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I've got a potential job lead in Purchase, NY and my wife and I are trying to pin down some practical details were I to get an offer (especially to evaluate it against any competing offers). In particular, we are trying to figure out the best place for housing. There are just a few things we are interested in: (1) Value (i.e. low price, lots of square footage, low taxes), (2) ease of commute into either Purchase or White Plains (train would be ideal, but car is feasible: ideal commute time being under 40 minutes one way by train, or under 30 minutes one way by car), and (3) safety. It'd also be nice *not* to be in an apartment, and instead in a house with acreage, if that is possible.
We are not interested in night life, schools, ease of access to Manhattan, etc., so these should not be factored in any recommendations. Thanks!
You can find what you want, but NYS taxes are not going to be low, especially in Westchester. CT taxes are lower, but purchase prices can be higher, unless you go further from White Plains, and the trains don't go to White Plains as CT is served by the New Haven Line of Metro-North, and White Plains is a Harlem Line station.
Do you have a price range in mind as a guide for purchase price and the expectations of a property? Lot size? House size? That can help to frame responses to recommend a good place for you to consider. Purchase, itself, has houses on a couple of acres as do other areas in Harrison, but prices tend to be on the high side, and taxes are also not exactly low.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Thanks for the help. We haven't really budgeted out how much we'd like to spend on housing, but we'd be making around 60k to start (so I would imagine that even the "cheap" $250-300k homes would be a bit pricey for us). We would be moving from the rural mid-west and are looking for areas that approximate as much as possible that sort of living situation -- a hard find, I realize.
Car would give far more options. Get a map. Find the intersection of I-287 and I-684. Go north on 684 about 20 miles and find the nearest exit off 684. Look in a 7 mile radius from that exit. That's what you've got to work with that will have any hope of satisfying your criteria. Going west or east from that point will make it much, much harder to satisfy (1).
Nowhere will have low taxes. Train to Purchase doesn't work. For train to White Plains do the same thing going north along Harlem train line. That will take you up somewhere around Brewster I think. Value and taxes will be lower there than Westchester.
Car would give far more options. Get a map. Find the intersection of I-287 and I-684. Go north on 684 about 20 miles and find the nearest exit off 684. Look in a 7 mile radius from that exit. That's what you've got to work with that will have any hope of satisfying your criteria. Going west or east from that point will make it much, much harder to satisfy (1).
Nowhere will have low taxes. Train to Purchase doesn't work. For train to White Plains do the same thing going north along Harlem train line. That will take you up somewhere around Brewster I think. Value and taxes will be lower there than Westchester.
Kletter1mann is right. That is your best bet to find what you desire.
Given your economics you're going to have to greatly expand the distance. The low end for houses within your defined radius will be 2X your budget and go up from there. You're talking about deep within Putnam or Dutchess counties, or northern Fairfield county east on I-84 (Danbury and on to Bethel, Newtown).
FWIW, $60k in this part of the country doesn't go far. You should seriously question the benefit of such a move for that kind of money.
Do not move here for a job offering $60K. No way. And if that's combined income then double no way.
If you are willing to rent an apartment in White Plains then you could do it, but as stated previously, $60K in this area of the country is pocket change.
Thanks again for the input. What about a move to New Jersey, e.g. Northvale, Montvale, Park Ridge? I had heard taxes were better in NJ compared to NY, and it looks like that area, just south of 87, would be a short trip by car to Purchase.
Re:$60k, the job is an important one (if I got it) for a future career in my chosen profession, so my wife and I may need merely to live poorly for a few years, though it'd be nice to know where we might live as well as we can. It is also my understanding that the salary will go up, but I am not sure by how much, or how quickly.
Montvale is just as expensive as Westchester and NJ property taxes are quite high. You can find lower property taxes in Connecticut, but as mentioned above, you would need to look around Danbury or Bethel to find something in your preferred purchase range. The Tappan Zee Bridge is also a horrible commute, especially if you need to continue on 287 to White Plains or Purchase. If you don't mind extending your commute a little bit, say closer to 45 minutes to an hour in the car, you could look at New Fairfield, CT, where you can find decent houses that are affordable (for this region), though not on the water, unless they are summer cottages that may not be fully winterized. There are options in housing with smaller lots (under an acre) that are less expensive, so it might not be a bad consideration for your needs. For an acre or two, you would need to be looking around $280-$300k for starters, and be flexible on housing style. The area is very nice, and you have proximity to Candlewood Lake and parks.
New Fairfield is about 20-25 minutes from Brewster, where you could catch a Harlem Line Train to White Plains. There is a park and ride shuttle from New Fairfield to the Southeast station in Brewster, as well, so you would not have to drive to White Plains.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Personally I think $60k is going to be extremely painful to live on anywhere in the greater NY metro area (incl NJ). We moved from Los Angeles a few years ago and experienced a pretty huge sticker shock even coming from there, so I can only imagine that will be exponential coming from the midwest. EVERYTHING is more expensive here - food, gas, utilities, transportation/tolls, insurance, house/property maintenance, beauty services, etc.
We explored NJ initially (hence my username ) and the taxes fluctuate by county but are overall still quite high. Commuting over the TZ bridge to Purchase may become more difficult and ultimately more expensive as they are scheduled to start building a new one in the next few years.
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) and the taxes fluctuate by county but are overall still quite high. Commuting over the TZ bridge to Purchase may become more difficult and ultimately more expensive as they are scheduled to start building a new one in the next few years.
