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My husband and I are looking for a place to move with our two kids (4yo and 1yo), with an easy commute to White Plains. I'm hoping to find a 'walkable' town with lots of community activities, green space, and great schools. We don't really want anything with an urban feel, as we're moving from Brooklyn and looking for a change. Our budget for a 4 bedroom house is about $450k. We haven't come up to visit yet, but Katonah sounds amazing from what I've read online. I think it may be well out of our budget, though.
Any suggestions for other towns to check out?
Thanks!
Mount Kisco might be cheaper, and it is right near the Metro-North. Also, Yorktown might be within your price range.
Budget-wise ONLY:
Cortlandt - yes
Yorktown - maybe
Mt. Kisco - highly unlikely
Croton/Briarcliff - No (unless you are ok with 4 BR in 1500 sq feet? And I just generally assume if you want 4BR you want more space?)
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but we just bought (December) in Briarcliff with Ossining schools (Ossining schools make the house much cheaper than Briarcliff schools) and it was $550K - and all the kitchens and baths need MAJOR remodeling (though we have an amazing yard and beautiful street).
So for $450 I don't think you are going to get all the things you want. We liked Katonah, too, but didn't see anything 'good' under 575/600.
I've lived in Ossining for the last 5 years and my commute to Purchase (next to White Plains) is about 30-40 minutes in the thick of traffic. If you get to work a little earlier (8/8:30) the commute will be a little better. It's annoying, but not horrible. But Croton is north of Ossinig so would add about 5-10 minutes, and then Cortlandt is further yet.
I have a friend who commutes from Yorktown and often takes I-684. Again, takes her about 30-40 minutes and some days it gets really stuck. Some days it's fine, though. The beauty of traffic.
With your budget, maybe look at 3 BRs that have a finished basement or something that you could use for a 4th BR? Or, be ok with a smaller 4BR.
We really liks Ossining - it's very racially and economically diverse which we feel is very important. It also means it doesn't have the test scores of the 'best' districts, but we don't mind. It has a cute downtown that is getting better and better - has a great farmers market on Saturdays, a few yummy restuarants/cafes, a great library with lots of programming - most won't be wakable from your home, though.
Yorktown is nice and you get a lot more house for your money. Good schools, too. We didn't look there b/c it has no Metro North station.
We also like Croton. I think Cortlandt might be a bit far for the commute. Valhalla is super close to White Plains and has a cute little downtown and a great park at the Kensico dam. I'm not sure you'd be able to walk to downtown/the dam from your house - it would depend on location. But it would be hard to find a 4BR there in your price range.
Budget-wise ONLY:
Cortlandt - yes
Yorktown - maybe
Mt. Kisco - highly unlikely
Croton/Briarcliff - No (unless you are ok with 4 BR in 1500 sq feet? And I just generally assume if you want 4BR you want more space?)
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but we just bought (December) in Briarcliff with Ossining schools (Ossining schools make the house much cheaper than Briarcliff schools) and it was $550K - and all the kitchens and baths need MAJOR remodeling (though we have an amazing yard and beautiful street).
So for $450 I don't think you are going to get all the things you want. We liked Katonah, too, but didn't see anything 'good' under 575/600.
I've lived in Ossining for the last 5 years and my commute to Purchase (next to White Plains) is about 30-40 minutes in the thick of traffic. If you get to work a little earlier (8/8:30) the commute will be a little better. It's annoying, but not horrible. But Croton is north of Ossinig so would add about 5-10 minutes, and then Cortlandt is further yet.
I have a friend who commutes from Yorktown and often takes I-684. Again, takes her about 30-40 minutes and some days it gets really stuck. Some days it's fine, though. The beauty of traffic.
With your budget, maybe look at 3 BRs that have a finished basement or something that you could use for a 4th BR? Or, be ok with a smaller 4BR.
We really liks Ossining - it's very racially and economically diverse which we feel is very important. It also means it doesn't have the test scores of the 'best' districts, but we don't mind. It has a cute downtown that is getting better and better - has a great farmers market on Saturdays, a few yummy restuarants/cafes, a great library with lots of programming - most won't be wakable from your home, though.
