for older houses, we like antiques and while we're not officially "young" we can still manage to fix up a place (only it might be a little tougher than last time!) Thanks for the advice and good luck in NC!

[policar4]

To "mom2gurls" - I actually haven't checked out Dutchess - the school systems didn't seem as good online, and when we drove up we fell in love with Putnam. What is Dutchess like? Maybe we'll look there too. Thanks for the idea!

[BxRosie]

Originally Posted by policar4

Thanks Rosie! It's funny that I'm leaving Long Island because it got too crowded and now Putnam is being built up... According to a real estate agent I talked to, they can't build it up too much because of laws about the watershed thing - that if there are too many people the water would get polluted. I don't know whether to believe that... I did notice that Mahopac seemed a little more crowded than Carmel - also that Carmel H.S. is putting on a huge extension. The area is absolutely beautiful - we really fell in love with it! As for older houses, we like antiques and while we're not officially "young" we can still manage to fix up a place (only it might be a little tougher than last time!) Thanks for the advice and good luck in NC!

Hi Policar4,

There's more open green, rural space in Mahopac, Carmel & Kent than there is in Mahopac. That is because it's protected land, all part of the NYC watershed system. Most of the lakes you saw (like the one by the highschool) are reservoirs for NYC. They are extremely strict about maintaining it's integrity. My driveway is on a steep incline & at the bottom of it, a brook runs under & across the street. It's a direct feeder to the reservoir. We had some fluid leaking out of our car a few years ago that ran down the driveway towards the brook. A DEP agent just happened to be driving by to check on the brook (because of muddy run off problems they were having from a construction site a mile away) while DH was checking out the car. We almost got a fine because of the leak. The DEP agent gave us some special rags to sop up the spillage & he came back an hour later to collect the soiled rags!

The Hamlet of Carmel (where the hs is) is mostly town water & sewer. Everywhere else it's well water & septic, so the re agent is correct. You have to be very careful that your water supply isn't contaminated & your septic isn't too near watershed property. BTW, that extension on the highschool is a library.

I'm actually selling my house "AS IS". 4 bedroom, 2 bath ranch that needs alot of work right down the hill from the highschool. Unfortunately, DH got sick a few years ago &, well, you know how it goes. Have to move for health reasons. Not looking to make the big bucks on the sale, just want out.

GOOD LUCK with your search! You'll love it here, it's really a beautiful area!

Rosie

[policar4]

Wow! You're certainly more helpful than the websites! When are you moving? If you don't mind, how much are you asking for the house and what does "as is" mean? I know some people say "needs improvement" for cosmetic things, others for entirely new plumbing and electric! So far I'm really leaning towards Carmel - you make it sounds as great as it seemed.

Laura

[mom2gurls]

Dutchess county is 15 minutes north of carmel...you just have "pop" over the 84 so to speak. In fact..if you do choose putnam...you will probably end up in dutchess anyway for shopping purposes...lol. The mall is their and every store you can think is on "route 9" or "nine" as the locals call it.

The housing is a "tad" bit less, the schools systems are spectacular..Esp the Arlington school distrct..You get alot of land greenery...Its dont "po dunk ville or the country by anymeans"..but really a nice blend of country and long island...without the annoying LIE.

There are numerous train stations (hudson and harlem line) to suit your needs.

Honestly, if schools are in your mind....You would really benefit the kids by going with Dutchess.

There are three universities out Here...The prestigious "shee shee" Vassar College, Marist College and the famous CIA (Culinary institute of America)----I think the famous Chef Bobby Flay went there. There are satellite campuses of other universities as well.

There really is NO crime out here....and everyone commutes to the city or bergen county..so everyone "knows the deal up here".

Once you are commiting to carmel...people usually end up in dutchess anyway..because of thats where you go for your shopping needs, and also its only 15 minutes away, less taxes (a tad but still every buck counts).

Its extremelly family oriented....lots of wineries in north dutchess, true farmers markets...(You can actually buy "hudson valley milk, meat and produce".

TONS of stuff for kids to do....I love love love it here. I would bypass putnam county alltogether....and head straight for dutchess.

Oh, by the way...My friend built home out there a couple of years ago...be carefull, in carmel they have a radon problem, so they ended up putting some sort of thingie under there house....the guy said radon issues are common in putnam....

That is one reason why we didnt go that route.

I cannot believe that anyone would say the schools systems out here arent good. Sorry I seriousely beg to differ...there are only two school systems I would steer clear of here...and its just MY personal opinion.

Beacon Schools and Poughkeepsie schools. Arlington schools, Spackenkill schools, Millbrook schools are EXTREMELLY Educated school systems...check out the website "great schools "dot" net" you will see that arlington kids pass the exams with the no child left behind act 99%. Most of our tax dollars are for the schools....and there are brand new schools opening up...

My kids school is brand new and so is the junior high and has a shee shee tennis court, running track. a zillion computers all over the place and plasma tvs too.

Everything is new, modern and updated...again I am talking arlington district.

Spackenkill is also good. Most of the people that live in these districts are white colar, upper class indviduals who take education seriousely....I have never seen parents fight or advocate for kids schools as much as I have seen up here in dutchess...its just a great place to raise kids, and enjoy life.

but its pricey...I mean a starter home 4 bedroom 2.5 back starts at 650K (again arlington schools).....but you get every penny of what you pay for.

Just my opinion. And its also helps that the towns in dutchess are rated the best places to live (finalists) by forbes, cnn and sperling "best places "dot" net".