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Sounds like you're in a good position to get the hell out of NY. Don't waste your time or money here. It'll go a lot further elsewhere. And you'll have a better qol.
WE both work from home, have no kids and looking for small manageable home on LI, possibly west of Babylon? Broker not much help, budget max $465,000.
If the budget you gave is from a lender, they should have also given you an assumed amount for RE taxes. Because a preapproval is based on "cost" for you, the RE taxes sometimes require that the purchase price be lowered (if you're lucky, it can increase).
So, the question is, what RE tax amount goes with the $465k?
I am confused. Are you saying that the amount of property taxes is not a factor at all? You have no "ceiling" that you would not want to go beyond?
Or are you assuming that a "small manageable home" will automatically have property taxes that you can easily afford? That may be true, depending on where the small (although I'm not sure what you would define as small, either) house is located. Is there a property tax ceiling that you really do not want to pierce, so to speak? $10K year? $13K? $15K? in terms of a maximum current taxes amount.
To some people, small means less than 1000 square feet of living space. To many others, "small" is anything less than 2000 sq ft (I'm in that category, my house is 1400 sf of living space and to me that's definitely small but I can no longer afford to live in anything bigger in any of communities I'd want to live in.) What size house would you define as "small and manageable?"
Since you mentioned Babylon I am guessing you prefer the south shore to the north shore? Do you want a more diverse area or a mostly-white area or don't you care either way? Would you rather avoid waterfront neighborhoods (for example, anything south of 27A) because of the flooding risks and high flood insurance premiums, or don't you care about that?
You haven't really given enough information for anyone to make any recommendations as to where to look. The factors above are really basic starting points.
When you say "West Of Babylon" are you talking Babylon Village or the entire Town of Babylon? If the Village, I'm sure your budget would go a long way in Lindenhurst and Copiague. West of the Town pretty much places you in Nassau County.
Sounds like you're in a good position to get the hell out of NY. Don't waste your time or money here. It'll go a lot further elsewhere. And you'll have a better qol.
Karl is right, at least in this thread. I'd ignore the snark and take the advice.
But if you insist, No. Babylon could be the town for you. I lived there as a kid, in an area close to Belmont Park. It's a well kept nabe with some cute, small homes like the one I used to live in, and you'll find lot sizes more spacious than in Nassau County, so less density.
If you want to stay in the area and save on taxes, I'd consider southern Pennsylvania. NJ has taxes as high as LI's. Seriously. It's better living on the mainland, because LI will trap you in the bridge and tunnel hell.
West of Babylon could be almost anywhere. I moved to the great American SW, so also moved west of Babylon. LOL
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Where to begin? Moving - like to be west of Babylon?
