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My wife and I currently live in Rockland County. We have a 2 year old son, and my wife wants to take a few years off of work to stay at home with him until he's in school. We can't afford our house with just my salary plus the property taxes are insane. My monthly escrow payment is within $100 of my mortgage payment. We also live in a town that borders Monsey, and Hasidics are starting to buy up property in our neighborhood so we want out.
I work in NYC and the commuting situation here kind of sucks. I prefer to be on the east side of the Hudson River if at all possible. We've been looking at towns with Metro North stations and basically just been scoping out houses on Zillow. I'm just looking for more information from other people on some of these towns.
Our budget is around 350k. Decent schools are important since we have a child. We're looking for ~1.2k sqft. Property taxes are also a consideration. I'm looking to spend about $2k-2.2k/month with 20% down.
I started off looking in Beacon (I know it's Dutchess), and just started working my way down the Hudson line. My wife and I go to Beacon every so often to visit the brewery up there, and we enjoy the scene. We ruled out Peekskill due to poor schools, but we like the area surrounding it. We have friends that live in Cortlandt Manor, so we've been up in that area a few times. There seem to be some decent small houses in our price range.
Any other advice/suggestions would be great. Thanks.
My wife and I currently live in Rockland County. We have a 2 year old son, and my wife wants to take a few years off of work to stay at home with him until he's in school. We can't afford our house with just my salary plus the property taxes are insane. My monthly escrow payment is within $100 of my mortgage payment. We also live in a town that borders Monsey, and Hasidics are starting to buy up property in our neighborhood so we want out.
I work in NYC and the commuting situation here kind of sucks. I prefer to be on the east side of the Hudson River if at all possible. We've been looking at towns with Metro North stations and basically just been scoping out houses on Zillow. I'm just looking for more information from other people on some of these towns.
Our budget is around 350k. Decent schools are important since we have a child. We're looking for ~1.2k sqft. Property taxes are also a consideration. I'm looking to spend about $2k-2.2k/month with 20% down.
I started off looking in Beacon (I know it's Dutchess), and just started working my way down the Hudson line. My wife and I go to Beacon every so often to visit the brewery up there, and we enjoy the scene. We ruled out Peekskill due to poor schools, but we like the area surrounding it. We have friends that live in Cortlandt Manor, so we've been up in that area a few times. There seem to be some decent small houses in our price range.
Any other advice/suggestions would be great. Thanks.
I live in Cortlandt and love it. You can find homes in the 350k range. Its the low end and some are small, but they are there. Please let me know what you want to know. Lakeland schools are good, my kids have done great in them. This is the largest school district in the Town of Cortlandt. The town is great. Good sports for kids when they get to that age, two nice music schools in the area if that is what you are lookign for. The commute is not bad. I go to croton, but cortandt and peekskill train stations are close too. Ask me anything and I will try to help.
I live in Cortlandt and love it. You can find homes in the 350k range. Its the low end and some are small, but they are there. Please let me know what you want to know. Lakeland schools are good, my kids have done great in them. This is the largest school district in the Town of Cortlandt. The town is great. Good sports for kids when they get to that age, two nice music schools in the area if that is what you are lookign for. The commute is not bad. I go to croton, but cortandt and peekskill train stations are close too. Ask me anything and I will try to help.
As someone who lives up there, is Cortlandt diverse in terms of demographics? I saw quite a bit in the area of the Cortlandt Town Center Mall.
My wife and I currently live in Rockland County. We have a 2 year old son, and my wife wants to take a few years off of work to stay at home with him until he's in school. We can't afford our house with just my salary plus the property taxes are insane. My monthly escrow payment is within $100 of my mortgage payment. We also live in a town that borders Monsey, and Hasidics are starting to buy up property in our neighborhood so we want out.
I work in NYC and the commuting situation here kind of sucks. I prefer to be on the east side of the Hudson River if at all possible. We've been looking at towns with Metro North stations and basically just been scoping out houses on Zillow. I'm just looking for more information from other people on some of these towns.
Our budget is around 350k. Decent schools are important since we have a child. We're looking for ~1.2k sqft. Property taxes are also a consideration. I'm looking to spend about $2k-2.2k/month with 20% down.
I started off looking in Beacon (I know it's Dutchess), and just started working my way down the Hudson line. My wife and I go to Beacon every so often to visit the brewery up there, and we enjoy the scene. We ruled out Peekskill due to poor schools, but we like the area surrounding it. We have friends that live in Cortlandt Manor, so we've been up in that area a few times. There seem to be some decent small houses in our price range.
Any other advice/suggestions would be great. Thanks.
I lived in Rockland for a brief bit. The commute was a horror. No comparison between Rockand and the commute on the east side of the Hudson.
