Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Re: CA vs. NY...Houses are about as expensive in the suburbs, but my real estate taxes were less than half of what they are here. My utilities were 1/4 what they are here as you barely need heat and no AC. Preschool and daycare was half, before and after school care was $200 a month vs. $1200. No tolls unless you are on a bridge, and they are rare. Beaches and town pools are free. Recreational activities for kids are half or less. Vacations were cheaper because you could drive to many of them. Fresh food was much cheaper and so much better quality. And, moreover, the huge influx of foreign labor kept services in check. Out here, everyone takes advantage of you if you live in an expensive zip code. I never got that sense there because people were just happy to get the work.
Good points, most of which I didn't think of (I knew taxes were lower there though).
Thanks for all of the helpful advice everyone. If this is going to work for me, I'm thinking my best bet would be to take the New Jersey commuter public transportation to the PATH, and take that over to WTC. If I were to live as far away as Port Jervis would the cost of living be as bad as people have described in this thread? Also, can anyone tell my from experience how long the Port Jervis commute to WTC is?
If I were to live as far away as Port Jervis would the cost of living be as bad as people have described in this thread? Also, can anyone tell my from experience how long the Port Jervis commute to WTC is?
Thanks again!
It's going to be at least 2 hours one way, though you stated you don't need to commute every day. Also it gets you straight to the PATH in Hoboken and into downtown. I would expect home prices there to be cheaper. Maybe yo can also look at towns in Orange County along the train to PJ and see if any of them have listings for less than 300K.
Unfortunately, the bottom line is that for your housing budget you are not going to be able to purchase a single family home anywhere within reasonable commuting distance to NYC. If you want to look at condos/coops then you could definitely find something closer to the city.
This is a personal decision, too...but why are you only budgeting 2x your income towards your home price? Unless you have a lot of other obligations, you should be able to go quite a bit higher than that.
This is a personal decision, too...but why are you only budgeting 2x your income towards your home price?
My guess is it's to pay down the mortgage quickly, which is a very wise strategy. Once your debt exceeds 3 times your earnings, the credit profile tends to get weak.
Warwick and Goshen are not what most people would consider suburban. He's going to have one heck of a commute from the farm!
I believe that both have train access and are closer than Port Jervis. Southern Orange County(which is mostly within the Monroe-Woodbury SD) is more suburban in character though, as is Cornwall. Here are some transit maps: http://www.warwickinfo.net/travelinf...System_Map.pdf
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
