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My family is moving to Long Island, specifically the Smithtown general area, but can do up to a 15ish mile radius. Neither I nor my husband are from the island. We would love assistance in figuring out where to live and whether to rent or buy, especially because I've read the local housing market is inflated (and know that generally after folks are no longer able to deduct full value of S&L property taxes and mortgage interest this will likely be a blow to prices as well). Here is our situation:
1. We will be in Long Island for 5 years (which I've seen is generally the minimum recommended time in a house that you purchase). This is because my husband will be finishing his medical training and we do not plan to remain here.
2. Our combined income will be on average $100,000 for the next 5 years. After that, my husband's income will likely triple at least, but we will move away.
3. I am from NYC and like being able to walk around towns. I am in a very academic field and also would love a community of other people who are into culture/education. I welcome racial/ethnic/socioeconomic diversity. A good coffee shop (which on appearances seems a rarity in Suffolk county) would be great. We also love good trails. I can live with almost any nuisances if I have a good network of woods or trails nearby. We do not have much spare time for home repair or renovation or maintenance.
4. We have a child but she is under two and will thus spend minimal time in a Suffolk school district by the time we leave, so I'm not that concerned with SD unless it greatly impacts the resale capacity. We do need three bedrooms, and 3br houses I've seen have super high rents compared to comparable home prices (though I know this is school district dependent).
Thoughts on renting vs. buying under these circumstances and advice on towns would be much appreciated.
The Stony Brook/3 Village area. It has the academic and diversity environment that you want plus Port Jefferson is close by for entertainment. There are "cute" hipster style coffee shops on Long Island that are independently owned, but you have to drive to them. While school district may not be important to you, you may want an area with good preschools and an area with children of similar ages that your child can socialize with, especially in a couple of years.
What is your home purchase budget? It's going to be hard to find a house that doesn't need a little bit of an uplift and it's going to be hard to recoup the closing costs and whatever you put into a house within 5 years. Where will you be working?
Don't count on home prices coming down because of the increasing taxes.
Long Island has plenty of parks with walking trails, riding trails, playgrounds, pools, etc.
I agree with Coney and will expand to consider neighboring Setauket and East Setauket in addition to Stony Brook. It will come in under 15 miles, but depending on the time of the day, the short distance is eclipsed by the time it takes to get from one to the other. It can take me 20 minutes to drive the 7 miles from Stony Brook train station to Uncle Guisseppe's market in Smithtown at peak times.
I live in Stony Brook, which is home to a large university and medical center. Plenty of medical professionals in the immediate vicinity. The university and med center brings in a diverse (international and race) body of professionals.
4. We have a child but she is under two and will thus spend minimal time in a Suffolk school district by the time we leave, so I'm not that concerned with SD unless it greatly impacts the resale capacity. We do need three bedrooms, and 3br houses I've seen have super high rents compared to comparable home prices (though I know this is school district dependent).
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Regarding the super high rents you're finding - they're not dependent on the school districts, at least not in my opinion. A so-so school district costs about the same in school tax as a district that's better. RE taxes on LI overall are very high, and so the landlords are passing those taxes on to tenants. Also, a landlord has to cover their related business costs, have enough money on hand to fix all the things that break (sometimes due to careless/negligent tenants), possibly pay for a management company to oversee the property, pay for lawn care if it's in the lease, etc. LI isn't a cheap place to live no matter where the location is. And rents reflect that.
Having lived in Stony Brook for 23 years, I can attest to the fact that the University is there complete with a dental school, hospital, and tech parks. If you rent/buy in Stony Brook in order to be close to the shopping center "village," (nothing more than what amounts to a couple of old-fashioned strip malls - the first one in the US) your location needs to be north near the water, and you still probably would need a car, unless you are extremely close to "town." LI is very car oriented - if you decide to use the Suffolk transit system, it will take an inordinate amount of time to get around. I wouldn't recommend bicycles either - the way people drive all over LI, it's too dangerous.
While living in Stony Brook, I didn't find it to be very racially diverse. Maybe at the University, but not so much in the residential neighborhoods.
