first time (potential) buyer - help!! (Brookhaven, Brentwood: for sale, foreclosures, lease)

[liveonli]

Hi all,
I am looking into buying a house in Sound Beach. In trying to make as informed a decision as I can I have come up with:

PROS:

1. I won't have to move when my lanlord decides to sell (had to do this the last 3 times)
2. Peace and quiet
3. I have the downpayment and no debts and am pre-approved so am in a good position - or so they (realtor & lender) tell me.
3. Arguably a good time to buy - is it really???

CONS:
1. The 3xincome rule puts me out of range of anything but foreclosures. I can stretch myself a little more but is this recommended?
2. I travel for 4 months/year which means the house will sit empty - is this safe?
3. I will most probably be on LI for 5 years, maybe 7. Max 10 years.
4. Renting is cheaper
5. Property taxes & insurance will only go up.
6. The housing may not have bottomed out yet.
7. I want a small (2 bedrooms) house with no yard, no pool. Will I be able to sell this down the line and not take a loss?

I am not looking for an investment - just want a place to live in in peace until I leave LI. Could you please give me some feedback on whether or not I should even entertain the idea of buying? I am going completely crazy! Thanks in advance.

[TomMoser]

With just a five year time frame, I would suggest that you continue to rent for the time being. If you were planning to keep the home for at least 10 years, I would say go ahead and buy, even if it is a bit of a stretch. Also, the kind of house that you are considering would have limited appeal when you are ready to sell.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by liveonli

I am looking into buying a house in Sound Beach.

For those who may not be familiar with Sound Beach:

Sound Beach is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the north-center part of the Town of Brookhaven, in the north-central part of Suffolk County.

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Sound Beach in the Town of Brookhaven is bordered on the north by the Long Island Sound; on the east by the Hamlet of Rocky Point; on the south by the Hamlet of Rocky Point and the Hamlet of Miller Place; and, on the west by the Hamlet of Miller Place.





The Hamlet of Sound Beach has a different border than does the "Sound Beach, NY 11789" ZIP Code postal zone (i.e., a place can have other than a "Sound Beach, NY 11789" mailing address and be in the Hamlet of Sound Beach): there are places in the Hamlet of Sound Beach that have a "Rocky Point, NY 11778" mailing address.


For a good set of town-by-town maps showing all the villages and hamlets in each of LI's 13 towns (3 in Nassau County and 10 in Suffolk County): http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by liveonli

Hi all,
I am looking into buying a house in Sound Beach. In trying to make as informed a decision as I can I have come up with:

PROS:

1. I won't have to move when my lanlord decides to sell (had to do this the last 3 times)
2. Peace and quiet
3. I have the downpayment and no debts and am pre-approved so am in a good position - or so they (realtor & lender) tell me.
3. Arguably a good time to buy - is it really???

CONS:
1. The 3xincome rule puts me out of range of anything but foreclosures. I can stretch myself a little more but is this recommended?
2. I travel for 4 months/year which means the house will sit empty - is this safe?
3. I will most probably be on LI for 5 years, maybe 7. Max 10 years.
4. Renting is cheaper
5. Property taxes & insurance will only go up.
6. The housing may not have bottomed out yet.
7. I want a small (2 bedrooms) house with no yard, no pool. Will I be able to sell this down the line and not take a loss?

I am not looking for an investment - just want a place to live in in peace until I leave LI. Could you please give me some feedback on whether or not I should even entertain the idea of buying? I am going completely crazy! Thanks in advance.

I think Sound Beach is a shrewd move in this market.

North Shore living with a South Shore price.

Go for a 2 bed ranch, off the main roads, on as flat a plot as possible and be sure it has a full basement.

Taxes are low and the school are great, your house will be fine if youre away.
Im fact theres still a few Summer homes tucked away in the hills.

You'll have no absolutely problem selling or expanding later.

You may just wind up staying.

crooks

[Modification Specialist]

My 2 cents -

Yes the housing market is the lowest it has been in many years. So this would be a good time to start looking. In five years the market should abound, so what you put into your house, you should be able to recoup.

Living in North Brentwood - in the last year and a half, I saw my value drop from $425k to $325k. I have about 8 years left on our primary loan. By then -thinking of selling and moving south. The property values will determine when I actually sell.

Back in the 80's, I worked as a defense contractor. For 3 years, I lived three to six month periods in several cities in different states. The rent I paid along with a perdiem, was a tax write off. This is something you should discuss with your accountant.


..

[lialleycat]

Have you considered getting a condo or coop instead? No yard to maintain while you are gone, but you still own something instead of wasting your money on rent and having to worry about finding a new place if your landlord sells the house. If the market isn't back up when you intend to leave the Island, the place should be easy enough to rent out while you wait for the market to rebound.

[liveonli]

Thanks everyone for your input; truly appreciated!

As I understand it (not knowing very much about RE), RE is very local and they (realtor) tell me that the prices are NOT going down anymore. Given the news each day re layoffs and economy I find that difficult to believe but looking at trends will help. Does any know of sites where I can get data on housing prices in Sound Beach/Rocky Point area for the past 60 years or so?

lialleycat, I did look at condos/coops - those are notoriously hard to re-sell. Besides between taxes and monthly charges, you are looking at more expense than a small house.

