Dear Park or Babylon (New York, Brentwood: renting, high crime, houses)

[pravasi]

Hi Everybody,

We were looking at these two town to buy a starter. Heard that certain parts of Dear Park is eary, but don't know what exactly to avoid. Also North and West Babylon (not babylon village) have some houses within our range but don't know anything about the area. Any inputs are greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

Best regards,

Zac.

[Babylon by birth]

Originally Posted by pravasi

Hi Everybody,

We were looking at these two town to buy a starter. Heard that certain parts of Dear Park is eary, but don't know what exactly to avoid. Also North and West Babylon (not babylon village) have some houses within our range but don't know anything about the area. Any inputs are greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

Best regards,

Zac.

Even in this market, if the asking price is below 300-350K check the specific neighborhood and school district very well. DP, WB and NB are all mostly very nice neighborhoods but they all neighbor at least one high crime community.

[Rachael84]

do you have kids? or looking to have kids while you're in a starter house?

[Jrprofess]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

do you have kids? or looking to have kids while you're in a starter house?

This questioned always puzzles me, mostly because I was given the little piece of advice that no matter what house you buy, because we can not predict the future, you should always go into it knowing that you might be there the rest of your life. Starter or not. So if the schools are a concern, you are probably better off renting longer and saving for a district you want to be in...this is not a commentary on either areas schools, just on the thought process that starter homes can allow for greater risks. Why take the chance at all on a starter home if things such as the school district might be an issue for your eventual family. It was a piece of advice that stuck with me over the years.

[Rachael84]

I just ask in case they're interested in other places. There are decent towns but with schools that really aren't very good (like Baldwin, Glen Cove, Amityville Harbor, etc). I wasn't sure if they were going to ask about other places, so I just thought I would ask if schools are a big issue.

[villager-li]

Check out the New York State school reports for these towns before you make your choice at http://nystart.gov. I grew up in North Babylon and I did not like the schools at all. The statistics that you'll see on the NYS website also indicate that they are quite mediocre. They are not horrible though. I am not that famiilar with Deer Park schools. You may want to consider West Babylon, as I believe they have a better school distrct. All in all, all 3 towns are decent, with some nice areas, some not-so-nice areas. Middle class basically, which is not a bad thing. There are lots of nice restaruants and good shopping nearby. Hope this helps.

[Rachael84]

I looked at Newday's school test scores and graduation rates. I couldn't believe North Babylon scored lower than Brentwood in almost everything. I knew NB wasn't good, but didn't know it was worse than Brentwood.

[TomMoser]

Originally Posted by Jrprofess

This questioned always puzzles me, mostly because I was given the little piece of advice that no matter what house you buy, because we can not predict the future, you should always go into it knowing that you might be there the rest of your life. Starter or not. So if the schools are a concern, you are probably better off renting longer and saving for a district you want to be in...this is not a commentary on either areas schools, just on the thought process that starter homes can allow for greater risks. Why take the chance at all on a starter home if things such as the school district might be an issue for your eventual family. It was a piece of advice that stuck with me over the years.

I completely agree with this advice. Even though you think you might be trading up in a few years, select a house that you can live with forever. I, myself, thought that when I bought my home twenty years ago that I would sell it in a few years. I am still living in it.

On a related note, avoid buying a two bedroom house, as you may quickly outgrow it and it may be difficult to sell when you do.

[JP15]

Not true. NB High School scored higher than Brentwood in all areas with the exception of the English (which was the same) and U.S. History Regents. However, the quality of a school or district is determined by a lot more than just scores. While we are discussing scores though let's give a big shout out to North Babylon's Parliament Place Elementary. They had 99% passing the 4th grade English, 93% for Math and 100% for Science. Great job!!

[Rachael84]

No, they didn't. Take a look at that Newday with the 2008 scores. Their graduation rate was also at least 5-10% lower than Brentwood's. You're probably looking at the 06-07 scores which are online. I can't find the 08 scores online. That's in the latest Newsday.