Help - Is there anywhere in Nassau County for us? (Oyster Bay: real estate, 2009)

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by djdairyp

Religion 76.00% of the people in Levittown (zip 11756), NY are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 52.03% are Catholic; 5.61% are Protestant; 0.12% are LDS; 1.87% are another Christian faith;



15.51% in Levittown (zip 11756), NY are Jewish;



0.02% are an eastern faith; 0.84% affilite with Islam.

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That sounds right. There is more than one high school in Levittown, I went to MacArthur - which also has a large number of students from North Wantagh (11793 & 11783 zip codes).

EDIT: I take it back. It's only a coincidence, those figures are for Nassau County - put in any location (in Nassau) into Sperling's and you will get the same numbers. Like I originally thought, there is no record kept by town or school district of religious background.

[S.I.B.]

Originally Posted by djdairyp

Religion 76.00% of the people in Levittown (zip 11756), NY are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 52.03% are Catholic; 5.61% are Protestant; 0.12% are LDS; 1.87% are another Christian faith;



15.51% in Levittown (zip 11756), NY are Jewish;



0.02% are an eastern faith; 0.84% affilite with Islam.


Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed

is it me, or do they have the same stats for several different areas? Just checked Syosset and Oceanside...and the numbers are the same.

[djdairyp]

Originally Posted by S.I.B.

is it me, or do they have the same stats for several different areas? Just checked Syosset and Oceanside...and the numbers are the same.

haha, thats a good point, I guess its a crap site. Maybe that's all of long island. Just goes to show you that you can't believe everything you read.

[Smash255]

Originally Posted by djdairyp

haha, thats a good point, I guess its a crap site. Maybe that's all of long island. Just goes to show you that you can't believe everything you read.

Those numbers are for all of Nassau County

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by djdairyp

She said more than just an excellent school district, she was looking for many other things.

If all school districts are excellent, why is there such a discord in prices for the same house on the same size of land moved from one town to the next. Try to find a basic 3 bdrm home thats not a handy man special in great neck for under 600k, it doesnt exist. Fantastic is a very strong word, that rings top schools and the top schools in LI are rated in the top 100 in the country. Other districts are good, but not fantastic in terms of their rankings and student percentages going to colleges. US News rankings and newsweek rankings.

Go to MLS, there are zero homes for sale in plainview under 350, and just a few under 400k ... then actually go look at those houses and your price range will quickly move to the upper 400's because you don't want an outdated home or fixer upper or something on the LIE. In most of Nassau in decent districts, most home are still above 350k, and the ones that are not often need a lot of work. You might find houses listed below 350k, but actually go out there and look at them and you will see some of them are total knockdowns and the others are either cramped or need another 50k put into them.

I forgot to address the rest of your post, I was kinda zoned out before. I got a wisdom tooth pulled yesterday morning and have been whacked out on Percocet all day...

School Districts: There are very, very few districts in Nassau that aren't among the highest ranking in the entire state....even ones that have a reputation as being subpar, or "dangerous" (see: Valley Stream, Elmont, West Hempstead, etc.) still excel academically. You'd have a very hard time finding graduation rates under 90% outside of the few bottom-of-the-barrel schools I listed earlier. The types of rankings found in Newsweek are most often solely based on AP scores, which is all well and fine, but only pertains to a very small percentage of students at any school....however even the "lesser" Nassau districts still post excellent AP test scores as well. Would you believe places as humble as Elmont and Levittown had Intel semifinalists this year? The fact that we have some extraordinary, top tier public schools that are nationally recognized skews the perception of what a "good" district is, or should be. If someone is paying $600k to live in Lake Success primarily because the schools are "ranked" that much better than....oh, I don't know Bethpage, then they're wasting an extremely large amount of money on what amounts to nothing more than a few rungs at the top of a very high ladder.

