Searching for a house in Nassau County. Which is best for our situation?

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by Logical95

Maybe western suffolk? Areas such as Melville, Huntington, Commack, Deer Park, Farmingdale, etc?

The Village of Farmingdale, as well as the Hamlet of South Farmingdale, are in Nassau County; the Hamlet of East Farmingdale is in Suffolk County.

[lubby]

Malverne is an incorporated village I lived there most of my life. This means you will be paying taxes close to 12K a year plus village taxes. Very expensive to live there and I know for a fact you cannot buy a house for under 400k. My mom still lives there. Most homes in your price range are fixer upers if that's something you are willing to buy. A suggestion might be to try and buy a home in suffolk county, It's a bit cheaper in some towns. I couldn't afford nassau county so we bought a home in suffolk 8 years ago. Don't buy a home in a "chummy neighborhood" as one realtor put it to me.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by lubby

Malverne is an incorporated village ...

All villages are municipal corporations, so it is not necessary to refer to a village as an incorporated village. There are no unicorporated villages, as this would be an oxymoron (an unincorporated corporation); unincorporated areas are hamlets.


NYS Geographic Glossary may be of some help in understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland"

[dnalsI gnoL]

Originally Posted by JCS8809

I've definitely seen the numbers, but I know that sometimes numbers can be skewed because of the fact that a large population of the students may not be fluent in English and simply unable to do well on exams, so that is another reason I am asking for field data. What do the residents see, and hear in terms of schools? Thank you for your reply though :-)

Thats the truth. I graduated from Freeport and there were minimal problems in the school. Nothing like the people here make it out to be.

Since leaving Freeport I moved to Valley Stream and now live in Elmont. I think that valley Stream would be good for you guys. It was really quiet and you can not park on the street at night which helps deter illegal apartments.

Elmont is nice, but the area that borders Queens near the racetrack is not as nice. The areas south cemetery are nice as well as the area around meachem ave. Never had a problem there.

As for freeport, The best areas are those south of atlantic ave and west of ocean ave. The NE section isnt the worst, but I wouldnt live there. There are nice 2 br condos on the water in freeport for under $300k

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by dnalsI gnoL

I think that valley Stream would be good for you guys. It was really quiet and you can not park on the street at night which helps deter illegal apartments.

Bear in mind that about half the places that have a "Valley Stream, NY 11580 & 11581" mailing address (4,309 acres) are not in the Village of Valley Stream (2,258 acres):

Places that have a "Valley Stream, NY 11580 or 11581" mailing address that are not in the Village of Valley Stream are in the Hamlet of North Valley Stream, the Hamlet of Franklin Square, the Village of Malverne, the Hamlet of South Valley Stream and the Hamlet of Woodmere; and, at the same time, there are places in the Village of Valley Stream with a "Hewlett, NY 11557" mailing address.

[itsasmallworld]

Originally Posted by Logical95

The areas you mentioned are "nice" per se but as many people have said the school districts are not that great. Hempstead, Uniondale, Roosevelt, and even Baldwin now all have pretty terrible schools. I think Roosevelt has the worst district in the STATE if I am not mistaken.

Also, the police precinct where Hempstead is is one of the worst for crime in Nassau, possibly the whole Island.

As someone stated, the only thing you are going to find for 250K in Nassau is foreclosures and short sales, or houses that need an extra 50-100K of work put into them.

Are you and your spouse really that private that you would not consider a condo or co-op? Most of them you have your own driveway, own entrance of course, own patio, porch, or little yard area....so its not totally bad.

Since you went to school in Stony Brook, would you consider living in Suffolk County? Maybe western suffolk? Areas such as Melville, Huntington, Commack, Deer Park, Farmingdale, etc? Those areas are cheaper...

Just a thought =)

A condo or co-op seems like a great idea unless the OP is dead set on something unattached, in which case choices are limited. Another thing to consider is that condos often have steep fees and often don't qualify for FHA loans (whereas houses do). I have only looked at a couple of places on LI and saw fees ranging from $900-1200 a month. That's on top of a mortgage. Just something to consider.

[Razor123]

Originally Posted by Logical95

The areas you mentioned are "nice" per se but as many people have said the school districts are not that great. Hempstead, Uniondale, Roosevelt, and even Baldwin now all have pretty terrible schools. I think Roosevelt has the worst district in the STATE if I am not mistaken.

Also, the police precinct where Hempstead is is one of the worst for crime in Nassau, possibly the whole Island.

As someone stated, the only thing you are going to find for 250K in Nassau is foreclosures and short sales, or houses that need an extra 50-100K of work put into them.

Are you and your spouse really that private that you would not consider a condo or co-op? Most of them you have your own driveway, own entrance of course, own patio, porch, or little yard area....so its not totally bad.

Since you went to school in Stony Brook, would you consider living in Suffolk County? Maybe western suffolk? Areas such as Melville, Huntington, Commack, Deer Park, Farmingdale, etc? Those areas are cheaper...

Just a thought =)

A bit off topic...

Baldwin is a terrible school district? It's HS has a higher % going to 4 year college then mine (Lindenhurst) does...and mine is usually recommended...

[Jdawg8181]

Just a clarification about Malverne... There is a small section of it that goes to Valley Stream schools which are pretty decent but you can't get a home for the price range you are looking. The part of Malverne with VS schools is the more desirable and more expensive part.