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Exactly. Time is $$ IMO. We rather pay someone who will do the job with 7 men in 20 minutes a week, than one or two of us spending hours of our own time each week. And have to have the proper equipment stored, dump debris, etc. Time is definitely money and you have to enjoy doing landscaping or you will be miserable.
You are completely nuts to pay $12k a year for landscaping.
You are looking at this out of context. $12K seems reasonable when you consider that decent houses in Old Brookville are $2 million and up. I would be more worried about real estate taxes than landscaping fees as they continue to rise at a fast clip. I have 2 friends who live in Old Brookville and they both pay around $50,000/yr in property taxes of course one of them does have a private pump to pump gas into his car. The OP then mentioned that he will look in other areas like Jericho for smaller lots. That would not be an apples to apples comparison because the houses would be much cheaper. A more appropriate place to look for smaller lots but same cost of house would be lets say Manhasset or Roslyn Heights/East Williston new construction which are on 100 x 200 lots....Taxes would also be more reasonable at around $35,000/yr. Regardless, nobody in any of the areas I mentioned are doing their own landscaping, that would be laughable.
Hey just bought 1 acre but half of it is forest. Depends on what you're looking for. I love the fact that my backyard looks like a German forest right now. The Beauty of it is that forced don't need landscaping.
Really depends on what you want out of the landscape.
Your life sounds fine for what it is, but maybe you don't understand that when people get off the Long Island Rail Road after a 12-hour day at a tough job in Manhattan, they are in no position to mow the lawn, do weeding or plow snow. Younger and middle-aged people with careers and families usually have more money than time. And, yes, many places on Long Island do not have municipal carting services. It's just a fact of life.
Also, if you're trying to lure us to Buffalo with stories of cheap landscaping and garbage collection, it would take more than that to get me to move north. However difficult it can be to live on LI, this place looks like paradise compared to Buffalo.
Two more thoughts for the OP:
1. Jericho or Syosset would make great places to educate and raise the kids, especially Syosset if you need the NYC commute.
2. Find a home that's connected to public sewers and has municipal water. Septic systems and well water -- you'll usually find one or both on those two-acre properties -- are to be avoided. Oh, and watch out for buried oil tanks. No real estate agent in his/her right mind would bring up that subject voluntarily.
Note: I came from LI. I have no intent to "lure" you here; I just scan the LI board occasionally; lots of family still there.. [I left the snotty insanity behind in the 1960s. I know the entire attitude it griping of "how tough it is to live on the island". ] And no, it isn't paradise there; except in the minds of the residents who have too much money and not enough time on their hands to actually find time to LIVE. [BTW, when people get transferred up here by companies and find they can buy in the best burbs and send kids to private and it still doesn't cost what LI does, they turn cartwheels. Have you ever been here, outside of the city or airport to city? You would be amazed. There is a lot like the North Shore.]
Workdays are just as long and tough here except no one wastes hours on commutes. (Over 45 min is extra long; ours was 30 min each way and we back up to a farm way out of the city) People tend to not waste commute time. You gain a few hours a day. We have county water ( had a well when we bought it, we chose county) and we are on septic ( the $$ we don't pay on septic cuts my Town & County tax in half -- all put in the bank for necessary home repair. The account is very solid)
However, what we did was not to waste our money on things like gardeners (and the associated services) when both of us worked long and hard hours at careers (and had a grandmother pick up the kids until they were old enough to go home themselves); the money we saved when we were young and had kids and we did the work ourselves , we put aside. Hence, when we hit our mid 50s, we had all paid off and had more than enough invested and put aside to kiss the jobs goodbye (over a decade ago). We hired a plow guy the year we reitired.. not desiring to go out and shovel int he am if we needed to leave. (very long driveway) Even people in snobby burbs do it ( its called snowblower) . Horrors.
