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On Long Island today, $500-$550K IS what a starter home (in decent condition, not a handyman special) is priced at if it is in a safe non-minority neighborhood. That's reality here.
I disagree with that, there are homes in good family towns for less, people need to get back down to reality & stop thinking that a starter is found in a "great district"(if your kids haven't been conceived yet you don't NEED a house in a great district) or an affluent zip code(if you don't make 250k+ a year you don't belong in an affluent zip code).
Starters are for people just starting out....seems obvious but its not.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, because IMO people on LI either can't or don't want to buy a home with the intention of having to move in 5 years when their kids are old enough to go to school. The smart move is to buy the house in the district they want NOW, then sit tight with it for the foreseeable future instead of having to scramble again to find a house when the kids are on the way or age 4. Also, the house in the good school district will be a better investment when or if the starter couple eventually has to or wants to move. As for affluent zipcodes, I'm not sure which you mean. I wasn't talking about Old Westbury, Brookville, etc (starter homes are 600K-plus THERE).... more like, say Smithtown or Stony Brook. I don't consider either of those to be "affluent zipcodes" (although Head of the Harbor and Nissequogue, for instance, are -- but it's the same situation there as in Old Westbury, Brookville, etc).
On Long Island today, $500-$550K IS what a starter home (in decent condition, not a handyman special) is priced at if it is in a safe non-minority neighborhood. That's reality here.
You have no idea what you are talking about. That is the truth there are plenty of areas with nice homes in that range on LI. LI is a big area.
The first 40 on the mlsi in sayville are under 500, the first 20 under 400. You cant get much better then that. I guess they all are handyman specials or sayville turned minority over night. Smith town first 20 under 400 stonybrook first 20 under 450. case closed. Look and yee shall find took me two minutes. Buy small and when the kids get bigger add on or buy bigger. you dont buy huge rite away unless you can. People used to have bunk beds and kids shared rooms . you dont need a 5-6 bedroom house to start.
The first 40 on the mlsi in sayville are under 500, the first 20 under 400. You cant get much better then that. I guess they all are handyman specials or sayville turned minority over night. Smith town first 20 under 400 stonybrook first 20 under 450. case closed. Look and yee shall find took me two minutes. Buy small and when the kids get bigger add on or buy bigger. you dont buy huge rite away unless you can. People used to have bunk beds and kids shared rooms . you dont need a 5-6 bedroom house to start.
Stony Brook and Smithwown are fairly affluent Zipcodes for a starter house.
You can get a nice 3bed starter in Rocky Point/Sound Beach for low to mid 3s with good schools and plenty of room to expand.
How big were those original Leviit capes.. 1100 sft?
Why do we think we need more than we do?
I have progressed in my job situation as I would think anyone would after 15 years . I know kids fresh out of college making 70gs what do you think they will be making in 15 if they progress? I was saying to people, houses went down already by 10% do you think it will just keep doing that every year? When does it end ? with interest rates going up you are not saveing in monthly payments. I dont know maybe it is me but 535 is not what I would consider a first home. Maybe if first time buyers would look at 350 to 400 it would not seem so far off , the problem is most want the dream home rite away. Buy the smaller home and move up in 10 to 15 years . It is like the person that buys the escalade instead of the corrolla, both get you from point a to point b , no? If your loaded fine but most are not, they want to look it though. It looks like you did pretty well selling that house. Were you concerned you were overcharging? no you cashed out and laughed all the way to the bank. Now you and a bunch of others want to drive the point home. Well I will stick it out , you guys are like the short term investors in the stock market when you win its great, when you lose it is your brokers fault. If people stick it out those homes will go up. The gov is stepping in they know they cant let this happen. so bubble people take care.
This is exactly my point that $535K is not a starter home. Homes that were starters 12 years ago are no longer. At the time, 1995, my home was a “starter house†for $180K in Massapequa Park – a cape not by the water, not south of Sunrise Highway. This house tripled in value while in that time our income doubled as some brief job hopping in the computer field helped to boost my salary. These were permanent jobs, not consulting gigs. I progressed in my profession while the career level position I had 12 years ago probably pays at most 50% more than what I was making at the time.
For a lot of people, to make a good salary and live on LI, they have to work in Manhattan. There are virtually no houses in Nassau County, in decent, stable areas that have homes that are selling in the $300K to $400K range. The Huntington and Amityville/Massapequa areas are about a 1 hour train ride to Penn station, so areas west of there are less desirable for commuters who go into the city. They have to settle for places further east since they cannot afford the prices and the taxes of these areas. Hence the lower prices out in Suffolk.
