June 20, 2025

Real Estate

Mad about real estate

Discover the New Standard in New York Country Home Living

The state of New York is so much more than a sprawling metropolis and 400 square foot city apartments. The often overlooked miles of outside the city of gorgeous rural real estate and stunning scenery provide the perfect backdrop for a remarkable country home. One can enjoy the tranquility of a country home (or second home, a little “place in the country” perfect for weekend to month-long escapes from concrete and noise) while staying as connected as one desires to the city life.

Wherever and whatever your real estate dreams may be, this is certainly the time to “make a move” towards your ideal living/vacation situation. Governmental incentives, low land costs, and low interest rates are combining to create a unique buyer’s market that will not be around forever.

There is truly something for everyone in New York, from the avid sportsman to the historically minded to the nature lover. The state has a long history and is full of opportunities to explore landmarks, historical towns, and even battlegrounds. The rural areas of New York abound with outdoor recreational options – New York licenses around 700,000 hunters annually to hunt deer, bear, and turkey, recently committed $5.8 million to restoring and maintaining snowmobile runs, and is home to many lakes for fishing, boating, and lakeside living. There is a wide variety of local fish, from small Perch to Trout to the exciting trophy fish, Pike. The moderate summers are perfect for outdoor recreation and lakehouses, while the winters are beautifully scenic and provide a full array of winter sport for those so inclined.

Thanks to IBM’s recent advancement in the field of broadband internet, rural areas across the US are now receiving high-speed internet through previously installed electrical grids! This means no matter how off the beaten path your home may be, as long as it is hooked into the grid, you can work, shop, and use the internet with the speed and ease now required by most websites for optimal performance. This is especially useful as more and more businesses allow employees to telecommute to save time and resources, as it gives people the option to move out of dense urban centers and into the country while still maintaining their careers.

An exceedingly important aspect of new home buying for those relocating is the economy of the area. New York’s economy is extremely strong, coming in third of all states, behind California and Texas, in Gross State Product. With a variety of businesses decentralizing outside of New York City, there is a plethora of opportunities for those looking for employment.

If you have decided that rural New York is where you would like to buy property, the fun has just begun. You will need to decide in which region to live, whether you want lake or riverfront property, and what features or amenities must be close by. A great idea at this stage is to visit several of the areas you wish to buy property in person. Talk to local people and get their opinions, see what local features are appealing to you, and on an overall level, make sure that this area is somewhere you could see yourself staying. I cannot overstress how important this is to your happiness in purchasing property no matter what the location – no one wants to get stuck with incompatible neighbors!

Once you have a good idea what you are looking for, I suggest using the internet to find the perfect property for you. As of last year, 88{ef6a2958fe8e96bc49a2b3c1c7204a1bbdb5dac70ce68e07dc54113a68252ca4} of buyers began their search for real estate online, and advertisers and brokers know this, so they now market more online than ever. Simply open a browser, and type into your favorite search engine (such as Google) search terms like “land in New York”. Using land and home listing websites, you should have access to a variety of great properties to consider.

Once you have located properties you are seriously interested in, contact the realtor for the properties you like. Keep your options open and don’t fall in love too quickly – there are sure to be many properties to choose from that you will be very happy with. With the ease of online property shopping and the current market, you have no reason not to start looking!