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May be a dumb question but here goes. Husband will start job in NYC April 09. This move will be for the long haul so I want to pick the right town and the right house. My problem is, is that there are too many good options! I could live in Westchester NY, NJ, or Conneticut.
How do I do a house search? Should I retain a realtor in each state (that makes sense) Or how about each county. I seriously will probably want to look at 10 towns in each state and 100's of houses. If one realtor takes me to 50 houses and I end up buying in a different state, I feel like I am screwing someone. Should I search for homes myself and contact the listing agent for a showing, that seems like too much work. I assume my husbands work has a relocation person, but did not get much help from them with our last move. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Oh and one more thing, before I even look at houses I want to drive around some towns and get a feel for housing ect. NJ does not list addresses on the MLS, if I call the listing agent will they give me the address without alot of hassle? Will I be tied to this agent if at a later date I actually view this house with a realtor?
I am in the middle of a long distance move. I am using 2 agents. The area I am looking in crosses some imaginary line that separates 2 different MLS regions and I was unable to find an agent that would show properties on both sides of the line, even though we are talking about less than 15 miles apart. Personally I find this annoying. I would have preferred to find one good agent to work with. Of course, both agents are slightly miffed that I have another agent but neither was willing to cross the line or even recommend someone from another office. There are very few of the big names up there, so I am dealing with small agencies that have no sister offices.
If you are using realtor.com to look at listings there is often no address. What I do if I really want to know is go to the listing agent's website & see if they have the address listed there. If not I go back to realtor.com and use the map feature to find the street/block and then drive by.
Well, the good news is that you have some time. I know of many people who have tried to make this kind of choice in only a few days. The New York area is huge, and the number of choices can be overwhelming.
First, you and your husband might want to make a list of the factors that are important to you. Great schools? Reasonable taxes? Small, rural town vs. big town vs. urban? Cultural activities? Low crime rate? Recreation? If you two have different priorities, it's best to discover that early. Try to rank order these factors, and set up a way to rate each of the places you're considering on each of the factors.
Depending on how far away you live now, i'd recommend that you take lots of short trips to each of the areas you're considering. It will be helpful -- and efficient -- to look at a few sample properties in each of several areas. My experience has been that, if you're candid with a realtor about where you are in the exploration process ("I'm only starting to consider the Scarsdale area, and haven't even decided that that's where we're going to live, never mind being ready to start bidding on houses."), he/she will be willing to drive you around a bit. Especially now, when many of them are starving for business, they seem especially willing to invest time, no strings attached. Of course, for your own sanity as well as theirs, best to avoid looking at 50 houses in a town before you're pretty sure that that's where you'd like to settle.
Most realtors cover only one or two towns, so it should be easy to avoid a problem of "jurisdiction." You will likely have to find a different realtor for each separate town you investigate
I grew up in SW Connecticut, now live in central New Jersey, and have lived around the NY area for most of my life. I believe that there are pretty consistent differences between SW Connecticut, Westchester, northern and central New Jersey, and Long Island. (My preferences would fall in just that order, but it depends heavily on what kind of a person you are ((social style, values, etc.)) and what you're looking for.)
If your husband will be commuting in by train, you may want to pick an area which corresponds to the arrival station closest to his office. Connecticut and Westchester go to Grand Central; New Jersey and LI go to Penn Station.
Finally, although it would be extra hassle, have you considered renting for a year - or even a few months - before you buy? Assuming you'd still be eligible for the relo benefits, it would give you a chance to "try out" a location before you commit.
Thank you Ourdreamhouse. Husbands office is near GC, but clients are all over (closer to Penn) so that point is mute. We have two school age children so renting is not the best option as we do not want to move schools twice. Since you seem quite knowledgeable on the areas, which would you recommend based on the following:
1.75 mill budget (including taxes)
Schools are very important
Coming from a nice suburb, with everything you could ever imagine within 20 minutes
(mall, restaurants, metroparks, a major city) we like some retail near by and eat out alot.
We like a suburb feel, but not too rural. I like my neighbors and do not want more than an acre of land. Harder to meet people, and I would like my kids to be able to play outside with neighbor kids.
We are down to towns with reasonable train access to either station and good schools, decent town center but that still leaves a lot of towns in this area of the country!
Thanks again for your response.
My suggestion is before you go looking at 100's of houses do city tours and pinpoint a location, maybe 2, that you really feel is home. Then after you pick a location start looking at homes with that location's Realtor.
I agree and that is what we are currently doing, but since there are so many choices I still think I will end up wanting to focus on 2-3 towns (not necessarily near each other) in each state. So my original question still stands about using more than one realtor and how to get the address for a listing without one. I am willing to make this last move so I do not have to do it again! I am quite stressed about picking the right place! Thank you for your replies.
