Any Lakes within 5 hours of NYC for a weekend home? (New York: for sale, real estate) - City-Data Forum

BaysideJR · 05-17-2010, 07:01 PM

The older i get the more I just want to get away as often as possible from the hustle of NYC life. The miss and I wanted to look into areas upstate for a house on a lake for some R&R. Do the lakes allow Kayaking/PWCs, etc...? I was wondering if there were any such communities within roughly 5 hours of the city? I say 5 hours because we will be driving up there on weekends so I figured 5 hrs is about what i think would be reasonable to leave on fri and come back on a sun night.
If so which would you recommend? What are the prices like? I really dont know many areas upstate.

If there are none within 5 hrs, how many hours away are they? Any other suggestions welcome.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Met8568 · 05-17-2010, 10:29 PM

my family used to have a house in caroga lake. it was about 3 1/2 hours from nyc, it was beatiful, i miss it very much.

proulxfamily · 05-18-2010, 06:03 AM

I think you could get to the Adirondacks or the Finger Lakes, in 5 hours or less.

Skaneateles Lake is beautiful and you really can't go wrong with the nearby Finger Lakes either.

BaysideJR · 05-18-2010, 06:52 AM

Thanks for the help. Ill look into the areas. Is there a good search engine to use for those locations? For Long Island/NYC I used MLSLI which is great. Is there a public MLS for upstate where you can put in specific queries like on the water etc...

What are the prices like?

Thanks

ckhthankgod · 05-18-2010, 07:09 AM

There are plenty of places to choose from in Upstate NY that have lakes where one can relax and take a break from hustle and bustle.

Are you looking for a quiet place or a lakeside community? What about proximity to a community for possible shopping, if necessary?

I think if you want lakes with communities adjacent to them, look at Skaneateles Lake/pretty much any of the other Finger Lakes, Lake George, Cazenovia Lake, Oneida Lake, Fulton Chain of Lakes, Glimmerglass Lake(I believe that is the name of the lake that Cooperstown is next to), parts of Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain, among others.

These websites might help you out: CNYREALTOR.COM | #1 in Syracuse real estate and homes for sale. Search over 6,000 listings.
Upstate New York Real Estate

jubilee827 · 05-19-2010, 08:31 PM

Lake George is WONDERFUL! I highly recommend Lake George..

Tioga · 05-19-2010, 10:17 PM

More specific help would depend on your criteria..just using 5 hours as a guide would cover up to the eastern half of the Finger Lakes, lower Adirondacks, and quite a number of smaller lakes situated "here and there" in upstate New York. As for other criteria?.........$$ you can spend, do you want to be near a decent size town to do other "stuff" - or be out in the boonies, thinking of getting into boating?, etc..............

BaysideJR · 05-22-2010, 11:02 PM

Thanks for the info. As far as your questions, I would not necessarily want to be out in the boonies. I would want a town within driving distance with a supermarket for example, but not night clubs or anything like that. Maybe a movie theater, places to eat etc... Things like that. Boating/kayaking and maybe some fishing would be great.

Honestly im just beginning my search now so I dont have any hard rules in place. As for price, i really dont even know where to begin on this. Whats market price for a lake house with about 3 bedrooms and not ontop of eachother? Anything to be had for about $300k or are prices way north of that upstate?

Thanks

Tioga · 05-23-2010, 06:22 AM

...$300K will get you a nice place. From what I've see from the weekend/downstaters, Spending a 5 hour+ drive each way to say..the lower ADK's..will get old, fast. Finger Lakes...maybe a smaller lake north or west of the Catskills. Get some realty listings, and start doing weekend excursions to se what these areas are like.

LINative · 05-23-2010, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaysideJR

Thanks for the info. As far as your questions, I would not necessarily want to be out in the boonies. I would want a town within driving distance with a supermarket for example, but not night clubs or anything like that. Maybe a movie theater, places to eat etc... Things like that. Boating/kayaking and maybe some fishing would be great.

Honestly im just beginning my search now so I dont have any hard rules in place. As for price, i really dont even know where to begin on this. Whats market price for a lake house with about 3 bedrooms and not ontop of eachother? Anything to be had for about $300k or are prices way north of that upstate?

Thanks

You might want to try Greenwood Lake. Its a pretty large lake, surrounded by forested hills on the New York-New Jersey border. Not too far from the city either.

Other nice recreational lakes near the city include Candlewood Lake in Connecticut and Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey. In fact, maybe you should get a map because there are alot of smaller lakes, especially west of the Hudson.