I have made many posts on this subject on these forums, I've done hours of independant research, I've read through hundreds of pages of not only rankings/ratings but also the criteria used to establish them. You can search my posts, I can provide you with the raw data and links to the NYS Board of Regents or Dept. of Education stats & figures, etc. I'm not trying to take anything away from Great Neck South, it's (statistically) a fantastic high school....and I'm not gonna sit here and try to split hairs over semantics regarding the words "fantastic" or "excellent" either. I've had discussions with the OP in this thread in the past. She is coming from Riverhead SD, is not very familiar with Nassau County at all, and she has a budget of $350k. I seriously doubt she meant that she expects Jericho schools on that budget.

$350k Budget: I looked on MLSLI.com, there was nothing under $350k. There were about 10 under $400k and a handful just slightly over that, I'm sure many of those could at least meet the OP halfway to her budget in this economy. I also said you couldn't pay me to live in Plainview though, so I'm not exactly recommending it. Bellmore/North Bellmore meets most of her criteria, there are 20 homes listed under $350k, most appear to be updated and in great areas. 17 in Merrick/North Merrick, 61 in the Massapequa area, 15 in Bethpage, etc., etc....it goes on and on. Sure, none of those meet 100% of her criteria, but you're telling me theres not one house in all of those areas (which have very good schools) that is a tiny, about to fall down, basket case located right on top of a parkway?

Whats so bad about living somewhere cozy, or some place that has a kitchen from 1978 either? As long as there are no serious structural defects, these things can be upgraded as you go. Woodgrain cabinets aren't going to ruin your life, they certainly beat having a defeatist attitude about the whole situation. I grew up right next to the Southern State Parkway, I can still hear cars (and sirens) on it from where I live now. So what? It doesn't bother me at all. If other people turn up their noses at the thought, screw them.

[Jennifer06]

We took a drive last Sunday to the south shore. We saw Baldwin, Baldwin Harbor, Oceanside, then got a bit turned around and ended up in East Rockaway. We were in a lovely area there, actually, and the homes were around 400k (happened on some open houses). At that point - after driving about 80 miles - we headed back east, drove on the Sunrise Highway to whatever the north/south road it is that took us up to Bay Shore. All those towns looked nice! I would have liked to see more of Massapequa but we were exhausted by then.

We looked through old threads on this board and see a lot of disagreement about Baldwin in particular, as well as other towns in that area. We see a lot of this town has turned and that one has, then other people replying that that's only being said because non-white people have moved in in large numbers.

We can't tell if the demographic change has actually made these towns and their schools change for the worse (people moving out, others in, crime, danger, gangs...?) or not.

It's a bit unnerving because the towns are so close to one another, and we are very unfamiliar.

On quick look -- and driving over 70 miles each way, we didn't get to see much -- it looks nice! Particularly the residential areas. There are stretches on Sunrise that have great stores and shopping (I'm assuming the nicest was the unaffordable Rockville Centre - but it's so close to the affordable towns on either side).

Any insight? Is, say, Oceanside a place worth looking at?

I did take everything said to me to heart - the insults, the very kind advice even after I was rude. I completely understand "not wanting me" in your backyard after I've expressed unease with living here. So I appreciated extra the comments - especially from Sean Sean - that truly aimed to help.

Here's what's happened to us: we put down $150 on a $400 house in, yes, Riverhead in 2005. We're about to lose most of it, and that's if we can find a buyer. I don't want to make this mistake again. I'm petrified of losing all our money, and of not moving; of moving to another place that won't or might not work, and of staying here longer only to lose more money. I'm stymied. Our gamble in selling now is that the market will decrease more - so that we will stop losing equity.

I also want our son not to move again - I wish our next move could be our last move and we could just be settled.

I also began to look at private schools, thinking if we're in a "lesser" SD maybe we can afford a better school that way. Since we have only one child the cost of private school might off-set the lower taxes and cost of a home in a town with a less reputable SD.

As far as the things Sean wrote: new house, big house, and huge plot of land are unimportant. I grew up in a 2 BR apt in the city. No biggie. Nice to have, but more important to live in a comfortable community. I would like to see my son able to play outside near home, though (small backyard, other kids on the road). In houses, we LOVE old - old, not up-to-date kitchens, old houses. Love them. Though you were a bit off about schools - one of the most important things to me (right after after safety and on par with general comfort) is education. Top education.

