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We are thinking of selling our apartment in Manhattan and renting a modest house in an area with a decent school district. The reason for the move would be to convert our equity to cash in case of job loss (we are in our fifties).
We would like to live close to the city (maybe East Meadow?) and do not care about how "nice" the house is. We would like a small yard and need 3 bedrooms (or some extra space that can function as a third bedroom). Low crime and low gang activity would be a plus.
Are there houses for rent or do most tend to be owner occupied? Are there any areas we should be targeting. Our youngest is 9 so schools will be a factor for some time.
NellyWolf, in case you are unfamiliar with the local geography:
What people refer to colloquially as "towns" are actually villages and hamlets, which are within actual towns; and, because villages and hamlets are referred to as "towns", then, many times, the error is compounded when actual towns are referred to as "townships".
Also, many colloquially refer to a "downtown business district" in a hamlet as a "village".
You can get a fact sheet for any city, village or hamlet on Long Island by going here American FactFinder and input the name of the city, village or hamlet for "city/town" (leave out the ZIP Code) and New York for "State", and then click "GO".
You'll get a lot of demographic, and some economic, statistics for the city, village or hamlet you selected, and if you click on "Reference map" (it's on the right hand side), you'll get a map.
When you do find a house that you like, you can find out in which community (city, village or CDP) that house is actually located, which is oftentimes different from the community named in that house's mailing address, by using the Census Bureau's online address search function. (CDP or Census Designated Place is the Census Bureau equivalent for a hamlet in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.)
And, very importantly, among other things, the Census Bureau's online address search function also indicates in which school district an address is located.
IMO, sounds silly...b/c all the equity you earned you will now be throwing away in rent. To each his/her own though...
East Meadow is nice. Do you go to the city alot? It is close to Bellmore and Hicksville that have train stations, but East Meadow doesn't, so walking to the station or anything like that would probably not be do-able. If you like that area but need to be in a town with a train sattion, I would suggest Wantagh or Merrick.
IMO, sounds silly...b/c all the equity you earned you will now be throwing away in rent. To each his/her own though...
You seem to be the poster child for this opinion and I haven't seen any data to support your ideas... Values are crashing and will continue to do so. The proposed option by the OP is financially sound in many ways.
You seem to be the poster child for this opinion and I haven't seen any data to support your ideas... Values are crashing and will continue to do so. The proposed option by the OP is financially sound in many ways.
B/c you can sell when you own and you can't when you rent, so buying allows you a 50% chance of making $$ whereas renting you have a 0% chance of making money.
We are thinking of selling our apartment in Manhattan and renting a modest house in an area with a decent school district. The reason for the move would be to convert our equity to cash in case of job loss (we are in our fifties).
We would like to live close to the city (maybe East Meadow?) and do not care about how "nice" the house is. We would like a small yard and need 3 bedrooms (or some extra space that can function as a third bedroom). Low crime and low gang activity would be a plus.
Are there houses for rent or do most tend to be owner occupied? Are there any areas we should be targeting. Our youngest is 9 so schools will be a factor for some time.
Thank you!
Nelly
There are houses out there for rent, check MLSLI.com under rental properties. Is your apt paid off? Realize that a 3 bedroom house in East Meadow is going to run you around $2400.
As for the rent vs. buy thing, the same house will probably run you that per month in mortgage and taxes if you have 20% down. If you don't have 20%, it starts to get significantly more.
B/c you can sell when you own and you can't when you rent, so buying allows you a 50% chance of making $$ whereas renting you have a 0% chance of making money.
You're either buying into the NAR propaganda or still holding onto the pre-bubble notion of renting vs. buying.
Where 50% comes from I have no clue - seems like you're calling it a coin flip. Couple of problems with that... I'll give you the 50/50 even though I think it's nowhere near accurate. What you're missing is the other side of the coin is losing money. If the OP rents for 12months at 2k per month that's 24k... You want to flip your coin against 24k out of pocket vs. 24k house value in 12months? Plus upkeep/maintenance/taxes/etc over that same year.
You're either buying into the NAR propaganda or still holding onto the pre-bubble notion of renting vs. buying.
Where 50% comes from I have no clue - seems like you're calling it a coin flip. Couple of problems with that... I'll give you the 50/50 even though I think it's nowhere near accurate. What you're missing is the other side of the coin is losing money. If the OP rents for 12months at 2k per month that's 24k... You want to flip your coin against 24k out of pocket vs. 24k house value in 12months? Plus upkeep/maintenance/taxes/etc over that same year.
You seem to forget about the downside.
While I'm not one to quickly jump on the NAR "buy now" bandwagon, you are talking about a 0 sum game here.
All things being equal, if you pay 2400 a month in rent for a house vs paying 2400 a month total mortgage and taxes, as long as you don't have a significant drop in value, the buy is a better option. Even at break even you will at least have a "savings" account in your house.
Now of course, when you put down 20%, that's a massive expense. if you have to put a new roof on the house, that's a big expense. When you sell you have to pay a RE commission and transfer tax, etc. But then you also have the tax write off for property taxes and interest. So all that needs to be factored in.
It depends how LONG they want to stay in a particular house whether they should rent or buy. What if they buy and need to get out and cannot sell? For some renting makes sense.
As for $2,400 a month in rent, that is just the beginning. Remember the renters are usually responsible for all utilities, not just electricity, cooking gas, telephone, etc., but including water and heat (the biggest one), and for doing or paying for the yard maintenance. Who knows what the OP thinks they are going to pay in rent for a house on LI either. I am sure some Manhattanites think LI is cheap and they will be able to rent a house for under $1K a month or something and live off their profits from selling their Manhattan apt. for the rest of their lives! Once they find out how much renting a house on LI is, they may change their tune and keep the apartment. If someone is planning on possible job loss, moving to LI, renter or buyer, is not the most prudent course of action due to the high cost of living here compared to many other suburban parts of the country.
It depends how LONG they want to stay in a particular house whether they should rent or buy. What if they buy and need to get out and cannot sell? For some renting makes sense.
As for $2,400 a month in rent, that is just the beginning. Remember the renters are usually responsible for all utilities, not just electricity, cooking gas, telephone, etc., but including water and heat (the biggest one), and for doing or paying for the yard maintenance. Who knows what the OP thinks they are going to pay in rent for a house on LI either. I am sure some Manhattanites think LI is cheap and they will be able to rent a house for under $1K a month or something and live off their profits from selling their Manhattan apt. for the rest of their lives! Once they find out how much renting a house on LI is, they may change their tune and keep the apartment. If someone is planning on possible job loss, moving to LI, renter or buyer, is not the most prudent course of action due to the high cost of living here compared to many other suburban parts of the country.
The utilities costs are a wash either way, but otherwise you are correct. Depending on the situation, buying is far from being a slam dunk in every situation.
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Understanding the geography of "Lawn Guyland"
