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I would suggest going even farther north to Putnam county, or maybe even Dutchess. Much more reasonable price for land. There are lots of lakes too, so lakefront property is a possibility. There is also Connecticut, lots of beautiful property.
If you shut the water main off before you leave and drain the pipes, there is no worry of a frozen pipe during winter. You can get as far north as Poughkeepsie on Metro North. But you'll have many more options if you drive.
I would suggest going even farther north to Putnam county, or maybe even Dutchess. Much more reasonable price for land. There are lots of lakes too, so lakefront property is a possibility. There is also Connecticut, lots of beautiful property.
If you shut the water main off before you leave and drain the pipes, there is no worry of a frozen pipe during winter. You can get as far north as Poughkeepsie on Metro North. But you'll have many more options if you drive.
But then you can't use the house in a winter. And also, draining the pipes is not so easy. You have to pump out the water from the toilets, from sinks, etc. It is also probably wise to turn of electric as circuit breakers were never really designed to stay at the freezing temperature. That is why we have a unit in a bungalow community where our maintenance fees cover winterization and "dewinterization"
You had mentioned Danbury at one point, which I think is a good option. Some neighborhoods have underground power lines and even natural gas lines. I've noticed a few neighborhoods with Eversource employees never get power outages. We have the mall, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Costco, Target (soon to be 2), and a bunch of other stores. If you don't need to worry about schools, then your dollar is going to go very far here. Feel free to PM me if you want more specific information.
I would suggest going even farther north to Putnam county, or maybe even Dutchess. Much more reasonable price for land. There are lots of lakes too, so lakefront property is a possibility. There is also Connecticut, lots of beautiful property.
If you shut the water main off before you leave and drain the pipes, there is no worry of a frozen pipe during winter. You can get as far north as Poughkeepsie on Metro North. But you'll have many more options if you drive.
We still have lots of weekenders/summer-ers on Lake Oscawana (Putnam Valley). You'll still even find the occasional house that is not winterized. There is a complex of non-winterized co-ops on the north end of the lake that are all second homes by definition.
I'm not the biggest fan in the world of advocating for city folks snatching up second/third homes here because it screws up the market for locals/people who grew up here....Buuuuuut, it is a pretty great location for a weekend home for someone from NYC..in the woods/rural feel, on the lake, near hiking (Fahnestock Park), friendly people, dining/drinking options in Cold Spring and Peekskill, and straight down the Taconic/Sprain to get into the city. It takes my buddy who lives in Harlem like 50 minutes to drive to my house.
Years ago, it (and most other lakes in the area) was developed as a resort/vacation destination. Even though it's all single family homes now, some of that original vacation spirit still remains. Living here I feel like I'm on vacation every day I'm home. Makes more sense than some of the other suggestions in this thread (White Plains? Danbury? What?)
We still have lots of weekenders/summer-ers on Lake Oscawana (Putnam Valley).
Completely agree. In addition to Lake Oscawana, there are single family homes with lakefront views along the following bodies of water: Lake Secor, Mohegan Lake, Lake Mahopac, Peach Lake, Kirk Lake and loads more.
I think an Ossining home would be low maintenance & feel closer to an upstate feeling. Close to lots of nature but also express stop on Metro North. Very close to great towns like- Tarrytown, Peekskill, Mt Kisco, Chappaqua, Briarcliff, Croton...
There's a house on the market right now for $305K that would be a great vacation home on North Malcolm St.
The reason Beacon and Cold Spring are popular are because of the Metro North stops. If you want a less busy small town that is even closer to nature, maybe you can check out the areas close to the Patterson and Pawling Metro North stops on the Harlem Line.
You get a lot more land for your money if you go pass Westchester. There are many lakes and mountains in Putnam and Dutchess County that truly makes you feel like you are on vacation.
Check out Ossining, express stop on metro north, lots of nature closeby & charming old homes
I would think twice about any area with a high immigrant or urban population for a second house. This squatting is unnerving.
When my house was on the market in 2020, we went away for a week during the open house so our realtor had free access to our house. When we came back, I was horrified and rather angry that my veggie garden had been picked clean. Zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkins, eggplants, peppers, basil were gone. I was lucky they left the stems. Fast forward to 2024, I'm thankfully that it was only veggies and not squatters moving in!
An upstate house isolated in the country, away prying eyes, is a much better choice.
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