Moving to Poconos, Honesdale, Lake Ariel (Scranton, Hazleton: for sale, HOA fees, mortgage)

[angelicavz]

My boyfriend wants to buy a house in Poconos, the prices are very low so that's we can pay now, but I keep wondering if it's a good area for us, both 25 years old. He says he's going to found a job there, but I don't know. We went there to look some houses and it's seems so empty... The winter is so long, is this a good idea? We`re looking in Poconos area, Honesdale, Lake Ariel, we also looked some communities as Arrowhead Lake and a community in Blakeslee. Is that a good area to live and get a job?

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by angelicavz

My boyfriend wants to buy a house in Poconos, the prices are very low so that's we can pay now, but I keep wondering if it's a good area for us, both 25 years old. He says he's going to found a job there, but I don't know. We went there to look some houses and it's seems so empty... The winter is so long, is this a good idea? We`re looking in Poconos area, Honesdale, Lake Ariel, we also looked some communities as Arrowhead Lake and a community in Blakeslee. Is that a good area to live and get a job?

It wasn’t a good idea for us ...we were about 20 minutes from honesdale in lake wallenpaupack right outside of hawley ....pay was way to low compared to expenses ,in my profession .

Winters to long to cold

Not a whole lot to do for us after the novelty wore off ...but that is our experience

[DavidWebb]

Originally Posted by angelicavz

My boyfriend wants to buy a house in Poconos, the prices are very low so that's we can pay now, but I keep wondering if it's a good area for us, both 25 years old. He says he's going to found a job there, but I don't know. We went there to look some houses and it's seems so empty... The winter is so long, is this a good idea? We`re looking in Poconos area, Honesdale, Lake Ariel, we also looked some communities as Arrowhead Lake and a community in Blakeslee. Is that a good area to live and get a job?

A job in what?? There are no major employers here and the ONE big employer (Sanofi Pasteur in Swiftwater) uses Manpower to hire, the entire company is on permanent WFH till the beginning of next year, and anyone working there tends to stay till they die. Besides SOME homes being priced low what are your real reasons for coming out here?? Escape the pandemic that exists here as well?? I suggest you search on these threads here for NEPA for more info because your question has been asked a million times and many of us will just be regurgitating the same ol' thing over and over that you can find doing a search. Also, don't buy in a community unless you don't mind being told what you can/can't do to your own property!! Plenty of horror stories about the HOA's (Home Owners Association) here on this board.

[fisheye]

Sanofi is hiring right now: https://jobs.sanofi.us/location/swif...1707-5215056/4. While they also will hire from within, Manpower and other subcontractors, and they will hire off the street - it all depends on your qualifications (what you have to offer and what they are looking for). Most of the Sanofi jobs pay pretty good money, you can check them out on the The Glassdoor: https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Sa..._IC1152130.htm.

That said, don't buy with the idea of finding a job. We have no idea of your qualifications or what field you or your boy friend would prefer. Also the areas you mention could have a long commute to work, it depends on where those jobs are located. Buying will saddle you with a lot of debt if you cannot find the right jobs to pay the bills.

I am afraid that, because of your age, you might be too impulsive. Think this over carefully and check out your employment opportunities.

[Chefkey]

Look closer in the valley cities. The houses will be less and there will be more job opportunities in entry level things. Scranton, Wilkes Barre down to Hazleton and all the smaller towns in between. You'll find houses that rarely go above 80,000 and many that are livable in the 60,000 range. If you find in a few years that you have grown with the area, found good jobs and have paid a good portion of your current house. Sell and look to move to the more remote areas. I wouldn't advise plucking down 150,000 to 200,000 for a house in the woods away from jobs without clear plan on how you are making ends meet. Those communties will also charge you monthly fees that will make it more difficult to make ends meet. Start valley and you can always branch out.

[theatergypsy]

Don't forget, in addition to the mortgage payments, you will have HOA fees and property and school taxes. Many young people see the initial cost of the home and are amazed that they can afford it ...until...they realize there are other bills that come with home ownership.

Factor in the cost of utilities - longer winter means higher heating bills - and unless you have a job that pays well and includes bennies, you are playing Russian Roulette with your medical.

Look for jobs first. Listen to what others are telling you. At age 25, you must think about whether you will miss "night life" (there isn't any) and do you plan on children?

Why do you think there are so many empty homes for sale? People are looking to leave because they can't afford to stay.

Buying a home is a big step - good luck to you.

[mathjak107]

Maintaining a house in a wooded area cost us a lot ....it needs a lot more attention and most stuff I either can’t do or won’t do

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

Maintaining a house in a wooded area cost us a lot ....it needs a lot more attention and most stuff I either can’t do or won’t do

For sure. The gutters always always need to be cleaned. Once a year isn't enough.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by Gerania

For sure. The gutters always always need to be cleaned. Once a year isn't enough.

our house needed to be done 2x a year and we had screens . but so much is so small and gets through the screens ..

we needed bug treatments , the deck stained more often from the extreme weather ....lots of landscape care ... we had trees to deal with ...

there was not a time we came up there wasn't chores to do for much of the time ....yeeeeech !

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Gerania

For sure. The gutters always always need to be cleaned. Once a year isn't enough.

When it comes to the gutters it depends on what kind of trees you have and how close they are to the house. I just removed some large pines and my problems went away.

Of course the larger the lawn, the more time it will take to mow and maintain. If you don't maintain a lawn you can have problems with ants and tics or other pest.

But then we have nature to watch instead of somebody spray painting our vehicles. So everything is a tradeoff one way or another. Perhaps that is why we are currently living in a seller's market because of the people trying to escape the cities?