Moving back to Long Island from NC (Smithtown, Garden City: mortgage, credit)

[Canadarago]

You can make it on less than $100K a year on Long Island, but it seems to me that you wouldn't be able to do it unless:

- You have a nice nest egg from a home sale
- You buy Mom & Dad's house
- You bought your house way back when and either the house is paid off or the mortgage payments (less taxes) are small.

For a family making under $100K it would be tough to buy, carry a $400K mortgage plus the utilities andtaxes.

I'm ambivalent about living here. The congestion is unreal and the taxes and utiltities are high, but you can cope: get a small car with high mpg, don't live in a house the size of an aircraft carrier and enjoy all the LI has for free or cheap: great beaches, nice parks & museums, all kinds of boating, NYC a quick hop away and a zillion restaurants.

My parents and sisters moved upstate over the last 20 years and I'm the last of the family to still be in New Yawk. I love upstate (in Boy Scouts and go there all the time) but the big thing about leaving LI would be the loss of friends and (in my wife's case) all her buddies at work.

Hopefully when I'm ready to move (3-5 years) I'll be ready to leave.

FYI, rest of my family lives in Mohawk / Herkimar and Schenectady areas. I live in Floral Park, which is in Nassau County close to the city line.

[GCGuy]

Are you kidding me? You seem unrealistically bitter about something.

Originally Posted by NickL28

As long as you have money & love to shop (life on Long Island is just about shopping, spending money & laughing about maxing out as many credit cards as possible -- aside from working & commuting) then you will love living on Long Island. Make sure that you have money (plenty of it) and don't think that you can survive on less than $250,000 a year (more if you have kids).. And be prepared to spend over $500 a month on a car or SUV lease and another few hundred for gas every month..

Home prices coming down is a myth.. You still can't touch an average $500,000 starter home if you earn in the five figures.

You better buy now because lower mortgage rates & gas prices are leading to a re acceleration of home sales & prices not to mention that surging rents in the 5 boros of NYC & in Nassau county is making home ownership much more attractive than wasting $30,000 a year on rent.

[GCGuy]

I'm sure it's nice, but the grass is always greener. Prices are high, but there are many areas that are somewhat reasonable. Taxes are high, but so are many other areas you wouldn't think (Ohio, for example). With real estate, as far as I can tell, you really get what you pay for. Yes, you could cash out now and buy a much cheaper house (until the prices run up like in AZ and LV) and have some money. If that's important, go for it. But with LI (and the other NY Metro burbs) you have really great areas with a lot to offer and a lot of character. It's the greatest burbs b/c it's near the greatest city. End of story. People have to decide what's imporant, and make the proper choices. People get by with a lot less money. I love NY and I now love (more and more) since I've moved LI. It's a great place for many reasons and all the nay saying complainers have other issues dictating their opinions. I know of no one that has left the metro area, and none are planning it anytime soon. I hope everyone that's left comes back and all those thinking about leaving really assesses what's imporant and what you have.

[daaver]

Originally Posted by NickL28

As long as you have money & love to shop (life on Long Island is just about shopping, spending money & laughing about maxing out as many credit cards as possible -- aside from working & commuting) then you will love living on Long Island. Make sure that you have money (plenty of it) and don't think that you can survive on less than $250,000 a year (more if you have kids).. And be prepared to spend over $500 a month on a car or SUV lease and another few hundred for gas every month..

Home prices coming down is a myth.. You still can't touch an average $500,000 starter home if you earn in the five figures.

You better buy now because lower mortgage rates & gas prices are leading to a re acceleration of home sales & prices not to mention that surging rents in the 5 boros of NYC & in Nassau county is making home ownership much more attractive than wasting $30,000 a year on rent.

Wow, you can suruvive in LI on a lot less than $250k a year with kids. Step one is to not pay $500+/mo for a car, lol! You can pick up a decent car for transportation under $8k easily. I've actually been driving a $1200 car for three years without any major problems. My Aunt lives out there with her husband, she drives a school bus, he is a retired cop. I have several cousins out there, including a sanitation worker (garbage man) who is married to a stay at home mom. Who OWN their modest home. By modest, I don't mean bad, but it isn't 4000+ sq. ft. sitting on an acre or anything, just a regular 2bdrm house in a regular family neighborhood.

But yah, if you want to live in a mansion with a stable of "rides", bring your cash. That isn't required though.

[threesons]

Hi MissingLI
I cant believe you are missing LI. Why?
Where did you move to in NC. I have friends that moved there & will never look back.
I am also trying to make the decision to live LI (Nassau) to move to NC (Marvin area). I am so torn and confused. I wish someone could tell me if I am making the right decision. Its just I work and we got ourselves in such a high overhead (trying to keep up with the JOnes) that we can't loose my income (I am a CPA). But if we cash out, I can get a brand new house on an acre in NC.
My husband isnt really sold on the idea, but would to make me happy. He will have to travel to NY to continue his business until he can find a business in NC. Big chance right? He says I am also going to miss my friends.
But lets see stay at home with my 3 sons or worry about missing who I am going to go out to dinner on Saturday nights. Enough. My friends and I have such different schedules. We are lucky if we meet once a month. I have very very little family - mother, father and brother. Father might be moving down too and mother hopefully will follow.

