New York's Columbia County Bargains

What a difference a few months make! In December, I wrote that there were still nice second homes that were "affordable" -- in the $300,000 category -- in New York's popular Columbia County, within a 3-hr drive of New York City. A quick visit this weekend shows many homes now available in the $200,000-$290,000 range from Hillsdale to Hudson, Copake to Kinderhook. For listings, see Web sites for Weichert Realtors and Beach and Bartolo, among others.(Beach and Bartolo has the listing of the Chatham house, pictured.) MLS includes houses that with "motivated sellers" and half-finished properties.

Cape Cod Calls Value Hunters

With home prices dropping faster than locals can name-drop "Kennedy," Cape Cod, MA has become a buyers' market, says a Boston Globe writer. "Statistics, market trends, and reality on the ground make buying a Cape vacation home one of the no-brainer investment decisions of 2008," writes Kris Frieswick. But who should buy? "Those with a 20 percent down payment and pristine credit to meet banks' new stricter requirements and no need to sell an existing home in this tough market." 5 towns where prices have dropped most from 2005-7: Hyannis, Bourne, Mashpee, Centerville, Provincetown. Frieswick notes that some areas have retaremained strong: "Chatham values have merely flattened. Cotuit never stopped appreciating in value." So shop carefully. But you know that already, don't you?