Mount Sinai, NY (Brookhaven, Riverhead, Ridge: for sale, house, neighborhood)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Im just surprised that 3V, Port Jefferson and Miller Place were off your radar.
All three are a much better value play tax wise with similar housing stock and arguably superior schools.
Out of curiosity, what drew you to Mt Sinai other than the schools?
crooks
Hi AES888- I didn't want Crooks question to you to get lost in the thread. I answered his question, but he actually asked you. Ooops. Sorry about that. I'd love to hear why you chose Mt. Sinai too.
Hi AES888- I didn't want Crooks question to you to get lost in the thread. I answered his question, but he actually asked you. Ooops. Sorry about that. I'd love to hear why you chose Mt. Sinai too.
I'd love to hear from both of you.
I wast aware that Mt Sinai had become so competitve school wise over the past few years and the area is rarely discussed on the boards.
The "Boutique names" in NE Brookhaven used to be Miller Place/3V and SWR.
3V used to be WAY ahead of PJ, now...not so much
Its nice to see some of the smaller districts get their due.
I know here in Rocky Point were on an upswing as well, folks are starting to buy here for the Schools and (and the relatively low taxes).
I like Mt Sinal..the heritage park really helped to give it a sense of place, but Im an oldtimer...I really miss the Peach Farm.
I wast aware that Mt Sinai had become so competitve school wise over the past few years and the area is rarely discussed on the boards.
The "Boutique names" in NE Brookhaven used to be Miller Place/3V and SWR.
3V used to be WAY ahead of PJ, now...not so much
Its nice to see some of the smaller districts get their due.
I know here in Rocky Point were on an upswing as well, folks are starting to buy here for the Schools and (and the relatively low taxes).
I like Mt Sinal..the heritage park really helped to give it a sense of place, but Im an oldtimer...I really miss the Peach Farm.
All the best,
crooks
I like the part of Mt. Sinai North of 25A. The area South of 347/25A is a train wreck. Talk about not walkable.
And could they have maybe put something to provide SHADE up in that Heritage park? My goodness.
If you are a fan of trees, that part of Mt. Sinai isn't going to float ya.
Personally, the taxes in Mt. Sinai are a deal breaker for me in my house hunting. The area would be on my list in terms of maximum commuting distance, but paying an extra $700 a month for taxes..no thanks. I don't believe that Mt. Sinai is on par with 3 village schools, regardless of what people have said here. I'd have to see some more statistics to change my mind.
Everyone has different priorities. Living in constant "renovation" land was not appealing to me. We've done that before. Save money, redo, love what you do, hate what still has to be done.....Have your 5 year renovation plan become the 15 year renovation plan due to time, money, effort.......Spend thousands of dollars replacing things you already have, that you need, but have no "home value", ie, hot water heaters, roofs, floors, windows, pink tiled bathrooms..the list is endless. I'd rather spend the extra $700 in taxes per month and delay that renovation train, while spending the next 10 years enjoying my home. That is far more appealing to me than putting that same $8400 a year towards home renovations over ten years. Spending so much time and personal energy towards planning, buying and doing the renovation. Been there, done that, I'm done.
I definetly appreciate taking an older home and making it beautiful again. I just wasn't prepared to do that again. Everything works here, in my newer home. All I have to do is decorate. I'm happy.
Newday has the regents exams for all the schools online. I always look at the "scored over 85%" as a good indicator. What you'll see is that Mt. Sinai and Ward Melvile are not top ranked across the island in basically anything. They are highly ranked in most, but not all subjects. Both schools trade off on most scores, sometimes Ward is higher (see English) sometimes Mt. Sinai is higher (see Math B). Over all, they are about the same in opportunity for every kid. If the opportunity is there, I hope my kids will take it and do well. After that I like the newer and smaller feel to Mt. Sinai.
Im just surprised that 3V, Port Jefferson and Miller Place were off your radar.
All three are a much better value play tax wise with similar housing stock and arguably superior schools.
Out of curiosity, what drew you to Mt Sinai other than the schools?
crooks
Thanks Crooks and Flower
Those school districts were not off our radar, we just found the right balance in Mount Sinai. Could we have bought a home in the 3V school district that did not fully fit our needs, yes...we just found that in Mount Sinai we were able to find the right balance and purchase a home with more things checked off of our must have criteria.
