Posting against my better judgment. Is there anywhere on LI that's affordable? (New York: real estate market, co-ops)
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Yup - I know exactly what you're talking about. I would be really shocked if prices dropped that low again. I don't like the idea of renting. My husband is real old school and that would almost be like chopping off his manhood. He was already feeling pretty bad that he couldn't afford to move us there. When I realized that upstate was an option he was much happier.
LisaMarie1984 - thank you so much. That was awesome of you. Taxes were the second part of our equation and we were trying to keep them under 6K.
And to anyone else who said no - thank you for being honest and I'm not at all upset or insulted by it. You're just confirming what I was about 99% certain of. I really wish we could come home, but I'm not willing to bankrupt us to do it.
How much are you putting down?
The difference between 150k and 200k is about $250/mo. I think you can find something in suffolk that would fit that price range and still be in a decent district. If 200k is too much, I won't bother looking. But I can look and direct message you if you want.
Of course, the word "affordable" is totally relative.
I'm currently trapped in the Southwest - I moved here ten years ago to be with my future husband. Long and short - all was well until we realized that our now 3 year old is on the Autism spectrum. He's high functioning enough where he doesn't need therapy for every aspect of his life, but his social skills are crappy enough that he doesn't fit in well in regular care settings here. Services are sparse and you have to be part of the special needs mommy club to learn anything about them. SO we're moving to super-high tax land (not meant as a knock) so we can have access to better schools, more services and people who know better than to discriminate.
Right now we feel like we can reasonable afford to live upstate and that's been our focus. It looks like there are quite a few towns with good schools and access to the services we might need for our son that have homes in our price range. We'll be really lucky to get 140K for the house we're in which will give us a modest down payment to work with.
Several of my family members however seem to be completely obsessed with getting us back to LI. I don't think we can afford it, they insist we can.
SO: is there anyplace left on LI where you can get a decent home (i.e. not a cottage) for under 200K in a good school district? And please, go easy on me... I'm not the one who's being unrealistic - I would love to move closer to everyone but I don't think we can make it on LI. I think my family wants us home so bad that they just can't see it's not possible.
Thanks very much for any assistance people can offer.
Look upstate: Mainly Suburbs of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or Albany. Many school districts in the suburbs of these upstate cities are excellent and you should be able to get into a decent area for 140K. Jobs upstate pay less than LI but with the low housing prices who cares? You'll add years to your life by avoiding the LI stress.
Avoid rural areas upstate (too isolated and poor),as well as the NYC exurbs (Orange, Dutchess County, etc.) because you'll spend a fortune on gas and time commuting.
Yup - I know exactly what you're talking about.
You're just confirming what I was about 99% certain of. I really wish we could come home, but I'm not willing to bankrupt us to do it.
That's smart. Look at all these people who are in foreclosure because they didn't listen to their better judgement. I myself has to take a second job to stay above water.
Best option is upstate but far upstate for decent schools. Don't listen to these posters who will tell you to try upper Westchester or Putnam. Those counties are more expensive than Long Island. Look into Ulster county and the Onteora school district. Avoid Woodstock or West Hurley, very expensive. Onteora however is the largest SD, "area wise" in NYS and there are some bargains to be found but you will be living in the "country."
Look upstate: Mainly Suburbs of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or Albany. Many school districts in the suburbs of these upstate cities are excellent and you should be able to get into a decent area for 140K. Jobs upstate pay less than LI but with the low housing prices who cares? You'll add years to your life by avoiding the LI stress.
Avoid rural areas upstate (too isolated and poor),as well as the NYC exurbs (Orange, Dutchess County, etc.) because you'll spend a fortune on gas and time commuting.
Rochester is a great choice but that is far. I would think she would want to be in some proximity(sp) to her family downstate. Maybe Albany but I'm not aware of any decent school districts there.
here's a couple in Suffolk that could fit your price range w/low taxes: (I would look at the colonial in Lindenhurst, that could be a gem if it's in good shape). Obviously you could also get in @ 50k-150k but you would end up in a dangerous area w bad school district like Brentwood/Central Islip/Wyandanch/ etc...so I tried to find the best SD possible.
Whatever you make on the sale of your home would be much better spent elsewhere. If your relatives want you move back they should offer to put you up for a few years while you save money for a house, otherwise they should stop tormenting you with their own unrealistic expectations that would make your already complicated life harder.
I agree whole-heartedly.
Also, Three Ducks, I'm not trying to be a negative Nellie here, but please don't assume that people in New York don't discriminate. I know someone upstate whose son has Asperger's. She had to fight tooth and nail with the school board, the PTA, assorted teachers, and various and sundry local politicians to get her son appropriate education. She's very tall, and she actually had to physically block and tower over some pipsqueak politician to keep him from waving her off and walking away. In the end, she won, but it was an unholy PITA. She used to blog about it, but she has since locked up her archives or I'd send you her way.
To the OP,
The short answer is NO. Any sub 200K in a reasonably good school district means the house needs work. In general if you guys can make about 150K per year with a decent downpayment, you can get into a decent school district on LI and not be living a paycheck to paycheck life.
All the previous posters have given you good solid advice.
We started looking in the Buffalo/Rochester area, right now we're focused on right outside Syracuse. I would love to get closer to Albany, but a lot of the areas look a little rough. It's really hard to do this on line. No one in my family knows much about upstate.
Jobs are the only things we don't have to stress about right bow - we're both very lucky. My office is based on LI and they've been allowing me to telecommute for the last 10 years. The irony is that for the last three I've been paying income taxes for NYS. My husband's job is allowing him to move and office out of the house because of WHY we're moving so we got really lucky there too.
Pequaman - funny because I was looking at Lindenhurst this morning. I had a co-worker who lived there but didn't know anything else about it. I saw something that mentioned they had issues with flooding in some parts of town - that made me worry that we would have higher homeowner's insurance. Believe it or not, that was one of the things in NY that is lower than where we currently live.
The other big suggestion was short sales - I'm not sure how long those are taking these days (anyone know?) and if it did come down to staying with family we couldn't do it for too long without becoming a major inconvenience to the person who has room.
Look upstate: Mainly Suburbs of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or Albany. Many school districts in the suburbs of these upstate cities are excellent and you should be able to get into a decent area for 140K. Jobs upstate pay less than LI but with the low housing prices who cares? You'll add years to your life by avoiding the LI stress.
Avoid rural areas upstate (too isolated and poor),as well as the NYC exurbs (Orange, Dutchess County, etc.) because you'll spend a fortune on gas and time commuting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1nevets
That's smart. Look at all these people who are in foreclosure because they didn't listen to their better judgement. I myself has to take a second job to stay above water.
Best option is upstate but far upstate for decent schools. Don't listen to these posters who will tell you to try upper Westchester or Putnam. Those counties are more expensive than Long Island. Look into Ulster county and the Onteora school district. Avoid Woodstock or West Hurley, very expensive. Onteora however is the largest SD, "area wise" in NYS and there are some bargains to be found but you will be living in the "country."
Orange and Dutchess are on par for time commuting with Long Island for the most part. With all the traffic, stop and go, wear and tear it's not much different than driving all highway miles with no traffic for more miles.
Putnam is overprice for what is mostly a rural setting, but Upper Westchester you can more bang for your money. Taxes are bit lower for more land and house than LI.
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