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Due to the ridiculous property taxes here on Long Island, I will need to seriously consider relocation within the next year or so. I'll be living on a fixed income (Social Security and a smallish IRA, plus savings) and have been researching other state possibilities. Definitely don't want anything in the Carolinas or south thereof. A huge factor is going to be the property tax afordability which lets out MD (I'd get no senior tax break there at all) and many parts of PA. I thought Delaware looked promising but am leery of being in a coastal area and the inland/northern parts have a crime rate that really unsettles me. Also, as a senior with a cancer history and a couple of other conditions, the overall dearth of good medical care in most of DE is also a worry. So despite the low property taxes I am not entirely sure about DE either. Also the cost of living there is relatively high even though there is no sales tax.
I'm looking for:
A single family home, on a piece of property either 1/3 or 1/2 acre (more would be nice but probably cost prohibitive)
House price in the $400s. Current property taxes under $5000/yr (the more "under" the better, LOL).
Public water is an absolute must. Don't want to have to deal with having an well.
Would prefer new construction if it's affordable, but not a must IF I can find a good, reliable contractor (another thing DE seems to have a serious lack of!) for necessary renovations that would make it handicap access friendly.
Would like to avoid an HOA if at all possible.
Safe, quiet residential neighborhood at least 1 mile away from highway traffic noise, and at least 2 miles away from a commercial area... but at the same time to be within 15 or 20 minutes drive of necessary shopping such as post office, supermarkets, etc etc. Not abutting any areas with crime concerns, or farmland where odors (chicken farms, etc) or agricultural chemicals (produce or sod farms) are produced or used.
Within 30 minutes drive of a good hospital or medical facility... just in case.
Suggestions for general areas or specific towns? It's been a long time since I was in Kentucky; back in the late 1970s I went there one year for the Derby. Other than the race and the mint juleps, I recall beautiful rolling landscapes (horse farms) and going to a gorgeous antique store called Wakefield-Scearce Galleries in Shelbyville. It was filled with things that I couldn't afford but practically drooled over anyhow, LOL
Lexington has most of what you seek. However, many very nice Lexington neighborhoods are well within two miles of a "commercial area", if by this you mean neighborhood shopping centers - we look upon this as a convenience, not a drawback. Your price range will give you a wide choice of housing, although you may have to have some remodeling done, depending on what sort of handicap-accessible features you need: would you include lowered kitchen counters and sink, bathtub accessibility (i.e. walk-in bath), ramps or ground-level access to doors, or something more?
And - many of Lexington's older neighborhoods' housing is substantially better constructed than that in newer neighborhoods. Plaster instead of drywall, stronger building materials all around, and so on. If you can find an older house which has been updated you might be far better off. Yards are often larger in older neighborhoods, and you're more likely to have mature trees.
Water is provided by Kentucky-American Water Company, which is not publicly owned but which provides decent and safe, if not always tasty, water. Lexington's water is provided via gravity, so the occasional electrical outage caused by an ice storm or other event doesn't interfere with the water supply.
There are five large hospitals in Lexington, including the University of Kentucky Medical Center, along with two VA hospitals, Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital, and Shriners' Children's Hospital.
There are no commercial chicken farms in central Kentucky, to the best of my knowledge - factory farming hasn't taken hold here, thankfully. There may be a few sod farms - but nothing on a large scale that I am aware of. More produce is grown each year, but again, factory farming isn't a major thing - much local produce goes directly to local restaurants and groceries, or to farmers' markets. Some agricultural chemicals are used, but you can still find heirloom vegetables quite readily at the farmers' markets.
Property taxes are reasonable here, and older homeowners get a homestead exemption which lowers their tax rate. We do have a 6% sales tax.
You might want to contact the Lexington Visitors' Center and/or the Chamber of Commerce for free material. There is much to be found online as well.
Lexington is surrounded by a ring of attractive smaller Bluegrass towns, which might also be of interest to you: Versailles, Georgetown, Paris, Winchester, Richmond, and Nicholasville are the closest, with Wilmore, Danville, Lawrenceburg, Midway, Frankfort, Cynthiana, Carlisle, and Berea also being within an hour or less of much larger Lexington.
Wow! A possible LI transplant! I too, am from LI, and have been here in Paris permanently for three weeks shy of a year! Whether you choose to be in the city of Lex or it's suburbs, or in a smaller town on its outskirts, you will love it here! We are out in a rural area in Bourbon County and still have less than a 10 minute drive to get to supermarkets, Lowes, Walmarts, either north or south of us. On LI it took us longer than that to go 2 miles away with all the stop signs, lights, etc.!
