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We are a couple with a two-year-old, and currently live and work in Wall Street area of NYC. My lease is up this summer and we think it is a good time for us to buy a home.
Our plan so far was this: we would buy a home at $510k with 4 beds and 3.5 baths in the Navesink area of Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth county, NJ. I would commute to Wall St. via Seastreak ferry, expecting an hour door-to-door commute. We thought the school district is good (#339 out of 1369 in NJ per schooldigger.com) and the town is safe and friendly to young families. We're currently negotiating the contract.
Now the complication is this: I am considering to switch job, and if I do I would be commuting to Grand Central rather than downtown. I think that would add at least half an hour to the commute (regardless whether taking the 4/5 train from Wall St. or bicycling/taking a bus from E35th). In this scenario, Westchester county would be more appealing to me in terms of commute - I think a lot of towns near MNR stations would have less than an hour door-to-door commute to GCS.
My question is: can you recommend any town that has (1) up to an hour door-to-door commute to GCS, (2) good public schools (up to par with the NJ town I was considering) and (3) comparable size house in an $550k budget? From what I've seen from this forum over the weekend, I think finding a town that meets all three (especially the third condition) is not an easy task. In Westchester county, I would be saving the expensive seastreak ferry fares, but the housing price and property tax seem to exceed significantly those in Monmouth county towns like AH. Any thoughts appreciated.
Schools would be easy. At least half of the Westchester school districts, if not more, would meet your list.
The commuting issue would be satisfied by most of southern Westchester, and even parts of central and northern Westchester, at least if you live near the train station.
Problem is the 3rd -- 4 bedroom, 3.5 baths, for under 550k? Even with the sinking market, that might be asking too much.
There are fair sized townhouses (3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath) that will fall under 600K, that will meet your needs. If you go a bit further north, where the train rides are 45-60 minutes, you will start to find some small houses for under 600K.
But a good sized house, in a good school district, virtually anywhere in Westchester, will run over 600k. (18 months ago, it would have fun over 700k, so things have changed).
If you're willing to accept a somewhat smaller house, or a decent sized townhouse, then some options may open up.
Thanks for the input. I think 3 beds and 2 baths are the minimum for us -- we are fed up with small Manhattan apartments and would not be moving out of the city unless we get a good size home. I'd much appreciate it if you could recommened a few towns with 45 mins or less on train, top 25% school in the state and 3bed/2bath single homes. Thanks in advance!
Houses sell for that price in Croton-on-Hudson and Yorktown Heights. Both have good school districts (check this site for test scores 2007 New York State School Test Scores - New York Times ). The train ride from Grand Central to Croton is about 44 minutes and it takes about an extra 10 minutes to drive from there to Yorktown Heights. There are houses in a village setting and others in a country setting, depending on the neighborhood.
I've heard other people talk about commuting from Yorktown via the Croton station. I have looked at a number of houses in Yorktown, and have yet to find a house that was less than 15 minutes from the Croton station, with most being more like 20+ minutes. Still, there are parts of Yorktown that are accessibile to various train stations.
You will also find your price range, with lower taxes, in parts of Somers. But again, with limited train access. There are parts of Somers that are very accessible to the Purdy's station, but that is over an hour train ride. There are some parts of Somers (as well as Yorktown), that are relatively close to Mount Kisco, which gives a train ride under an hour.
Croton itself, will have some smaller houses in your price range. As mentioned, they have a 45 minute express train.
Moving further south, you may find townhouses around Mount Kisco, Chappaqua, Pleasantville, in your price range. Train rides of around 50 minutes.
As you go further south, your options will really dwindle to smaller and smaller townhouses. (Or better homes, in lesser school districts).
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