not-so-great-house/good schools vs. good house/not-so-great-schools (Yonkers, Yorktown: apartment, to rent)
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Thanks everyone for your feedback! Our budget is $500-$600. I'm only working part time right now because I want to stay home with the twins until they're in kindergarten. My husband recently got a new job with a much higher salary (he graduated law school in 2008 and was laid off from his first year big law job six months after he started, and he's just now making a first year lawyer's again).
Right now we're focused on more space, a better home layout for kids, and an actual parking spot in front of our home - parking in our neighborhood isn't quite a nightmare, more like a bad dream, but we're done with it. We are not looking for our "whole life" house right now, as we feel my husband's salary will continue to go up and once I go back to work, we'll be in a better position to buy something nicer. That's why resale value is extremely important to us.
As for socio-economic issues...we could hold our own in nicer towns, but also appreciate diversity and, well, nice people.
Oh, also, when I originally said "no-so-great" referring to towns, I was strictly speaking of schools districts. And I guess I would describe a not-so-great house as a small ranch fixer-upper on a sad looking block.
Chappaqua and Mamaroneck have decent homes at 600K, but indoor space is limited.
Could you look further north in Yorktown or Croton for bigger homes? One co-worker just bought a bigger home in Ossining. If your husband is a lawyer in Manhattan(?), I take it commute is important. There are express trains out of Croton that some Yorktowners use.
With that said, most of my young city lawyer friends live in either apartments, townhouses or smaller homes albeit in good neighborhoods. Job demands simply don't permit them to be keeping large houses >1hr from work.
Last edited by Forest_Hills_Daddy; 06-29-2013 at 02:25 PM..
Do you think you can hold out a couple more years until you go back to work full time/kids hit kindergarten/husband's income goes up? Few people move to Westchester until their kids reach school age - the taxes are insane and it helps soften the blow if you think of property taxes as tuition. Closing costs and the general expense of buying and selling property here would make me hesitant to buy something I'd plan to sell in under five years. If you are dead set on it, then absolutely move to the best school district you can afford. With your price range, you might squeak into something tiny in Chappaqua, but make sure you look very very carefully at the taxes!
Check out the highlands neighborhood in White Plains. Schools are fine, you have a 35 minute commute to the city - if your husband works there. Plus you'll have a much lower tax burden that some of the other towns mentioned.
Commute home to Chappaqua would be quite an ordeal for a young lawyer who has to work long hours.
Actually there is quite a large percentage of attorneys residing in Chappaqua (moreso than in other Westchester towns). I work in-house at a large corporation myself so the hours are not as grueling as for a private firm, but I find the commute fairly reasonable. There is ample resident parking at the station and express trains are only about 10 min longer than to/from white plains. The morning commute is very fast especially at early hours, the only thing that could be an issue is that the last express train in the evening is at 6:30 I believe. So for trains after that time, it would be about another 15 min (4 extra stops) from white plains. Pleasantville is one stop closer but does not have express trains so I find the Chappaqua commute more convenient.
Commuting is all in the eye of the beholder anyway - previously I lived in Los Angeles and would fight traffic in my car for 45 min each way going 10 miles to/from my office which was definitely more of an ordeal than reading or sleeping or getting extra work done for the same amount of time on a train.
Actually there is quite a large percentage of attorneys residing in Chappaqua (moreso than in other Westchester towns). I work in-house at a large corporation myself so the hours are not as grueling as for a private firm, but I find the commute fairly reasonable. There is ample resident parking at the station and express trains are only about 10 min longer than to/from white plains. The morning commute is very fast especially at early hours, the only thing that could be an issue is that the last express train in the evening is at 6:30 I believe. So for trains after that time, it would be about another 15 min (4 extra stops) from white plains. Pleasantville is one stop closer but does not have express trains so I find the Chappaqua commute more convenient.
Commuting is all in the eye of the beholder anyway - previously I lived in Los Angeles and would fight traffic in my car for 45 min each way going 10 miles to/from my office which was definitely more of an ordeal than reading or sleeping or getting extra work done for the same amount of time on a train.
But how many are young attorneys - ie at the beginning of their careers. Thats where the stupendous hours are in biglaw etc.
^^Very true and as someone else suggested the ideal living situation in that case would be an apartment either in or as close as possible to the city. But in this case they already have kids and are looking to buy a house, so there is an automatic commute of 30+ minutes no matter where they are in Westchester. All I'm saying is that Chappaqua would not be adding horribly to that timeframe in consideration of the other lifestyle and school amenties they would get as a young family.
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