Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We continue on our quest to find a home in Chappaqua, including participating in this weekend's "open house extravaganza". We really liked one house in particular, but an acquaintance of ours was implying that it may be within a "not nice" section of town - exact words were that we "might be happier elsewhere", but they would not elaborate. Are there sections that it might be best to avoid, etc.? This may be simple snob appeal issues, because these people know we make a decent living, and therefore may assume we would not want to be with "middle class" people, but in Chappaqua, we probably are "middle class", and even if we are "upper middle class" (or something), I grew up solidly middle class and still relate best to those of similar backgrounds anyway.
We spent Sat looking at homes in Chappaqua. I'd like to know where the slums are too! My impression was that the housing stock is fairly old. It seems that because the homes and taxes are so high, many homeowners aren't updating the homes. At those prices, I don't think there could be any slums, though. Which street is the house you like?
it was on a street off of King, relatively close to town. most houses on block were relatively modest, including the one we saw (with a few "teardown and rebuild" of 3000 sq ft plus), but definitely seemed to be a well-maintained street- nice cars, lawns, clean paintjobs, etc. these acquaintainces were probably just weirdos or had some sort of skewed version of "nice" or something.
One thing I've found in my quet for a new home is that Chappaqua has very high taxes for what they offer. Also-the closer you get to town, the more modest homes will be. Recommend looking at other areas of Westchester.
Good luck
We just bought in Chappaqua and the taxes are on par with the surrounding towns of Pleasantville and Briarcliff - definitely less than the river towns or those in southern Westchester. Not sure why Chappaqua has such a bad rep for taxes. You can get 2 or 3 times as much land as in P-ville with comparable taxes for the same size house.
FWIW, that's nothing unique to Chappaqua. There are other towns in Westchester where some people will describe them as where "the other half live," be they smaller houses, or areas that tend to be a bit more blue collar. In Chappaqua, however, there's really not anything to worry about, since it's not a case of some other areas in Westchester that do have higher crime rates, and/or social problems on one side of the town. There are some smaller houses in Chappaqua under $750k, or so, between $500-$750k, that would fit in the areas you have described. There's nothing wrong with them at all, and the neighborhood is fine, if not populated by "names."
Scarsdale is similar, where there are modest homes and mansions within the town, as are parts of Bedford and Katonah. None of these areas could even be remotely described as a dangerous area at all. It's just that houses may be smaller, on smaller parcels of land, and may not have been updated. Instead of an S-Class in the driveway, it may be a Buick, but there's no hidden problem lurking in Chappaqua. Well, nothing lurking since the Army Corps of Engineers fixed the flooding, since parts of Chappaqua used to flood terribly when the Saw Mill overran its banks.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
I think the most dangerous thing about Chappaqua would be getting hit by a soccer ball while crossing the field! Besides, how could you go wrong in an area where the high school has it's own observatory. Really, it's own little observatory! How awesome is that. And some really great bio/chem/physics labs too. On a Saturday, the high school parking lot was filled with "middle class/upper middle class" cars, not "rich people" cars. Having moved alot, I always think you can tell a lot about an area by the cars. Seems like a nice town that has older housing stock, but really is just a "nice" area. Good luck on your house hunting!
You might want to look at Harrison as well-I'm selling my home, but have been very happy here. Nice people-good schools. Find it to be very safe-different levlels of housing, like Chappaqua. Taxes vary and you can get alot of land with updated interiors. I have not found the same parity with Chappaqua, which is why I am steering away from there, as well as Pleasantville.
Let me know if I can help-I know the area pretty well, in my quest.
Good luck to you
thanks for your responses. quick update on Chappaqua house hunt. apparently, one of the other "more expensive" houses we saw got an alleged offer from another prospective buyer. we told our agent that we would not put in an offer without seeing it again, and in any event would not be above "x". he told us that we was "certain" the competing offer was at least "y" (which was more than x). lo and behold, the listing just dropped their price to a number below "y" (but still more than x). we'll see (or maybe we will check out Bergen County NJ- which seems to be a bit cheaper and also lower taxes)
thanks for your responses. quick update on Chappaqua house hunt. apparently, one of the other "more expensive" houses we saw got an alleged offer from another prospective buyer. we told our agent that we would not put in an offer without seeing it again, and in any event would not be above "x". he told us that we was "certain" the competing offer was at least "y" (which was more than x). lo and behold, the listing just dropped their price to a number below "y" (but still more than x). we'll see (or maybe we will check out Bergen County NJ- which seems to be a bit cheaper and also lower taxes)
Maybe you need to find another agent? When buying a house your only "view" into the community is the agent. You need to be able to trust them to a certain degree. Also, it could be that they made the offer, and got an inspection that showed something expensive; hence the price drop? Could be.
I'm trying to look at our house hunt as though we are buying the schools and the community, not so much the house. The housing stock in our price range (which would buy a mansion in most of the country, but not here!) is older and just worn. I'm trying to focus on the good, not the old. I like my realtor though as I think she knows a lot about the community and, at least so far, she hasn't mislead us. We saw a beautiful house this weekend, new to the market, and just beautifully decorated. The house was just set up differently than we live our life and so we knew it wasn't the house for us. Our realtor made it very clear that the house was very well priced and wouldn't be on the market long at all. It sold the next day with 2 bids on it. Most of the other houses are just sitting, sitting, sitting there. I think you can afford to be picky and not over pay on a house.
Good luck on your continued adventure!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
