Another "where should I look for a house?" post (Yonkers: foreclosure, houses)

[shesbenevolent]

Early 30s couple not looking to have children.
We want to be within a 1.5 hour commute by train to Chelsea.
We'd like to stay under $300k and that should be doable because we'd like a fixer upper. It can be a wreck as long as it's not falling down. We want at least a small garden so somewhere not super built up.
I know taxes can be crazy in certain areas. I guess we wouldn't be wanting to spend more than $13k in taxes a year if possible.

Where should we be looking? What towns/cities? The city/neighborhood doesn't have to be amazing, just not super sketchy.

It's going to be a year or two before we're ready but we want to have an idea what we're aiming for.

Really grateful for the input.

[j8p123]

Originally Posted by shesbenevolent

Early 30s couple not looking to have children.
We want to be within a 1.5 hour commute by train to Chelsea.
We'd like to stay under $300k and that should be doable because we'd like a fixer upper. It can be a wreck as long as it's not falling down. We want at least a small garden so somewhere not super built up.
I know taxes can be crazy in certain areas. I guess we wouldn't be wanting to spend more than $13k in taxes a year if possible.

Where should we be looking? What towns/cities? The city/neighborhood doesn't have to be amazing, just not super sketchy.

It's going to be a year or two before we're ready but we want to have an idea what we're aiming for.

Really grateful for the input.

Most of the less wealthy northern Westchester towns will be easily doable for a fixer upper. You can look at Ossining, Peekskill, Cortland, Mt. Kisco. Peekskill in probably the cheapest of all of these, partially because of an undeserved bad reputation, you can get a medium sized house in your price range even if it's not a fixer upper.

I wouldn't rule out Southern Westchester, because it will cut your commute down a lot. It is a bit more expensive (the largest difference is amount of land you get), but surprisingly doable. Avoid Rye, Scarsdale, Eastchester, Bronxville, Rye Brook and look into White Plains, Mamaroneck, Harrison (bit of a stretch), Port Chester, New Rochelle, Yonkers, and Mount Vernon (Northern part is nicer).

Here are four houses in my town in your price range to help you get a sense of where your price range gets you in an average Southern Westchester town:

615 First St, Mamaroneck, NY 10543 | Zillow (Fixer upper in flood zone, but only 175k, no certificate of occupancy which I believe means it is not livable currently)

911 Howard Ave, Mamaroneck, NY 10543 | Zillow (Flood zone, very small, no driveway or garage, only 185k)

915 Howard Ave, Mamaroneck, NY 10543 | Zillow (Flood zone, smallish, bad condition)

205 Waverly Ave, Mamaroneck, NY 10543 | Zillow (foreclosure, presumably in bad condition, flood zone)

Edit: I wouldn't worry about property taxes unless you guys are going to spend a ton of money renovating your home. 13k in most Westchester towns would be a house ~500-800k in value, with a few exceptions like Pelham, where a 400k house would have those taxes. The houses I just showed you are all in the 4 digit range w/o renovations. Generally, cities like WP have lower property taxes b/c of the businesses while particularly suburban towns have high property taxes.

[hughesmotors]

Look into Yonkers NY it's right outside the bronx and its a decent neighborhood.

[Iching]

Originally Posted by hughesmotors

Look into Yonkers NY it's right outside the bronx and its a decent neighborhood.

300k in Yonkers will get a house in the hood. I wouldn't recommend Yonkers to anyone.

OP - you need to up your budget to 400k and you may, I repeat, you may find something.