It used to be that most downstate NY folks didn’t want to go much farther than an hour and a half when they started looking for a country home.
Two hours was the outside limit. Unless you were from New Jersey. For some reason, Jersey people ventured a little farther. Something to do with avoiding the most urban part of the journey, no doubt.
My family was living in New Jersey when my parents found the little village of Cherry Valley in Otsego County. When they bought property, they discovered the people with the campground next door were from Jersey, too. In fact, there were a lot of Jersey people scattered around the countryside.
Now that people are working remotely, I suspect that artificial geographical limit won’t mean much anymore. If you don’t have to go to the city anymore, what does it matter if you found the perfect property three and a half hours away?
The fact is that prices are cheaper the farther you head into the Catskills, and there are some incredible deals to be had if you venture even a bit farther.
I just listed a glorious spot with an immaculate log home, and lots of outbuildings on sixty totally private acres. In the mid-Hudson Valley, in the eastern Catskills, it’s easily a $1.5M property. In Cherry Valley, it’s $499,000. It’s a steal. Drive a little farther, save a lot.