Starter Houses on Long Island? (Smithtown, Kings Park: foreclosures, income, prices)

[ClarkStreetKid]

Good advice on the condo. We bought ours for about 60K(1986) and 6 years later sold it for 60K.

Good luck with your move CB.

[MichaelMarinelli]

Originally Posted by clamboy

Actually were selling our redone 3 bed/2ba Inline ranch in Rocky Point for 339K
100x100/Dead End/Walk to beach/Great Schools/Taxes not too bad for the North Shore.
MLSLI.com - Find a Home

MLSLI.com ML#1977659
theyre out there.

Rocky Point and Sound Beach are a hell of a buy.

We're looking to relocate to Central CT too.

Best
C

Just to put things into perspective...that house here in Northeast PA would list for maybe $139,900 (maybe) and have taxes of maybe $1,100 per year.

Your tax payment per year is my entire mortgage payment.



And that is why I left LI.

[clamboy]

Absolutely MM....and about 239K in Central CT.w/2500 in taxes

Less than 10 years ago you could've bought this house for 125k
I bought my 1st house for 109 in 2000 and sold it for 229 in 11 months.

North Shore LI is very desirable and people had overlooked this area for years.
(Mostly a rental/summer community)

Overnight people figured it out, cheap waterviews North of 25a,great schools,low taxes,60 Mi to NYC.

Then came the bulldozers and the Benz's and the party was over.

If it were 10 years ago I probably wouldnt sell or move.
If I were shopping LI, I'd still pick Rocky Point, it's remained a good value for the area.

Unfortunately it's become a rich mans island and its time for us to go.


The flipside is that this house in Southern California would be at least 1M.(as close to the water as mine is it might even fetch 1.5.)
I remember when I came home from Laguna Niguel, I thought LI was an absolute steal.

It's all relative.

As you know...L/L/L


We had considered PA but my wife didnt care for the schools and the better districts out there can be quite pricey.

One thing I will say for LI is that even the worst districts here are better than most of the districts out of state.
(Ct is a bit of an exception)
I know why my parents chose LI to raise a family.



C

[MichaelMarinelli]

Originally Posted by clamboy

Absolutely MM....and about 239K in Central CT.w/2500 in taxes

Less than 10 years ago you could've bought this house for 125k
I bought my 1st house for 109 in 2000 and sold it for 229 in 11 months.

North Shore LI is very desirable and people had overlooked this area for years.
(Mostly a rental/summer community)

Overnight people figured it out, cheap waterviews North of 25a,great schools,low taxes,60 Mi to NYC.

Then came the bulldozers and the Benz's and the party was over.

If it were 10 years ago I probably wouldnt sell or move.
If I were shopping LI, I'd still pick Rocky Point, it's remained a good value for the area.

Unfortunately it's become a rich mans island and its time for us to go.


The flipside is that this house in Southern California would be at least 1M.(as close to the water as mine is it might even fetch 1.5.)
I remember when I came home from Laguna Niguel, I thought LI was an absolute steal.

It's all relative.

As you know...L/L/L


We had considered PA but my wife didnt care for the schools and the better districts out there can be quite pricey.

One thing I will say for LI is that even the worst districts here are better than most of the districts out of state.
(Ct is a bit of an exception)
I know why my parents chose LI to raise a family.



C

I don't know if I'd say the school districts are better on LI, they're definitely different, I'll say that much. I first moved to PA in 1997 when I was in High School. I spent three years at Oceanside High School and then one year here at Wallenpaupack Area High School. Both offered quality education in my book, however the schools here are tougher in regards to rules. In Oceanside I was able to leave school grounds for lunch or if I didn't have class and here once you're there...you're there. No leaving without a note from the parents. So as a parent you think that's a good thing, as a student, it was hell to say the least. Also Wallenpaupack is always a top rated school in the country, as are a lot of LI schools. So I wouldn't say they're better, just different.

My parents bought a huge house in Oceanside in 1991 for $140,000, and the taxes on the property then were around $2,000 per year. 16 years later that same house would probably sell for around $500,000 to $550,000. That's a huge increase even if it is 16 years later. That's almost a 400% increase in value. Wow, I can't believe that was 16 years ago already. I just don't see how young married couples today can handle LI. Rents are outrageous, mortgages are just as/if not more outrageous. How do they do it?


However, on the flip side to all of my not understanding how anyone can do it, I sure do miss it.

[clamboy]

Originally Posted by MichaelMarinelli

I don't know if I'd say the school districts are better on LI, they're definitely different, I'll say that much. I first moved to PA in 1997 when I was in High School. I spent three years at Oceanside High School and then one year here at Wallenpaupack Area High School. Both offered quality education in my book, however the schools here are tougher in regards to rules. In Oceanside I was able to leave school grounds for lunch or if I didn't have class and here once you're there...you're there. No leaving without a note from the parents. So as a parent you think that's a good thing, as a student, it was hell to say the least. Also Wallenpaupack is always a top rated school in the country, as are a lot of LI schools. So I wouldn't say they're better, just different.

My parents bought a huge house in Oceanside in 1991 for $140,000, and the taxes on the property then were around $2,000 per year. 16 years later that same house would probably sell for around $500,000 to $550,000. That's a huge increase even if it is 16 years later. That's almost a 400% increase in value. Wow, I can't believe that was 16 years ago already. I just don't see how young married couples today can handle LI. Rents are outrageous, mortgages are just as/if not more outrageous. How do they do it?


