Need Advice Please (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, York: extended stay, apartment, rentals)

[Mammato2girls]

I am a widow and mother to two beautiful girls. Since my husband passed, I can no longer afford to live in New York.

I have friends who live Moscow, but that is too rural for me. They suggested I look at Wilkes Barre or Scranton.

I would like to buy a house in either city in safe neighborhoods, under $150,000.00. I would prefer to live in a primarily white neighborhood.

My daughters are in private school, and would look to put them in a Catholic school.

I want to make this move before school starts, so if I am unable to buy a house before September. Are there any extended stay suites in the area or short term apartment rentals?

Could you tell me what city would be better and less expensive to live in and areas that I should look for a home.


Thank you in advance

[johnqpublic]

For 150 grand you can buy a lot of house in either Scranton or W.B. there are catholic schools in both cities, but they are being closed and consolidated.. so busing/ travel time to them is relative to where you live
If you have cash and are not going thru a conventional loan you could close in 2 to 3 weeks
For a suite there is the Hotel on Viewmont Drive In Scranton/ Dickson city.. it is newer and in good shape for a short stay

[Wells5]

First, do you have a source of income other than work? If you don't, then your first priority should be to find an area where there are job opportunities in your field. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area's latest unemployment rate is 8.7% vs 7.5% statewide average. As for living in a "white" neighborhood, Scranton city is 84% white and Wilkes-Barre city is 79% white. The suburban towns that surround the two cities are much whiter, for instance Old Forge is 98% white and Swoyersville is 99.7% white.

There are plenty of houses selling for less than $150,000 especially in older neighborhoods and short term rentals are available.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Move to Scranton, stay out of Luzerne county. For that amount of money, you could probably buy a nice house near Nay Aug park. I don't know where the good and bad areas of Scranton are, but the area near Nay Aug seems nice.

If you want to move into Luzerne, stay out of Wilkes Barre and move to Kingston, Wyoming or Forty - Fort. All small to mid-size towns in the suburbs of Wilkes Barre. The schools are better and communities are safer than WB. Plus, they are mostly white, as you requested living in white neighborhoods.

[W-B proud]

In Wilkes-Barre, Barney Farms would be a good choice, Parsons Manor. The west side would be good too..Kingston, Forty Fort etc. border W-B and are in easy walking distance to downtown.

[sues1]

I'm not sure, but i think Swoyersville is mostly white. I would look there when you're ready to buy

[SteelCityRising]

First of all, let me say that I am very sorry to hear of the passing of your husband. I couldn't imagine how much stress you must be enduring right now as you are resigned to leaving New York due to financial reasons while rearing children as a single working mother, and I will most certainly keep you in my prayers.

With that being said you will hear a litany of suggestions, but the BEST idea of all will be to come up here some weekend and visit yourself. While $150,000 may be your maximum housing budget you may be best served to try to find something for around $100,000. In the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area such a home will generally be large enough for your family and will require minimal, if any, updating/renovations beyond your own personalized touches. In that sense you will then have some savings to rely upon in case you have difficult securing employment for a while in your field. I'm personally working 45 hours per week at one job and am about to pick up a second job on the night-shift for 30 hours per week just so I can pay my bills because I haven't been successful in securing a position in my field since moving back to PA and am depleting my savings.

You need not live in Scranton or Wilkes-Barre themselves to live where you're not necessarily devoid of urbanity. Places like Dunmore, Kingston, Forty Fort, Old Forge, Plains Township, West Pittston, and a few other communities will afford you a nice home for the low-$100k range while still being dense enough to afford some semblance of walkability and are all in close proximity to the cities themselves. For a majority-white community with reasonable housing prices, an established business district, low crime, and amenities for children I would probably suggest Old Forge.

[DaCoach]

I would suggest looking into Dunmore. As the private schools are consolidating, Dunmore has both a Private Elementary (St. Mary's of Mt. Carmel) and Private High School (Holy Cross).

It is also closer to your friends in Moscow.