Reply to Advice on Buying a house during COVID and Taxes in Westchester

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[quote=Anonymous]I am originally from DC, but have lived in Manhattan with my husband for the past decade. When our lease ended in May, we made the decision to decamp to my in-laws vacation home in the Berkshires with our toddler and pets (storing all of our worldly possessions in the house's large garage). We initially though we'd be here for a year, but are now hoping to put an offer down on a house in Westchster/Fairfield County by November/December as my in-laws recently announced that even though they were initially OK with us staying for a year they are feeling cooped up in DC and want unencumbered access to their vacation home over the next year (i.e. they would like us to leave, so they can take their COVID vacations to the Berkshires in peace -- and no, to the best of my knowledge we haven't done anything to precipitate this change of heart). As a result, we just started looking in earnest and we've quickly become overwhelmed. We've been told by a relator that six months into COVID there are now "COVID comps" in the tri-state area and that these comps are continuing to push housing prices up. We've been assured that there isn't a bubble, but I'm afraid that there might be and I'd hate to buy at the top of the market. We also briefly toyed with the idea of renting in Westchester or Greenwich for the year, but we've moved four times in four years (studio - 1 bedroom - 2 bedroom - vacation house) and I'm honestly sick of moving (and renting), especially with a toddler and pets...and the rental market is crazy right now in both Greenwich/Westport and in the Berkshires (we looked here as well, because we both work full-time and love our childcare provider here and don't want to reduce the amount of transitions for our son). To go through a rental search and another move and finding childcare again, just so we can move again in 12 months seems insane to me.

Does anyone have any advice on how they've handled buying a house during COVID? I'm feeling overwhelmed and stuck...We'd like to stay around $1.25M (we could go a bit higher if needed) and have found some places in Greenwich/Darien/Westport that fit the bill, but I can't get out of my head that we might be overpaying or overlooking things, because we just want to find something that works. Although my husband and I originally decided not to look at Westchester, we started looking in Larchmont recently because prices seemed a little lower. But taxes are so high that it seems like you may save a bit on the down payment, but you'll pay the same amount monthly. Has anyone else been through this struggle? Are the taxes really that much worse?

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