Our taxes are a tenth of what they were in NY. And, whatever you need as far as housing goes, you will find it! Country, suburbia, city, small town, and in all price ranges!
As well as 5 major hospitals in Lex, every smaller town has it's own hospital, too.
My suggestion is to come down for a visit and to do some RE research with an agent. We found going around with ours was soooo educating as far as getting to know the areas/towns and what's available in our price range.
A good RE starting point is www.lbar.com. You can search by the areas/counties, price, amenities, etc. I'd also get a map of Lexington and the Bluegrass area. We found several different ones on line.
Best of luck and have fun in your search no matter where you end up!
would you include lowered kitchen counters and sink, bathtub accessibility (i.e. walk-in bath), ramps or ground-level access to doors, or something more?
Water is provided by Kentucky-American Water Company, which is not publicly owned but which provides decent and safe, if not always tasty, water. Lexington's water is provided via gravity, so the occasional electrical outage caused by an ice storm or other event doesn't interfere with the water supply.
There are five large hospitals in Lexington, including the University of Kentucky Medical Center, along with two VA hospitals, Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital, and Shriners' Children's Hospital.
We do have a 6% sales tax.
Many thanks! The remodeling will depend on the structure of the house; it would probably be a matter of converting an existing bathtub to a walk-in shower, adding ramps as needed, and if I couldn't find a single-story house with the garage and all living areas at ground level, a stairlift.
The water supply in Lexington environs is fine. :-) I have a Doulton undersink filter even with our "good" public water, to remove the chlorine and any other stuff that lurks in pipes between the water's departure from the water company and it's arrival at my sink, so no problem there. :-)
Your sales tax is lower than mine, which is 8.625% combined state and county.
The state income tax wouldn't be a problem, as Social Security is exempt and so is up to $41K of other retirement income (which is more than I will ever be getting, LOL). I do see you have a personal property tax which I guess applies to autos (don't plan to have anything other than that as far as transportation).
I did a quick online check of houses for sale and noticed that the property taxes don't seem to be displayed with the other information. Is that typical of Kentucky real estate listings? (here on LI the taxes are always shown, probably so that potential buyers don't die of cardiac arrest when they call the realtor and ask what they are, LOL.)
As far as the commercial-area hesitation, it's mainly because I once had the nasty experience of buying a house within a quarter mile of a small strip mall that contained a deli, a pizzeria, and a Chinese restaurant. After moving in I discovered that due to the dumpsters behind the stores, it was common to see rats literally running through the neighborhood even in the daytime! I was constantly freaked out, especially since I like to garden. Most of the neighbors had rat-poison/traps ringing their houses but it didn't seem to make much difference. So now I'm leery of being too close to that kind of area. Maybe 2 miles is a bit of overkill, LOL, one mile would probably be fine. ;-)
Many thanks! The remodeling will depend on the structure of the house; it would probably be a matter of converting an existing bathtub to a walk-in shower, adding ramps as needed, and if I couldn't find a single-story house with the garage and all living areas at ground level, a stairlift.
The water supply in Lexington environs is fine. :-) I have a Doulton undersink filter even with our "good" public water, to remove the chlorine and any other stuff that lurks in pipes between the water's departure from the water company and it's arrival at my sink, so no problem there. :-)
Your sales tax is lower than mine, which is 8.625% combined state and county.
The state income tax wouldn't be a problem, as Social Security is exempt and so is up to $41K of other retirement income (which is more than I will ever be getting, LOL). I do see you have a personal property tax which I guess applies to autos (don't plan to have anything other than that as far as transportation).
I did a quick online check of houses for sale and noticed that the property taxes don't seem to be displayed with the other information. Is that typical of Kentucky real estate listings? (here on LI the taxes are always shown, probably so that potential buyers don't die of cardiac arrest when they call the realtor and ask what they are, LOL.)
As far as the commercial-area hesitation, it's mainly because I once had the nasty experience of buying a house within a quarter mile of a small strip mall that contained a deli, a pizzeria, and a Chinese restaurant. After moving in I discovered that due to the dumpsters behind the stores, it was common to see rats literally running through the neighborhood even in the daytime! I was constantly freaked out, especially since I like to garden. Most of the neighbors had rat-poison/traps ringing their houses but it didn't seem to make much difference. So now I'm leery of being too close to that kind of area. Maybe 2 miles is a bit of overkill, LOL, one mile would probably be fine. ;-)
That would freak out most people! I once worked in a similar area which had water rats living along a mostly-enclosed but partially open stream which ran through the area. We called the health department, who put out poisoned corn, but didn't color it differently or do anything else to mark it as dangerous, not great for curious kids, pets, or desirable wildlife.
