Relocating to the Poconos into brand new homes (East Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg: real estate, apartment)

[BxJeannie]

Hi, my family & I are seriously considering relocating to the Poconos from N.Y.C. We have browsed several brand new 4 bedroom homes & the cost of complete home & land packages, sound a little too good to be true. What are the home builders not telling us? Classic Quality Homes in particular calculated a total monthly mortgage of close to $1500. We currently live in an apt. & this will be our first house. What other expenses should we be prepared to pay for. These houses look like mini mansions so, what are we looking at, as far as school tax, garbage pick-up, propane tanks?, heat & electricity. Please enlighten me with detailed information. I truly appreciate it!

[KarenRice]

For school tax we need to know what school district it's in. The taxes in Western Wayne District will be VERY different than Delaware Valley or East Stroudsburg.

Garbage will also depend on the company....

I do know this - often the builder quote is just an estimate. there are almost always other costs...

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

I can definitely relate. When we built our first home in Milford, the builder said taxes were going to be $1,200 a year turned out to be $3,000. We actually went to the tax accessor first to find out that builders have a way of twisting the truth. Does the house include land and septic in the package? What school district? There are so many hidden costs that go into building a house that you do not know about when you sign on. What about blasting? Blasting became an issue in our first house and cost us quite a bit more. Good luck, ask away.

[poconoproud]

if you are commuting, add the cost in there....many families in your situation are commuting, and finding the cost to do so, and just the stress of it all...to be more than they bargained for.

your heating cost will depend on how consertative you can be as a family. We pay about $200 per month for electric, and I pay $250 per month all year long on a budget plan with my propane company.

If you are in a community that has a Home Owner's Association, there would be dues to consider...the cost of daycare if you both work...

[Eyes]

It is possible to be nickeled and dimed beyond what is expected
Some area have 3 separate tax bills .. county .. local .. school

Is there an HOA .. it is a kind of co-op that takes care of all major projects .. like roads and sewers and may have employees with benefits.

individual snow removal equipment/products .. for walks, steps and driveways
grounds care equipment .. lawn / trees
building maintenance ... not all issues will fall under the guarantee
trash
Your children will need to be driven every where .. 2 cars and insurance
When they turn 16 they will "need" cars and insurance and will be driving the same roads .. with ice.

commuting hours .. can be 3/8hrs. daily ... depending on road work, traffic and road conditions

[BxJeannie]

The houses that we're considering include land & septic. The home builder emphasized the the package was complete & "no hidden costs", which sounded great but, I'm a always skeptical of anything that sounds too good to be true. The house would be on one of there 1/4 acre lots in Monroe or East Stroudsburg. We've already calculated the cost of commuting, but because we've never owned a home before, we are not aware of a home owner's basic expenses. School tax, electricity, propane, water, garbage & so forth........ Thanks again for all the helpful info.!

[JD CSummit]

Just make sure you dont rush to end your current apt lease in expectations of having a house april 1 or whatver the date may be. Give yourself as much time as you can before ending the lease so you can track the progress of construction of your new home. There will be plenty of lost construction days in the poconos, especially if youre building in the dead of winter or even spring with all the rain, mud, etc.

[poconoproud]

$1500 x 12 months = $18,000 x 30 (considering it is a 30 year mortgage) = $540,000 wow...that's alot of dough...how does that compare to the "sales price" of the home?

[poconosmama]

We also bought a house to be built as a 'turnkey' meaning just move in. My parents warned us to have about $20,000 cash on hand, just in case, and good thing we did because we had to use almost all of it. You just never know what might come up: blasting for rock ledge, excavator sucked so had to be replaced, gutters aren't included in a house, etc etc etc...

[DavidWebb]

Wanna save some money?? Look into foreclosures. Any bank can give you a list of foreclosures they are handling and you can save that way. You may have to do some renovating depending on the condition of the house but you end up winning still if you do your research first. I would also recommend watching HGTV and checking out their website. It's loaded with ton's of information for first time buyers. If you or your other half is a veteran you may want to look into loans from the V.A. I got my home through the V.A. and couldn't be happier with the process and I didn't have to pay a dime in closing costs. The V.A. has a website where they explain the whole process and what to look out for. For mortgage rates, check out Compare Mortgage Rates | CD Rates | Credit Cards Home Equity Loans Mortgages Best Rate Calculator Bankrate.com for the latest rates after market closes at 4pm. Usually by 6pm it should be updated with the most current rates. How much you pay for electricity and heat depends on how big the house is and whether you can fathom paying between $200 - $400 for electricity. Heat would depend on whether the house is heated with electric baseboard heater's, oil heat, or propane. Water bill depends on whether the house has a well or if it's city supplied. You mention 1/4 acre lots and if they quoted you $1500/monthly then that is a lot. I have 1/2 acre corner lot, house is a 2 bedroom ranch, heated by a pellet stove and I have a gas (propane) stove for cooking. I paid $118K for this. Only drawback to where I live is that the road to come up to my property is a dirt road since it's a private community. Which I don't mind anyway as it keeps out those that don't live here. Also, big item to remember when purchasing your first house is there is no super or handyman available to assist you when something breaks. So I do recommend purchasing a basic home-owner's handyman book. You'll be glad you did when something goes wrong. Unless one of you two is a contractor, electrician, plumber, tree removal, and all around handyman. Depending on what breaks it can get mighty expensive. Main thing you don't want to forget come wintertime...don't let your pipes freeze up!! If you do, you'll really be wishing you hadn't moved out of that apartment in the Bronx!! Also, unlike the city, some townships aren't always out at the crack of dawn plowing the roads. So you'll have to dig yourself out of the snow on your driveway. If you drive a Yugo, Ford Pinto, or any other little roach of a car you're going to wish you could light it on fire come winter's fury!! A 4X4 is a must up here unless your car is stick (manual, not automatic) and you're good at maneuvering yourself out of ditches you might get yourself stuck in. My first winter here I was able to get around in my Hyundai Elantra cuz it's stick and I've been coming up here for 13 years before I finally bought my place in 2007. There's a lot to consider before making the plunge into homeownership and especially up here. What I would recommend is: 1) RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!! Can't stress that more because it was enticing to many to move out here for a decent home at a decent price but they didn't realize what this entails. 2) find a real estate agent that is patient and explain to them what your intentions are. Tell them you'd like to get educated on 1st time home buying. 3) If you're able to try to meet with someone who's been living up here for a few years and sit down with them at Panera's or somewhere for coffee and get their side of the story. 4) Again, the bank: most all banks have seminars for 1st time home buyers and you can learn a lot by attending one. This way when the time comes you won't be standing in front of some house and clueless about what's involved. An informed consumer is a smart consumer. Also, as I stated in the beginning banks have lists of foreclosed properties that they want to move cuz they're losing money on them by sitting unoccupied. A lot of times they say the price is final but if you push hard enough they may come down in price. I've seen them do it on HGTV. Push for information and details regardless of who you're dealing with. The majority of the properties that are in foreclosure right now in NEPA are because the previous owners did not do their homework and didn't know about the $400 to $600 winter electric and heating bills, thought garbage pickup was free, didn't know about H.O.A.'s (Home Owner's Associations) fee's, and that the city plowed their driveways. KNOCK KNOCK...this ain't city living out here. I'm not trying to scare or discourage you but if you don't take these things into consideration it can and will come back to haunt you!! Good luck and if you want/need any other information, just ask here and someone will try to help you. You can also send me a direct message if you'd like and I'll try to help as best I can. Good luck from a former Brooklynite!!