This truly is paradise compared to LI, I guarantee it... Less snob factor, less ego. Less waste of money. And when I hire someone, I am guaranteed I will NOT get illegals from the Home Depot pickup lot like I saw my sister get when she had roofing done. I specify I want locals.[ Even paying locals here is cheaper than getting illegals there. ] By all means, stay on LI. People who live here, no matter where they are from, are tougher; we are also ( as a whole) much more sensible with money.[ I don't see a heck of a lot of kids in the 30s there with a paid off house, something one of my daughters was able to do with her savings and a gift from us as a downpayment) and she paid just about every penny left over from work on principal every month -- just under 11 years, she paid it off.]
Please, enjoy the cost of living there. NY needs your taxes.
Note: I came from LI. I have no intent to "lure" you here; I just scan the LI board occasionally; lots of family still there.. [I left the snotty insanity behind in the 1960s. I know the entire attitude it griping of "how tough it is to live on the island". ] And no, it isn't paradise there; except in the minds of the residents who have too much money and not enough time on their hands to actually find time to LIVE. [BTW, when people get transferred up here by companies and find they can buy in the best burbs and send kids to private and it still doesn't cost what LI does, they turn cartwheels. Have you ever been here, outside of the city or airport to city? You would be amazed. There is a lot like the North Shore.]
Workdays are just as long and tough here except no one wastes hours on commutes. (Over 45 min is extra long; ours was 30 min each way and we back up to a farm way out of the city) People tend to not waste commute time. You gain a few hours a day. We have county water ( had a well when we bought it, we chose county) and we are on septic ( the $$ we don't pay on septic cuts my Town & County tax in half -- all put in the bank for necessary home repair. The account is very solid)
However, what we did was not to waste our money on things like gardeners (and the associated services) when both of us worked long and hard hours at careers (and had a grandmother pick up the kids until they were old enough to go home themselves); the money we saved when we were young and had kids and we did the work ourselves , we put aside. Hence, when we hit our mid 50s, we had all paid off and had more than enough invested and put aside to kiss the jobs goodbye (over a decade ago). We hired a plow guy the year we reitired.. not desiring to go out and shovel int he am if we needed to leave. (very long driveway) Even people in snobby burbs do it ( its called snowblower) . Horrors.
This truly is paradise compared to LI, I guarantee it... Less snob factor, less ego. Less waste of money. And when I hire someone, I am guaranteed I will NOT get illegals from the Home Depot pickup lot like I saw my sister get when she had roofing done. I specify I want locals.[ Even paying locals here is cheaper than getting illegals there. ] By all means, stay on LI. People who live here, no matter where they are from, are tougher; we are also ( as a whole) much more sensible with money.[ I don't see a heck of a lot of kids in the 30s there with a paid off house, something one of my daughters was able to do with her savings and a gift from us as a downpayment) and she paid just about every penny left over from work on principal every month -- just under 11 years, she paid it off.]
Please, enjoy the cost of living there. NY needs your taxes.
Your post makes great sense, except for one thing: you live in Buffalo, where it's grey, cold and snowy like eight months out of the year.
Even more than that, you're still part of NYS. I don't know about Buffalo, but my MIL lives in Binghamton (aka., the Bing), where grocery prices are a little lower, but most everything is priced higher because it's still in NYS. My MIL's property taxes are outrageous when you look at property values and gas prices are as high or even higher than on LI… well it's still NYS.
I'm glad you're happy up in Buffalo and I think you're right, the quality of life in Buffalo is higher than that on LI. Short commutes and lower cost of living make for contentment.
Your post makes great sense, except for one thing: you live in Buffalo, where it's grey, cold and snowy like eight months out of the year.
Even more than that, you're still part of NYS. I don't know about Buffalo, but my MIL lives in Binghamton (aka., the Bing), where grocery prices are a little lower, but most everything is priced higher because it's still in NYS. My MIL's property taxes are outrageous when you look at property values and gas prices are as high or even higher than on LI… well it's still NYS.
I'm glad you're happy up in Buffalo and I think you're right, the quality of life in Buffalo is higher than that on LI. Short commutes and lower cost of living make for contentment.
