Westbury: Please Advice (Babylon, East Meadow, Mineola: real estate, apartment complex, coop)

[EdJones]

Hello:

My wife and I recently moved to NYC because of work. At the moment we are living temporarily in Babylon, which is great by the way. After looking all over the place, we decided to stay in LI. Thought about Queens, but we want to stay here.

Our real estate agent helped us find a coop apartment in Westbury, near New Cassel. We would like to invest the money and buy it because it is a very nice unit with two bedrooms. The agent says the area is absolutely great for a coop. The building is well maintained, very clean all around, no visible physical damages, private parking, ect. But we don't really know much about the area. So we need help!!!

The location looks great, the mall is right there (sorry, don't remember the name but is the one at Old Country Rd.) and stores are nearby, but we don't want to be fooled by those things. Those are great, but i want to know the truth about the town itself.

Could anybody share some opinions about Westbury?

Is it a good place to live?

Should we invest our money somewhere else in LI?

Maintenance fees are pretty high for a coop (almost $1K a month for a two bedroom.....Ouch!!!!!), but that reflects the high taxes of the area plus the good condition of the building. The coop really takes care of the building no doublt about it.

Does high taxes mean the area is good?

Thanks a lot.

-Ed

[fopt65]

Being too close to New Cassel will greatly diminsh your ability to sell this coop in the future. New Cassel is one of the worst towns on the Island.
Now if you are in the new apartment complex next to the Source Mall, you are far enough away from New Cassel, but the prices in the development seem too high for the area. The traffic there gets very heavy, particularly at Christmas time.

What is the name/address of the development you are looking at? Westbury is a pretty big town, sending kids to 3 different school districts, which will greatly influence the price of the coop.

[EdJones]

Really? In what way?

The apartment is so close to the commercial area that it is almost hard to believe it wouldn't sell in years to come.

It is located between Post Ave and Old Country Rd. It is not the one you are talking about. Forget about it!!! Those are waaaaaaay too expensive, although it would be cool to live right next to the mall.

The one I'm looking at it is literally 5-10 minute ride from the mall you described.

[okaydorothy]

I agree with New Cassel. Try to stay as far away as possible from there.

Westbury is nice, but is it too commercial for residential living?
d

[EdJones]

Looks highly commercial, but at this point I'm wondering if this will be good as far as investing my money goes.

Many people hate living in places like this, others love it. I guess you have to find the right customer.

[fopt65]

Westbury has a bit of a mixed reputation. Its school district is not too good. Check out which district the coop is zoned for. Carle Place or East Meadow districts would be a better selling point.

Maple Ave has some new buildings going up, but too close to New Castle. Walk a few blocks east on Maple from Post, and you'll see a sudden, DRASTIC for the worse change.

There have been many posts addressed to Westbury. Chech them out using the search forum link above.

[fopt65]

Check out your neighbors in person this weekend. Westbury is having a street fair 10/6 and 10/7 on Post Ave from Newston Street to Orchard. Times is from 10am to 5 pm. That might answer a lot of your questions.

[EdJones]

Originally Posted by fopt65

Westbury has a bit of a mixed reputation. Its school district is not too good. Check out which district the coop is zoned for. Carle Place or East Meadow districts would be a better selling point.

Maple Ave has some new buildings going up, but too close to New Castle. Walk a few blocks east on Maple from Post, and you'll see a sudden, DRASTIC for the worse change.

There have been many posts addressed to Westbury. Chech them out using the search forum link above.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into that. I might take a drive around this place this evening to check this issue out.

I'll take a look at the search link.

Thanks!

[EdJones]

Originally Posted by fopt65

Check out your neighbors in person this weekend. Westbury is having a street fair 10/6 and 10/7 on Post Ave from Newston Street to Orchard. Times is from 10am to 5 pm. That might answer a lot of your questions.

WAO! Thanks a lot. I'll check this out too.

How did you find that information? (just curious)

[fopt65]

I drive past that area almost every day. Westbury is huge. Parts of it is gorgeous, parts are down right scary, especially where it meets New Cassel. They had signs up announcing the fair for the past few weeks.

PS if you are looking for coops with accessibility to railroad for commute to NYC, consider Mineola. It is a few miles west of Westbury, has a thriving downtown area, with a better reputation school district. There have also been some posts on Mineola in this forum.
Good Luck