House hunting in NY questions (New York, Rochester: insurance, new house, buying)

[watergarden]

We're moving up there next month to start the home search. A few questions have come up and I'm sure as we proceed we'll have more. We are working with a realtor but it's helpful to get extra opinions here. Right now I'd like New York opinions about the following topics:

Flood zone. Please take a look at this listing - I'm only using it as an example to show the flood map. You have to go to the map view and then apply the flood overlay.
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...2_M97104-42800 You'll see that it's supposedly high risk of flooding due to proximity to a creek. This seems very common, any property near a stream or creek is shown as flood risk. My question is would you rule out properties that are in the flood risk areas as shown on the realtor.com map? You can zoom out the map while the flood overlay is there and see the supposed flood risk areas of the whole state. I don't know if that actually correlates to being in an official flood zone where people should have flood insurance. I don't know much about flooding issues in NY.

Finished basement. If the basement is finished is that pretty much a guarantee it doesn't have water issues down there?

Opinion about attached garage vs. detached garage.

Roof pitch. My husband is very hesitant to buy a home with a steep roof pitch because he says if he has to get up there he'll fall off. The flatter the roof the more interested he is in the house it seems. But I'm thinking a steep pitch might be better for a few reasons, I worry with a flat roof or very shallow pitch it could collect leaves, rainwater, snow, etc. What do you think, is it something to consider when picking a home in NY or does roof pitch really not matter much?

Don't be shy to share your comments. Thank you.

[ckhthankgod]

In terms of flooding, there has been some in the Southern Tier of the state at times, but some others have had more minimal flooding. I would keep that information in mind and flood insurance is likely needed. With that said, given what you are looking for, it is likely that the property would be outside of a flood zone.

It is like that there aren't water issues, but I would have a dehumidifier, as my parent's home has a finished basement, but always had a dehumidifier.

I'd say attached garage just for the fact that you can actually park your vehicle in it or use it for storage, as some do. Either way, thinking would right there for you to access.

Most or many homes don't have steep roofs and as mentioned most roofs allow you to get to them or to use say a roof rake.

[hotkarl]

You want pitch on your roof.
The more pitch, the less likely he will actually “have to get up there”.

[JWRocks]

A lot of the flood zones have, or are being updated, and really are an over reach. You need to check if it's 100 year, 10 year likely to flood, or whatever. You may need an elevation map to see if the first floor is above the flood level. Also, most banks require flood insurance to qualify for a mortgage. Flood insurance can be pricey, so check first.

A dehumidifier is needed in most basements just due to the temperature / dew point relationship, and are not a sign of flooding.

An attached garage is prefered in my opinion for many reasons, such as bringing home a load of groceries. It also acts as a windbreaker on windy, cooler days. Some prefer a detached garage if they have workshop or storage needs. Many houses have both, and it's not uncommon in the types of property you are looking at.

Steep roofs are much better. First, most new houses have a steep roof because of style, but they are much better if you have a large snowfall. Snow can be heavy. They do seem to last longer, and like karl said, less likely to go up there. Do not purchase a home where the roof is relatively flat for any price.

Keep the questions coming, or advice on certain properties or areas.

[lilacsnlocks]

It's good you'll be looking at houses in the spring, a good time to observe which properties are a soggy, muddy mess and which ones are nice and dry. I live in Henrietta (south of Rochester) and my backyard gets very soggy, which is a pain in the butt when I foster a dog and they get muddy paws every time we go out back. Certain times of year you'd never know how swampy it can get back there, other times it's literally squishy walking on the grass. My point is pay attention to that even if the property is not in a flood zone.

You stated in your other thread you want to be surrounded by trees, so I'm pretty sure you're going to get leaves and other tree debris on the roof.

[watergarden]

Thank you all for the responses!

It makes sense why an attached garage is preferred. We were told by a pest control person up in Penn Yan that mice are a major problem in NY and he said it's near impossible to keep them from getting into a garage because the way the garage doors close there is never going to be a perfect seal. There will be a space where a mouse can squeeze through. So the one thing making me sort of interested in a detached garage was thinking well if mice get in a detached garage there's no way into the house from there, but if they get in an attached garage maybe they can find a way from there into the house. My concern about mice could be overblown, that pest control guy just made it seem like a big problem.

