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Old 06-01-2016, 10:09 AM
 
77 posts, read 202,220 times
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I am planning on moving my family to Bellmore as we have young kids who will be starting school in the next couple years and I see that Bellmore schools rate high, commute time into Manhattan is good and seems like a safe, family-oriented neighborhood. However, it'd be great to hear form people who live there or are very familiar with the area as we will be staying put there at least until kids finish schooling.

Some specific questions:
1. Our budget is $510k and we'd like to keep taxes under $11k. We'd like at least 3 beds, 2 baths with a decent sized yard. Can we expect a move-in ready (renovated) house for that or more a fixer upper?
2. Which part of Bellmore is better - South (below sunrise) or North? Some agents have told us that the area south of sunrise is actually more affluent with better schools, is this true? I've seen nice houses below Sunrise but they are within an evacuation zone; these houses look much nicer and prices aren't bad but I am thinking there's a reason for that... are these likely to go up in value or keep going down?
3. Has there been any shifts for the worse in this neighborhood?
4. How does Bellmore compare to other areas in LI with similar commute time to the city (train and car) as well as good schools and safe/family friendly neighborhood?

Last edited by marycotter5678; 06-01-2016 at 10:25 AM..
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Old 06-01-2016, 05:49 PM
 
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Since you have kids I will say focus South of Sunrise. Not sure if you are interested in a home on the water. But there are lots that are not on the water.Your budget is low for a decent place South of Merrick Rd. Unless you want a real fixer-upper.

Try to focus on the areas between Merrick & Sunrise. North - South. South of Sunrise in Merrick & Bellmore are zoned for Kennedy HS. North or Sunrise Merrick & Bellmore are zoned for Calhoun. And Bellmore Ave. to Newbridge Ave. East-West for that price range.IMHO those are the best areas. I know a home that friend is now working on to sell arounds August. He purchased many Sandy damaged homes is repairing them & then selling &/or Renting them.

AS for commute time. If you plan to use LIRR most of the areas I told you about you can either walk to the LIRR. Or bike,cab,Uber,taxi to train. OR have someone drop you off. 2 people on our block car pool to station. They also have parking stickers showing they live in town.

South of Sunrise looks nicer basically because that is where the waterfront home are. Those people usually have more dollars & keep up with the appearances of their properties. As for avoid. Try to stay clear of the area around Newbridge Rd. where it meets with Bellmore Ave. Feel free to PM me for more info. I am not a realtor. But I know Bellmore very well.
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Old 06-01-2016, 05:56 PM
 
4,696 posts, read 8,707,528 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marycotter5678 View Post
I've seen nice houses below Sunrise but they are within an evacuation zone
An "evacuation zone" isn't really a thing. You need to spend some time and familiarize yourself with FEMA flood maps and flood insurance before looking at anything near the water. And don't trust anything a realtor has to say on these topics.
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Old 06-01-2016, 07:15 PM
 
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My best friend lives in North Bellmore (off of Jerusalem). She is very happy there. The parents ive met at her parties are teachers, cops, firemen etc. She only paid $350K for her home (this was a few years ago), so you should be able to get a decent home at your pricepoint.
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Old 06-01-2016, 10:46 PM
 
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No need to go south of sunrise. You are better off staying out of the flood zone area unless you are purchasing a property on the water.

For 510k you can find a nice home in North Bellmore. All of the elementary schools are good and the middle school is the same as south bellmore. This high school is Mepham. It is a good school and has been on the rise over last 5 years.

Town is about 1/2 blue collar workers and 1/2 white collar workers. Decent mix of both.

The whole town is pretty good. The intersection by the corner of Newbridge and Bellmore Ave isn't a great area but it's not bad. There are some questionable section 8 housing and some commercial buildings and a mosque that is a bit of an eye sore. (The mosque is an eye sore bc of maintenance and appearance not because of it's religious affiliation). By no means is this area bad or anything, it's on a main road but it is a bit industrialized so it seems random that it is in the middle of town. There are some threads about this area...

Overall North Bellmore is good. Each elementary school is kind of it's own pocket of North Bellmore with it's own identity. It's a good way to break up the town and look at each area. Check out the Sawmill Area, Newbridge Area, Dinkelmeyer Area, Martin Ave Area and Park Ave Area..

I would also look at Merrick and Wantagh while checking out Bellmore.