Mod. specialist, I am not looking to make a profit necessarily on an investment. This is primarily so I don't have to move until I want to leave. So as long as I come out even I am happy enough. And there is the rub: 5 years will definitely not do it according to eveyone. My max is 10 I would say but a more realistic number is 7. After that I am gone.

crooks, I like Sound Beach too but I put in offers for 2 houses and the sellers won't budge on their price. Would you say the same comments are true for Rocky Point? If so, there is a house that I just may have a chance at. Btw, I live on LI just b/c of work. 3 months in the summer I am gone and a month each winter I am gone. So once I resign I am mostly definitely gone.

One more question: if I sign a lease that locks me into a year, will this be a terrible decision? Will there be more sliding prices for another year? Or are we really seeing the bottom. What is your opinion?

Thanks again for helping me out!

[SLP247]

Originally Posted by liveonli

Thanks everyone for your input; truly appreciated!

As I understand it (not knowing very much about RE), RE is very local and they (realtor) tell me that the prices are NOT going down anymore. Given the news each day re layoffs and economy I find that difficult to believe but looking at trends will help. Does any know of sites where I can get data on housing prices in Sound Beach/Rocky Point area for the past 60 years or so?

No one knows if prices are going to continue going down. No One! All I can tell you is when they start going up. Anyone who says differently should not be trusted. Your Realtor should be able to get you stats, but going back 60 years! Thats asking a lot.

Originally Posted by liveonli

lialleycat, I did look at condos/coops - those are notoriously hard to re-sell. Besides between taxes and monthly charges, you are looking at more expense than a small house.

Traditionally Co Ops and Condos are a First Time buyers dream. Home Ownership and maintenance is not easy and difficult to budget for if you never did it befor. A home still needs maintenance when you are away so you will need to hire people to take care of it. In the end, this will be more expensive than the maintenance fees at a condo.

Originally Posted by liveonli

Mod. specialist, I am not looking to make a profit necessarily on an investment. This is primarily so I don't have to move until I want to leave. So as long as I come out even I am happy enough. And there is the rub: 5 years will definitely not do it according to eveyone. My max is 10 I would say but a more realistic number is 7. After that I am gone.

crooks, I like Sound Beach too but I put in offers for 2 houses and the sellers won't budge on their price. Would you say the same comments are true for Rocky Point? If so, there is a house that I just may have a chance at. Btw, I live on LI just b/c of work. 3 months in the summer I am gone and a month each winter I am gone. So once I resign I am mostly definitely gone.

Homes that are price correctly are selling very quickly. However a recent survey of home sellers revealed that more than 80% do not understand their homes are not worth what they were just 3 years ago. These are the homes that are taking a year or longer to sell. Make sure you are working with a Buyers Agent and ask them for a CMA of the house prior to putting in an offer. Then you will know if it is priced correctly for the current market or overpriced.

Originally Posted by liveonli

One more question: if I sign a lease that locks me into a year, will this be a terrible decision? Will there be more sliding prices for another year? Or are we really seeing the bottom. What is your opinion?

Thanks again for helping me out!

Again, No One can predict the future so we don't know when prices will turn around. I can tell you that it will not happen until Supply (homes listed for sale) begin to catch up with demand (buyers looking for homes to buy) That will not happen overnight and by the time it is all over the news, it will have been going on for a long time.

Lastly; Unless you are an investor, never buy or sell because of the market. Buy a home because it is the right decision at the time, Sell for the same reason. If you buy the right house, you should be in there until you retire or resign and move as you wish, but you should always try to be in a house for 10 years in the Best Case scenario.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by liveonli

Thanks everyone for your input; truly appreciated!

As I understand it (not knowing very much about RE), RE is very local and they (realtor) tell me that the prices are NOT going down anymore. Given the news each day re layoffs and economy I find that difficult to believe but looking at trends will help. Does any know of sites where I can get data on housing prices in Sound Beach/Rocky Point area for the past 60 years or so?

lialleycat, I did look at condos/coops - those are notoriously hard to re-sell. Besides between taxes and monthly charges, you are looking at more expense than a small house.

Mod. specialist, I am not looking to make a profit necessarily on an investment. This is primarily so I don't have to move until I want to leave. So as long as I come out even I am happy enough. And there is the rub: 5 years will definitely not do it according to eveyone. My max is 10 I would say but a more realistic number is 7. After that I am gone.

crooks, I like Sound Beach too but I put in offers for 2 houses and the sellers won't budge on their price. Would you say the same comments are true for Rocky Point? If so, there is a house that I just may have a chance at. Btw, I live on LI just b/c of work. 3 months in the summer I am gone and a month each winter I am gone. So once I resign I am mostly definitely gone.

One more question: if I sign a lease that locks me into a year, will this be a terrible decision? Will there be more sliding prices for another year? Or are we really seeing the bottom. What is your opinion?

Thanks again for helping me out!

Yes... definitely.

However you will get a little more house for the $ in Sound Beach than Rocky Point.

Great communities

crooks

[liveonli]

However you will get a little more house for the $ in Sound Beach than Rocky Point.

How I wish that were true since I prefer SB to RP. But not so as far as I can tell and I think I can looked at every single house in these areas within my monetary range!