There were several things that drew us to Mt Sinai other than the schools. For one my wife vacationed there as a child and teen and she always enjoyed the area. During recent summers we would go to Cedar Beach and always enjoyed our time there. We frequently traveled to Port Jeff for seafood, but never felt that the area "pulled" us in. We liked it better as a place to visit rather than a place to live. As far as what ultimately made us decide to buy in Mt. Sinai....throughout the two year process it took us to buy a home, we always looked for the a home that was large enough to accommodate us and our large extended family. We wanted a larger home that we would not outgrow (we don't want to move again) and we wanted the home to be in an area where you can actually walk to something....living in Queens our entire lives and moving to Long island, we realize we would have to drive everywhere, even for a gallon of milk. In Queens you basically walk to the corner deli and pick some up. After looking at literally hundreds of homes, the home we found in Mount Sinai is directly across the street from a park and is walking distance to some light shopping off 25A. We found the right balance of home size, price, location and school district, not an easy task. As I said we looked for over two years.
Everyone has different priorities. Living in constant "renovation" land was not appealing to me. We've done that before. Save money, redo, love what you do, hate what still has to be done.....Have your 5 year renovation plan become the 15 year renovation plan due to time, money, effort.......Spend thousands of dollars replacing things you already have, that you need, but have no "home value", ie, hot water heaters, roofs, floors, windows, pink tiled bathrooms..the list is endless. I'd rather spend the extra $700 in taxes per month and delay that renovation train, while spending the next 10 years enjoying my home. That is far more appealing to me than putting that same $8400 a year towards home renovations over ten years. Spending so much time and personal energy towards planning, buying and doing the renovation. Been there, done that, I'm done.
Flowergarden and I are on the same page. We looked at all of these homes and areas, but we also did not want to go thru the renovation process that was required for us to live comfortably in them. It was not only a matter of the $$$ but also the time you would have to put into making these things happen.
In Mount Sinai we found a new large home (6 years old), a finished basement and attic, central heat and A/C, a nice fully fenced backyard with a nice pool, all on 3/4 of an acre and located perfectly by a park and some light shopping u can walk to. All we had to do was paint the house, replace the carpet upstairs and move in. If that is going to cost me a couple of bucks more per year on taxes then so be it. To me it beats saving $2500 a year on taxes but putting myself thru years of renovations on a home that was built in 1950.
I've lived in Mt Sinai for 4 years now in the "train wreck' section apparently . Moved from Ronkonkoma's 'lake hills' area south of the LIE in the connetquot SD.
My 2 kids are in 3rd grade and Kindergarten. We couldn't be happier with the school so far. I obviously only have experience with the elemantary school, but my kids are learing a ton, all the teachers are terrific and the principal, Dr. Genticore, is fantastic. I am almost positive he knows each and every student in the school by name.
Full day kindergarten would have been nice but in 6 months that will no longer be an issue. I like the fact that there is a single elementary, middle and high school here. I come from Mass. originally where if you live in a town, there are local police and fire departments for that town, and a few elementary schools and a single middle and high school - named after the town you lived in! When I first moved to LI I was like "where is the town of Sachem?"
These mansions people talk about are a little much - the pultes in particular would not be my thing because they are just too big to be so close together - not that my opinion matters much there as I couldn't afford one anyhow. A dad I met once from my daughter's class lives there though and he loves it. So to each their own I suppose. But 'mcmansions' do NOT by any stretch dominate the entire town. If anything there are only a few of these types of developments. Otherwise there are plenty of great neighborhoods with average sized colonials and ranches.
As far as living in the town itself, I have no complaints and definitely no regrets about moving here. Everyone I've met is very friendly and we've made some good friends. I like being close to the water and being able to drive 5 minutes to the beach anytime we feel like it. the park at the wedge is nice - the kids love the playground and sledding down the hills in the winter (or just rolling down them until nauseous in summer).
My taxes are high like everyone else, but no higher than my brother in law who lives in the Tides in Rocky Point. His are actually higher. I'll grieve them this year, so that plus Star should get that to a more resonable rate.
It beats the hell out of Ronkonkoma, that's for sure.
ITA! I'm assuming that for a "new" house the posters spent well over the 600k mark. I'm surprised that Port Jefferson schools weren't on the list, it was my understanding that they are comparable to Half Hollow Hills or Cold Spring Harbor? And the taxes are much lower than the new McMansions in Mt. Sinai. You get a nice downtown and village amenities too.
