Greener pastures.

When you are looking up-state, consider the Oneonta area.

At the western edge of the Catskills, Oneonta is the hub of the tri-county Southern Tier region of New York State and a gateway to Leatherstocking Country.

The city of Oneonta In Otsego County, population 13,000, boasts excellent education at all levels including SUNY Oneonta, Hartwick College, Utica School of Commerce. It has the National Soccer Hall of Fame, baseball and soccer camps, diverse cultural activities, and is 20 minutes from Cooperstown. Oneonta has modest priced homes and a need for more.

There is an active main street, ever-expanding major shopping centers, J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart, Home Depot to name a few, easy access to a major east-west highway, excellent medical facilities, industrial parks, Empire Zones, airfield, and public utilities that are vital for development, such as sewers, natural gas. Work-force? You can find everything from management, skilled labor, to "techies". Opportunity is beckoning to investors from downstate.

Then what is the catch? Due diligence up-state can be frustrating. Except in a very few major cities and counties, obtaining due-diligence information is difficult and time consuming. It is not that they wouldn't give it to you, but information is fragmented, sparse, or not there. GIS is hard to come by and zoning laws are frequently questionable, poorly planned.

What's the answer? Working with a full service real estate company. In addition to search, a full-service agency can be your liaison to the various levels of local government, clear up questions about facilities, zoning, and in the case of Empire Zones, a full discussion of benefits. Further due diligence may be accomplished by utilizing qualified local consultants, financial, or investment institutions.

A full-service Real Estate firm will provide maximum information, coordination between buyer, seller, attorneys, consultations with the objective of minimizing travel time for investor/developers located outside of the region.