Bubba, it isn't gray and snowy 8 mos a year. Snow is (most years) from Nov to very early March. ( and that is when you get plowed and only then). Right now, I have 3", total -- you got it a lot worse ...March is usually spring ( this year, it will be late). True summer hits by Memorial day and is quite sunny and has never recorded a day over 100, every. We also miss the rotten temperature inversions I don't miss in the least from childhood, where rotten air hangs over you. Fall hist mid-late Sept and is glorious until at least Halloween. And, when the snow really falls and the lake freezes? No moisture to make clouds? We get sunny winters.[ You, OTOH, are describing Binghamtom: stuck north of the PA mountains. We don't have them to create weather drama. We have escarpments, we have hills, we have valleys, we have a great lake and beaches and Niagara Falls ( esp. good if it is really hot / like 95 and humid). Do I miss places of childhood like Jones Beach and Sunken Meadow and the Great South Bay? Yep, but its my only regret... and its too hot I even somewhat miss Hunter MT., where I learned to ski -- our places have great snow, just not the same mountains... but that isn't LI not eastern Erie County. Here, You can sail On the Lake or river without a motorboat cutting you off ( they are polite), you can hike in nice hilly areas. You are right, time is money. You spend the money there to save time and put kids in multiple programs as helicopter parents, all the while, running to get them to places where they get into groups the same as school. My nieces and nephew came here and were amazed that their cousins had to help out with the veggie garden but had free rein of where to play, as long as we knew where they were going. No need to carpool , they walked or rode bikes . Plus, they liked the fresh veggies. Still won't forget my nephew when he came to go hunting for deer and found out that it wasn't going to the store ( but he loved the venison). What our girls had can't be found on LI; its something like what I had growing up on LI in 1950/60s on LI and certainly what my Dad did in the 1920s/1930s --without doors locked, with us allowed to do as we chose. My girls had it; their LI cousins did not. They left here finding how nice freedom was. Our money? It went in the bank or camping trips.
FWIW, My food isn't higher, my taxes are much lower. Gas? Well, we can debate if running 1 car for each person at 3 cents less a gallon is a big saving in QOL. We don't need to worry over the miles driven.
Bubba, it isn't gray and snowy 8 mos a year. Snow is (most years) from Nov to very early March. ( and that is when you get plowed and only then). Right now, I have 3", total -- you got it a lot worse ...March is usually spring ( this year, it will be late). True summer hits by Memorial day and is quite sunny and has never recorded a day over 100, every. We also miss the rotten temperature inversions I don't miss in the least from childhood, where rotten air hangs over you. Fall hist mid-late Sept and is glorious until at least Halloween. And, when the snow really falls and the lake freezes? No moisture to make clouds? We get sunny winters.[ You, OTOH, are describing Binghamtom: stuck north of the PA mountains. We don't have them to create weather drama. We have escarpments, we have hills, we have valleys, we have a great lake and beaches and Niagara Falls ( esp. good if it is really hot / like 95 and humid). Do I miss places of childhood like Jones Beach and Sunken Meadow and the Great South Bay? Yep, but its my only regret... and its too hot I even somewhat miss Hunter MT., where I learned to ski -- our places have great snow, just not the same mountains... but that isn't LI not eastern Erie County. Here, You can sail On the Lake or river without a motorboat cutting you off ( they are polite), you can hike in nice hilly areas. You are right, time is money. You spend the money there to save time and put kids in multiple programs as helicopter parents, all the while, running to get them to places where they get into groups the same as school. My nieces and nephew came here and were amazed that their cousins had to help out with the veggie garden but had free rein of where to play, as long as we knew where they were going. No need to carpool , they walked or rode bikes . Plus, they liked the fresh veggies. Still won't forget my nephew when he came to go hunting for deer and found out that it wasn't going to the store ( but he loved the venison). What our girls had can't be found on LI; its something like what I had growing up on LI in 1950/60s on LI and certainly what my Dad did in the 1920s/1930s --without doors locked, with us allowed to do as we chose. My girls had it; their LI cousins did not. They left here finding how nice freedom was. Our money? It went in the bank or camping trips.