Another question we have: how old is too old of a house in NY? I saw comments in other threads saying things like "I hope people realize what they're getting into buying these old houses in NY." But what year or decade is the cutoff for being considered an old house that will likely come with old house problems? Would you feel comfortable buying a NY house that was built in the 50s?

I read the roof advice to my husband. I can't remember him ever getting up on the roof before so I don't know why he's now convinced he'll have to go up there. I was just about to ask him about this and realized I bet I know what he'll say - the only reason he never went on the roof in our previous homes is because the roofs were too steep!

[watergarden]

Originally Posted by watergarden

I read the roof advice to my husband. I can't remember him ever getting up on the roof before so I don't know why he's now convinced he'll have to go up there. I was just about to ask him about this and realized I bet I know what he'll say - the only reason he never went on the roof in our previous homes is because the roofs were too steep!

I just asked him "why didn't you go on our roofs before?" He answered... "They were too steep." I showed him my prediction here and we both laughed. Then he said "I wanted to get up on those roofs." I asked why and he said on one house he wanted to remove the satellite dish and put up an antenna, on the other house he wanted to change the thermistor on the solar (we had solar on the roof for pool heat.) He said in both cases he made his way up the ladder took one look and said no way.

[hotkarl]

You’ll have mice. That’s a given.
But you may also have skunks, coons, weasels, chipmunks, snakes(harmless) maybe rats, tons of bugs, to mention a few.
Lots of critters running around and they just love to co-habit with people.
But still not as bad as Florida.

[WouldLoveTo]

Originally Posted by watergarden

We're moving up there next month to start the home search. A few questions have come up and I'm sure as we proceed we'll have more. We are working with a realtor but it's helpful to get extra opinions here. Right now I'd like New York opinions about the following topics:

Flood zone. Please take a look at this listing - I'm only using it as an example to show the flood map. You have to go to the map view and then apply the flood overlay.
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...2_M97104-42800 You'll see that it's supposedly high risk of flooding due to proximity to a creek. This seems very common, any property near a stream or creek is shown as flood risk. My question is would you rule out properties that are in the flood risk areas as shown on the realtor.com map? You can zoom out the map while the flood overlay is there and see the supposed flood risk areas of the whole state. I don't know if that actually correlates to being in an official flood zone where people should have flood insurance. I don't know much about flooding issues in NY.

Finished basement. If the basement is finished is that pretty much a guarantee it doesn't have water issues down there?

Opinion about attached garage vs. detached garage.

Roof pitch. My husband is very hesitant to buy a home with a steep roof pitch because he says if he has to get up there he'll fall off. The flatter the roof the more interested he is in the house it seems. But I'm thinking a steep pitch might be better for a few reasons, I worry with a flat roof or very shallow pitch it could collect leaves, rainwater, snow, etc. What do you think, is it something to consider when picking a home in NY or does roof pitch really not matter much?

Don't be shy to share your comments. Thank you.

I live in New England so not NY but close.

Finished basement does't mean it's dry, but there is probably a better chance of it.

I run a dehumidifier in mine. My house was originally in the 100 year flood zone and I was required to get flood insurance. They changed it to the 500 year zone. I bought insurance once since then, 2011 I think. We had a lot of snow that year as did northern New England and I wanted to be covered (everything was fine)

I prefer detached garages. We do "garage stuff" in the garage and being detached means less chance of chemical or smells getting into the house (we have cats). Also fumes from the car and one less point of entry into the house.

A steeper pitch will shed snow better. It's why early homes were pitched very steeply (by early I mean 1700s)

Age - you will find anything from 1700s on up in NY. I personally prefer pre-1930s, but I enjoy working on the house too, not everyone does.

Happy hunting!

[JWRocks]

I wouldn't worry to much about mice, or any wildlife. they are afraid of you, too. Even if one get's in your garage, it most likely won't go in your house.

As far as age, some newer houses aren't well built, and many older ones have been rehabbed. Some rehabs leave much to be desired. There's really no one size fits all here.

Spring will bring to most homes on the market. You should be aware if the tree "canopy" has fully developed, as trees and open space for gardening may not show themselves accurately. Maybe get some summer pictures of the property.