Smithtown has a larger downtown than Port Jefferson, and there must be houses for rent/sale that are walkable to town, and also apartments in town as well. Port Jefferson is on the water, is a cute town - very walkable - and there are apartments right on Main Street which would put you in the heart of the town with everything within walking distance. A perk of Port Jefferson is the car ferry that will take you from the dock in town across LI sound over to Bridgeport, CT. One thing to note: Port Jefferson draws a lot of people in the summer and can be congested.
I really appreciate the very helpful advice thus far. I have driven through Smithtown and Stony Brook, and will do the same with Port Jefferson as this sounds like a good fit. I am a professor in NYC but am only in the city 5 mos/year, and stay in the city for that period.
Generally speaking, do you expect that the local resale market for homes will remain stable for the next 5 years? I appreciate the caution about closing costs and home repairs and am eager to hear what folks think about recovering purchase price/attendant costs on a Suffolk home within 5 years. I'd say our budget is 300-500k. But for 500k we would definitely need confidence in the market.
I agree with Coney and will expand to consider neighboring Setauket and East Setauket in addition to Stony Brook. It will come in under 15 miles, but depending on the time of the day, the short distance is eclipsed by the time it takes to get from one to the other. It can take me 20 minutes to drive the 7 miles from Stony Brook train station to Uncle Guisseppe's market in Smithtown at peak times.
I live in Stony Brook, which is home to a large university and medical center. Plenty of medical professionals in the immediate vicinity. The university and med center brings in a diverse (international and race) body of professionals.
I agree - look at Setauket. If you do need the schools they are good, and because you are renting you don’t have to worry about college students on your doorstep as they might be in Stony Brook.
If you are looking to buy in the low end of the market, those types of homes will (nearly) always sell. Your price range is at the lower end.
Just don’t get fooled by agents saying that all of Long Island is a super hot seller’s market with bidding wars. The hottest part of the market is closer to NYC in Nassau County. I’m sure it will still be competitive for $400-500K homes, but not insanely so.
If you’re looking for a coffee place, soul brew has been getting a lot of hype. Live music. Local artists. Supposedly food and the actual coffee is awesome too. Look them up on yelp and Facebook. Nothing really walkable in saint james though. But close enough to drive to all the downtowns.
Can we assume he is studying Med school at SBU since you are looking around here? Under 10 min drive to university hospital. That’s how long it took me when my wife was in labor.
The RE market here is not as hot as Nassau. So when that bubble does bursts, I don’t see it hurting us out here as much.
When your income does triple, and you end up loving it here and wanting to stay, Nissequogue is right up there for you wealthier folks.
If you’re looking for a coffee place, soul brew has been getting a lot of hype. Live music. Local artists. Supposedly food and the actual coffee is awesome too. Look them up on yelp and Facebook. Nothing really walkable in saint james though. But close enough to drive to all the downtowns.
Can we assume he is studying Med school at SBU since you are looking around here? Under 10 min drive to university hospital. That’s how long it took me when my wife was in labor.
The RE market here is not as hot as Nassau. So when that bubble does bursts, I don’t see it hurting us out here as much.
When your income does triple, and you end up loving it here and wanting to stay, Nissequogue is right up there for you wealthier folks.
Nissequogue taxes are insane though, especially when you add village taxes. And with the population getting older, more who are 65 or older get a 50% village tax break, shouldering more on the rest.
Tripling income from $100K to $300K is still not wealthy on LI. If OP can make the same and live elsewhere I would consider it.
Nissequogue taxes are insane though, especially when you add village taxes. And with the population getting older, more who are 65 or older get a 50% village tax break, shouldering more on the rest.
Tripling income from $100K to $300K is still not wealthy on LI. If OP can make the same and live elsewhere I would consider it.
It would be foolish of me to argue against leaving this island, just making a side point in case she ends up mixing in well with the "Housewives of XXX" and the kid makes a ton of friends these next 5 years. 5 years is short, but enough to start layin down roots.
Making 300K is wealthier compared to 100K, both of which are way more wealthier than me.
Insane taxes in LI is general. With the size of land and house, its no more insane compared to St James where I live.
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