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I dont understand the comments stating a 2 1/2 hour commute to NY. I just got transfered to NYC....but my commute is 1 1/2 hours from ronkonkama. Does it suck? YES! But its not 2 1/2 hrs.
I dont understand the comments stating a 2 1/2 hour commute to NY. I just got transfered to NYC....but my commute is 1 1/2 hours from ronkonkama. Does it suck? YES! But its not 2 1/2 hrs.
My friend had a 15 min drive to the LIRR in Massapequa(something about parking at Lindenhurst LIRR wasnt good he claimed) followed by a 50 min ride into Penn, then another 10 min subway ride to NYU, followed by a 5 min walk to his office building. His average morning commute was at least an hour and a half door to door *in the mornings*. Some days he missed the train so he would take his chances on the LIE to the BQE. That easily turned into a 2 hr commute.
The evening commute was another story. It took him 2 1/2 hrs by car on the way home because the LIE, Xisland and SSP are jammed w traffic from 4-7pm every day. I personally always factor in commuting time by car because god forbid the LIRR is out of service (ex. The blizzard of 2010) and you need alternate ways of getting into Manhattan. While the average is 1 1/2 hrs from Lindenhurst, as he can attest, he had a 2 to 2 1/2 hr commute if he chose commuting by car or left for work at times the express trains didnt run (a 10 am-7 pm shift, etc).
My friend had a 15 min drive to the LIRR in Massapequa(something about parking at Lindenhurst LIRR wasnt good he claimed) followed by a 50 min ride into Penn, then another 10 min subway ride to NYU, followed by a 5 min walk to his office building. His average morning commute was at least an hour and a half door to door *in the mornings*. Some days he missed the train so he would take his chances on the LIE to the BQE. That easily turned into a 2 hr commute.
The evening commute was another story. It took him 2 1/2 hrs by car on the way home because the LIE, Xisland and SSP are jammed w traffic from 4-7pm every day. I personally always factor in commuting time by car because god forbid the LIRR is out of service (ex. The blizzard of 2010) and you need alternate ways of getting into Manhattan. While the average is 1 1/2 hrs from Lindenhurst, as he can attest, he had a 2 to 2 1/2 hr commute if he chose commuting by car or left for work at times the express trains didnt run (a 10 am-7 pm shift, etc).
Driving is a whole other story!
Your comment was:
Lindenhurst is a long commute to Manhattan, especially downtown if you work near Wall st. My friend worked at NYU and took the LIRR every day and his commute door to door was easily 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
To those of us who didn't know the whole story (that he decided to drive and that he worked different shifts) the "easily 2 to 2 1/2 hours" just didn't fit with regular commutes via LIRR.
Blizzards/snow storms are a rare occurrence and mess up commuting no matter what mode of transportation you chose! And yes, I remember once occasion when I was on my way home from Penn Station to Babylon, when we were stuck outside Lindenhurst for a few hours! But driving wasn't possible either during that storm and at least we were warm . (That didn't prevent us from complaining though, especially since we had no way of communicating with anyone - it was before cell phones were small enough to fit in your pocket and hardly anyone owned one)
I don't think so in Nassau Other then Uniondale and Hicksvialle taxes is under 7K. You may find bank foreclose house in that price range. When I was looking for house back in 2009, I found some bank foreclose house move in condition.
wow, thanks everyone! we really are looking no further east than the babylons and lindenhurst if we can help it. if we don't find anything affordable by early september, then we'd switch gears and look for a cheap rental so we can save more money for downpayment/closing costs. it's not giving us much time, but i figure if we aren't even seeing any possiblities by then, we're probably not ready to buy anyway. as i've mentioned, this is all very sudden, and we wanted to see if it was a viable option for us in our current situation.
wow, thanks everyone! we really are looking no further east than the babylons and lindenhurst if we can help it. if we don't find anything affordable by early september, then we'd swixact antch gears and look for a cheap rental so we can save more money for downpayment/closing costs. it's not giving us much time, but i figure if we aren't even seeing any possiblities by then, we're probably not ready to buy anyway. as i've mentioned, this is all very sudden, and we wanted to see if it was a viable option for us in our current situation.
Since u have a short time frame, I would suggest getting fully approved by your bank, not just pre-qualified, so this way you know the exact max price of the home to look at and the seller's agent knows you're serious if you found one.
i have been a long-time lurker on these boards and have learned a wealth of knowledge from many of you.
due to a landlord issue, my hubby and i have decided to contemplate purchasing a home. this landlord issue came up rather suddenly, so we aren't exactly prepared to purchase a house, but due to the market being so favorable towards buyers at the moment, we figured we'd take a shot at looking for a bit.
so here's our story, i work in midtown manhattan and am the sole income to our family (about 80k annually). hubby is homemaker and caretaker of our two children (ages 6 and 9 months). we have a prequal for a 300k fha mortgage, but looking at monthly expenses, we really don't want to spend more than about 225k on a home, and we're hoping for taxes under 7k.
we're also looking to apply for some first-time homebuyer grants to help with downpayment/closing costs, since we don't have much at all in the way of up-front cash. we're obviously not well prepared financially to buy a house, but we're definitely sick of renting and our current deadbeat landlord was the straw that broke the camel's back.
the areas we've been looking in are:
suffolk: lindenhurst, west/north babylon, deer park, had considered ronkonkoma but not anymore because of travel time
nassau: hicksville, anything east meadow school district, baldwin, valley stream, levittown
the homes we've seen so far are either tiny, or need too much work to be move-in ready. with two small children, i don't mind having to do cosmetic stuff, but need a place where we can all live safely and not have to worry about mold/rot/etc. i think lindenhurst is our target area, but i'd love to have a shorter commute=nassau. any suggestions as to other areas we should be considering? and is what we're looking for even possible?
