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I gave the price point info on page 3 but that was months ago so I don't expect anyone to remember. We can go to around $550,000 but only if it's perfect, done, doesn't need any changes, which is rare to find. The budget has to be adjusted downward to account for any remodeling or repairs we'd want to do. We say all the time wouldn't it be awesome if we find a place we like for $300,000 or something like that. I think it could happen.
I've been watching that listing wondering why the heck it hasn't sold yet, it's been on the market a long time and stuff in that price range usually goes fast in Skaneateles (oh my goodness it just took me like 8 tries to spell that.) As far as the property itself, yes it looks great to me. There's also a lot I like about the house. On satellite map I can see there is something a little weird about the siting of the lot and also there appears to be some kind of junk yard behind the property (very organized junk yard though... I don't know what exactly it is, I can't tell from the satellite map view.)
I'm sure you can find exactly what you are looking for somewhere in upstate.
As for that listing, I'm not surprised it hasn't sold. No curb appeal. It looks like a garage, or hunting camp.
I'm sure you can find exactly what you are looking for somewhere in upstate.
As for that listing, I'm not surprised it hasn't sold. No curb appeal. It looks like a garage, or hunting camp.
I think the surprise is that it is in Skaneateles, which is largely a town and school district that is highly desirable. Especially for that price and relatively close proximity to the village.
Something else to keep in mind and I may have mentioned this earlier in the thread, but don’t get too caught up on if an area has Wegmans or not in terms of organic foods, as you do have other grocers with a more organic food focus that can fill that need or other big grocers that have a selection as well. I say this especially if you find the type of property you want in an area a good distance from a Wegmans.
I also say this as an area like the Utica-Rome metro area is one of, if not THE most affordable metro in the state, but doesn’t have a Wegmans in the area. It also puts you near or even parts are in the Adirondacks, which can offer the type of properties you are looking for.
Many areas have public markets that offer organic foods as well.
There are 2 Wegmans within 5 minutes of there as well. In fact, it's one of the busiest areas in the region, so you can find pretty much anything you need. Yet, you can be in a much less crowded area with lots of wooded homesites in minutes south of Henrietta. The town of Rush may be a good place to look.
If you choose to live in the Rochester region, or not, you may want to check out our public market in the city. It has been voted one of the best PM's in the country.
Our realtor laughed when I told him Wegmans is everything to me. I will always visit the grocery store options in person any time there's a house that looks good to us. If it's not Wegmans but it meets our needs we'll go for it.
So I'm late to the thread - but welcome! And I didn't read all 9 pages, so I apologize if I'm jumping in with info you've already heard.
For a bit of background, I've lived in upstate all of my life, with the exception of a decade or so spent in Erie, PA (which is basically an extension of upstate/western NY, IMHO). However, I've been mostly in western NY and the Southern Tier, so I don't know quite as much about the I-90 corridor/urban areas (Buffalo/Syracuse/Rochester).
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Originally Posted by watergarden
1) Mice. On our last visit (stayed in Penn Yan area) we noticed mouse bait stations around the exterior of the rental cottage. The pest control people happened to stop by to check the baits while we were outside and we got into a conversation with them. They told us mice getting inside homes is a huge problem in the Finger Lakes and throughout most of NY. Have you had a problem with it and have you found it necessary to use a pest control company for this issue?
- We have never used a pest control company. Are there mice in/around our property? I'm sure! But I've never seen them, so it isn't a concern.
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Originally Posted by watergarden
2) Everything from home repairs to medical care - is there a huge difference in availability comparing Rochester or Syracuse to Southern Tier or Finger Lakes?
- Medical care is a concern of ours, due to chronic yet entirely manageable health conditions. I've used the Arnot network in the Elmira area, the Guthrie network in the same general area, and the UHS system in Binghamton. I've been relatively pleased with all of them. However, I know that if there is ever a need for advanced treatment, even those networks will send patients to the larger hospitals in the cities.
- Things like home repair, tree services, paving, landscaping, heating/plumbing/HVAC services....of course in rural areas your choices are limited. We have had trouble finding reputable contractors....but then, people have that same problem in big cities, too. In rural areas, word of mouth is key. So if you aren't making connections, you will probably have more trouble finding the best service providers.
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Originally Posted by watergarden
3) Snow plowing roads. Is there a big difference comparing Rochester / Syracuse to Southern Tier and Finger Lakes or is it equally good everywhere?
- Snow plowing is the same in that we all complain about it. LOL I honestly think smaller areas are better about plowing, just because they ARE smaller - like, I know folks in Rochester who've waited days for a certain neighborhood to be plowed out! At the same time, snow is inconvenient, and if that means I'm late to work or my kid's school is delayed, that's just the way it is.
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Originally Posted by watergarden
4) Is natural gas fairly popular and common throughout the state or is it very uncommon in certain areas? Is it mainly only available near larger cities? Should we prioritize having natural gas when searching for a home?
- We've never not had natural gas heat - in Erie, rural Chemung County, a bit more urban Chemung County, and now rural Tioga County. I know there are still some homes around us with oil heat. We don't have any issue with the cost of natural gas, but we also keep our thermostat pretty low.
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Originally Posted by watergarden
The dilemma always comes back to the same thing I wrote in my original post, wanting both the rustic-woodsy setting but also having year round access to organic groceries. I worry we will fall in love with the perfect rustic house on a woodsy property and say "sure I think we can deal with a half hour drive to the nearest Wegmans" then after living there 6 months really get sick of that drive. The smart thing would be to set a firm rule to only consider properties within 15 mins to Wegmans, but gosh there are sometimes properties farther out that are so tempting!
- I've always had at least a 20 minute drive to work every day... LOL I currently drive about 25 minutes to work, and pass Wegman's (and Aldi) on my way to and from work. To be closer to either work OR Wegman's, we'd have to live in a different school district and a higher taxed area (not that taxes are low anywhere in NYS, but there is some variance from county to county). Having grown up out here, a 30 minute drive to ANYTHING doesn't phase me! From high school football games to groceries to work, mileage was just assumed.
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Originally Posted by watergarden
We have been assured the real estate market will pick up in the Spring and Summer. It was dead up there over the holiday season and after the new year has been steadily coming back to life. But I guess April is when it really gets going for the busy season? I know there won't be a ton for sale because people are so reluctant to sell and then have to find another place, but we were told April-August is the main real estate season there, and then September-October could be a good time to snag something but after that the market goes back into winter hibernation. So we feel on a time crunch to buy within that window before the end of October. The sooner the better but we also want to be patient for the right place and also we know we may have to offer on a few before we get one accepted.
- In our current neighborhood, nothing has stayed on the market for more than a week or 2 - even in the winter. (I was amazed, since we bought our house in 2019, looked at it multiple times before we made an offer, and evidently ours was the only offer. That is NOT the case 4 years later, that's for sure.) I do know that we won't be selling any time soon, because of the interest rate situation!
We were very interested to read your thoughts about the availability of services. Something we worry about is buying a house that we want to renovate, then not being able to find anyone to hire for the renovation projects.
Here are some other markets that have organic foods, has locations in Fairmount/Camillus(western suburb of Syracuse, ironically across the street from a Wegmans) and Oswego(about 40 minutes NW of Syracuse): https://www.greenplanetgrocerystore.com/
In terms of proximity to Wegmans and places with more tree cover, I would say some sleeper areas to look into is the area in between Elmira and Corning, which would put you in between two Wegmans: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Wegm...!3e0?entry=ttu
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