When we arrived in Central New York, we were fortunate to know someone who knew someone with an apartment we could rent in a charming village. It was a great location from which to launch our home search and had the added benefit of being within walking distance of nearly everything in the village.
We were fortunate to find a great realtor who didn’t mind hauling me all over the area and arranging for me to look at more than 20 homes. And she never batted an eye when my choices were all over the map. I looked at everything from new condos in old warehouses to 250-year-old 5,000 square foot homes on village greens.
The prices in this area are so affordable compared to the home costs where we lived in Arizona, that I wasn’t concerned about looking at homes that were, honestly, far too large for two people.
I was trying hard to find something similar to our home in AZ, which had a lovely guest suite that was perfect for my mom when she came to stay. There was enough room, and privacy, that she could stay for a couple of months at a time and we could all still have our space.
Well, that house never materialized, and we ended up buying a condo just down the street from our rental. And ya’ll, it is small. Two bedrooms and only 1 full bath. Needless to say, it has been a challenge to make this work. You might wonder why we made this choice since it was less than ideal space-wise.
Location, location, location! This place is within a five-minute walk (even in winter) of every restaurant, shop and pharmacy in town. I can literally go for weeks without getting in my car. We really wanted walkable. And we got it. We even walk to the dentist. It’s crazy but pretty cool!
The other plus of the condo is taxes. Property taxes in New York are REALLY high for single-family homes, but extremely reasonable for condos. So, we chose the condo.
It’s been interesting figuring out how to use the space available as efficiently as possible, and we have come up with some creative ideas, like turning the attic into my closet, and sectioning the unfinishable basement into four distinct areas, such as pantry, office, laundry, and crafts.
So far it’s working out, but I know someday I am going to want to go back to single-level living.