need advise of buying house in whestchester. (Eastchester, Bedford: safe neighborhoods, school districts)

[flexjin]

Hello,
I'm looking to buy a house in westchester. I have a newborn on the way. Depending on property tax, i was looking at house range under 650k or lower depending on the property tax.

now my question is.. at this stage, should I be concern about school distrct since my baby is not even born? is it worth it to put in all that amount of money in to tax for good school distrct while my kid may not even attend the school until in the teens. I mean who knows if the rating of the school would remain the same after 15 years?

another question is if I decide to go with average or average below school distrct but in a nice and safe surround neighbor, which area do you recommend?

also I would like the area close to Metro north as I work in midtown nyc and with nearby mall and supermarkets..

your help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[ld75]

Originally Posted by flexjin

Hello,
I'm looking to buy a house in westchester. I have a newborn on the way. Depending on property tax, i was looking at house range under 650k or lower depending on the property tax.

now my question is.. at this stage, should I be concern about school distrct since my baby is not even born? is it worth it to put in all that amount of money in to tax for good school distrct while my kid may not even attend the school until in the teens. I mean who knows if the rating of the school would remain the same after 15 years?

another question is if I decide to go with average or average below school distrct but in a nice and safe surround neighbor, which area do you recommend?

also I would like the area close to Metro north as I work in midtown nyc and with nearby mall and supermarkets..

your help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I'm currently in the market for a house too with a 19 month old daughter. With that said...I think you are at the stage to be concern what the school rating is where you're currently looking. Unless you think you may not be living in the same house by the time your child is ready for Kindergarten.

We are currently looking for good school districts as well.

As far as nice and safe neighborhoods here are a few. I recommend: Scarsdale, Eastchester, Bronxville, Katonah, Armonk, Bedford Hiils, Pound Ridge. They MAY fit within your $650k budget, not sure if the taxes will put the house out of reach in the mentioned places. I know taxes can be pretty high there.

[ponytrekker]

Location, location, location.

Much easier to sell a cheaper house in a great school district than a great house in a crappy school district. Much much easier.