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Old 09-24-2007, 09:15 AM
 
Location: East Northport
3,351 posts, read 9,722,166 times
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Originally Posted by KellyFG View Post
don't forget to try craigslist
Moderator cut: real estate advertisng
You should identify yourself as a real estate agent in your profile. I suspect that there are many "secret agents" on this board who push their own agenda.
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Old 09-24-2007, 09:20 AM
 
1,876 posts, read 2,656,725 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueSkyHoliday View Post
Hi clamboy, thanks for the links but all but one of those houses has an inground pool (no way) and the only one that doesn't, has the garage at basement level (another no-way because of handicap access). We do see those two issues a lot in Long Island listings. Especially in the areas on the north shore, it seems like so many of the ranches -- because of the hillly topography, I guess -- have the garage on the lower level which immediately eliminates those homes.

As for distance from the water, it's the insurance companies who are causing the problem. There's no sense in us looking at a house for which we will have to pay $5000 or more a year just for homeowners insurance, if we can even get it, which from our research so far is proving to be the case. For a house with $10,000/year taxes (which by the way is several thousand dollars more than we are paying here in MA) in such a location, one might as well say that the effective taxes are $15,000 (except that only $10,000 of it would be tax deductible).

We have done our homework and all of the major insurance companies in New York have told us that they WILL NOT give us a policy on a house within 2 miles of the water, whether it is North Shore or South Shore. They are NOT concerned about flooding, they say it is 'wind and wind-related damage' they are basing their requirements on. We could go to a high-risk insurance company for anything closer, but there is a limit to how much we are willing to pay for both taxes and insurance. We can't afford a 'blank check' mindset for insurance, so have structured our requirements (location) accordingly.

I didnt realize it was an access issue...My BIL is disabled...in a highanch and hates it.

That house is beatuiful though.

Anyway Ill keep my eyes open for you.


I still wouldnt let the insurance spook you.
Our entre neighborhood is walking distance to the Sound and I haven met anyone thats been cancelled or punished for being here.(not in a flood zone up on the bluffs)


Good luck with your hunt

all of NE Brookahaven is nice.

(Check out Horse County in Ridge and Miller Place south too)

C
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Old 09-24-2007, 09:27 AM
 
1,876 posts, read 2,656,725 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clamboy View Post
You wont find that type of Village setting and large plots too.

Maybe try Port Jefferson Village/BelleTerre/Poquott/Old Field/Scotts Beach

Like Huntington...maybe nicer.(better schools=resale value)

You can be up in the hillls and near the Village at the same time.
Again theres no flooding on the North Shore Bluffs,check elevation maps rathher than Google maps.(youre 200ft in the air)


All the best

C
These listings are generally inland.
Long Island Horse Properties
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Old 09-27-2007, 09:10 AM
 
1,302 posts, read 3,296,081 times
Reputation: 347
Default Agreed on Smithtown

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Originally Posted by BlueSkyHoliday View Post
Well, on the spur of the moment early yesterday morning, DH and I decided to take our weekend trip to check out houses on Long Island. We stayed overnight and saw several different areas and some Open Houses today as well. This was our impression of the areas we visited (all in Suffolk County because we don't want Nassau) from my resulting pages of notes:

HUNTINGTON: The village/business district was larger than we expected. I now see what some of you meant about all the restaurants and bars!! They seem to be everywhere -- practically every other storefront (doesn't anyone in Huntington ever cook at home?). Overall most of it struck us as kind of what we call a 'boutique village', meaning almost all specialty shops and restaurants, but the 'daily necessities' stores (supermarkets, drugstore chains, dry cleaners, post office and so forth) are elsewhere. We only saw two supermarkets in the village, went in and were very un-impressed by both (the 'Wild Nature' store is apparantly a Whole Foods-wannabe that definitely falls short). I noticed that Long Island does have Super Stop & Shop markets -- which we do also -- but does not have Shaw's. Finding convenient parking in the village is clearly a challenge. We drove around the residential neighborhoods immediately surrounding the village and found all the streets within a half mile of the business area have lots that are too small. As we went further north we found nicer streets with larger lots and houses but those are all too close to the harbor for us. So north of the village is not an option. We didn't like the areas south of the cemetery at all! However, there was one area which was just southeast of the village and north of the railroad tracks (off Park Avenue) which had an ranch open house today. We liked the neighborhood and street very much, but the house itself was not big enough. The realtor told us that the area is called Bayberry Estates but is considered to be in Huntington. Does anyone know more about that specific area? Overall we thought the village attractive but I honestly doubt that we'd have much reason to go there even if we lived near it. We're well past the 'gifty/home decor/specialty stores' stage of life (trying to get rid of stuff – not buy more!) and have no patience for crowded restaurants, bars or clubs – so Huntington Village is in the 'nice place to visit but we wouldn't want to live there' category.

