Greene County Favorites Week

  |  March 31, 2014
3 s church street athens ny

3 S. Church Street, Athens

There are only two counties in New York that encompass both the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains: Ulster and Greene Counties (addendum: Some may argue that Albany County fits this criteria, as well). This fact makes these two places special to us, particularly in terms of varied terrain and topography. In Greene County, things are flat and sea-level close to the river but swiftly ascend as you approach the western border. So depending on your mood, you can either visit the rolling terrain near the waterfront, or the soaring vistas of the mountains in Greene County, its highest point being Hunter Mountain, approximately 4,000 feet above sea level.

Ulster County is comparable, with its highest point at Slide Mountain, which is just slightly higher than Hunter and the tallest mountain in the Catskills. So, the upshot is that, geographically-speaking, Greene and Ulster have lots of similarities, although the size of Ulster County beats out Greene by about 500 square miles. Ulster and Greene differ, however, when it comes to their real estate markets. It’s fairly common knowledge that, in general, the further north you journey, the cheaper the houses get. That certainly holds true for Greene County. Although there are towns in the county that are easily accessible by the NYS Thruway (Catskill springs immediately to mind), it’s still considered The Sticks to many, and the housing prices reflect that mentality. Additionally, according to information found on City-Data.com, the median property taxes in Ulster are well over twice Greene County’s (but keep in mind, the numbers we found date from 2009. Ulster County’s page is here, and Greene County’s page is here). Lower housing prices and property taxes can translate into getting more bang for your buck in Greene County, but mark our words, it won’t last long. Greene County is no longer a hidden-away spot, so if Greene County is on your short list, now is the time to start digging in and doing your real estate homework.

With that in mind, we decided to broaden our search and take a look at the entire county of Greene this week, and what we find impressed the hell out of us. So many incredible properties, many on good-sized pieces of land, with gorgeous views and…well, we’ll resist getting carried away for now. As we delve into our favorite properties currently on the market in Greene County, we’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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