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Need recomendation on a place to live between Buffalo and Rochester


fansince88

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A friend of mine just took a promotion for his company but it moves him to be regional manager for his company between Buffalo and Rochester. He is looking for advice for the best hope for good value on real estate in the Batavia area. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

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I live in Genesee County.  Each town here has pros and cons.  The main con being land is getting pricey.  The area would depend on what he's looking for,  woods,  tillable,  pasture, waterfront, and what municipal services he wants,  public water,  natural gas,  maybe sewer etc. I'm in the rural real estate business.  Feel free to message me if you want some specific suggestions. 

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26 minutes ago, fansince88 said:

He is more into country living. We live north of Fort Drum, he about 30 miles and owns acreage. He is hoping to purchase land in the country @Misterbluesky and @Your Brown Eye

  I would go south of Batavia.  Maybe down into Wyoming County.  Some of the ground is not very productive and if he is only going to run horses or graze a few beef cows it is possible to find land that is not priced on par with ground for vegetables and row crops.  

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2 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

I would recommend your buddy buy anywhere from 20-50 acres just outside Batavia but close to Thruway.  That land will sell for $10 million in less than 5 years. Why you might ask? #Pegula #NewStadium #BuildEastofBuffalo

 

You've been connecting dots, haven’t you?  

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12 hours ago, Your Brown Eye said:

Batavia is the best choice, everything else is podunk towns. 

 

I grew up in Batavia & my parents still live there so visit fairly often. 

 

I would not consider Batavia to be a thriving metropolis but a micro-brewery recently opened there: https://elifishbrewing.com/

 

It is a nice place to raise kids. If your friend is more interested in rural living then I suggest Elba or Oakfield or some other villages users have mentioned. Just depends on whether he wants to be closer to Buf or Roch.

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Just now, Mr Info said:

I would not consider Batavia to be a thriving metropolis but a micro-brewery recently opened there: https://elifishbrewing.com/

Not all that surprising, actually.  Micro breweries are starting to pop up in those bicycle pedal carts they used to hawk ice cream out of!

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10 minutes ago, Mr Info said:

 

I grew up in Batavia & my parents still live there so visit fairly often. 

 

I would not consider Batavia to be a thriving metropolis but a micro-brewery recently opened there: https://elifishbrewing.com/

 

It is a nice place to raise kids. If your friend is more interested in rural living then I suggest Elba or Oakfield or some other villages users have mentioned. Just depends on whether he wants to be closer to Buf or Roch.

  Those are all truly nice places but if he wants open acreage the price will be very high IF he can find any land.  Competition amongst big farms for ground is fierce.  

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15 hours ago, fansince88 said:

A friend of mine just took a promotion for his company but it moves him to be regional manager for his company between Buffalo and Rochester. He is looking for advice for the best hope for good value on real estate in the Batavia area. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

 

Falmouth is nice, though Bermuda is better.

 

Wait...which Rochester?  

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3 hours ago, RochesterRob said:

  Those are all truly nice places but if he wants open acreage the price will be very high IF he can find any land.  Competition amongst big farms for ground is fierce.  

 

That is relative. According to this USDA 2017 Farm Real Estate Value assessment, farmland is relatively inexpensive in NY compared with other states.

https://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/land0817.pdf

That does not mean you can find it for sale. just it's not that expensive in comparison. II am curious as to big farm competition articles in upstate NY because my google searches turned up rather empty.

 

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Medina = crazy taxes

As far as where to buy... when my husband was originally looking for hunting land he found a WNY historical snowfall map. After looking at it and seeing the HUGE difference between snowfalls above and below Rt 20, he abandoned the cheaper land idea south of 20. Your friend may want to investigate that too (land above Rt 20 is more than below, land above Rt 5 is more than below - generally speaking).

And circling back to the land wants... Hubby's been looking for a few years for 30+ acres in Genesee County ("our" current land is on Lake Ontario). He wants at least 50% woods so he's having a tough time, but he has said that parcels of 20+ acres of cleared land come up a lot (he has notifications on for acreage for years, with and without a house).

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1 hour ago, Mr Info said:

 

That is relative. According to this USDA 2017 Farm Real Estate Value assessment, farmland is relatively inexpensive in NY compared with other states.

https://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/land0817.pdf

That does not mean you can find it for sale. just it's not that expensive in comparison. II am curious as to big farm competition articles in upstate NY because my google searches turned up rather empty.

 

  Farmland prices vary widely in New York and most of the information regarding price is not publicized voluntarily.  Deed transactions were listed in various area newspapers but how many people get the paper anymore plus deeds indicating tract numbers do not tell the story as to soil types, drainage, topography, buildings and their condition to name a few items.  If a person is truly curious as to a land sale they can always go to the county office building where the land sale took place and there will be a record including selling price.  I would also say that comparing land prices in WNY with say Iowa is like comparing apples and oranges.  Different soils, growing seasons, weather patterns, access to markets, etc.. come into play.  

 

  Nobody said that you can't find land for sale but pick a township and it might take considerably longer in that township versus another and there may be far more competition.  I hear 10-12 thousand dollars per acre or more for premium agricultural land in WNY and that price would put a 25-30 acre parcel out of reach for most people including lower white collar types.  I would consider the area north of Batavia to be the high rent district so to speak for land prices given the large farms and the high valued crops.  Lower land prices tend to follow in areas where lower value products such as hay and pasture are grown.  In the area around Batavia this happens more to the south down into Wyoming County.  What further makes land immediately around Batavia expensive is quick access to I90.  The same thing with being close to 490 over by Rochester.  

 

  I did not say that Oakfield and Elba were bad places but they probably will be more expensive to pick up 25-30 acres if you don't get muscled to the side by the big players.  No personal offense was intended.