DIX HILLS: We spent quite some time covering this unexpectedly large area! We liked most of the neighborhoods in it (though there were a few that looked a bit run-down or 'iffy') but immediately noticed that there is far too much traffic noise in any within 2 or 3 blocks of the Long Island Expressway – a loud annoying constant 'background roar'. We also thought that several of the open houses looked FAR better on the outside than the inside! We liked the area near Caladonia Road best, but there are no suitable ranches for sale there. I had already noticed that the taxes in Dix Hills are the highest of any area we looked in and assume that is because the lots are 1 acre. The houses themselves seemed to us to be somewhat overpriced for what they were (either square footage or general condition). We like the idea that Dix Hills is all residential but not too isolated, being convenient to the freeways (though we wouldn't want to be within earshot of them!).

SMITHTOWN and VICINITY: We did lots of driving here also. Of all the areas we saw, this seems to be the most promising for us. We liked the business district better than Huntington Village, because it (Smithtown) seems much less congested and MUCH easier to find convenient parking in. All the 'practical everyday necessities' places that we would be using (supermarkets, library, stores that we typically frequent, a large shopping mall, etc) are all in much easier reach and are more like what we are used to. No 'yuppie atmosphere' (which we thought prevalent in Huntington Village) -- just normal everyday conservative caucasian (as another poster here put it) people. Although we can't afford the taxes in adjacent Saint James and Head of the Harbor, we did drive around them and loved the look of what we saw, especially in Head of Harbor. I brought my notes regarding which spots in or near Smithtown have groundwater problems (like The Branch) so that we knew to not bother looking there, but there were other neighborhoods that do have potential for us, both in lot size and house size and taxes. Unfortunately there were no open houses for ranches without a pool this weekend. We also like the fact that there is a Lexus dealership in Smithtown, which would be extremely convenient for us (the nearest other one on Long Island is all the way in Nassau county) because that is where we always have our cars serviced.

STONY BROOK: We went east from Smithtown to the little village of Stony Brook, which seems to be another 'boutique village' with nothing of everyday practical use except the post office. I assume that people who live in Stony Brook do their normal shopping in or near Smithtown? The lots close to the village were all too small, as were the houses, and the terrain too hilly for flat wide ranch houses. I wouldn't want to have to drive some of those streets in snow and ice! The village neighborhoods are too close to the water. We drove around the Strathmore sections which are further away but were not impressed – they are all 1/3 acre cookie cutter developments, and the houses don't have basements or crawlspaces (a must for us, for interior remodeling ease).

WADING RIVER: This was the furthest east we went (or would want to live). The prices and taxes seem reasonable here, and the commercial area has all the basic 'daily necessities' stores. Unfortunately the few ranches for sale either have swimming pools or are too close to the water. We did see some nice neighborhoods but nothing suitable for sale in them. The area we liked best surrounds a street called Deerfield, but they are ALL 2-story homes there – every single one! --- not a ranch in sight. Too bad. Another area we liked is behind a white church near Remsen Road – it seems quiet and private with some nice sized lots and houses which are mostly all different (no cookie cutter effect). A third area had many streets all with the word 'Farm' in the name, and the lots look to be at least one acre. What we can't understand is why there is only ONE ranch style and it is a very small one. Why would a developer put such a small ranch on such a large piece of property? It doesn't make sense. We stopped at a spa resort called East Wind and had a very nice meal there, by the way.

MANORVILLE: We were originally planning to drive this area (and past a ranch which for some reason has been on the MLS for awhile) but after reading the posts on Friday regarding all the compost facilities and other issues, we decided that Manorville is not an area we'd want to live in – so we didn't bother going.

PORT JEFFERSON: We took the ferry back (to CT and then home) from this village, so left it until last. It looks like yet another 'boutique village' with shops that cater mostly to tourists. Not 'our thing', and of course it is right on the water so that's out for us. The area further south seems to be all 1/3 acre cookiecutter developments with no character or privacy – not our thing either.

We're going to tell our buyer agent to send us notifications of homes in Smithtown and Wading River (and possibly Dix Hills, just in case a bargain should suddenly come on the market) that fit our requirements, and see what may be or come up for sale in those areas. I realize we were there on a weekend and so didn't run into any of the traffic problems (other than in Huntington Village and that awful traffic noise in the parts of Dix Hills near the Expressway) that people here have complained of – but we're no stranger to traffic horrors, being in a Boston suburb and having to deal with The Big Dig for what seems like forever. Long Island traffic and drivers can't possibly be worse than the normal weekday Boston commute!

It was a very nice weekend though, especially today when the weather was so beautiful.

You hit the nail on the head with your Smithtown area assessment. I currently need to move further west due to a job change and balancing the kids school hours but we are having a horrible time finding some place that meets our current Smithtown expectations. No offense to Clam Boy, but further east (Wading River, Ridge, etc) tends be a bit more "Scruffolky" overall. Just my opinion. If you can afford to live in Town of Smithtown and prefer suffolk it is by far the most consistently nice township in all of long island. Not one bad area (Hauppauge, Kings Park, Commack, Fort Salonga, etc) We have lived in Brookhaven and my wife grew up in Nassau County and we have found Smithtown to be the perfect blend of upscale with a nice mix of middle class hard working people. It has a nice "little" downtown and has very good schools (helps RE values). You can absolutely get something cheaper out east, but if you do not have to, I would recommend Smithtown above all other areas.
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Old 09-27-2007, 11:28 AM
 
1,917 posts, read 7,081,772 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jrprofess View Post
If you can afford to live in Town of Smithtown and prefer suffolk it is by far the most consistently nice township in all of long island. Not one bad area (Hauppauge, Kings Park, Commack, Fort Salonga, etc) We have lived in Brookhaven and my wife grew up in Nassau County and we have found Smithtown to be the perfect blend of upscale with a nice mix of middle class hard working people. It has a nice "little" downtown and has very good schools (helps RE values). You can absolutely get something cheaper out east, but if you do not have to, I would recommend Smithtown above all other areas.
We said the same thing and that is where we too will be focusing on, for all of the exact same reasons.

