Starter Houses on Long Island? (North Bellmore, Bellmore: property taxes, rent, jobs)

[lukeb321]

I think its hilarious hearing all of your rants. Althought the island is expensive in some areas, there are still some affordable houses/areas. I grew up in N. Merrick, loved the area, great schools, neighbors - still have yearly block parties, etc. My parents still live there and love it even though taxes have gone up (where hasnt it).

My best friend who is a long island teacher and so is his wife just bought a house in merrick for 385,000. Granted its small and needs work over time, its still a great house in a great location. The house was listed at 415,000. The put around 75k down and have a pmt of 2,000. They are teachers mind you who barely make over 100,000 and thery might not be driving mercedes but they are still ok.

My sister who makes less just bought a townhouse in bellmore for 325,000 with a lot less down and ditto, shes enjoyong life.

As far as mercedes/lexus etc, its all who you hang with and where you go. When I come home to visit, I still go to the local bars/delis and see people I went to high school with and really have that small town feel. I have been to roosevelt field mall recently and athough packed, its a freakin mall - what do you want. I was in a mall in virgina a couple weeks ago and suprise people it wasnt much different from long island. BMWS, neiman marcus, nordstrom, etc.

Long island has soo much to offer, and I plan on coming back sometime soon, Im just enjoying Fl a little too much now.

[NickL28]

Originally Posted by lukeb321

I think its hilarious hearing all of your rants. Althought the island is expensive in some areas, there are still some affordable houses/areas. I grew up in N. Merrick, loved the area, great schools, neighbors - still have yearly block parties, etc. My parents still live there and love it even though taxes have gone up (where hasnt it).

My best friend who is a long island teacher and so is his wife just bought a house in merrick for 385,000. Granted its small and needs work over time, its still a great house in a great location. The house was listed at 415,000. The put around 75k down and have a pmt of 2,000. They are teachers mind you who barely make over 100,000 and thery might not be driving mercedes but they are still ok.

My sister who makes less just bought a townhouse in bellmore for 325,000 with a lot less down and ditto, shes enjoyong life.

As far as mercedes/lexus etc, its all who you hang with and where you go. When I come home to visit, I still go to the local bars/delis and see people I went to high school with and really have that small town feel. I have been to roosevelt field mall recently and athough packed, its a freakin mall - what do you want. I was in a mall in virgina a couple weeks ago and suprise people it wasnt much different from long island. BMWS, neiman marcus, nordstrom, etc.

Long island has soo much to offer, and I plan on coming back sometime soon, Im just enjoying Fl a little too much now.

Strange I put in keyword 'Townhouse' on craigslist, and found NOTHING under $500,000.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/cgi-bi...=max&bedrooms=

Next, get out of your bubble. Again not everyone is fortunate enough to be making an income of $200,000 combined (2 teachers salaries), and some of us must stuggle on a high five figure salary without a spouse to help even if we don't have kids to support.

Most people don't have time for this small town, laid back lifestyle that you talk about. Sounds like something from back in the mid 1980's, certainly not today where most don't even know their neighbors and are too busy commuting back and forth to and from work (and the mall of course).

Also, $415,000 - $75,000 = $340,000 mortgage + taxes which probably are around $4,000 - $6,000 yearly. Total PITI is closer to $3,000 not $2,000.

[lukeb321]

>>>Strange I put in keyword 'Townhouse' on craigslist, and found NOTHING under $500,000.<<<

If your looking at craiglist for a house, you have problems. They also sell call girls if you want. Try realtor.com or yahoo homes.

heres a sample : http://realtor.com/FindHome/HomeList...yp=2&x=61&y=16

>>>Next, get out of your bubble. Again not everyone is fortunate enough to be making an income of $200,000 combined (2 teachers salaries), and some of us must stuggle on a high five figure salary without a spouse to help even if we don't have kids to support.<<<

They each make close to 55-60, therefore not even close to the 200,000, more towards 100,000

>>>Most people don't have time for this small town, laid back lifestyle that you talk about. Sounds like something from back in the mid 1980's, certainly not today where most don't even know their neighbors and are too busy commuting back and forth to and from work (and the mall of course).<<<

Dont live in snobby areas. I have friends and family all over long island (merrick, bellmore, wantagh, huntington, and bay shore). Everybody i know likes, if not loves their neighbors.

>>>Also, $415,000 - $75,000 = $340,000 mortgage + taxes which probably are around $4,000 - $6,000 yearly. Total PITI is closer to $3,000 not $2,000.<<<

House was bought for 385,000 with 75,000 down. Morgage pmt is $1900, taxes are another 375,so still under 2500.