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1 hour ago, Buffalo_Gal said:

Medina = crazy taxes

As far as where to buy... when my husband was originally looking for hunting land he found a WNY historical snowfall map. After looking at it and seeing the HUGE difference between snowfalls above and below Rt 20, he abandoned the cheaper land idea south of 20. Your friend may want to investigate that too (land above Rt 20 is more than below, land above Rt 5 is more than below - generally speaking).

And circling back to the land wants... Hubby's been looking for a few years for 30+ acres in Genesee County ("our" current land is on Lake Ontario). He wants at least 50% woods so he's having a tough time, but he has said that parcels of 20+ acres of cleared land come up a lot (he has notifications on for acreage for years, with and without a house).

  Medina is a good area but also has a lot of high quality farmland that brings a high price.  Orchards are a factor and the Amish are getting to be factor up by Kendall and Lyndonville.  If there is an Amish or Mennonite community nearby they bid land high with the Amish being seekers of 40-50 acre parcels in particular.

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4 hours ago, RochesterRob said:

.,,,

  I did not say that Oakfield and Elba were bad places but they probably will be more expensive to pick up 25-30 acres if you don't get muscled to the side by the big players.  No personal offense was intended.

 

None was assumed. Thank you for the insight.

 

My grandfather had a dairy farm in Kendall but that was long ago. It is out of the family now. Perhaps now owned by the Mennonites or Amish as you mentioned in another post.

 

Some of the muck farmers near Rochester were acquaintenances in college. They were fairly young. Their big cash crop was not onions and I’ll leave it at that. 

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13 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

I would recommend your buddy buy anywhere from 20-50 acres just outside Batavia but close to Thruway.  That land will sell for $10 million in less than 5 years. Why you might ask? #Pegula #NewStadium #BuildEastofBuffalo

Maybe even a new airport for Buffalo & Rochester??

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11 hours ago, DC Tom said:

 

Falmouth is nice, though Bermuda is better.

 

Wait...which Rochester?  

LOL. NY

14 hours ago, row_33 said:

what's his situation? 

 

single?  married with 3 kids making impossible demands??

 

 

Divorced and grown kids. He is alone.

13 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

Is your friend Dunkirk Don?  I'm not falling for this scam again.

LOL no sir.

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10 hours ago, Mr Info said:

 

That is relative. According to this USDA 2017 Farm Real Estate Value assessment, farmland is relatively inexpensive in NY compared with other states.

https://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/land0817.pdf

That does not mean you can find it for sale. just it's not that expensive in comparison. II am curious as to big farm competition articles in upstate NY because my google searches turned up rather empty.

 

 

Here's the site you need for farmland values:   https://www.acrevalue.com/

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1 minute ago, Chef Jim said:

Alexander.  Only because that's where I grew up and 90% of the people who are from WNY have never heard of it.  

  I'm very familiar with Alexander.  I've driven down 98 to Arcade and over through Springville to Dunkirk on 39.  A few years ago they were doing work on 98 in Attica and the detour was over past the big house.  In general more the area the OP was talking about as the ground for the most part is not suited for expensive crops which drives high land prices.  I will say the land can get a little steep physically when you go a few hundred feet away from Tonawanda Creek.

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5 hours ago, Limeaid said:

Newark, NY is nice. My relatives owned farm there after my uncle retired from NY motorcycle police.  He eventually sold most of farmland when he got too old for it and none of his kids were interested in farming. He did not live in the village 

 

Land there has easy access to major roads.  His land had a large pond and hilled woods at back of property.  They are deceased now and I think my cousin lives there.

 

 

 

In what alternate reality is Newark between Ra-cha-cha & Buffalo?

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Acrevalue is a good tool. They are working on getting a lot of info into that system.  However,  they are a bit behind on recent sales.  Two farms we sold over a year ago still don't show on that site as sales. 

 

Regarding land values,  given the current market prices and the state of the dairy economy,  there isn't as much demand as there was 18 to 30 months ago.  I don't think you'll see the 8k to 12k per acre for a while.  That doesn't mean the land will be cheap though.  Unless it needs to be sold for an estate or financial reasons most owners are content to wait until the market rebounds. 

 

Land is a little cheaper in southern genesee county and northern Wyoming county but you're still looking at a minimum of 3-4k per acre for tillable land and around 1k for non tillable or woods.  

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1 hour ago, jkent14 said:

Acrevalue is a good tool. They are working on getting a lot of info into that system.  However,  they are a bit behind on recent sales.  Two farms we sold over a year ago still don't show on that site as sales. 

 

Regarding land values,  given the current market prices and the state of the dairy economy,  there isn't as much demand as there was 18 to 30 months ago.  I don't think you'll see the 8k to 12k per acre for a while.  That doesn't mean the land will be cheap though.  Unless it needs to be sold for an estate or financial reasons most owners are content to wait until the market rebounds. 

 

Land is a little cheaper in southern genesee county and northern Wyoming county but you're still looking at a minimum of 3-4k per acre for tillable land and around 1k for non tillable or woods.  

  Go south of Warsaw but that adds to the commute to and from Buffalo.  Acrevalue is OK but flawed especially in this area where soil quality can vary wildly over a mile or two.  Not so much just north of Batavia but getting down into Wyoming County.  

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On 7/20/2018 at 10:13 AM, ricojes said:

A guy from my company lives in Medina.  He takes back roads to Buffalo and Rochester, but I don't know much about the area.

 

 

I grew up there though no longer live there.  Small town living and really depends on what you are looking for.  Very quiet and homes are very inexpensive as compared to other places.

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2 hours ago, NoSaint said:

 

Dunkirk Don has no friends.

 

But he has multiple high level business meeting associates.... he may have gone quiet after one sneaked up behind him. Hard to say for sure.

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