[nymom]

You are making a big mistake if you are moving to just run away from your financial difficulties. My brother and his family moved down to NC 11 years ago because of the same reason and they constantly complain about it. They miss family and friends and they're always trying to get us to move down there. (Just so we can share in their misery?). They have thought about moving back up to LI but they could never afford it now. Yes they have a nice house and lower taxes but they still need two incomes (even though they thought they wouldn't) and my sister-in-law has changed jobs several times because she has no patience for the "southern mentality" of the people she has worked with.
I say, if you want to move there, do it because you have visited and thoroughly researched it. If you really like it then good luck to you. But don't go just because you think there will be greener pastures. Trust me, you will be miserable.

[fopt65]

Originally Posted by threesons

Hi MissingLI
I cant believe you are missing LI. Why?
Where did you move to in NC. I have friends that moved there & will never look back.
I am also trying to make the decision to live LI (Nassau) to move to NC (Marvin area). I am so torn and confused. I wish someone could tell me if I am making the right decision. Its just I work and we got ourselves in such a high overhead (trying to keep up with the JOnes) that we can't loose my income (I am a CPA). But if we cash out, I can get a brand new house on an acre in NC.
My husband isnt really sold on the idea, but would to make me happy. He will have to travel to NY to continue his business until he can find a business in NC. Big chance right? He says I am also going to miss my friends.
But lets see stay at home with my 3 sons or worry about missing who I am going to go out to dinner on Saturday nights. Enough. My friends and I have such different schedules. We are lucky if we meet once a month. I have very very little family - mother, father and brother. Father might be moving down too and mother hopefully will follow.

You're a CPA, so do the math and figure out what is better. First of all, do you really want to stay at home with the kids or are you just tired of working outside the house. Stay at home moms have the toughest job in the world in my opinion (I'm a working dad, and glad to work).
With the cut in pay, will you be able to pay down your debt? If you get a windfall from moving, how will you handle this? Keeping up with the neighbors is a personal trait, not a geographical one!! Will you just blow the money on keeping up with your new NC neighbors?
Husband travelling to NY until new business is set up? Sounds like divorce court to me! You'll be home alone taking care of the 3 kids while envying your husband being back in NY without the family responsibilities.

I think the key sentence in your post is that you want to be happy. Happiness does not come from the size of your home, or how new it is. Try cutting down your high overhead, and you may find some contentment from within.

[GCGuy]

Originally Posted by fopt65

You're a CPA, so do the math and figure out what is better. First of all, do you really want to stay at home with the kids or are you just tired of working outside the house. Stay at home moms have the toughest job in the world in my opinion (I'm a working dad, and glad to work).
With the cut in pay, will you be able to pay down your debt? If you get a windfall from moving, how will you handle this? Keeping up with the neighbors is a personal trait, not a geographical one!! Will you just blow the money on keeping up with your new NC neighbors?
Husband travelling to NY until new business is set up? Sounds like divorce court to me! You'll be home alone taking care of the 3 kids while envying your husband being back in NY without the family responsibilities.

I think the key sentence in your post is that you want to be happy. Happiness does not come from the size of your home, or how new it is. Try cutting down your high overhead, and you may find some contentment from within.

Well said. You, too, nymom. People today seem to think that moving to "hot" areas is the magic elixir to all problems. I think a lot of people will be in for a rude awakening. This obsessiveness is crazy and the way cities and states come into and out of vogue is even more crazy. When will be hearing that Arkansas is new the new "it" place to move to?

[threesons]

Hi
I am not writing in this forum to get into a debate. I like to see if anyone has similar thoughts or may offer some encouragement. And I am not blind to the downside of moving. Yes we all can do the math and you don't have to be a CPA for this! Everyone has different feelings and reasons in different times in our lives.
But I do give credit to those that are courageous enough to try to improve there life. There is no reason to stay in a situation in which you are miserable each day just to prove a point. People tend to live in a bubble & not know that there is a whole world out there to explore.
And yes, the grass always look greener on the other side. That is why I would never move and increase my overhead. And as far as my husband is concerned, I certainly don't need to be in another state for him to go astray. It may make it easier but he has to live with himself. Keeping your spouse on close watch and distance does not do anything for your marriage. Both of us have jobs in which we do not have to be accountable every moment of the day. It is very easy for either one of us to find pleasure else where.

So that said, I would hope you can either give others thinking to move out of NY encouragement or constructive criticism.

NY CPA mom

[Check123]

People who are miserable usually put themselves in that position; and when they move they take their misery with them.

Housing costs are based on surrounding area sales.(the market) If houses in a particular neighborhood sell for at or about $700K, and you're looking at a similar house in that same neighborhood, then guess what... it's going to cost about $700K.

If enough people can't afford it then house prices would come down. If enough people can afford it then house prices stay up. So... if you can't afford to live in a certain area, it's because other people can afford it. That's the way it is, supply and demand.