FWIW, My food isn't higher, my taxes are much lower. Gas? Well, we can debate if running 1 car for each person at 3 cents less a gallon is a big saving in QOL. We don't need to worry over the miles driven.
Enjoy the island.
Sugarcoat Buffalo all you want. It's good that you're happy there. However, there's a reason why costs are lower. It's because -- helllloooooo! -- you have to live in BUFFALO.
After the winter we've had on the Island, I suggest you come down to one of our malls and ask shoppers if they'd like to move to Buffalo because you think it's paradise. It won't be long before they come to take you away in a straitjacket.
2. Find a home that's connected to public sewers and has municipal water. Septic systems and well water -- you'll usually find one or both on those two-acre properties -- are to be avoided. Oh, and watch out for buried oil tanks. No real estate agent in his/her right mind would bring up that subject voluntarily.
Hi Long Islander,
So glad I saw your post. Can you please explain why septic system/well waters and buried oil tanks should be avoided? Many homes I saw have those.
Thanks so much!!!
Oh, and the Buffalo vs Long Island debate was hilarious.....
Hi Long Islander,
So glad I saw your post. Can you please explain why septic system/well waters and buried oil tanks should be avoided? Many homes I saw have those.
Thanks so much!!!
Oh, and the Buffalo vs Long Island debate was hilarious.....
The simple answer is that with a septic system and/or well water, you are responsible for providing those services to your home, maintaining the equipment and dealing with any issues. With municipal/private company water and public sewers, the professionals are responsible for them and you can cross them off your list of concerns in owning a large property and home.
If you Google either topic, you will find many sites that explain the pluses and minuses of septic systems and well water. In virtually all cases, it is preferable to have both municipal/private water and sewers. But as you point out, it's tough to find a Long Island home on two acres that has both.
There are cases where municipal water has been added to areas with wells -- I recall it happening in Oyster Bay Cove a few years ago -- but it is a rare occurrence these days because of the cost and the sparse population served. There are even sections of Long Island -- Manhasset comes to mind -- where you would think that smaller homes on smaller properties would be connected to municipal sewers, but instead have septic systems. I have also heard of municipal sewer hookups being extended to neighborhoods with septic systems in recent years. That happened not long ago in a section of northern Locust Valley, where the rising water table had rendered home septic systems almost useless. But, again, that is a rare and expensive undertaking.
If you like a home that much, then you have to accept one or both of these responsibilities. We all know that buying a house includes compromises. If you've read up on septic systems and well water and are ready to take on the monitoring and expense of these systems, then go for it.
And while you may not be able to avoid the above, you can avoid a buried oil tank. Many tanks on Long Island are single-walled metal objects that have been in the ground well past their useful lives. Your preference would be to buy a home that 1) has had the tank moved into the basement, with the old underground tank removed or legally abandoned on site; or 2) has a recently installed fiberglass underground tank that's backed up with absolute documentation that this is the case (and not just the word of a real estate agent). You can read up on buried oil tanks as well. The problem is that you don't know whether the tank is leaking. If it is and the oil is seeping underground, the state DEC can make you pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for cleanup. Once you buy the house, you become the offender in the DEC's eyes and, thus, this liability becomes yours. I would ask a seller to resolve the problem before going to contract or closing, and, if necessary, build something into the purchase price to cover part or all of their expense. If they refuse, I would walk.
I raise all these issues because many people who are able to afford a two-acre home on the North Shore are also busy. They may be in the prime of their careers, working 12-hour days in Manhattan and also raising younger kids. The last thing one needs is to get off the LIRR at 8pm and be told the well has run dry or the pump isn't working.
I hope all of this is helpful.
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. Plus, they liked the fresh veggies. Still won't forget my nephew when he came to go hunting for deer and found out that it wasn't going to the store ( but he loved the venison). What our girls had can't be found on LI; its something like what I had growing up on LI in 1950/60s on LI and certainly what my Dad did in the 1920s/1930s --without doors locked, with us allowed to do as we chose. My girls had it; their LI cousins did not. They left here finding how nice freedom was. Our money? It went in the bank or camping trips.