Actually, my recent backyard visitors have included the usual squirrels and birds, but also a couple of raccoons and one pitiful, weather-beaten looking smallish 'possum, foraging for sunflower seeds I'd left supposedly for the birds, during this long snowy spell (ten days since we've seen the ground, unusually long for central Ky). My house is in a nice older neighborhood about a mile and a half from downtown. We also have cottontails, hawks, mice, voles, moles, and chipmunks (hibernating now: smart little things), but so far, no coyotes, foxes, skunks, bears, or deer.
At least, if they're here, they're keeping low profiles.
As for property taxes, I am sure the realtors could tell you all about them, but they are not generally included in real estate listings. They tend to be lower than elsewhere. Also, our electricity bills run on the low side, due to the proximity of the coal fields, and since our weather is usually - I stress usually, this is not a "usual" winter - milder than weather in NY, gas bills can also be considerably lower.
I don't think you'd have much trouble finding a suitable house, or making the alterations you describe. There are many nice one-floor ranch houses in Lexington which would meet many of your requirements.
That would have freaked me out about the rats, too!!!!
I live within a few feet or yards away from a shopping center, and I leave out food for a big feral cat that lives behind the shopping center, I also feed the birds (a large group of cardinals live out front all year long)....and we have caught a possum or two eating the cat food, and also once a skunk!!!!! The squirrels and the chip monks eat the bird food (it's okay I enjoy watching them too), plus we have lots of rabbits here (but we live close by to Rabbit Run, so I guess it's to be expected, lol.)...but I have never seen a rat even once. (Maybe that's why that feral cat is so big, Lol.)
Well, good luck in finding your new home. And if you decide on Kentucky then come on down!
Due to the ridiculous property taxes here on Long Island, I will need to seriously consider relocation within the next year or so. I'll be living on a fixed income (Social Security and a smallish IRA, plus savings) and have been researching other state possibilities. Definitely don't want anything in the Carolinas or south thereof. A huge factor is going to be the property tax afordability which lets out MD (I'd get no senior tax break there at all) and many parts of PA. I thought Delaware looked promising but am leery of being in a coastal area and the inland/northern parts have a crime rate that really unsettles me. Also, as a senior with a cancer history and a couple of other conditions, the overall dearth of good medical care in most of DE is also a worry. So despite the low property taxes I am not entirely sure about DE either. Also the cost of living there is relatively high even though there is no sales tax.
I'm looking for:
A single family home, on a piece of property either 1/3 or 1/2 acre (more would be nice but probably cost prohibitive)
House price in the $400s. Current property taxes under $5000/yr (the more "under" the better, LOL).
Public water is an absolute must. Don't want to have to deal with having an well.
Would prefer new construction if it's affordable, but not a must IF I can find a good, reliable contractor (another thing DE seems to have a serious lack of!) for necessary renovations that would make it handicap access friendly.
Would like to avoid an HOA if at all possible.
Safe, quiet residential neighborhood at least 1 mile away from highway traffic noise, and at least 2 miles away from a commercial area... but at the same time to be within 15 or 20 minutes drive of necessary shopping such as post office, supermarkets, etc etc. Not abutting any areas with crime concerns, or farmland where odors (chicken farms, etc) or agricultural chemicals (produce or sod farms) are produced or used.
Within 30 minutes drive of a good hospital or medical facility... just in case.
Suggestions for general areas or specific towns? It's been a long time since I was in Kentucky; back in the late 1970s I went there one year for the Derby. Other than the race and the mint juleps, I recall beautiful rolling landscapes (horse farms) and going to a gorgeous antique store called Wakefield-Scearce Galleries in Shelbyville. It was filled with things that I couldn't afford but practically drooled over anyhow, LOL
Oldham County. The best real estate, the closest to the state's premiere city, yet tons of land with rolling hills and horses. You will get the most appreciation there. I also would look at Shelbyville and Shelby County. I find the counties surrounding Lexington to be pretty but much too agrarian for a person from NY.
Ha Ha Ha...got to love that Peta. what a guy.... Ye have to be looking down on the masses from way up yonder to make a statement like that.
Fact is he makes so many statements that are just so ridiculous that no one knows what part to believe or not to believe.
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what a guy...
. Ye have to be looking down on the masses from way up yonder to make a statement like that. 
