Considering a move to Syracuse (New York, Albany: fit in, high crime, cheap house)
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Thank you so much ckhthankgod. That is extremely helpful!
No problem and you can use this to enter an address to see what schools the house is closest to. it works better some times versus others: Search for School Profiles
I would definitely rent if I were you. Get through 2 winters and see how you fare.
It's not just the snow, its the 6 months of gray and gloom. Generally you can be pretty confident it's going to start snowing in November and go on and on and on until the middle of April. Some years we like to throw in snow in October and all of April, just for the fun of it. For most people its not an issue, for some its almost debilitating. IMO that more than anything can affect your experience.
If you find winter doesn't bother you than it really is a great place to live. You can pretty much find whatever atmosphere you are looking for when you are ready to settle. But the areas are vastly different. My personal favorite suburb is Baldwinsville, but the taxes there prevented us from buying a home in that area. We lived in Village Green Apartments and enjoyed it. And its a great place to trick or treat, they really get into it there. Even after we bought our house we would take our daughter trick or treating in Bville. Radisson is another area in Bville that is nice, but its pricey. Thats where we would go for the mothers day garage sales, they always had the best stuff!!
And it's also a very easy city to drive around in. So come, try it for a few years and keep us updated on your experiences.
I would definitely rent if I were you. Get through 2 winters and see how you fare.
It's not just the snow, its the 6 months of gray and gloom. Generally you can be pretty confident it's going to start snowing in November and go on and on and on until the middle of April. Some years we like to throw in snow in October and all of April, just for the fun of it. For most people its not an issue, for some its almost debilitating. IMO that more than anything can affect your experience.
If you find winter doesn't bother you than it really is a great place to live. You can pretty much find whatever atmosphere you are looking for when you are ready to settle. But the areas are vastly different. My personal favorite suburb is Baldwinsville, but the taxes there prevented us from buying a home in that area. We lived in Village Green Apartments and enjoyed it. And its a great place to trick or treat, they really get into it there. Even after we bought our house we would take our daughter trick or treating in Bville. Radisson is another area in Bville that is nice, but its pricey. Thats where we would go for the mothers day garage sales, they always had the best stuff!!
And it's also a very easy city to drive around in. So come, try it for a few years and keep us updated on your experiences.
Zoetowns, I'll kinda try and explain my point about housing prices.
First anywhere is cheaper then CA. Don't kid yourself about the taxes though. You will easily pay an additional 100K over the life of the loan. so 100 becomes 200 and so on.
I do not live in Syracuse. The fact is not a single person in this thread lives in Syracuse. I live in a city called Oneida. To many of the slack jawed locals Oneida is the "dark side of the moon". The reality is its 23 miles. If 23 miles is "a heck of a long ways" then you see there point. If 23 miles is something you'd consider drive able then you see mine. I was in Syracuse yesterday for cigarettes and lunch at Toby Keiths. If it was supposed to be a long scary drive I missed it.
When someone says "housing cost" its very much like saying go buy me an 18v cordless drill. Do they mean Harbor Freight , Dewalt or Festool?? All make 18v cordless drills. So why would there be such a wide range in prices (15-400)?? Well because things are different is why.
I'll throw a couple house prices from my own town. I am not saying to live here but I know the area.
The is a Harbor Freight house. About 1500 sq/ft which is prolly the average size. Its a nice size to, my own home is that size. Its alot to heat though and without kids now I'd like about 900. But its normal. This house is in a very bad area and the school is TERRIBLE.
This is the Dewalt house. This is a nice house. About 50 years old which is fairly modern for NY. Nice layout. Its in a nice area with nice schools. This is what I call a "house". Playing with the loan thingie this one can be had for 1000 a month all in with gold star credit and 35K down. Lacking either of those it would be higher of coarse.
And then we have Festool. Now these houses on the hill are nice. But they still ain't what I'd call a mansion in Miami or LA. But they are nice houses they just have that dark brown dead landscaping thats NY 9 months a year. Personally if I had this kinda coin I'd live somewhere that had more then 62 days of sunshine a year. I'd guess most of these people are big frog in a little pond types. Taxes alone on this place are over 10K. Thats 10 thousand dollars!!!! 300,000$ in taxes on a 30 year note. If you bought it young and live there 50 years (very common in NY) you'd have paid a half million in taxes. And its has only ok schools. Well people will do what they will do.
I'll throw you another little tidbit, for free...............
My sister lives on the Left Coast and out there the asking price of a house its just a guess and often you will get offers OVER asking price. My sister got in a bidding war on her current house, FANTASTIC schools, good area, so-so house for a number with many zero's. And she had to keep offering MORE. Very weird and with my NY way of thinking she got took but she's happy as a pig in slop.
Here the asking price is most often a pie in the sky daydreamer number. Throw it against the wall and see what sticks type thing. Look for how long its been on the market. Several years is very common. These last few years have been brutal in NY (as bad as anywhere just smaller numbers) so many people are asking what they paid 3 years ago and they ain't gonna get it, a forced sale is hanging over there head. This would be a win for you. When I was looking at the above listings many have prices that would have been fair 3-5 years ago but don't reflect current reality. The ones I know best I'd easily knock 10-25% off asking price and with most I'd at least offer 50% to see how badly the NY state line is calling them.
When my own house is paid off, 9 years worst case and 6 best case, I'll snap at the very first cash offer.
Don't bother low balling in June, July or August. NY seems livable then and you'll pay full price. Then comes school and nobody wants to pull the kids those months. Then the holidays and who wants to move during Christmas. Wait til Febuary or March. By then everyone is sick of the gloom. Thats when people will snap at anything.
Good points Sean. Great advice on when to purchase.