What about Somers? I worked in Somers for awhile and thought it was lovely. It has a very countryish feel. The schools are good, and they have strong sports and other programs.
I lived in Rockland for a brief bit. The commute was a horror. No comparison between Rockand and the commute on the east side of the Hudson.
It really is awful. I take the bus, and I end up having to leave at 6AM to beat rush hour. It's awful after 7AM. I lived in Eastchester 6 years ago, and I still miss having the consistency of Metro North to this day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LouisaHeron
What about Somers? I worked in Somers for awhile and thought it was lovely. It has a very countryish feel. The schools are good, and they have strong sports and other programs.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr.strangelove
I live in Cortlandt and love it. You can find homes in the 350k range. Its the low end and some are small, but they are there. Please let me know what you want to know. Lakeland schools are good, my kids have done great in them. This is the largest school district in the Town of Cortlandt. The town is great. Good sports for kids when they get to that age, two nice music schools in the area if that is what you are lookign for. The commute is not bad. I go to croton, but cortandt and peekskill train stations are close too. Ask me anything and I will try to help.
Thanks for the offer. How are the property taxes? One of the main reasons we are trying to leave Rockland is to avoid paying extremely high property taxes. Zillow estimates must be way off. My friend in Cortlandt Manor says he pays ~18k a year on his 600k house, and he would expect to pay 14-15k a year on a 350k-400k house.
The more and more I shop around, the more enticing it seems to just keep going further north to get more house for my money. That commute though...
It really is awful. I take the bus, and I end up having to leave at 6AM to beat rush hour. It's awful after 7AM. I lived in Eastchester 6 years ago, and I still miss having the consistency of Metro North to this day.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out.
Thanks for the offer. How are the property taxes? One of the main reasons we are trying to leave Rockland is to avoid paying extremely high property taxes. Zillow estimates must be way off. My friend in Cortlandt Manor says he pays ~18k a year on his 600k house, and he would expect to pay 14-15k a year on a 350k-400k house.
The more and more I shop around, the more enticing it seems to just keep going further north to get more house for my money. That commute though...
On the property tax, on a 350k house I would expect pre-Star taxes of $11 to 12k and post Star of $8 to 9k. Get the Star application in as soon as you can. I have a close whose house is in the $300 - $350 range and I help with her taxes. Hers are $11,000 pre-star and $8,000 after Star.
It really is awful. I take the bus, and I end up having to leave at 6AM to beat rush hour. It's awful after 7AM. I lived in Eastchester 6 years ago, and I still miss having the consistency of Metro North to this day.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out.
Thanks for the offer. How are the property taxes? One of the main reasons we are trying to leave Rockland is to avoid paying extremely high property taxes. Zillow estimates must be way off. My friend in Cortlandt Manor says he pays ~18k a year on his 600k house, and he would expect to pay 14-15k a year on a 350k-400k house.
The more and more I shop around, the more enticing it seems to just keep going further north to get more house for my money. That commute though...
The problem with your analysis, as it seems you are finding out, is that you assumed that high property taxes are unique to Rockland. It is not. It is a metro NY thing. Leaving Rockland for Westchester does not lower your property taxes - it increases them, generally speaking. As for the commute, Metro North exists in Rockland (via NJ transit). That will give you a better commute than a bus, but you probably are currently living in an area of Rockland not close to a train line.
What about Somers? I worked in Somers for awhile and thought it was lovely. It has a very countryish feel. The schools are good, and they have strong sports and other programs.
I grew up in Somers. We are actually selling our house and it will go on market 11/5.
$475,000
The problem with your analysis, as it seems you are finding out, is that you assumed that high property taxes are unique to Rockland. It is not. It is a metro NY thing. Leaving Rockland for Westchester does not lower your property taxes - it increases them, generally speaking. As for the commute, Metro North exists in Rockland (via NJ transit). That will give you a better commute than a bus, but you probably are currently living in an area of Rockland not close to a train line.
Oh I'm well aware that Westchester and Rockland are #1 and #2 in the state in terms of property taxes. I've lived in this area for my entire life. I was under the impression that lower Westchester (Scarsdale, Bronxville etc) taxes were higher than upper Westchester is all. Property taxes in this are are going to be high no matter what we do, so it's not like I'm trying to find some place that has 5k-6k/year taxes with fantastic schools. However, if I can get the 16k/year I currently pay down to 10k/year, it'll make a difference for the two years that my wife and I plan to live off of one income.
I actually live in Suffern that does have a Metro North station and I considered it. However, it's more expensive per month, plus I have to pay to park vs free to park for the bus. Penn Station is also on the other side of midtown from my job. The bus drops me off much closer.
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