buying a home .. hopefully (Hempstead, Oyster Bay: for sale, mortgage, credit score)

[GreenGuy]

Well i've been lurking here for a while and decided to post something so i might as well introduce myself. I'm from the Salisbury part of Westbury and have lived here my entire life. At 27, married and with a child on the way my wife and I REALLY need to get out of my parents house. We're shopping for a home we can afford but decisions are tough and with the recent changes to the rules lenders have to go by regarding credit scores and such is making it really tough. Seems like getting 95% financing and a low interest rate is a thing of the past so i'm basically looking at either blowing my savings, buying a house that i don't want or taking on a payment thats too fat for my slim paycheck. Anyways, thats my situation, i'll be on here alot asking questions because of it. This forum is really a goldmine of information, thanks to all the admins, mods and regulars who make it happen.

We're in nassau, and would love to stay here but we cant afford it. I want to stay close to my family but i don't think it'll happen. We're considering Selden, centerreach, ronkonkoma, holbrook, etc.. basically sachem, connetquot and middle country school districts. I know its a big area but since we're shopping so low we don't really have the option of choosing our exact location. If we want a selection, we have to spread it around a bit, ya know? We're also possibly considering West Babylon. If anyone has any advice to a first time buyer shopping in the current market in these areas, i'm all ears. Thanks again.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by GreenGuy

I'm from the Salisbury part of Westbury and have lived here my entire life.

Sorry to inform you, but Salisbury is not part of Westbury.

Salisbury is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where none of the places in the community have the hamlet name in their mailing address, and while most places in the Hamlet of Salisbury have a "Westbury, NY 11590" mailing address, Salisbury is not part of Westbury.


For those who may not be familiar with Salisbury:

Salisbury is a hamlet (an unincorporated area) in the northeast section of the Town of Hempstead, in the central part of Nassau County, where the Town of Hempstead converges with the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay.

Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Salisbury in the Town of Hempstead is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of New Cassel in the Town of North Hempstead (the Hempstead/North Hempstead town line); on the east by the Hamlet of Hicksville in the Town of Oyster Bay (the Hempstead/Oyster Bay Town line) and the Hamlet of Levittown; and, on the south and west by the Hamlet of East Meadow.





Salisbury is one of those many villages and hamlets on Long Island where none of the places in the community have the hamlet name in their mailing address: most places in the Hamlet of Salisbury have a "Westbury, NY 11590" mailing address, while a small slice in the east part of the hamlet have a "Levittown, NY 11756" 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

[GreenGuy]

Thanks Walter. After writing Westbury as my address a million times, its tough to wrap my brain around the fact that i don't actually live there.

[Walter Greenspan]

GreenGuy, as http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...you-think.html illustrates, the geographic problems caused by non-conforming ZIP Code postal zones is widespread and you should always bear in mind, that wherever you search in either Nassau or Suffolk Counties, a house may not be in the village or hamlet whose community name is in that place's mailing address.

[TomMoser]

You probably will have to move further out on the island to find something affordable. However, your first step should be to talk to a reputable mortgage company who can lay out for you exactly what you would qualify for, what your closing costs would be and what your mortgage payment would be.

[Elke Mariotti]

Depending on your income, you may qualify as a First Time Homebuyer; if you can get an FHA loan you can have as little as a 3.5% downpayment and possibly up to a $7,500 tax credit.

[akaroutsos]

What's your budget?

[MikefromNY]

Sounds like you are in a similar situation my wife and I were in. We were married, living in a basement appartment in her parent's house in Farmingdale. No children at the time though.

When we decided it was time to purchase a house of our own, we knew we wouldn't be able to afford the home prices and taxes of Nassau County. We first started looking in Medford, Patchogue, Centereach and Selden, figuring the prices and the taxes were lower. Well, a few of the houses we looked at were not very well constructed.

We eventually did buy a house in West Babylon, where I grew up. Obviously I know from growing up here it is a nice area. If you decide to look at homes in West babylon, the only thing you have to be careful of is sometimes the mailing address may be West babylon, but technically the house is in Wyandanch, and you certainly don't want to live there. I remember seeing a few houses that looked good on line, good price, but when I clicked map property and saw where it was was, I was like "No, that's Wyandanch."

I agree with what other people have said, to first find out what kind of loan and payment you can get. you may find out that you're better off staying in your parent's house and saving more. My wife and I did it for 2 years.

If you can get the money, there certainly are deals in West Babylon. At one point there were 4 houses for sale on my block! In today's market, you can probably get a good deal almost anywhere, but only if you can get the loan.

Good luck.

[TeamExit]

you can get an fha loan which only needs 3.5% down and there is really no minimum credit score

[dman72]

Originally Posted by MikefromNY

Sounds like you are in a similar situation my wife and I were in. We were married, living in a basement appartment in her parent's house in Farmingdale. No children at the time though.

When we decided it was time to purchase a house of our own, we knew we wouldn't be able to afford the home prices and taxes of Nassau County. We first started looking in Medford, Patchogue, Centereach and Selden, figuring the prices and the taxes were lower. Well, a few of the houses we looked at were not very well constructed.

We eventually did buy a house in West Babylon, where I grew up. Obviously I know from growing up here it is a nice area. If you decide to look at homes in West babylon, the only thing you have to be careful of is sometimes the mailing address may be West babylon, but technically the house is in Wyandanch, and you certainly don't want to live there. I remember seeing a few houses that looked good on line, good price, but when I clicked map property and saw where it was was, I was like "No, that's Wyandanch."

I agree with what other people have said, to first find out what kind of loan and payment you can get. you may find out that you're better off staying in your parent's house and saving more. My wife and I did it for 2 years.

If you can get the money, there certainly are deals in West Babylon. At one point there were 4 houses for sale on my block! In today's market, you can probably get a good deal almost anywhere, but only if you can get the loan.

Good luck.

Are you speaking of the area that the High School kids call "West Baby-danch?"