Steph
Is school district the only thing you would look at when buying a home, or are their perhaps some other things you would want? Based on your comments, you make it sound as though it's a no brainier, buy in the highest rated school district, case closed.
Port Jeff does offer a nice downtown and village amenities, but we didn't want that. While we enjoy visiting Port Jeff, we could never see ourselves living there. In our price range we were looking at older homes in need of renovation, small lot sizes and taxes that were not that far off the mark from Mount Sinai. Should we have settled for this because the schools are suppose to be so far superior? I'm sure you would agree that while they may be slightly better, "settling" for Mount Sinai schools isn't the worst thing in the world.
In our case we moved from Queens. We did not want to go from a congested city with a mixed crowd to a congested village with a mixed crowd. We prefer to be around other young families but have our peace and quite when we want it....we found this in Mount Sinai.
Those school districts were not off our radar, we just found the right balance in Mount Sinai. Could we have bought a home in the 3V school district that did not fully fit our needs, yes...we just found that in Mount Sinai we were able to find the right balance and purchase a home with more things checked off of our must have criteria.
There were several things that drew us to Mt Sinai other than the schools. For one my wife vacationed there as a child and teen and she always enjoyed the area. During recent summers we would go to Cedar Beach and always enjoyed our time there. We frequently traveled to Port Jeff for seafood, but never felt that the area "pulled" us in. We liked it better as a place to visit rather than a place to live. As far as what ultimately made us decide to buy in Mt. Sinai....throughout the two year process it took us to buy a home, we always looked for the a home that was large enough to accommodate us and our large extended family. We wanted a larger home that we would not outgrow (we don't want to move again) and we wanted the home to be in an area where you can actually walk to something....living in Queens our entire lives and moving to Long island, we realize we would have to drive everywhere, even for a gallon of milk. In Queens you basically walk to the corner deli and pick some up. After looking at literally hundreds of homes, the home we found in Mount Sinai is directly across the street from a park and is walking distance to some light shopping off 25A. We found the right balance of home size, price, location and school district, not an easy task. As I said we looked for over two years.
I've lived in Mt Sinai for 4 years now in the "train wreck' section apparently . Moved from Ronkonkoma's 'lake hills' area south of the LIE in the connetquot SD.
My 2 kids are in 3rd grade and Kindergarten. We couldn't be happier with the school so far. I obviously only have experience with the elemantary school, but my kids are learing a ton, all the teachers are terrific and the principal, Dr. Genticore, is fantastic. I am almost positive he knows each and every student in the school by name.
Full day kindergarten would have been nice but in 6 months that will no longer be an issue. I like the fact that there is a single elementary, middle and high school here. I come from Mass. originally where if you live in a town, there are local police and fire departments for that town, and a few elementary schools and a single middle and high school - named after the town you lived in! When I first moved to LI I was like "where is the town of Sachem?"
These mansions people talk about are a little much - the pultes in particular would not be my thing because they are just too big to be so close together - not that my opinion matters much there as I couldn't afford one anyhow. A dad I met once from my daughter's class lives there though and he loves it. So to each their own I suppose. But 'mcmansions' do NOT by any stretch dominate the entire town. If anything there are only a few of these types of developments. Otherwise there are plenty of great neighborhoods with average sized colonials and ranches.
As far as living in the town itself, I have no complaints and definitely no regrets about moving here. Everyone I've met is very friendly and we've made some good friends. I like being close to the water and being able to drive 5 minutes to the beach anytime we feel like it. the park at the wedge is nice - the kids love the playground and sledding down the hills in the winter (or just rolling down them until nauseous in summer).
My taxes are high like everyone else, but no higher than my brother in law who lives in the Tides in Rocky Point. His are actually higher. I'll grieve them this year, so that plus Star should get that to a more resonable rate.
It beats the hell out of Ronkonkoma, that's for sure.
Im surprised theres no full day kindergarden in Mount Sinai, from what I understand they dont have it in Miller Place either.Apparently were spoiled with it in Rocky Point not too sure about SWR, taxes in the Tides can be pricey, but its a great neighborhood with Beach rights.
crooks
Last edited by Crookhaven; 01-02-2009 at 06:47 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. Moved from Ronkonkoma's 'lake hills' area south of the LIE in the connetquot SD.
