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Health & Fitness

How to Pick the Right Westcheser Town for your family!

Liza Levy of Platinum Drive Realty Tips on: How to Pick the Right Westchester Town for your Family

 Liza Levy, a licensed real estate professional with Platinum Drive Realty, one of the top real estate firms in Westchester. Liza did a ton of research prior to her family’s move to Westchester, and below, she shares the tips her clients and friends find most helpful when starting out their housing searches.

 

Agree on your priorities Selecting a town sometimes requires trade-offs, so it’s important to make sure you agree on what’s most important to you and your family. Liza recommends you and your spouse create a list defining your priorities. Here are some of the most important factors to consider when you think about priorities:

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  1. Affordability: This is often a big factor when choosing a town in Westchester. Neighboring towns can have significant differences in home values and local taxes. Make sure your budget aligns with what house you can afford. A dream home with four bedrooms, 3 baths on a 0.5 acre can cost $400,000 in one town and $1.2M in another. Search real estate websites (e.g., www.platinumdr.com) to see how price ranges vary by town.
  1. Schools: Westchester is known to have some of the best public and private schools in the country. You can also ask friends in the communities about school reputations. Other considerations are whether class size is important – do you like the idea of 75 children in the graduating class or would you prefer 400 children in each grade?
  1. Commute Time: Commute time was an important consideration for Liza’s husband. He wanted to keep his commute less than 1 hr and this helped limit our initial list of town options. If you plan on traveling by train, make sure to include the time to get to the train station and check to see if the local train station has long wait lists for parking permits. You can also consider travel time from your house of worship or private schools.
  1. Proximity to Family and Friends: Do you want to live close to your parents? (Or your IN-LAWS?) Need a relative nearby to help with last minute babysitting? If family is important to you, don’t minimize the importance to live close to your extended family. Similarly, think about distance to friends when choosing a town. However, don’t be afraid to move to a town where you don’t know anyone. Many people are surprised how easy it is to meet people when they go to a new town, particularly if you have young children.
  1. Town Amenities: Look at what the surrounding community has to offer. Take a tour of the town center (village or shopping area) – do the restaurants and shopping look like places you want to spend your afternoon? Does the town have recreation or parks you want? What type of daycare programs are available? Our firm’s approach is to give our clients a grand tour of the area they are considering so they have the full picture when deciding where best to live.


Narrow your list of town options
Some people start their search knowing they only want to move to one town. Others start with a long list of options. It is healthy to start with a broad search if you are unsure of where you want to live. However, it is difficult to comprehensively search 10 towns for your new home. Liza recommends home seekers try to hone in on a few neighborhoods as early as possible. Liza is happy to help you find which areas make the most sense for you and your family.

Liza lives in Scarsdale with her husband and two young boys.  She has extensive knowledge of the Westchester towns, and ensures the entire home buying experience is a positive one for her clients

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