New York Real Estate

What's This About New York Real Estate?

Ninety percent of the time, when you mention New York to someone, they either think of the City (always capitalized) or Long Island. But there's more to New York real estate than the Five Boroughs and the Hamptons, believe it or not. The state offers vast stretches of agricultural land, prime for farming and ranching, as well as a vast array of lakes, mountains, and forests, sufficient to gladden the heart of even the most ardent nature-lover.

As one of the longest and most exuberantly occupied states of the Union, it's an unfortunate fact that New York real estate, even in the farthest corners of upstate, tends to be quite expensive. However, most of it's worth the cost. For example, no city in America is more modern or happening than NYC, and it offers a vast array of resources and sites, both industrial and commercial, that can help any entrepreneur get a business up and running. You may not become a Donald Trump, but you'll never know until you get started.

An agricultural empire

Few people realize it, but New York is one of the top agricultural states in the nation. Twelve thousand years ago, it was covered with a layer of ice about a mile thick, but as that melted it left behind not just thousands of skinny finger lakes and deeply-carved river valleys, but also lots of deep, fertile soil. As a result, most of the non-urbanized areas of the state are farmed in every temperate-zone crop you can think of. Orchards are not uncommon; nor are dairy farms, which produce copious amounts of milk, butter, and cheese. Many of the farms are in the capable hands of Mennonite and Amish farmers, so they're worked steadily, in the old-fashioned way. You're unlikely to be able to get ahold of one of those, but there are thousands of others for sale.

If Green Acres isn't the place for you to be, but you still want to own a restful place in the country, you've got your work cut out for you just picking the type of New York real estate that's right for you. Suburban homes of every description are waiting; so are quaint cabins on quiet mountain streams packed with trout, fishing lodges, ski resorts, rural residences, plain lakeside lots, forested hunting acreage…and the list goes on. Perhaps best of all, you have access not just to the wonderful geography of New York itself, but you can easily pop over to visit Canada, New England, Pennsylvania, the Atlantic Ocean, or two of the biggest freshwater lakes in the world, Lakes Erie and Ontario.

Building your own New York real estate empire

You'll never become the next Donald Trump by sitting there. If you want to invest in New York real estate -- and you can be sure it'll be an investment, as the market shows no sign of settling down -- then get online and make contact with all those New York real estate brokers waiting for someone like you. You'll find people handling the largest towers in Manhattan, the smallest wooded plots on the Quebec border, and everything in between. At that point, it's up to you to buckle down and research the type of real estate you're interested in. Fair warning, though: be sure to visit anything you're interested in buying. The pics on the 'Net may seem fabulous, but until you've climbed on the rocks and felt the dirt, you haven't really experienced it, and you can never quite be sure what you're going to get.