However, on the flip side to all of my not understanding how anyone can do it, I sure do miss it.

That was one of the better districts as i recall....My wife liked New Hope.

I prefer the Gap.

We gotta go too.

[eightplus]

Originally Posted by clamboy

True Gordon Heights is a predominantly African American community ....but truth be told I think its looking pretty good.

Ive seen Gordon Heights improve greatly over the past few years while the surrounding areas of Coram seem to be in constant decline(Hoo-ray for Brian Foley), overrun with section 8 housing and sex offenders.

Good for Gordon Heights....they've always gotten a bad rep.

Longwoods problems dont stem from Gordon Heights these days (that had been a convenient target for many years)they need to look to the local space cadets combing the aisles of the Middle Island Walmart.

I'd strongly sugggest spending a few minutes on line there, and ask yourself.

"Can I really live with these people?"


C

I agree that Gordon Heights is looking pretty good and the homes are fair value however you are misinformed about the sex offenders and of course we have a unique fire tax issue. Gordon Heights is not a town it is a housing development predominately located in Coram. Approximately 45 sex offenders live in the area(familywatchdog.com). This decay has been brought on by community members themselves. No one with a family should consider moving there. Only half of Gordon Heights is in the Gordon Heights Fire District. People who live in this district pay the highest fire taxes in the country. The average fire tax on LI is $15 per $100 of assessed value while in Gordon Heights fire District the tax is $64 per $100 of assessed value.

Brian Foley and Town Board members are doing an outstanding job to change the running of the Town. Hopefully the sex offender issue and the fire tax issue will soon be resolved but until then be cautious where you move. For more info on the GHFD please log on to http://ghfdtax.com This is a new site and very informative!

[okaydorothy]

I live in one of those developments that are serviced by Gordon Heights fire district.

I have lived here almost three years and they have been called out once to our development since we moved in. That is just not enough to justify such a high assessment of our taxes. We pay at least $1500 more than any other district.

Also the funny thing ; the first 5-6 houses in our developement are serviced by Yaphank fire district. So Gordon heights has actually to drive thru a different fire district to get to my house.

When we all complained about this, of course Gordon Heights turned it around to be a racial thing ; it most certainely is NOT a racial thing ; its purely a financial thing. We have people of all colors, races living here and we get along just fine.
d

[clamboy]

I prefer Gordon Heights to most of Section 8 Middle Island.
C

[TheJickler]

Originally Posted by KellyFG

The days of 150k homes on LI are over, but my DH & I bought our house, with waterview & private beach rights, 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, full basement as a fixer-upper in 2004 for $260,000. We put about 25,000 in it to make it livable doing all the work ourselves. We are in Eastern Suffolk, I commute to massapequa 4x a week, my DH works in the hamptons.
We probably looked at 50 homes before finding ours but we knew a mortgage payment much higher would not work for us even though several lenders were willing to lend us almost double.
Our taxes are 6,600-I'm considering greiving them. The school district is average(our kids don't attend it) and we feel like we live in a vacation home everyday. The pace is slower here, I love the more rural feel & we think the commute is worth it.
Neither of us have high paying jobs, just average so we live accordingly.
My car is 7 years old w/130k miles, DH's truck 5 years old with 145k miles. We eat home 99% of the time, bring coffee, breakfast & lunch from home everyday(haven't set foot in a convience store since Sept 11th). We have basic cable, no flat screens, I've never eaten in the cheesecake factory, Haven't been in roosevelt field mall since the outdoor flea market was over there, we borrow books & DVDs from the library instead of buying them.
When we renovated our kitchen in 2004 we spent just under $5,000 on cabinets, flooring, counters, 2 appliances, paint, trim, all new plumbing & electric...we live modestly. My kitchen is beautiful & new & I won't being paying back a HELOC for 15 years because of all the bells & whistles that wouldn't make me a better cook
I know the first rule of real estate is location, but I think people starting out on LI have taking that too far....reaching to live in areas that are "high end", but I would not want the worst house on the best block. I prefer NOT to spend my life keeping up with Joneses. I'd rather have a great house in a really nice neighborhood & know where I stand.
Starter homes are still avaiable IF people are willing to accept the imperfections of a starter home. Unfortunately people on Long Island have an instant gratification mentality...its ok for those that earn the money to support it, but I'm tired of hearing people holding 'caramel latte vente's' while getting into their leased Infinity complaining about it!

That's the most logical thing I've read on this board - great post!

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by NYSinger

Yeah, I have looked at Shirley, Rocky Point and Ridge...Shirley is not such a good area and the other two towns are OK. Manorville is another possibility but it is growing. I think DH and I will save for a while. I would like to remain close to NYC as I am a NYSinger. Maybe I will start looking in the New Jersey and Connecticut area. Really, I cannot believe what I could get for 350k here: a shack!

NJ is not any better. I moved from LI to NJ because the taxes were lower, 13 years later the taxes equiled LI. Also didn't you know Jersey is a toxic dump. Here are statistics on Momouth County which is not near the stacks.
NJDEP SRWM - KCS-NJ: Monmouth County (Part 1 of 2)
Last year I left Manalapan, NJ and moved to Nashville, TN-music city, and I'm not looking back. I really love it here. I bought a McMansion for $430,000 and taxes @3500 a year. Downtown is about a 15-20 min hop on the interstate.
Diane, Who grew up in Lawrence, LI, and then bought houses in Mt Sinai, Babylon, LI