Sounds like you have a pretty good idea of where to look - Lindenhurst would be my #1 pick too.
Baldwin and Hicksville I'd skip. Nice places to live but the homes on the lower end seem to be either trashed or located in not-too-great neighborhoods. Valley Stream I don't think there is too much available for $225k, but I haven't looked in quite awhile either.
Levittown will have plenty of selection - but the taxes are going to be ridiculous most places. Seems like north of $10k/yr is the norm nowadays. East Meadow SD should be at least slightly less brutal on the taxes, but still pretty bad. I'm also not really sure how convenient getting to the LIRR is from most of East Meadow (people in Levittown use either Wantagh or Hicksville, neither of which are more than a 5 minute drive). Homes in Salisbury are close to the Westbury station, but I think parking might be either restricted to village residents or prohibitively expensive there.
In Suffolk, I think Lindenhurst is by far the best out of those listed. Great area, great people, good location and a very underrated school district. The morning commute into Penn seems to be 50-60 minutes, which really isn't that much longer than most of Nassau. IMO Deer Park, North Babylon and West Babylon are all very similar... and all just "OK". The schools in all three don't perform as well, academically, as the other areas you listed - though they are still "good" by any sane person's definition. The commute is still reasonable to Midtown and they're solid middle-class areas.
I don't get the horror story about commuting into Manhattan either. Out of all of the places listed it should take you at absolute worst - barring some mechanical failure or extreme weather condition - an hour and a half door-to-door. If you need to get to the east side (I don't think you even mentioned this, but several others have!) most AM Babylon Branch trains stop at Woodside, so you can take the 7 to Grand Central. The only time it's ever taken me over 2 hours to get from Midtown to Levittown is driving home during the afternoon/evening rush hour.
I dont understand the comments stating a 2 1/2 hour commute to NY. I just got transfered to NYC....but my commute is 1 1/2 hours from ronkonkama. Does it suck? YES! But its not 2 1/2 hrs.
Truthfully, what is your commute door-to-door? The LIRR schedule states the 7:04 gets in to Penn at 8:19. Right there we are at 1:15 minimum. We all know the LIRR schedule is BS it needs to be padded by at least 5 minutes for any stops whose train passes through Mineola. Now we are at 1:20 at the minimum. Now add in the time from your home to the station and then the time from the track to the subway and then subway travel time and then finally to your desk. And also don't forget that given your ten commutes per week at least two will have a significant delay whether by the LIRR or the subway.
My guess is a door-to-door commute from Ronkonkoma averages close to two hours.
Truthfully, what is your commute door-to-door? The LIRR schedule states the 7:04 gets in to Penn at 8:19. Right there we are at 1:15 minimum. We all know the LIRR schedule is BS it needs to be padded by at least 5 minutes for any stops whose train passes through Mineola. Now we are at 1:20 at the minimum. Now add in the time from your home to the station and then the time from the track to the subway and then subway travel time and then finally to your desk. And also don't forget that given your ten commutes per week at least two will have a significant delay whether by the LIRR or the subway.
My guess is a door-to-door commute from Ronkonkoma averages close to two hours.
Nope...hour and a half. I catch the express at 530...it gets into penn at 638. Im not saying it sucks...it does, but i deal with it.
I will say this much, from Grand Central Station to Baldwin via LIRR was literally a 1 hr 15 minute commute. Left work at 5:30, run to Grand Central's 7 train to get to Hunters Point Ave LIRR station for the 5:47 train, and then transfer at Jamaica at 6:33 pm to the Babylon train.
Arrival time at Baldwin LIRR was 6:55 pm. (according to LIRR's schedule, in many instances, it was really 7 pm on the dot).
Then walk to my car and drive home - arrival time at home 7 - 7:15 pm depending on local traffic.
Total commuting time: 5:30 pm - 7:15 pm (1 hr 15 minutes). I was NEVER home before 7 pm, unless I managed to get out of work at 5 pm on the dot, or hustled to Penn Station via the Shuttle from Grand Central to make a 5:35 Express Babylon train that arrived in Baldwin by 6:10 pm .
In the afternoon, it was about the same (to arrive at my DESK by 9:20 am, I had to leave my house at 7:20 am be at the LIRR station by 7:45 am to find a parking spot and run to the platform for the 7:54 train). Either way you slice it, I was hustling in the AM/PM from LIRR to subway, etc. No chance to sit longer than 25 min to read a book or sleep!!!
I know Lindenhurst would be longer, and I am talking about DOOR to DOOR, not the BS schedule put out by LIRR that promises 46 minute rides from Babylon to Penn.
My commute NOW - I leave my house at 8:35 am, and am answering emails at my work desk by 9:15 am. I love working in Long Island, I cant fathom dealing with the LIRR or a congested LIE/SSP any more...
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....but my commute is 1 1/2 hours from ronkonkama. Does it suck? YES! But its not 2 1/2 hrs.
. (That didn't prevent us from complaining though, especially since we had no way of communicating with anyone - it was before cell phones were small enough to fit in your pocket 
and hardly anyone owned one)
I love working in Long Island, I cant fathom dealing with the LIRR or a congested LIE/SSP any more...