We have two school age children so renting is not the best option as we do not want to move schools twice. Which would you recommend based on the following:
1.75 mill budget (including taxes)
Schools are very important
Coming from a nice suburb, with everything you could ever imagine within 20 minutes
(mall, restaurants, metroparks, a major city) we like some retail near by and eat out alot.
We like a suburb feel, but not too rural. I like my neighbors and do not want more than an acre of land. Harder to meet people, and I would like my kids to be able to play outside with neighbor kids.
We are down to towns with reasonable train access to either station and good schools, decent town center but that still leaves a lot of towns in this area of the country!
Thanks again for your response.
If i understand you, your budget to purchase a home is $1.75 million, is that right? If so, in some ways that makes your choice harder, as you can live in whatever town you want.
If it were my choice, i'd start by looking at New Canaan, Ridgefield, and maybe Westport, all in Connecticut. All three of those towns have attractive town centers, particularly Ridgefield, where i grew up. All have excellent public schools, and a suburban feel. (I assume that your kids will go to public schools.) The commute is a little more onerous from Ridgefield than the other two. There are excellent restaurants in these towns, but maybe not as many as you are used to. Other towns aren't far way, for more choices.
Greenwich (CT) is arguably the most prestigious town in the country, over-the-top wealthy, great shopping and recreation, but a little too much for my low-key taste. Redding and Weston are very nice, but more rural.
Connecticut Magazine publishes (and displays on their web site) an annual ranking of the best CT towns, broken out by population category.
All of this assumes that you're not uncomfortable with wealthy people, some of whom may be a little pretentious. However, i think you'll find less of that (pretentiousness) in SW Connecticut than in wealthy NJ or NY towns. (On the other hand, if you LIKE pretentious, materialistic people, your best bet would be LI!)
Although i find much of NJ unpleasant, i think Princeton is a very attractive place, with a charming downtown, many cultural activities, and some gorgeous neighborhoods, particularly west of downtown. There's a diversity of types here: corporate, academic, and old money. Although the public schools are very good, The Lawrenceville School and Princeton Day School (private) are two of the best schools in the entire NY region, if not the country. Even so, my goal is to move back to Connecticut as soon as possible.
You don't say where you're moving from, and if you were/are happy there. If you are, it would be helpful in matching you to a similar culture here.
We are lucky that my husband has a good job, and I really (gulp) cannot imagine spending that much on a house, but it seems to maintain the standard of living we have in a suburb of Cleveland (don't laugh, we have also lived in the Boston suburbs) that is the range we need to look in (actually probably higher but can't do it!) I love my current situation, but alot of my family is here.
My children go to parochial school now but for the taxes we are going to pay, I intend on using public schools!
I want to live in a town with decent people I don't care if they are wealthy or not. I also don't want to be the poorest in town, which I probably would be in Greenwich.
We like a certain lifestyle but are down to earth family-oriented people.
Thanks again for your help.
I just met with some folks that were relocating that were considering three towns and met with three agents. We talked neighborhoods and I showed them neighborhoods, not houses.
Once they decide what town they want to live in, then I will take them inside homes. I think you will find that there will be one town that you like better.
Most agents don't cross state lines since they have to be licensed in two states and it often means two MLS systems and payments. If you can't narrow it down, then let your agents know you will be working with more than one agent. Just be upfront about it.
In my previous life I survived endless relocations including three separate relocations to the NYC area and then out of the area.
There are endless choices, especially when one is not tremendously constrained by finances. Are you working with a relocation company or is this a DIY move?
What I found was that agents tend to work one county and specialize in a few towns within the county. And yeah, you could spend the rest of your life finding the best town, for you.
Rock solid agents with a lot of relo experience are not likely to show you 50 properties. They are going to know you better than you know yourself and do some magical matchmaking.
Where do you currently live and if you are not comfortable sharing, consider pm'ing me.
What do you value most about where you currently live.
What do you dislike about you present community?
Do you prefer to be in an area where most of the homes are in your price range or, is being in the best house in the area important or even the smallest ( least costly and it's all relative) home in the area?
Are you interested in new(er) construction or older homes with character?
What's on the land? Grass, trees, adjoining conservation land or more urban/ suburban?
Do you want to be near water?
What about your neighbors? Are you a stay at home mom? Do you prefer to be in an area with moms who are at home, as opposed to primarily professional working moms? I am not making any sort of value judgement, here- just trying to help. I can think of many places where it's all about live in nannies and the parents are not home during the daytime or very active in the community. It all depends.
And the most important question of all , do you want a swimming pool?
P.S. I do not live in the NY tri-state area and am not applying for a job.
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, do you want a swimming pool?
