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Old 11-27-2010, 02:35 AM
 
2 posts, read 5,411 times
Reputation: 11

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Hi all,

I just recently got married and me and the new misses have house fever. We've been looking at home prices in both Nassau and Suffolk. I work in the city so a commute around an hour or so is a must.

I can't believe how expensive EVERYTHING is!! How do people do it?

I'm in my late twenties and work as a Software Developer in the finance industry. My salary is a little over 100k. I thought I was doing well until I looked at home prices.

What is the secret? Is everyone on Long Island who have nice homes surgeons or heirs to big family fortunes?

We're contemplating moving down south but have heard not so good things about the school systems...

Would love to hear from you
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Old 11-27-2010, 05:12 AM
 
456 posts, read 1,118,423 times
Reputation: 192
You should have no problem buying a house if you are making 100k/yr and your fiancee is employed. If only you are drawing a salary, you should still be able to purchase a home in the mid 200's. You might not be able to live in Garden City etc right now but you should be able to purchase a home, especially a short sale or forclosure.

I think that many people who have "nice" houses purchased those houses before the prices spiked a few years ago. Many people wouldn't be able to afford to buy the house that they live in based on current prices.

Prices are dropping and the market is flooded with people looking to move, so you should not have any issues.
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Old 11-27-2010, 05:32 AM
 
51 posts, read 222,060 times
Reputation: 34
With a salary over 100K, even as a single earner, you should be able to buy something fairly easily. If your wife works also, no problem. Whether you should buy or not is another question, and you will get both sides of that one from everybody and anybody. No one has a magic ball, and there is really no telling, but two positive things now are that rates are low and a lot of sellers need/want to sell and you can get them to take 10-15% price reductions on their asking in many cases. I am not recommending buying or not buying, but if you consider buying at least have a long term goal in mind and possibly be prepared to stay there for at least 10 years as a hedge to housing market problems. Foreclosures and short sales, possibly good, but could be a real hassle and sometimes you can really get screwed.

Especially in your mid 20's with a salary like that, you can be a 'little' thin now and as time goes on and you make more money its easier, but if your job is not stable, then in an environment like this you don't want to get stuck. But you should be able to find a large stock of nice housing at around the 400K price point which should be doable for that salary level. Below 350K, a lot of the housing is still not so great in a lot of areas; moving up to 400K really improves the stock.

In most of the south shore communities (... wantagh, seaford, bellmore, masspequa, etc ..), some central island ones, and very few (or none) of the north shore communities there will be very respectable homes in the upper 3's and low 4's. Not totally redone and maybe needing updating over time, but very livable. There is actually a lot of junk out there, but there are good homes as well.

The key is having the down payment. You need over 100K in the bank, or at least its recommended so you can put 20% down, and have some for closing costs and reserve, probably like 130K for a 400K purchase (you might need this to qualify for a mortgage). That's a hard number to save up and takes time. If you have that in your mid 20s, kudos to you.

best of luck

Last edited by maxxxpower; 11-27-2010 at 05:42 AM..
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Old 11-27-2010, 07:47 AM
 
183 posts, read 617,187 times
Reputation: 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by ratsosloman View Post
Hi all,

I just recently got married and me and the new misses have house fever. We've been looking at home prices in both Nassau and Suffolk. I work in the city so a commute around an hour or so is a must.

I can't believe how expensive EVERYTHING is!! How do people do it?

I'm in my late twenties and work as a Software Developer in the finance industry. My salary is a little over 100k. I thought I was doing well until I looked at home prices.

What is the secret? Is everyone on Long Island who have nice homes surgeons or heirs to big family fortunes?

We're contemplating moving down south but have heard not so good things about the school systems...

Would love to hear from you
LI is crashing and burning and will continue to do so until prices become normal again - take my advice - go rent something and keep saving. There is no reason to pay these prices
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Old 11-27-2010, 07:49 AM
 
Location: Northwestern Michigan
939 posts, read 2,673,724 times
Reputation: 411
If you stay on LI and buy a home, you will be living to work instead of working to live. And don't fall into the "LI schools are the best in the country & everywhere else is horrible" train of thought. If you & your bride are one of those couples who would not be able to survive unless you live very close to family (assuming your families live on LI), then best of luck saving enough money to eventually buy a decent house in a nice neighborhood. There are lots of beautiful parts of the country where you can get soooo much more for your hard-earned bucks. Best of luck!!
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Old 11-27-2010, 08:04 AM
 
Location: under the beautiful Carolina blue
22,633 posts, read 36,582,375 times
Reputation: 19838
If you are making a $100K a year, your new wife is employed, and you are renting, you should be able to bank one of your salaries at least. That's how you do it. I'm curious if you just moved here though - the housing prices can't possibly be a surprise if you grew up here.

I agree with PeterB though. Schools in other parts of the country are rapidly catching up to LI, for a lot less money in both housing and taxes. We moved to N.C. this summer, I'm extremely happy with my childrens' school. We lived in Garden City.

Good luck in your quest!
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Old 11-27-2010, 08:29 AM
 
Location: Long Island
9,531 posts, read 15,813,308 times
Reputation: 5948
Pretty much everyone said it... dual income. You really do have to work to be here and people do it because of various reasons. Around the holidays I am reminded that having family actually close by is another good reason. As far as schools, your kids can do just fine just about anywhere decent, but it's really about giving them the best opportunities, surroundings, and peers. Obvious reason why some schools in terrible towns fail miserably.

Last edited by ovi8; 11-27-2010 at 08:39 AM..
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Old 11-27-2010, 08:37 AM
 
6,380 posts, read 13,101,287 times
Reputation: 4657
Just keep one thing in mind...when the kids come you will 1) lose your wifes income so she can stay at home till the kids 5. Or 2) pay $900+ a month for child care. This is a major deal breaker for follks on Long Island.
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Old 11-27-2010, 08:48 AM
 
629 posts, read 1,696,559 times
Reputation: 648
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter B View Post
If you stay on LI and buy a home, you will be living to work instead of working to live. And don't fall into the "LI schools are the best in the country & everywhere else is horrible" train of thought. If you & your bride are one of those couples who would not be able to survive unless you live very close to family (assuming your families live on LI), then best of luck saving enough money to eventually buy a decent house in a nice neighborhood. There are lots of beautiful parts of the country where you can get soooo much more for your hard-earned bucks. Best of luck!!
While I agree with you, would never recommend a young person subject themselves to the costs of living in this area, and are planning my own exodus - it's in the interest of those who choose to remain here to continue to beat the drum of "LI schools are the best in the country and if you go anywhere else your children are apt to become under-educated morons with futures in the drive-through window sciences" so in the next breath they can justify the fact that their emabarssing piece-of-crap 1950's split is worth $700K.
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Old 11-27-2010, 09:10 AM
 
852 posts, read 2,012,466 times
Reputation: 325
Barack Obama gave me a loan mod.
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