Mid to eastern Nassau was starter home territory, but it no longer is. It now takes DINKs, like the ones who purchased my house to afford these areas. Now what happens when they want to have a child? Not everyone walks out of college making $70K and those who do may have large tuition loans to repay. Everyone talks about sucking it up and getting 2nd jobs. Why? Is that living? Seeing your family between shifts? For 60 year old houses that take up 10% of your pre tax income just to pay your property tax bill?
Conditions are now changing and people are not willing to pay what the rate was 2 years ago. You can stick it out, but again, people move about every 7 years. During the last major real estate down turn, most metro areas took 7 to 10 years just to get back to the peak they were at during the run up. For the people that purchased within the last 2 to 3 years, they could be facing being even or a loss if things play out as they have in the past. For those who plan to stick it out, they will not be affected.
If you want to put it into terms of winning and loosing, for the short term I won. If, by the time I want to retire, and my former home is worth $1.5 million, do I loose? Maybe. Who’s to say LI will appreciate that way. Who’s to say where I am now the same thing won’t happen? Having the government step in is not the solution as people who played by the rules – ones that you mentioned about buying the Corolla instead of the Escalade - won’t stand for it. We’re having to protect for the most part, stupid people from themselves. People who signed a 2 year ARM with out asking what the cap rate is on the loan and not preparing for the worst did this to themselves by trying to live beyond their means.
Something is only worth what others will pay for it. Yes, I sold for a very good profit. I charged what someone was willing to pay at the time. I’m not rubbing it in. I got concerned with home prices on LI, the state of the economy, high taxes and worried about paying my bills if my company decided that I made too much money. If people stick it out, yes values may go up. But life happens while you’re trying to stick it out. You seem determined to prove those who sold in the last 3 years wrong. Well, we’ll just have to wait to see over the next 20 years to see if that happens. And besides, some sold to move off of LI for a multitude of reasons, not just to cash out.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, because IMO people on LI either can't or don't want to buy a home with the intention of having to move in 5 years when their kids are old enough to go to school. The smart move is to buy the house in the district they want NOW, then sit tight with it for the foreseeable future instead of having to scramble again to find a house when the kids are on the way or age 4. Also, the house in the good school district will be a better investment when or if the starter couple eventually has to or wants to move. As for affluent zipcodes, I'm not sure which you mean. I wasn't talking about Old Westbury, Brookville, etc (starter homes are 600K-plus THERE).... more like, say Smithtown or Stony Brook. I don't consider either of those to be "affluent zipcodes" (although Head of the Harbor and Nissequogue, for instance, are -- but it's the same situation there as in Old Westbury, Brookville, etc).
I agree. My point of view was from having lived in Nassau County all my life and of those not wanting to have a commute of 2 hours to work each way. When you start off in Nassau, moving that far out in Suffolk is not an option. People who have lived in Suffolk look at it differently since that what they are used to. And I do not consider Massapequa Park and all the stops in Nassau on the Babylon branch (north of Sunrise) as affluent.
The first 40 on the mlsi in sayville are under 500, the first 20 under 400. You cant get much better then that. I guess they all are handyman specials or sayville turned minority over night. Smith town first 20 under 400 stonybrook first 20 under 450. case closed. Look and yee shall find took me two minutes. Buy small and when the kids get bigger add on or buy bigger. you dont buy huge rite away unless you can. People used to have bunk beds and kids shared rooms . you dont need a 5-6 bedroom house to start.
Again, for someone looking in Nassau County, or someone working in NYC, these areas don't help much. Lots of homes in questionable areas under $400K in Nassau, with some small or odd shaped homes in better areas in there as well but with high taxes or poor condition that maybe hard to sell later.
Again, for someone looking in Nassau County, or someone working in NYC, these areas don't help much. Lots of homes in questionable areas under $400K in Nassau, with some small or odd shaped homes in better areas in there as well but with high taxes or poor condition that maybe hard to sell later.
There are 19 houses listed on the MLS for sale in Bellmore with asking prices between 300K and 400K. Is Bellmore a questionable area?
There are 19 houses listed on the MLS for sale in Bellmore with asking prices between 300K and 400K. Is Bellmore a questionable area?
Deals are becoming more available as prices drop for ture starter houses like those. Taxes are still high though, averaging $7K to $8K for these small houses.
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