First time home buyer - Nassau County (Please help) (Levittown: cul-de-sac, 2011)

[paulyc44]

Hello Everyone,

Compliments to the forum and its users - very helpful

My fiance and I are getting married in September 09 and I am starting to do a bit of research on buying a home in the Spring of 2011. I am blessed with a beautiful wife to be and am thrilled to start a family soon!

After a little bit of research I have been very humbled about just what I've always pictured in my daydreams vs the reality.

The point of this post is to get advice from the wise - I'm still just a "kid" after-all. - love emoticons - sorry.

So here's what we have to work with and it's quite a challenge so any input you could offer is much appreciated!

My fiance and I: 30yrs old
Total Income: $140,000.00
Currently rent a studio in NYC
Fiance: Works in Midtown
Me: 2 days a week in NYC / 3 days at the office in Amityville
Saving for a down payment - should have about 60K when its time.
Credit: Excellent
Budget: 400K

Ideally (hehehe) we would love to live somewhere on the North-shore or a north-shore-esque feel. You know, trees, homes not on top of each other, winding roads, etc, etc...

Must have:

Commute: LIRR to NYC no more than 2.5hrs round trip.
Home: 3 bedrooms / 1 1/2 bath - Good Schools for Pauly Jr. / family oriented neighborhood.

So with that - I am all ears! Thanks in advance!

Pauly

[WJFM]

I think 400k is too low for even a starter home in the North shore. You can get starter homes in parts of Syosset for 400k. Excellent schools, but high taxes. You can also look at Mineola, Salisbury etc. Levittown should be able to get you quite a bit for 400k.

60k means you will be putting down only 10-12% on a 400k home. You will then have to pay PMI ( private mortgage insurance), which might not be tax-deductible since your combined income is close to 150. Try to bring it to 80k and you might be able to avoid PMI.

[LilTownBlues]

Pauly,
You seem to have a good basic plan in place, however in my opinion you may be jumping the gun just a bit in trying to narrow down a location now when you're 2 years away from buying.

First, as WJFM pointed out, you will be much better served with a 20% down payment on a house purchase, so you may want to stretch your time line a little for that alone. Second, today's math may not be viable in two years from now. Will the market continue down, or settle? What will the cost of money be at that time (mortgage rates)? These things will obviously have a huge impact on what, and where, you can buy when the time comes.

From the sound of it once you settle, you plan on being there for a while. So if I were you, at this point I would keep my research focused on finding as many areas that you like, and are comfortable with, as possible. Start by hitting the LI MLS listings for all the "top" areas you can think of to get a feel for current vaules and what you get for that cost. Then look at "secondary" areas to get the same information. "Top" areas for you might be Jericho, Syosset or the like. "Secondary might be Bethpage, Plainview or something like that. Then go visit the areas, do some shopping, drive around, or take a walk. Nothing beats first hand experience when researching different areas. Don't eliminate south shore either as you may find more for the $$ and areas just as nice.



Congrats on the wedding and good luck!

[llama8]

I would try to get at least 20% down to avoid PMI. Also, loans are harder to come by and not a guarentee. Make sure your credit scores are high and have the 20% down payment...you're more likely to get approved. (Also, broaden your search for towns, because even though home prices have dropped a nice amount, your budget is still on the low end for todays market.) Good luck.

[paulyc44]

Originally Posted by llama8

I would try to get at least 20% down to avoid PMI. Also, loans are harder to come by and not a guarentee. Make sure your credit scores are high and have the 20% down payment...you're more likely to get approved. (Also, broaden your search for towns, because even though home prices have dropped a nice amount, your budget is still on the low end for todays market.) Good luck.

Thank you guys! Your help is much appreciated!

[KENNY GUIDO]

Massapequa.

[Mantaray14]

Originally Posted by KENNY GUIDO

Massapequa.

Good call. I would also add Oceanside, Bellmore & Wantaugh for a reasonable commute to NYC. You can find something in the mid-high $400's that come near his discription minus the north shore, winding road part - for that add a few 100k+.

That being said I just found 3bd/2bth with large yard in a cul-de-sac for 420K in a good school district/great nieghborhood in Nassau. It just needs a ton of updates because it was an estate sale!

I would say keep saving for a 20% DP, narrow down your neighborhoods and keep a sharp eye out in early 2010 - you may be able to do well .

[Walter Greenspan]

paulyc44, in case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:

What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".

Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-y...-glossary.html and http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...-resource.html may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland".

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...you-think.html may help you understand the great geographic confusions caused by non-conforming ZIP Code postal zones.

When you do find a house that you like, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) that house is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that house's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP or Census Designated Place is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.)

And, very importantly, among other things, the Census Bureau's online address search function also indicates in which school district an address is located.

And, once you do buy a house and move in, for things to do on Lawn Guyland, here are two sites that offer weekly eMail newsletters: LongIsland.com and About Long Island NY, and, here's what could be the best site: Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission.