Roslyn Heights: Low-Income Housing? (Union, Franklin Square: low income, section 8, real estate)

[purelygeneric]

My wife and I have been looking for our first home in the Roslyn Heights, Albertson, Mineola, Garden City South area. ($500k max)

Any input on which area you prefer and why is greatly appreciated!

Someone brought to my attention the Laurel House - low-income housing in Roslyn Heights - that has brought down the neighborhood. We've seen a few houses there and the realtors always play dumb. Is anyone aware of this and its impact on the community?

[NS4Ever]

I don't know anything about the Laurel House, but if I had to choose one of those four areas, I would definitely pick Albertson. As long as you make sure the house in in the Herricks school district (and not the Mineola school district) you will have made a great decision, and it's an area without any pretention, which brings me to...Roslyn. Living in a $500,000 house in Roslyn Heights, you (and especially your children, if you have any) may well begin to feel as if you are living on the fringes of Roslyn proper, geographically -- which is the least of it -- socially, and economically.

Mineola: I don't know all that much about Mineola, but I personally find it not particularly appealing in any way.

Garden City South: I happen to like that area very much, but I don't know anything about the school district(s).

All I do know is that the Herricks school district is a BIG draw for people, so if you buy a house within that district (much of Albertson is within that district), you've made a wise investment.

[Johninwestbury]

It aint great by Willis Paints, that whole area is full of day laborers.

[fopt65]

Garden City South goes to Franklin Square SD#17. GCS, Mineola and Albertson have more "regular" type middle class folk in it. Roslyn Heights starts to bring in higher economic level people, but a lot of Roslyn Heights is zoned for Mineola schools, not Roslyn, so look carefully.

[purelygeneric]

Just to put a bow on this one...

I finally discovered that the Laurel House, located four blocks from the home we were looking at is Section 8 "low-income" housing. After driving through several times, I was surprised at what I saw. It certainly eliminated this area from my search. While it's hardly 'the projects,' there have been several major incidents involving law enforcement over the past few years.

While it's the real estate agents' job to represent the seller, I say shame on the realtor who did everything he could to 'play dumb.'

If you're like me, and start to think that you are 'over researching' the whole house thing, think again. We were close to pulling the trigger. This is why driving around a neighborhood and talking with the "locals" is important - even if you think you 'know' an area.

[GigiBowman]

Real estate agents are not allowed to steer, talk race, say if something is in a good or bad area, a good or bad school district, or show any preference towards an area or say what "kind" of people live in a particular neighborhood.

We could lose our license. Our opinions are not allowed to be spoken concerning those types of things.

We must follow the fair housing laws. Fair Housing Laws and Presidential Executive Orders - HUD

We can certainly tell you if the house you are interested in is comparable to the market value of the other houses in the neighborhood. We can tell you if the taxes are higher or lower than the other houses. We HAVE to tell you if we know that any thing is wrong with the house.

We have very strict rules to follow.


Here is something interesting you might not know.

When we make ads for MLS...we are not allowed to say things like "walk to town" because that would be discrimination towards people who can't walk. We can be fined. And oh boy, they just WAIT for you to make a mistake like that!

We also have "testers" out there.....people who are hired to "act" as if they are buying something ---as a matter of fact, they can make us drive them to twenty different places.....just spending the entire day with us waiting for us to make a mistake or steer or talk about things we should not......then they disappear and we never know what happened to them.

My goodness....the constant put-down of Real Estate agents is amazing.....we have to keep taking classes in order to learn new rules...and there are always new rules, new laws and new things we're not allowed to do....it never ends.

All this so we can drive around at $4.00 a gallon of gas for people who aren't loyal to us and will run to another agent at the drop of a pin.....or do something like work with an agent for weeks and weeks...then walk into an open house without the agent....and end up cutting the agent out completely after all their hard work....and time and gas money. I must fill my car up 3 times a week at $75 a pop. I can sometimes work for months and not make a penny. Sometimes I feel like my job is charity work.

I do it because I love houses, I love the freedom of not being behind a desk all day. I love my job....but sometimes it just does not pay off....

We try. We have alot of people to please. We also need to pay for the gas we spend our money on.




Give a RE agent a break today

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by purelygeneric

Just to put a bow on this one...

I finally discovered that the Laurel House, located four blocks from the home we were looking at is Section 8 "low-income" housing. After driving through several times, I was surprised at what I saw. It certainly eliminated this area from my search. While it's hardly 'the projects,' there have been several major incidents involving law enforcement over the past few years.

While it's the real estate agents' job to represent the seller, I say shame on the realtor who did everything he could to 'play dumb.'

If you're like me, and start to think that you are 'over researching' the whole house thing, think again. We were close to pulling the trigger. This is why driving around a neighborhood and talking with the "locals" is important - even if you think you 'know' an area.

You can never do too much research when you are looking for the home you are going to live in!!!