So..... writing to say thank you - big thank you for continuing to offer me advice. And also I'm sorry if I insulted anyone.

Any other input more than welcome. We're still not familiar w/the towns in Nassau, though did feel the feel. Love the south shore feel, but would barely know a single thing about any town. Thoughts for us about Massapequa, Merrick, Oceanside, Baldwin...? Or any others based on what I've added? (E.g., where can I look at private schools by geography?)

Opinions about rentals in these areas, too? I kind of want to test the waters this time before I lose over $100k again if something is as wrong as this last purchase was!

Jen

[Jennifer06]

Oh, I forgot: I'd still love to hear more about Mineola and New Hyde Park, which are on the Ronkoma line, in case my husband would like or need to take the RR to work sometimes.

[AlexisT]

The issue with private schools is that outside the very ritzy areas, they're mainly religious. And if you were going to spend the kind of money that any non-Catholic school (or some of the independent Catholic HS) would charge, you'd usually be better off putting it towards a bigger mortgage and higher taxes.

Baldwin does not have a top school district. No question on that. We can (and have...) gone ten rounds on the race issue and the general state of the area, but I don't think anyone could make a good case that the district is top tier. Oceanside is good though a notch below RVC; Merrick is also very good. East Rockaway is a surprisingly poor district by statistical measures, and I don't know why that is.

Mineola is OK, working class, small school district. Williston Park, just to the north, is split between Mineola and Herricks SDs. New Hyde Park (postal definition, which covers a much larger area than the village of NHP) is divided between several SDs. Herricks is probably the best, then NHP-GCP. This area is densely built, which would probably appeal to you, and is more diverse than the South Shore (which, sadly, is very segregated). There are also more pre-WWII houses in this area, which sounds like something you might like--and since you don't mind smaller houses and lots, that shouldn't be an issue. Getting into Herricks SD at your price point would be tricky, though.

[twingles]

How about someplace like Farmingdale or Bethpage....good diversity, not sure about the schools but I don't think they are terrible. Close to the train for hubby. Close to Bethpage state park. F'dale has a village, close to Route 110 as well. My friend has lived there over 20 years and really likes it and her kids have done great in school, looking at top-notch universities for the oldest right now.

[alexanderdennis]

you can look in Merrick area . Excell schools
shoping galore - does not matter wher you live in Merrick, you are close - to : Waldbaums, Stop and Shop, Pathmark , trader's joe , GAP, Drug Stores, Cleaners ....and so on
If you want to go to malls . Fine - less than 8 min and there you are - Old Country RD- with everything that you need - from Macys , Bloomingdale, Norstdorm to the small boutiques, discount stroe- Marshalls , Old Navy, and you name it...
Merrick is conv. located to Highways - which makes the comute to Queens , NY , Brookly - a breeze.... or to eastern LI ....
Close to the beaches - Jones Beach, Lido, Atlantic,....
Close to the pools
several Jewish Temples in the area..
Travel time to Manhattan - 40 min . by train.
And still i think you can find something in your price range - smaller house with smaller lot
South Merrick - is more expensive because the close proximity to the water...
Good part about Merrick - Not Bad areas or good areas....- I mean - it is safe - good schools.
Of course there will be areas that are more expensive than the others-
And as far as the resale value it is holding up.
Whatever i could get for $ 400 ' in 2004 - I would get in 2005 / 2006 - and even today - the prices did not double overnight in this area and so the deflation is not like a risk...
The problem now is that the houses are not selling as fast as they were selling before.
Family orientated.
friendly people..
I moved in 5 yrs ago - very happy.
Education - top noch

With Bellmore - nice area - but North Bellmore has some sections with .. not so good reputation
Massapequa - is diveded in 2 school districts ... Amitiville and Massapequa... one is good one not so..
i avoided the areas that were diveded in good section and bad section .
freeport - again schools - not very good reput.
Good sections / bad sections/
If you want more info on Merrick - send me a PM.