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Same boat here. My only saving point is that I'm single and looking for a "fixer". The prices are insane! On a similar salary I'm looking in the sub-300's and there are not a lot to choose from in good neighborhoods. Just save your money and keep looking and be aggressive in negotiating.
"Can't move bacause of family"? If they are not crippled or in assisted living, why do you HAVE to stay on LI?? You could shortchanging yourself & your bride by not exploring your options. But, if you like it there and HAVE to be near family, as said before, best of luck
If your banking anything decent I'd say save for a year or two and keep looking. You can have MLSLI throw you a daily email that shows you any new/price changed homes in areas you designate. Helps looking. Keep banking your money. No matter what someone says, put down at least the 10%. It'll be a nice buffer, and it saves you tens of thousands over the cost of the loan. Keep mortgage/taxes/insurance under 40% of your take home salary. Again, don't buy into the hype for school districts, towns, etc.
If you can get off the island, DO IT! Much nicer places to live, where you can live and not just eek out a living while dealing with high taxes and traffic congestion.
In one breath you say that you contemplated a move down south but heard bad things about the schools. In the next breath you say that you can't move because of family.
Look - if you are a primary caretaker for a family member up here and need to stay - then God bless you and do what you need to. If not, MOVE. I'm glad that my grandparents didn't stay in eastern Europe because they couldn't muster up the courage to rip themselves away from their families there. Think of YOUR children and YOU be the one in your family to break away from this oversold piece of paradise.
Lastly, do yourself a favor and tune out the nonsense about schools in other parts of the country being substandard. The individuals from which these kinds of comments originate from are, generally speaking, not ones who's advice is likely to be valuable.
Wow, I can't believe the amazing feedback I have received. Thank you all for taking the time to write such informative responses.
We both grew up here, and like your typical Long Islander, can't move because of family.
We're currently renting and based on the feedback realize we need to save up a little more for that down payment.
Once again, thank you all for the incredible advice! It's golden!!
I'd also recommend a second source of income. Your situation reminds me of myself.
I'm a corp rat and I'll soon be having to do what you are trying to accomplish.
My second source of income is the stock market. I have access to the Indian and American stock markets. On a daily basis, I pick profit doing day trading, though I haven't been able to concentrate and maximize profit coz I also have a full time job I need to take care of. In this short, thanksgiving week alone, I made about 850 bucks. Sometimes I make disastrous trades too, but overall, I have been successful.
I'd also recommend a second source of income. Your situation reminds me of myself.
I'm a corp rat and I'll soon be having to do what you are trying to accomplish.
My second source of income is the stock market. I have access to the Indian and American stock markets. On a daily basis, I pick profit doing day trading, though I haven't been able to concentrate and maximize profit coz I also have a full time job I need to take care of. In this short, thanksgiving week alone, I made about 850 bucks. Sometimes I make disastrous trades too, but overall, I have been successful.
bwahahaha
I think you'd be better off with weekend trips to Atlantic City - your odds are actually better.
Naysayers abound. I am actually amazed how good I have been even in this bear market. I'm not investing, I'm "trading". There's a difference
I won't recommend it if I had done miserably bad and had lost half my money, right? But it's not for everyone.
It's fine if you want to play in a market that has seen over 29 weeks of net outflows... Well in excess of $80B has been taken out over the past 6 months plus and there's no logic in a market dominated by churn, quote stuffing, high frequency trading, and insider corruption. It's completely broken and being manipulated by the Fed with daily POMO. The FBI is all over hedge funds and it's going to hit mainstream soon enough.
If you think playing your tiny trades against computer algorithms is profitable over the long run, more power to you... Just don't pretend you're doing anything but gambling and recommending it to others without some type of disclaimer. These computers will take a stock down in sub second time as the consistent flash crashes prove.
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