As for Roslyn Heights, I looked at a really nice Victorian back when I was looking. It was easily the best house on the block. BUT right next door I noticed the yard had cars in it and some characters (white in case it matters to anyone reading) were hanging out drinking beers on the front steps. I didn't want to live next door to them. I told my mom about it and how the house was really nice but I was iffy on the neighborhood. She said that Roslyn Heights was originally the town where servants lived who worked for the wealthy in that part of the north shore and that's why it is so uneven there. Roslyn Heights is not just a "servant's town" anymore of course, but there will always be low income people there.

As for real estate agents working for the seller, you are correct on that matter. The seller is the "client." A buyer is a "customer." The difference is the seller pays the commission. Even buyer's agents have to have loyalty to the seller because often their commission comes partly from the seller.

[I_Love_LI_but]

This is all true! The reason those laws were enacted was because RE agents were running amok back in the day (1970's?). They would do what was called "block busting" ... meaning go up and down the block knocking on doors and telling white homeowners that "you should sell soon because blacks are moving in." Result? The way Roosevelt and Uniondale are today are just two examples. If Uniondale and Roosevelt were allowed to develop naturally, they might be very different places today. Although block busting has not been practiced in decades to this day there are still a few places where real estate brokers are prohibited from contacting homeowners directly because of it. Another thing that happened back then is agents would "steer" blacks away from certain neighborhoods and refuse to show them houses there.

Now the laws are very, very strict and the real estate agent cannot talk about "what kind of people" live in a neighborhood. The State of NY regularly sends out pairs of investigators posing as couples to look at houses and report back on how the real estate agent behaved. Did the agent show the black couple markedly different neighborhoods than they showed the white couple? How did the agent answer when s/he was asked "what kind of people live around here?" If the agent does not do the correct thing they get in trouble and so does their boss, the real estate broker.

So do your own research. Hang around in the town you want to buy in during the day and at night. Be near the elementary, junior and senior high schools when school is letting out.

PS to Gigi: instead of "walk to town" how about phrase it as "walk or roll to town?"

Originally Posted by GigiBowman

Real estate agents are not allowed to steer, talk race, say if something is in a good or bad area, a good or bad school district, or show any preference towards an area or say what "kind" of people live in a particular neighborhood.

We could lose our license. Our opinions are not allowed to be spoken concerning those types of things.

We must follow the fair housing laws. Fair Housing Laws and Presidential Executive Orders - HUD

We can certainly tell you if the house you are interested in is comparable to the market value of the other houses in the neighborhood. We can tell you if the taxes are higher or lower than the other houses. We HAVE to tell you if we know that any thing is wrong with the house.

We have very strict rules to follow.


Here is something interesting you might not know.

When we make ads for MLS...we are not allowed to say things like "walk to town" because that would be discrimination towards people who can't walk. We can be fined. And oh boy, they just WAIT for you to make a mistake like that!

We also have "testers" out there.....people who are hired to "act" as if they are buying something ---as a matter of fact, they can make us drive them to twenty different places.....just spending the entire day with us waiting for us to make a mistake or steer or talk about things we should not......then they disappear and we never know what happened to them.

My goodness....the constant put-down of Real Estate agents is amazing.....we have to keep taking classes in order to learn new rules...and there are always new rules, new laws and new things we're not allowed to do....it never ends.

All this so we can drive around at $4.00 a gallon of gas for people who aren't loyal to us and will run to another agent at the drop of a pin.....or do something like work with an agent for weeks and weeks...then walk into an open house without the agent....and end up cutting the agent out completely after all their hard work....and time and gas money. I must fill my car up 3 times a week at $75 a pop. I can sometimes work for months and not make a penny. Sometimes I feel like my job is charity work.

I do it because I love houses, I love the freedom of not being behind a desk all day. I love my job....but sometimes it just does not pay off....

We try. We have alot of people to please. We also need to pay for the gas we spend our money on.




Give a RE agent a break today

[purelygeneric]

No one is putting down real estate agents. And we all understand that you represent the sellers and have to adhere to strict rules. However, when asked point blank about something that is NOT subjective, an honest answer is the way to go. We are talking about sponsored subsidized housing for low-income families and individuals. That is a FACT buyers deserve to know - especially if they ask.

An agent who truly takes pride in their job will want all sides to be happy. Yes, it's a job and you want to satisfy your commitment to your client. However, skirting around straightforward questions is simply lame, irrespective of your profession.

I do agree that in this market many agents are going above and beyond, despite a limited amount of sales. There's been very little of the 'hard sell,' and that's greatly appreciated!

[alliswell]

However, skirting around straightforward questions is simply lame, irrespective of your profession.

No skirting, they simply are prohibited. It's against the law for them to answer some point blank questions.

No buyer can or should rely on a RE agent 100%. Have to do your own homework to a great extent. Being aware of a RE agents limitations is a good start and this thread gives a great outline to help educate.

If I have a question that I know could fall into one of the prohibited categories, I start my question with, "I know you can't really say, but what input do you have regarding _______". There's nothing that stops a RE agent from directing you somewhere specific to find the answers to point blank questions.

With gas at $4.00 at gallon, I am being very respectful of my buying agent's time and miles. Throughly researching before asking to see anything. If I want to see it, it's because I know everything there is to know about it and I just need to see it.