We are looking for a nice neighborhood (Hempstead, Babylon: good credit, buying a home)

[NylaRayne]

[SIZE=2]Hi,
My Husband & I are looking to move to LI with in the next few months. We will start house searching soon. We have two boys (12 & 3). Our family income is approximately $90,000 a year. We are looking for a nice neighborhood. We do not want to pay more than $400,000 for a home. My husband & I both work in the city so we would like to be close to the LIRR and a major highway. Could anyone recommend a family neighborhood in Nassau County with a good school district?
Thanks.
[/SIZE]

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by NylaRayne

[SIZE=2]Hi,
My Husband & I are looking to move to LI with in the next few months. We will start house searching soon. We have two boys (12 & 3). Our family income is approximately $90,000 a year. We are looking for a nice neighborhood. We do not want to pay more than $400,000 for a home. My husband & I both work in the city so we would like to be close to the LIRR and a major highway. Could anyone recommend a family neighborhood in Nassau County with a good school district?
Thanks.
[/SIZE]

I hope you have a lot to put down, because $90K is kinda low for a $400K house. Remember our property taxes are very high on LI.

However, there's good news: the number of houses under $400K are growing everyday in good family neighborhoods in Nassau County. Here's what you do, go to this website, which has all the homes in the Multiple Listing Service on LI:

www. mlsli. com

You can make an account there and save your search, plus save specific houses that you are interested in, so if you are serious, make yourself an account.

Then choose "single family house", and check off Nassau County. Here are some good towns to include in your search:

Bellmore
Bethpage
E. Rockaway
East Meadow
Farmingdale
Franklin Square (avoid Elmont School District)
Hicksville
Island Park
Levittown
Lynbrook (avoid Malverne School District)
Malverne (only in Valley Stream SD 13)
Massapequa Park (note there is also a choice for Massapequa, which has a growing number of homes in your price range. However, a lot of Massapequa is in a bad school district (Amityville). If you would like to search for homes in Massapequa, it is easier to search by school district to weed out Amityville. I believe some good school district names in Massapequa are Massapequa, Plainedge, Farmingdale)
Merrick
N. Bellmore
N. Massapequa
N. Merrick
Oceanside
S. Hempstead (avoid Uniondale School District; Rockville Centre School District is best; also avoid "Hempstead" itself when choosing towns)
Seaford
Valley Stream (SD 24 and SD 13 are best)
Wantagh

Then choose $400,000 in the "Price To" category.

You will find hundreds of houses in quite a variety of shapes, sizes, conditions, etc.

When you look at the record for a particular property, it will tell you what school district the home is in.

Once you look at the record for a particular property, there is also a handy map feature, so you can get an idea of where the house is (on a big road, small road, near the LIRR, etc.)

*****

Good luck to you and your family and if you have further questions about places to live or school districts, please feel free to contact me via PM or post again.

[Rachael84]

That much for a house? My fiance and I have good credit, very little down (no more than 3%), make 110,000 together, and we only got approved for up to 320,000. Unless you can put 20% down then I can see you getting a house for a little below 400,000.

[Johninwestbury]

You can also pick Westbury west of Ellison ave, "Breezy Hill", and the section that borders Jericho north of the pkwy.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by Johninwestbury

You can also pick Westbury west of Ellison ave, "Breezy Hill", and the section that borders Jericho north of the pkwy.

They want a good school district too. Is that section in a good one?

[Johninwestbury]

The section of Westbury west of Ellison is Carle Place schools, which are pretty good. East of Ellison is Westbury schools though, so you'd probably want to avoid it (that's Breezy Hill as well).
You'd probably get better schools on those south shore towns along the Babylon line (Wantagh,Bellmore area).

[NylaRayne]

Hi,Thank you so much for your replies. Our credit is excellent and we actually do have a large amount for the down payment. We have been saving for a few years in preparation to buying a home. I will check out the mlsli website and research the neighborhoods everyone suggested. Thanks again for the information.

[Kbinspections]

Look at Merrick, Bellmore or Wantagh...best of luck!

[napjester666]

I live in Valley Stream and like living here because I'm about 2 minutes from the Southern State Parkway (major highway) and a 5 minute drive from the Long Island Railroad to get into Manhattan. It's about a 35minute train ride depending on what train you take and beign that Valley Stream is a big hub, there's a train every 15 minutes into Manhattan in the morning which I love (because I always find a way to miss the train!).

[SamTheCatRocks]

Oceanside and Rockville Centre are great towns. We take the Babylon line to the city (from RVC) and it's about 40-45 minutes to Penn. Great towns, easy commute, excellent schools. Good luck!