I love how people from long island make excuses and complain about house pricing. I am down in florida where housing isnt really cheaper and we make on average alot less, but still my colleagues are buying places. I know more people who have bought places on/around long island making well under the 200,000 a year that this site says you need to make it there and they are fine. One thing I learned by leaving ny, is how people elsewhere think postive and act accordingly.

[I'minformed2]

It's just a very anti-hometown sentiment that's building up among a lot of people in the Northeast right now.... it happened back in the 70's too (back then, all of them migrated to California.... which is now even more expensive than the NYC metro by far). Nickl28 is definitely an extreme case though. It'll blow over though. It's almost like a fad!

[GypsySoul22]

First off, there IS a housing crisis here, no matter 'how hilarious' you find it. Why you LAUGH at someone's pain is a typical indication of how 'lucky' people have no clue.

To me, $300,000 is STILL out of reach for a home. It's not a 'bargain'. I don't have credit card debt. I also have a GREAT education. It's not easy to get these 'supposedly wonderful' paying jobs. I also feel you have no clue what it is like for people who have to live on $10.00 an hour (many people here don't even make that). Call them losers, suckers, whatever. It's the reality.

10 years ago my husband and I bought a house with a combined income of less than $40,000. Now we can't even afford to rent a place (we rent from my parents at a reduced rate.) Hey, that's progress. Maybe HE shouldn't have gotten laid off from his job (chuckle chuckle). Maybe the real estate guys who ripped me off buying and selling my house should HAVE been sued (hilarious...). At the time I was just glad to 'sell and get out.'

In Suffolk County you can't find many apartments for less than $1,000 a month. (if you can find legal ones at all). I guess there's a reason we have immigrants piled into illegal housing and three generations of Americans living together.

Secondly, housing is only the tip of the iceberg. Check out how much more we pay here for utlities, food, gas, car insurance, and so on compared to the rest of the country.

So, laugh it up, and say "They must be 'stupid' because they can't get the basic things in life. Everyone has a story, and Nick and some of honest folks are not just blowing steam to get attention. Maybe there are people like us who CAN'T make it here.

[mmdj43]

Originally Posted by NickL28

Meanwhile they spend the equivalent of two mortgage payments every month just on clothing & eating out. Guys as well as girls think that having the latest fashions is more important than actually saving money for the future in some worthwile investment.

Excellent point. My sister-in-law may be putting money asside for her kids' future (don't know for sure) but she could have a lot more put aside if she and her husband chose not to get the expensive cars and the expensive household items, etc. I understand that people want to have the nice things but with the economy these days and how expensive it's getting (especially tuition), we can't help but think that maybe we should be putting aside more for the future and make the little sacrifices today.

By the way, I grew up in Queens myself. I've only been on Long Island since '94.

[mmdj43]

Originally Posted by Eva

NYSinger...is it THAT bad? I live in Brooklyn now and wanted a house closer to the beach, more land, quiet, etc. How do you know it's bad? I mean...how did you find that out? What resources?

My sister lived there about 8 years ago (she now lives in PA). I liked it there...seemed really nice.

I have a coworker that lives in Sound Beach and I've never heard him complain about the area, except for the occassional beer bottle or can that's dumped on the edge of his property (he has a house on the corner of the block). Perhaps there is a different side of Sound Beach that's not so great??

[mmdj43]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

First off, there IS a housing crisis here, no matter 'how hilarious' you find it. Why you LAUGH at someone's pain is a typical indication of how 'lucky' people have no clue.

To me, $300,000 is STILL out of reach for a home. It's not a 'bargain'. I don't have credit card debt. I also have a GREAT education. It's not easy to get these 'supposedly wonderful' paying jobs. I also feel you have no clue what it is like for people who have to live on $10.00 an hour (many people here don't even make that). Call them losers, suckers, whatever. It's the reality.

10 years ago my husband and I bought a house with a combined income of less than $40,000. Now we can't even afford to rent a place (we rent from my parents at a reduced rate.) Hey, that's progress. Maybe HE shouldn't have gotten laid off from his job (chuckle chuckle). Maybe the real estate guys who ripped me off buying and selling my house should HAVE been sued (hilarious...). At the time I was just glad to 'sell and get out.'

In Suffolk County you can't find many apartments for less than $1,000 a month. (if you can find legal ones at all). I guess there's a reason we have immigrants piled into illegal housing and three generations of Americans living together.

Secondly, housing is only the tip of the iceberg. Check out how much more we pay here for utlities, food, gas, car insurance, and so on compared to the rest of the country.

