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Moving to Westchester NY- What You Need to Know

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Are you thinking about moving to Westchester County?

Before you make the move there are a few things you should know about this beautiful county just North of New York City.

I have been living in Yonkers which is a city within Westchester County for the past few years, before that I lived in the Bronx, which is the county South of Westchester and North of Manhattan.

Before that however, I lived in Brooklyn and Queens, so when I moved to Westchester there were many things about this area that were new to me.

I'm going to go over the five most important things I wish I would have know about Westchester before I moved here.

These items are even more important if you are planning to buy a home here.

Getting to Know the Landscape

Now some people consider Westchester the suburbs to Manhattan but that's not entirely true because Westchester itself has major cities like White Plains, Yonkers and New Rochelle.

If you ask someone from Westchester, if they consider themselves part of the suburbs, I would say most people would say no.

Westchester County is made up of cities, town, villages and hamlets, which is determined by the population density of the area. But generally speaking, Westchester County is made up of three sections, Lower Westchester, Central Westchester and Northern Westchester.

The main difference between them is the commute to NYC. If you're a commuter, you'll want to live in Central or Lower Westchester, which has a commute of an hour or less to Manhattan via the Metro North Train.

If you're looking for a more rural lifestyle, and you do not need to commute into Manhattan, then Northern Westchester would be a better fit.

Home values generally decrease the further you are from New York City so the home values in Northern Westchester are slightly lower compared to Central and Lower Westchester.

#1 Factor in Determining Home Values

Now, here's something that makes Westchester unique. Real estate values are primarily determined by school districts. That means homes in the same town could have a completely different value if they belong to different school districts.

Make sure you are using homes in similar school districts as comparable properties when trying to figure out home values.

In fact you can have house that belongs to one town, but a different school district and a different post office! For example, a home could be in the Town of Greenburgh, in the Edgemont Schools District, and a Scarsdale Post Office! Situations like this are very common in Westchester.

So when trying to figure out if homes are actually worth what the price the owners are asking, you really need to pay attention everything and especially the school district.

The Square Footage is Probably Wrong

Something else you should know is that the square footage on listings are not reliable.

The reason being is that not all real estate agents measure square footage the same way. And it's possible that two agents can report the square footage of a property entirely differently.

One agent may include finished basement or balcony space in the square footage an other may not. So it's possible to have two homes identical in size and one agent is advertising a 1,300 square foot home and another agent could advertise it as 2,500 square feet.

Using our MLS system we can either measure the livable square footage or simply report the number livable square footage number that is on the tax record, which can vary tremendously from what the actual square footage is. In other words the square footage being reported can be highly inaccurate.

Run your real estate searches using bedrooms and bathrooms counts as your search criteria then look at the photos and the square footage and try to figure out how the agent came up with the square footage number.

Westchester Has Hills Everywhere

Another thing to keep in mind when house hunting in Westchester: the topography of the area.

Westchester is known for its hills, which can make for some beautiful views, but can also make for some tricky backyard situations. If you have kids, you'll want to make sure the backyard is flat enough for them to play on.

Having sloped or rocky land can devalue a property which is also something to consider when it comes time to sell.

Different Areas, Different Utilities

Finally, when you're looking to buy a home in Westchester, make sure you pay attention to what type of utilities are provided.

Lower and Central Westchester are more city-like, with water, gas, and sewer lines. But as you head further North, it's more common to find homes with well water and septic systems. If that's a deal breaker for you and you don't want to have to deal with learning how to maintain a septic system, make sure you do your research before you start house hunting.

There you have it!

Feel free to reach out to us if you are thinking about buying a home here in Westchester County. Our main number is (914) 274-4620.

And, if you enjoyed reading this, please make sure to sign up to our blog. I do my best to put out informative real estate related posts.

Thanks for reading!