Best of Luck!
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Old 06-02-2016, 06:28 AM
 
Location: Long Island, NY
1,775 posts, read 3,767,608 times
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We just bought in North Bellmore and paid a little under $510K. For $510K, you will def find homes but the problem is inventory- our budget was trying to find that sweet spot of homes in the $450-550K range and most houses we saw were gut jobs or had decor from the 1970s. Inventory in North Merrick is low. We closed last month on a 3 bedroom/2 bath fully renovated home with central air, granite kitchen countertops, hardwood floors, freshly painted, gas heat, finished basement, huge yard (60x110 lot), large 3 car driveway w 1.5 car garage. Taxes once we grieve should be just north of $12K. We chose North Bellmore over South because we didnt want to deal with flood insurance. Cant comment on LIRR commute because we both work on LI. We are happy here so far!

Last edited by LegalDiva; 06-02-2016 at 06:48 AM..
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Old 06-02-2016, 07:22 AM
 
Location: Long Island
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We just bought in Bellmore as well. We found an expanded cape with 4 beds and 2 baths. It's dated, but solid. It originally listed for under 500k, and the taxes are under 11k.

Wherever you look, definitely check the flood maps. We're one street north of Sunrise and didn't need flood insurance.
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Old 06-02-2016, 12:37 PM
 
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I was looking at this home listed at $509 but we offered $480k and another buyer came in with a highe roffer (I think $500k or more).
https://www.redfin.com/NY/Bellmore/2.../home/20261864

The house is definitely better than some we saw in the area and the pictures look nice but when seeing in person the house does need some work - kitchen to be gutted (all appliances are dated and ugly, cabinets and countertop are worn with holes etc), all doors and some windows need updated as they look old and unappealing, pavement/deck/front stairs need to be re-done, no central a/c and no gas heat. The taxes are low at $9k, the lot is large and the house layout is nice which are the 3 things that attracted us but I didn't think it was worth $500k with all the reno and conversions (heat, cooling) that would need to be done. I am not sure if we should have bid closer to asking price.... what are your thoughts?

At 500k we expected something closer to what LegalDiva described - mostly renovated with gas heat, central air. We don't mind a fixer upper either but considering we'd need to put in money to reno/make conversions, we wouldnt want to spend more than $460k on a fixer upper, depending on how bad it is. Is this reasonable for this area?

Also, should we be bidding closer to asking price? We feel a bit burned by this recent experience and feel maybe we should have bid higher.. but then on the other hand I feel the house wasnt worth that much..

Last edited by marycotter5678; 06-02-2016 at 12:58 PM..
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Old 06-02-2016, 01:01 PM
 
1,045 posts, read 1,043,745 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marycotter5678 View Post
I was looking at this home listed at $509 but we offered $480k and another buyer offered $500k so we backed out.
https://www.redfin.com/NY/Bellmore/2.../home/20261864

The house is definitely better than some we saw in the area (especially the old capes ugh..) and the pictures look nice on this one but when seeing in person the house does need some work - kitchen to be gutted (all appliances are dated and ugly, cabinets and countertop are worn with holes etc), all doors need updated as they look old and unappealing, pavement/deck/front stairs needs to be re-done, no central a/c and no gas heat. The taxes are low at $9k, the lot is large and the house layout is nice which are the 3 things that attracted us but I didn't think it was worth $500k. I am not sure if we should have bid closer to asking price.... what are your thoughts?

At 500k we'd love to find something like what LegalDiva described - renovated with gas heat, central air but I dont see many.. I guess maybe we just need to keep looking.
I actually saw that house. It's been on the market for awhile - my husband and I saw it in late January/early Feb 2015. I completely agree with everything you said re: the house. I liked that layout, and the room sizes were nice, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done. There are non-cosmetic things that were neglected, and it's been empty for awhile. I wonder what would've come up on an inspection.

500K just doesn't buy a lot in the Merrick-Bellmore school system, and inventory this year (especially outside of flood zones) is low. JMO but something somewhere has to give. Make a short list of "absolutely must have" criteria and factor in your budget for immediate renovations. Good luck!!
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Old 06-02-2016, 01:12 PM
 
77 posts, read 202,220 times
Reputation: 30
GiveMeCoffee that is such a coincidence! I didn't even realize the house was on the market for that long. It seemed to have a lot of interest when we looked at it.
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