So, laugh it up, and say "They must be 'stupid' because they can't get the basic things in life. Everyone has a story, and Nick and some of honest folks are not just blowing steam to get attention. Maybe there are people like us who CAN'T make it here.

Well said. And as far as the hometown feel that someone mentioned in an earlier post, the reality is that we do live a 'rat race' and unless most of the moms are 'stay-at-home' (not many I can bet that), you won't have time to spend hanging out with the neighbors. My next door neighbor has a son that is my daughter's age and in the 3 1/2 years that we've lived next to each other, we've only gotten together with the kids maybe a handful of times. And it has nothing to do with the hometown because we live in a very nice area. The problem is that we have to work to keep up with the cost of living here so by the end of the week we are so exhausted that we choose to spend the limited amount of free time with our own families than with others.

And yes you can probably find homes (very small ones) or condos for about 350k but I can almost guarantee that a lot of $$ has to be put into it to have it fixed up. And 350k is STILL a lot for a young couple just starting out. How much money can a young couple actually have set aside???? Maybe 20k if that??? So can you imagine the mortgage payment they have to endure, not to mention the mortgage rates that are ridiculous.

[njnomore]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

First off, there IS a housing crisis here, no matter 'how hilarious' you find it. Why you LAUGH at someone's pain is a typical indication of how 'lucky' people have no clue.

To me, $300,000 is STILL out of reach for a home. It's not a 'bargain'. I don't have credit card debt. I also have a GREAT education. It's not easy to get these 'supposedly wonderful' paying jobs. I also feel you have no clue what it is like for people who have to live on $10.00 an hour (many people here don't even make that). Call them losers, suckers, whatever. It's the reality.

10 years ago my husband and I bought a house with a combined income of less than $40,000. Now we can't even afford to rent a place (we rent from my parents at a reduced rate.) Hey, that's progress. Maybe HE shouldn't have gotten laid off from his job (chuckle chuckle). Maybe the real estate guys who ripped me off buying and selling my house should HAVE been sued (hilarious...). At the time I was just glad to 'sell and get out.'

In Suffolk County you can't find many apartments for less than $1,000 a month. (if you can find legal ones at all). I guess there's a reason we have immigrants piled into illegal housing and three generations of Americans living together.

Secondly, housing is only the tip of the iceberg. Check out how much more we pay here for utlities, food, gas, car insurance, and so on compared to the rest of the country.

So, laugh it up, and say "They must be 'stupid' because they can't get the basic things in life. Everyone has a story, and Nick and some of honest folks are not just blowing steam to get attention. Maybe there are people like us who CAN'T make it here.

Finally some people posting who make up the majority of Americans that earn less than $50K/year verses the minority that are posting that have it easier to make ends meet - no offense intended.

I'm in the same type of boat making an average of $15-$18/hour here in Northern NJ and even here apartment rentals less than $1K/month are few and far. This is why I'm seeking a move out of here and into the Philadelphia, PA suburbs as in the Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties where you can find rentals in the $600's range easily in a relatively safe area.

The NYC region has or is becoming a haven for the wealthy upper class and the regular working "Joe" is getting priced out fast! The ones that are in poverty have to share a household with as much as 10 people to an apartment even here in Northern NJ.

So to you wealthy people - I know that you work hard for your money but you have to open your eyes to see that they are really most people that exist don't even come close to the earning power you have and they by that they will struggle to make ends meet because of the higher wage earners that have brought up the cost of living to "high-society" levels.

[GypsySoul22]

I am a strong believer in family, so I am a stay at home mom. My husband works very hard and is an immigrant (from Northern Europe). He's always worked and we have tried to live within our very limited means. Our lifestyle choices have been mocked by people. (We own very little by the way of furniture, 'material goods' and so on).

My parents shake their heads-- as typical products of the 1950s and say "you just need to work harder' or 'you really need to network more/kiss butt more and you will get a break.' I get told over and over 'I've never tried' here (hahah).

I go to bed at night hopeful we can find the right place and start a life new. I see from these boards we are not alone. We just want a simple shot at a small home, nice area, good life.

The sad part of this 'life is too expensive' thing here is that my son is going to grow up living somewhere apart from both families. My husband's is in the UK and mine are here in NY (some in Florida). This is the REALITY of life in 2006 America. Does anyone THINK this is a good thing for families? No. So count your lucky stars if you have 'a nice house, a family close by, and a good job' here. Most of us have to sacrifice something to get them.

PS This isn't meant to be a 'poor me' confessional. I just want people who feel the same way to know there are a lot of us out here.