So when is your husband supposed to start his new job? It doesn't sound like you are going to have a chance to visit so maybe we could offer some suggestions on where to find a place to live? Help narrow down locations for you? I remember when we moved there were almost too many apartment options. And some looked so nice online then we got there and were not comfortable with the area. I remember one specifically, Saddle Club Townhomes in Liverpool, that I fell in love with online. I was convinced that was the one. I would look at it everyday and was so excited. Then when we went to tour it I was not comfortable with the neighborhood it was in. There were a lot of people hanging outside of their townhome and it was the middle of the day on a workday. Just gave off a sketchy vibe. Now granted this was almost ten years ago (OMG it was 9 years ago, where has the time gone). Things could have changed.
So how many bedrooms would you want? Do you want rural, suburban, or urban? What amenities are you looking for?
Anyway we are planning a trip to Syracuse in the next couple of weeks. If I go before you move I'd be happy to snap some pics for you if you have a specific place in mind and send them your way.
Oh and Wegmans, You are going to love Wegmans! That is the one thing I miss the most about living there. Our grocery stores here are nothing like Wegmans.
Actually, it is around 161 days of sun for the area. Housing costs generally will include taxes and listings list taxes before the STAR Rebate(which will be about a $700 reduction in School taxes): STAR
Again, when looking at other areas with lower property taxes/tax rates, it really is a matter of paying a little to the bank versus paying a little more to government here. Basically, pick your poison, as it still comes out of your pocket.
Also, as a person that has lived in the UK, villages and surrounding areas of Cazenovia, Skaneateles, Marcellus, Fayetteville, Manlius and perhaps a few others may appeal to you based on how their look and feel. Village of Cazenovia Cazenovia Chamber of Commerce
While some may not live in Syracuse city limits, it seems like certain folks have plenty of interaction and spend time in various parts of the city and immediate surrounding area.
Zoetowns, I'll kinda try and explain my point about housing prices.
First anywhere is cheaper then CA. Don't kid yourself about the taxes though. You will easily pay an additional 100K over the life of the loan. so 100 becomes 200 and so on.
I do not live in Syracuse. The fact is not a single person in this thread lives in Syracuse. I live in a city called Oneida. To many of the slack jawed locals Oneida is the "dark side of the moon". The reality is its 23 miles. If 23 miles is "a heck of a long ways" then you see there point. If 23 miles is something you'd consider drive able then you see mine. I was in Syracuse yesterday for cigarettes and lunch at Toby Keiths. If it was supposed to be a long scary drive I missed it.
When someone says "housing cost" its very much like saying go buy me an 18v cordless drill. Do they mean Harbor Freight , Dewalt or Festool?? All make 18v cordless drills. So why would there be such a wide range in prices (15-400)?? Well because things are different is why.
I'll throw a couple house prices from my own town. I am not saying to live here but I know the area.
The is a Harbor Freight house. About 1500 sq/ft which is prolly the average size. Its a nice size to, my own home is that size. Its alot to heat though and without kids now I'd like about 900. But its normal. This house is in a very bad area and the school is TERRIBLE.
This is the Dewalt house. This is a nice house. About 50 years old which is fairly modern for NY. Nice layout. Its in a nice area with nice schools. This is what I call a "house". Playing with the loan thingie this one can be had for 1000 a month all in with gold star credit and 35K down. Lacking either of those it would be higher of coarse.
And then we have Festool. Now these houses on the hill are nice. But they still ain't what I'd call a mansion in Miami or LA. But they are nice houses they just have that dark brown dead landscaping thats NY 9 months a year. Personally if I had this kinda coin I'd live somewhere that had more then 62 days of sunshine a year. I'd guess most of these people are big frog in a little pond types. Taxes alone on this place are over 10K. Thats 10 thousand dollars!!!! 300,000$ in taxes on a 30 year note. If you bought it young and live there 50 years (very common in NY) you'd have paid a half million in taxes. And its has only ok schools. Well people will do what they will do.
Those are all bad choices if there's frequent crime, as you have said repeatedly in the past, and it's a bad school district.
There are tinderbox homes with high taxes in bad areas. Buying those homes would be a bad choice. There's not enough value for the outlay.
If they have not been homeowners in the past two years, they can use FHA. 3.5% down with 3.5% interest over 30 years. The major player is quality of life for the price and keeping those taxes DOWN. With enough research, making a good choice in purchasing will greatly contribute to their quality of life.
Days of sunshine is one of those things that's like deer snot on a door knob, kinda hard to pin down. Per your list this area gets 62 days of sun a year. I think we can all agree on those. The 160 or so gloomy days are also easy to spot. The party gloomy days are the tough ones. My wife counts any sun as a sunny day. I don't. 15 minutes don't cut it with this ole boy. Look out your window right now and you will see what I see 300 days a year.
On crime and school of the links I put up?? Prolly pretty average schools for NY. They ain't New Hartford but they ain't syracuse either.
On the crime well country living is the wy to go. But unless one wants a two hour commute land in NY is not cheap. Crime in the cities have made country living extremely expensive. Trust me I'd do it in a second if I had the money but I don't and never will. So that's that. I'm guessing that nobody here know the area that high dollar house is in. It's in the city of Oneida but in a new part that has no connecting roads to the old city. Basically a gated community. All roads only lead to 5 or 365a. They run a tight ship up there. If I was to pass through there in my old 2003 pickup I would expect to have a police tail and most likely get stopped. They would just ask me what I was doing and explain how to get back out. So yes it's "in" a high crime area but you'd be pretty safe as long as you stay out of the old city.
The middle house is near the safe zone.
The cheap house is right on the Gaza Strip.
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