Scruffolky, I like that....lol
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Old 09-27-2007, 10:17 PM
 
Location: Bahston
105 posts, read 494,436 times
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Well, after all the research and helpful information here and 'reconnaissance mission' last weekend --- it looks as if we won't be moving to Long Island after all. DH came home tonight after attending a major departmental meeting in which he and others were told that "The funding for your project is being reprioritized but of course it may be revisited in the future". From experience we know that to be Institutionspeak for "Someone has proposed a different research project that we'd rather spend this money on, so yours is being moved to the far back burner -- the one with the flame turned off".

DH was told that an "alternative opportunity" is available for him to join a research team that will be working in connection with an upcoming project at Duke University, if he would be interested in that instead of the now-shelved project on Long Island. DH knows perfectly well that neither he nor I would ever want to relocate to the South -- so he told them "thanks but no thanks" and we will be remaining here in Massachusetts.

I'd like to sincerely thank everyone on this forum who was so helpful with ideas, suggestions and information about Long Island. Good luck to those who are either selling or buying a house, and I do hope that the apparant homeowners insurance mess there gets sorted out very soon!
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Old 09-27-2007, 10:30 PM
 
1,876 posts, read 2,656,725 times
Reputation: 86
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jrprofess View Post
You hit the nail on the head with your Smithtown area assessment. I currently need to move further west due to a job change and balancing the kids school hours but we are having a horrible time finding some place that meets our current Smithtown expectations. No offense to Clam Boy, but further east (Wading River, Ridge, etc) tends be a bit more "Scruffolky" overall. Just my opinion. If you can afford to live in Town of Smithtown and prefer suffolk it is by far the most consistently nice township in all of long island. Not one bad area (Hauppauge, Kings Park, Commack, Fort Salonga, etc) We have lived in Brookhaven and my wife grew up in Nassau County and we have found Smithtown to be the perfect blend of upscale with a nice mix of middle class hard working people. It has a nice "little" downtown and has very good schools (helps RE values). You can absolutely get something cheaper out east, but if you do not have to, I would recommend Smithtown above all other areas.


Smithtowns nice... I really like the Island Trees area.
Lets be real...Downtown Smithtown blows.
Theres nothing there but traffic and a Starbucks.

It has all the congestion of Centereach and all the attitude of Dix Hills.
Id definitely pass.

Kings Park/East Northport seems a bit more accessible.
Thatd be my pick of the lot...maybe St James but its very snooty.

Remember....one mans Scruffolk is another mans Nassole.
(and Western Scruffolk is looking more and more Nassole every day.)


I just prefer Eastern LI, I wouldnt buy west of 112 if you paid me.
BlueSky is right on with Wading River and the surrounds.

C

Last edited by clamboy; 09-27-2007 at 10:40 PM..
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Old 09-27-2007, 10:39 PM
 
1,876 posts, read 2,656,725 times
Reputation: 86
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueSkyHoliday View Post
Well, after all the research and helpful information here and 'reconnaissance mission' last weekend --- it looks as if we won't be moving to Long Island after all. DH came home tonight after attending a major departmental meeting in which he and others were told that "The funding for your project is being reprioritized but of course it may be revisited in the future". From experience we know that to be Institutionspeak for "Someone has proposed a different research project that we'd rather spend this money on, so yours is being moved to the far back burner -- the one with the flame turned off".

DH was told that an "alternative opportunity" is available for him to join a research team that will be working in connection with an upcoming project at Duke University, if he would be interested in that instead of the now-shelved project on Long Island. DH knows perfectly well that neither he nor I would ever want to relocate to the South -- so he told them "thanks but no thanks" and we will be remaining here in Massachusetts.

I'd like to sincerely thank everyone on this forum who was so helpful with ideas, suggestions and information about Long Island. Good luck to those who are either selling or buying a house, and I do hope that the apparant homeowners insurance mess there gets sorted out very soon!
I prefer New England to LI anyway

Good luck with everything
C
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Old 09-28-2007, 07:11 AM
 
1,917 posts, read 7,081,772 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clamboy View Post
Remember....one mans Scruffolk is another mans Nassole.
(and Western Scruffolk is looking more and more Nassole every day.)

C
But don't forget there are FLIDs in Scruffolk AND Nassole, lol
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Old 09-28-2007, 07:34 AM
 
1,876 posts, read 2,656,725 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glad2BHere View Post
But don't forget there are FLIDs in Scruffolk AND Nassole, lol

Um wut?

C
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