Yorktown is nice and you get a lot more house for your money. Good schools, too. We didn't look there b/c it has no Metro North station.
We also like Croton. I think Cortlandt might be a bit far for the commute. Valhalla is super close to White Plains and has a cute little downtown and a great park at the Kensico dam. I'm not sure you'd be able to walk to downtown/the dam from your house - it would depend on location. But it would be hard to find a 4BR there in your price range.
If you are willing to look farther north, you could find a ton in Putnam county off of 684/the Harlem line, for example, Carmel, both direct links to White Plains. You can even look a bit further north in Patterson/Pawling. Both would be about an hour to White Plains and prices are SO much cheaper than Katonah- you could get a 4BR home in the high 200's, low 300's.
It's a nice area, but don't know much about the schools. If looking at the train schedule, there aren't many trains from Patterson/Pawling direct to White Plains, but you can drive to Southeast (In northern Brewster) where there are a ton of trains to White Plains.
Last edited by YanksRule; 04-18-2011 at 04:00 PM..
If you are willing to look farther north, you could find a ton in Putnam county off of 684/the Harlem line, for example, Carmel, both direct links to White Plains. You can even look a bit further in Patterson/Pawling. Both would be about an hour to White Plains and prices are SO much cheaper than Katonah- you could get a 4BR home for the high 200's, low 300's.
It's a nice area, but don't know much about the schools. If looking at the train schedule, there aren't many trains from Patterson/Pawling direct to White Plains, but you can drive to Southeast (In northern Brewster) where there are a ton of trains to White Plains.
during the day the PART 3 goes directly from patterson to southeast
Well, not really. You could touch anything south of White Plains on the Harlem line for 450. Nor will there be anything north in area like Chappaqua.
Again, a small 4BR in Valhalla might be found. And then north of Katonah on the Harlem line would be a thought - then he could just take the train in and not have to worry about traffic.
Interestingly, I still get the daily 'new listing' updates to my email and today there is a 2200 sq foot 4BR in Mt Kisco for $495. It needs some updating, but looks nice. So something like that could probably get negotiated down to $450. BUT, that's the cheapest I've seen a 4BR since we started looking last summer (Mt. Kisco was on our list, too).
To the OP - Mt. Kisco has a great dowtown - tons of shops and restaurants. It also has a Target (not downtown) so you get the 'best' of both worlds. Again, not sure you'll be able to walk to to downtown - all depends where the house is located.
My husband and I are also currently looking at homes in Westchester. You won't be able to find a 4 bedroom house in lower Westchester in a good school district for that amount. I am not sure how far away it is from White Plains, but I have heard that Croton is nice, and is a bit less pricey than other towns in Westchester.
Katonah is amazing, but I bet a four bedroom house in town goes for at least $600,000!
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I agree that Croton on Hudson is an excellent choice as well as Yorktown.. What I suggest to most people that do not know an area, is to first.. visit the location for a day.. or at least a few hours.. Park the car.. walk about, have lunch or breakfast somewhere.. talk with the people you see.. try to get a feel for the community.. Cortlandt Manor, also will fit the bill..
Good luck..
I agree that Croton on Hudson is an excellent choice as well as Yorktown.. What I suggest to most people that do not know an area, is to first.. visit the location for a day.. or at least a few hours.. Park the car.. walk about, have lunch or breakfast somewhere.. talk with the people you see.. try to get a feel for the community.. Cortlandt Manor, also will fit the bill..
Good luck..
croton on hudson is literally car country yes there is a bus but its SLOW!!!!!
I agree that Croton on Hudson is an excellent choice as well as Yorktown.. What I suggest to most people that do not know an area, is to first.. visit the location for a day.. or at least a few hours.. Park the car.. walk about, have lunch or breakfast somewhere.. talk with the people you see.. try to get a feel for the community.. Cortlandt Manor, also will fit the bill..
Good luck..
Croton is a great town, but I am not sure about the commute to White Plains- there isn't a direct route and there is a good chance you would hit a traffic snarl no matter which way you go.
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