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I know this has been covered in various spots in various threads, but I'd love a consise analysis on one thread. Any and all help and guidance would be incredibly appreciated!!!
For work circumstances that snuck up on me VERY quickly, I have to move from the suburbs of Hartford to the NYC area. My primary office will now be in midtown NYC.
The situation in CT was ideal, and I know it wont be matched. But here are some of things I'm trying to emulate.
1- Housing. I can go to about 600K, tops 650K (have to just accept the fact that this will probably not buy me more than I already have here for 250K. Ouch). Would prefer something with 4 bed, 2 bath, over 1750 sq ft. The big thing is I'd like for the property to have land, preferably .5 acres min.
2- Children/Schools - The reason I need the space is that I have 2 young boys. Need to be able to shoot hoops, playscape, baseball in backyard, etc.
Also, we're coming from a really solid school district, so this is important. Doesn't have to be top of the 100 best HS list, but want the town to place big value in that area. Same with library, after school programs, sports programs, etc.
3 - Commute - Within an hour, preferably 45 minutes to Grand Central.
4 - Lifestyle - would like a lively, funky/cool town, but also something with a little privacy when we get back home (if that makes sense).
I have to kind of make this all happen pretty fast, as I'I want to have my oldest son (2nd grade) placed in a school district before the new school year.
An immediate search has had me circling plases like Pleasantville, Ardsville, Dobbs Ferry etc, but I don't know if the above criterion are realistic. I plan to visit these towns next week.
You might be able to swing a small cape-cop style home for $600-$650 in Scarsdale. If not you might want to look into Eastchester or Tuckahoe. Bronxville is out of the question as it won't fit into your price range.
White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle are all cheaper than these towns in terms of the cost of real estate but the public school systems aren't nearly as good.
You might be able to swing a small cape-cop style home for $600-$650 in Scarsdale. If not you might want to look into Eastchester or Tuckahoe. Bronxville is out of the question as it won't fit into your price range.
White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle are all cheaper than these towns in terms of the cost of real estate but the public school systems aren't nearly as good.
Thank you. I have also considered Scarsdale. Had not heard of the other two towns. White Plains and Yonkers are a little too big for what I'm looking for, but definetly will explore the surrounding towns.
Ok, I just checked Trulia.com (great real estate webpage by the way) and I stand corrected. The going rate for a Cape Cod appears to be atleast $700k in Scarsdale. The same appears to apply for Tuckahoe.
Look into Eastchester though. I saw a lot of cape-cod houses running from $550-$650.
Houses like these can be expected for your price range:
Livingchoices.com: Real Estate - New Homes, Homes for Sale, Apartment Rentals (http://www.livingchoices.com/home/homedetail.aspx?refer=trul&hid=536926898&mid=5600 - broken link)
The first one is listed as Scarsale, but the schools are actually in Eastchester. A lot of these realtor tricks occur around Scarsdale & Bronxville because of how high the cost of property is in these towns. So, you might see some houses listed as being in Bronxville, but they are really in Yonkers.
Look for towns that are around the train stations along the Bronx River Metro North line. This is what you'll be taking to work once you get your job in the city.
Follow up, although in a totally different direction. Are the Rockland cities comparable? Please like Nyack and Pearl River? Seems like a slightly longer commute, but cheaper with more land. Am I being blind to how bad bridge traffic can be?
I was going to say that your budget won't get you much in Scarsdale, but you might do better in New Rochelle or Larchmont. The schools are decent, as well. Schools in Yonkers are dicey...
Larchmont is nice, but I would disagree about the schools in New Rochelle. They are not the best.
Another town to look into is Pelham, you can find cheaper housing (well cheap for westchester is around 600k) with good schools in Pelham.
Rockland is nice, but the traffic on the the Tappan Zee/287 is usually pretty bad. While you might not get stuck in hour long traffic jams every day, there's a good chance it will be happening at least a couple of times a week. I often have had to drive the reverse commute across the Tappan Zee and I usually see traffic backed up for quite a bit on a regular basis going with the flow of rushour.
Took a trip down to Larchmont today. Very, VERY nice. Really liked it. Quaint, but a hop from the city. Think getting in for 650K may be tough, or the house I will get will be small. But it was nice. There were a few sections of Mamaroneck that seemed a little more industrial, or "rougher around the edges", so I think very specific location is important. Will engge a broker soon. I am going to return to check out Rye and Harrison, as I did like this area by the water. Curious if they have town centers like Larchmont did.
Plan to vist the river towns as well during the week. Hastings, Dobbs, Ardsley, Irvington, Sleepy Hollow. That's as high up as I think I can go. On first glance, the taxes seem astronomical.
I think the Rockland thing is just too far. Feels like in 2-3 years, I'll be kicking myself for not committed to being closer to NYC.
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