Move'n to Syracuse NY (New York, Buffalo: real estate market, house, neighborhood)

[Glen NY]

Planning on leaving Long Island. The crowds, traffic, taxes, and so on have worn me down. I have family in the Syacuse area and we are planning to move. We have two kids in HS and JHS. Any advice, we are eyeing up Bville.

[honeychrome]

If taxes are one of the main reasons for moving, be sure to investigate the rates where you are thinking of going. In my looking around upstate I've discovered that property taxes there are high- maybe not quite up to the rates of LI, but close...

[Glen NY]

When comparing home values taxes seem pretty high upstate, however you are getting so much more house for your money. What I will pay 260k for in Central New York I would pay atleast 750k and up for here(LI) and then my taxes would be double. I will also get so much less in return such as services, parks etc.

[just_sayin']

Not to mention the people and pace of live there is much nicer. I am moving home to Rochester this summer and am looking very forward to it. Upstate NY is very liveable. If they would lower the freaking property taxes the area would be more business friendly and people would probably be moving there in droves.

[Bobw1489]

What do you consider high? I'm looking at $8K a year for so-so servicies on an aveage house in Southern NJ, and am thinking of moving to the Southern Tier, one of the reasons is taxes. Being oriqinally from Potsdam, I have a hard time calling anything South of Syracuse, upstate.

[just_sayin']

well, I'd imagine that in the southern teir the taxes would be much lower, but I know that in the Rochester area... a nice house in the city in a decent neigbhorhood would probably cost you around $100,000, and your taxes would be about $2900-$3500. But the city school district isn't very good at all. The Rochester suburbs have some of the best schools in the country; but that same sized house (around 1800-2000 sq ft) would cost about 140-150k, and your taxes would hover around 5 or 6k. Depending on where you are. North Greece has the highest taxes in Monroe County, and if I'm not mistaken, Webster has the lowest (probably why it's also the fastest growing town in the county). But yeah, I'd imagine the southern tear would be dirt cheap. And for you coming from NJ, Rochester would probably seem dirt cheap too.

[Glen NY]

I'minformed, Taxes in Onandaga County are 3 1/3 percent of property value, which is way too high. However when you consider what you can buy for your dollar it is not that bad. My home on Long Island is worth 5 to 6 hundred thousand dollars. It is 1700 sq ft and on a 40 X 110 property, taxes 7200. This house would be about 130gs in Syracuse and taxes would be 3-4gs. What I can buy up there for 275gs would be 750gs down here and taxes would be 10gs. So it works out. The set back is that the high rate of taxes up in Onondaga county keep home values down. If they were to lower the tax rate the values would grow.

[just_sayin']

I think all of the upstate metros, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse; were just recently listed in the "safe" metros for real estate market my Money Magezine. I think they all had appreciation rates of about 8% in 2005.

[korn338]

I live just outside of B-ville in Van Buren. Tons of wide open land far away from any neighbors and close to 690 which is the major highway. Let me know if I can help with any specific info you might need.

[Glen NY]

Korn, Thanks for the offer. We are moving to a subdivision as we don't want too much of drastic change in environment. I would love a big country lot but the wife feels it would be best to raise the kids in a neighborhood. Otherwise do you like that area? Thanks Glen