Huntington first time buyer and concerns (Commack, Patchogue: real estate, first time home buyer, buying)
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So after searching for months, we think we have found a great house we love. It is in Huntington, north of 25A. We are first time home buyers, looking to start a family soon. We have done plenty of research on here and other websites, and it seems a lot of people have a not so great perception of the Huntington School District. This is just coming from what we have read on this forum and some others, not sure how accurate this may be. But we do worry about resale value down the road if we want to sell our house, we don't want to have any problems selling.
We love the area, proximity to the village, and train station. Should the schools be a concern? Again we don't have kids yet so we don't feel we have to worry about that now, but other people have cautioned us about importance of buying a home in a well regarded school district.
Also, it seems that the home values in Huntington continue to rise, despite the reputation of the school district, compared to other areas with similarly regarded school districts. I guess this is because the desirability of being close to a nice village, transportation, etc. which it has going for it.
This is also not my opinion but just what we are hearing from others, so no offense at all to anyone in that district lol!
District demographics have changed its 50% Hispanic now 38% white. 15 years ago it was closer to 70% white. I can’t speak for the quality of the district, the demographic change is the reason it’s gotten a bad rap.
Agree with gx89. I grew up in Huntington and went to the schools there and the diversity was a good thing, but I think recent trends have been concerning. Huntington has some nice and wealthy areas (like Huntington Bay) but IDK how many of those people are using the public schools. It's too bad because it's a great place to live.
would you consider this town a good investment? Zillow shows that prices have gone up 9% since last year, and project to continue to rise (not sure how accurate zillow is)
As someone who grew up in Huntington through in the 80's and early 90's... lets be honest, we never had a fantastic school district, I had some downright awful teachers growing up and the bullying and violence I saw in those days was disturbing to say the least. That said, I love living in Huntington now and even did then, to a degree. Huntington and Patchogue were really the only two areas I considered living in when moving back to LI from the city. Today, the Town seems to have a decent record and be on a trend of attracting the few young professionals who are staying on the Island and in the end I think the school district is and will be fine, the diversity is a good thing and the district will learn how to compensate and deal with it over time. As long as the Village stays on a slightly progressive path, it will attract the type of people, who will have the type of kid, that the district needs.
You asked so I will give you my opinion. It is one that I wish someone would give me, were I in your shoes. It may not be popular or PC, but again, it's what I and many of my neighbors believe. I would never send a child to Huntington schools. I live in Huntington Town, in a neighboring school district. Every year, we have an increasing number of new residents who flee the Huntington schools. Some tell stories that are very disturbing (like having a knife pulled on a kid in the stairwell) while others talk about sending party invitations to half of their classmates whose parents can't read them because they don't speak English. The people who sell take a beating on their houses, spending more money to live in a lesser house in a different district, but it's a hit they are willing to take to get out of Huntington schools. Even so, there are quite a few average, All-American types in the schools, and they find groups of like-minded kids, but they navigate among gang kids and non-English speakers and they watch their backs, always. It's not a setting I would want for anybody I care about. If the previous poster is right and the district attracts the kind of students it needs, things could improve for sure.
personally I would only live in Huntington if I could afford private schools. the good news for sellers is it seems like there are a lot of people who do, because Huntington real estate prices are one of the few places on LI that don't seem to be directly correlated to the (perceived) performance of the school district. However, there are many areas of Huntington, some really good and some really not so good. but pretty much everything north of 25A is good.
if you have kids that will be attending public school, there are other districts near by in similar price ranges that are considered to be much better.
I live and grew up in south Huntington school district and when looking to buy my first home I chose Commack over those two. It is a more stable area and the schools are overall viewed better.
Obviously school districts are an extremely important factor in resale, maybe in 5-10 years Huntington will be an amazing school district, maybe not. Personally I wouldn’t take that gamble if I could afford a house in a more stable school district.
You asked so I will give you my opinion. It is one that I wish someone would give me, were I in your shoes. It may not be popular or PC, but again, it's what I and many of my neighbors believe. I would never send a child to Huntington schools. I live in Huntington Town, in a neighboring school district. Every year, we have an increasing number of new residents who flee the Huntington schools. Some tell stories that are very disturbing (like having a knife pulled on a kid in the stairwell) while others talk about sending party invitations to half of their classmates whose parents can't read them because they don't speak English. The people who sell take a beating on their houses, spending more money to live in a lesser house in a different district, but it's a hit they are willing to take to get out of Huntington schools. Even so, there are quite a few average, All-American types in the schools, and they find groups of like-minded kids, but they navigate among gang kids and non-English speakers and they watch their backs, always. It's not a setting I would want for anybody I care about. If the previous poster is right and the district attracts the kind of students it needs, things could improve for sure.
The Neighboring districts CSH, Elwood, Harborfields are all more $$ to buy in than Huntington.
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