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I've narrowed down my search to two homes, and am looking for advice if I should move ahead or keep moving.
People have said, location, location, location, when it comes to real estate, but I wonder what this really means. I'm not talking about living on a major street, or next to a major road (I'm talking about you, LIE). I'm talking about living near a public school.
One home is smaller, cheaper, and a mid-block location, not my favorite high school, but I could probably deal with it. It doesn't have a bathroom on the main floor. It seems to be in great shape. The backyard is all pavers, but that seems easily solved. I'd want to see if I could add a half bath on the main floor and maybe in the master bedroom.
The other home has it all! three bathrooms, four bedrooms, nice details BUT it's on one of the streets to the local high school. I'd say this home is 4-5 houses away from the (long) driveway into the high school. Also, a smallish backyard. This has space, is spacious and has a slightly larger price tag. It has been on the market for a long, long time.
Thoughts? Is living on the street entrance to a high school a deal killer? Somebody has to live there, right? The high school is well-regarded and highly rated. But maybe that's why it has been on the market for so long, which could mean it would be difficult to sell in the future.
Go there at 8am and again around 2:30 and see if you'd be happy with the noise and traffic level. Maybe you won't mind, who knows. I would. Obviously the adage about location holds since it's cheaper.
My sister lived across the street from a school for 20 years - Catholic school so lots of car traffic ... she didn't mind when her kids went there and she knew everyone, but after that the blinders came off and it started to wear on her - mainly because of people parking right up against and occasionally across her driveway. It was also a fairly busy road.
Knowing all this I can't say it would be a deal breaker for me, but your'e talking about a high school which mean kids coming and going not just at 8 and 2, but at night for concerts, open houses, back to school night, science fair, wrestling match, basketball games, on Saturdays for football games, band competitions etc etc - you get the picture. Four houses away from the driveway is pretty close. Could get annoying after a while.
It would depend on the layout. If there is a decent amount of space between the school and the home and there is ample parking, then it may not be too bad. Gotta think about resale because on LI a house is not a home, it's an investment that will need to be sold at a ridiculous profit someday and if that can't happen then it's not worth it.
It would depend on the layout. If there is a decent amount of space between the school and the home and there is ample parking, then it may not be too bad. Gotta think about resale because on LI a house is not a home, it's an investment that will need to be sold at a ridiculous profit someday and if that can't happen then it's not worth it.
Unless you can walk to the train and are in Western Nassau the days of "ridiculous profit" are gone. The only people bragging about how much they got for selling are those who bought in the 80's or 90's. Anyone who bought in the past dozen years has little to no equity in their house if they carried a regular fixed 30 year mortgage.
Wait till the punks start walking across your lawn and you can hear there rowdy obnoxious behavior in your kitchen. A few car break ins, some vandalism.
I've narrowed down my search to two homes, and am looking for advice if I should move ahead or keep moving.
People have said, location, location, location, when it comes to real estate, but I wonder what this really means. I'm not talking about living on a major street, or next to a major road (I'm talking about you, LIE). I'm talking about living near a public school.
One home is smaller, cheaper, and a mid-block location, not my favorite high school, but I could probably deal with it. It doesn't have a bathroom on the main floor. It seems to be in great shape. The backyard is all pavers, but that seems easily solved. I'd want to see if I could add a half bath on the main floor and maybe in the master bedroom.
The other home has it all! three bathrooms, four bedrooms, nice details BUT it's on one of the streets to the local high school. I'd say this home is 4-5 houses away from the (long) driveway into the high school. Also, a smallish backyard. This has space, is spacious and has a slightly larger price tag. It has been on the market for a long, long time.
Thoughts? Is living on the street entrance to a high school a deal killer? Somebody has to live there, right? The high school is well-regarded and highly rated. But maybe that's why it has been on the market for so long, which could mean it would be difficult to sell in the future.
TIA
Looked at a house a few years back...loved it. It was right down the block from what now is my kids' school. Offer was accepted, we were excited, but terms couldn't be fully agreed upon for contract and the deal fell apart. A few months later we settled on a different house in the same little cutout area, a few blocks further from the school. We drive past the original house every day and I can tell you I am sooooo glad the deal fell apart. Every afternoon that block is a nightmare of congestion between school dismissal and extracurriculars (baseball, softball, football practices). On weekends, the schoolyard hosts a myriad of sports programs, and the house we nearly bought has cars parked, double parked and even triple parked in front of it. That would have given me fits. The house we bought? Street is quiet as a church mouse day in and out.
Location location location.
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