Queen to LI, Scared !!! (Valley Stream, Oceanside: for sale, foreclosure, renting)
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Born and raised in Astoria, Queens, recently married, and ready to make the move from renting to owning (we think First time home owner, and we know nothing so, here I am, hoping to get some advice!
We have been researching various parts of L.I. and have visited some open houses in Valley Stream (school dist 13) Franklin Square, Malverne and Oceanside. We both work in the city and would like to keep our commute reasonable. We would ALSO like to find a decent size home (60x100), and TRY to keep the taxes under 9K, in a GOOD area, with GOOD SCHOOLS, since the reason of our apt to house move is primarily to have children Sounds easy enough, but it has been anything BUT.
Combined we make appx. 160K, no debt, and EXCELLENT Credit history (thanks to moi, ha)
Hearing so many MIXED opinions on the "quality" of the neighborhoods, especially in regards to the school districts? Any comments?
Do you feel this is a good time to buy?
Should we wait till we have more than 60K as a down payment?
Places we should stay away from? Look into more?
Is Valley Stream really going "down the tubes" as my friends/family are suggesting?
We are prepared to look for houses 400-450K range, to hopefully keep our monthly payments (mortgage, insurance taxes) under $3400 a month, is this even reasonable or are we missing things that only you start to learn when u actually BUY a home. I know there will be incidentals, but this is a rough draft?
Just trying to be prepared as possible. Thanks so much for reading my ramble, ANY advice will be MUCH appreciated!
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I'll agree with Roastbeef , Little Neck, Douglaston and Bayside. Those are great towns and the taxes are affordable & will not keep going up crazily the way ours do out here.
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Now some questions if you don't mind...
Are you limiting yourself to these areas, or would you consider other areas?
How will you be commuting, car or train?
What do you consider a reasonable commute in terms of time?
What are some of the things you like, or dislike about Astoria?
The answers to these might bring some more suggestions that could help.
As far as my opinion on some of your questions...
Is it a good time to buy? No one really knows, but I'm betting values will continue down for a while more. How much further down is the gamble, but it sounds like you're looking for a long term move (10+ years) which history says will usually result in a positive ROI. That plus the current "buyers market" means it is probably a pretty good time to buy.
Wait till you have more $$ to put down? As somebody else said you really should look to have 20% minimum. Besides the insurance as mentioned, this will help in providing a positive equity position for you even if there continues to be relatively short term drop in value.
Finally, although there is no question that LI taxes are high, you must factor all costs into the total picture. For example, counter the LI taxes vs. the NYC income taxes, the possible cost of private schools, car insurance differential, etc.., and you may find that the actual costs are not so far apart.
I'll agree with Roastbeef , Little Neck, Douglaston and Bayside. Those are great towns and the taxes are affordable & will not keep going up crazily the way ours do out here.
i doubt that you'd be able to find a house in douglaston or bayside for that amount. i'm not sure with little neck. and that's taking lower taxes into consideration. a decent house in bayside is going for atleast 800k and that's probably half the amount of land. douglaston is even higher.
I'll agree with Roastbeef , Little Neck, Douglaston and Bayside. Those are great towns and the taxes are affordable & will not keep going up crazily the way ours do out here.
Exactly, not much difference then Nassau County in 2007.
Its kind of like the hippies who carried a coffin through the streets of Haight-Ashbury in the fall of ‘67 to mark the “The Death of the Hippie,” we can now mark the death of everthing west of the Shinnecock Inlet as the Yuppie/hipster/huppie/yupster/yunnie/bobo/dumdum and immigrants reach critical mass.
Another words: As the British chaps would put it "Nassau is Queens ...same crap different butt"
I work on the N Shore it takes me 45 minutes to go 2 miles to get to the LIE from Great Neck after 4PM
Pay insane taxes to live like this and pay for all these new peoples kids to go to school/ pay for their ESL teachers/pay to expand schools....Its absurd!!
I actually thinking of moving back to Queens, Greenpoint or Ridgewood
Now many houses for sale and foreclosure are going to be scooped up by foreners, on summer days you can already smell Curry and OH GOSH that STINKY AWFUL lamb cooking in New Hyde Park from Searingtown !!
Last edited by RoastBeefJackson; 03-14-2008 at 08:50 PM..
I just assume everybody would associate curry with indians, but stinky awful lamb...haven't heard about that?
and to the OP, the point of NYC income tax is very valid, at 4% of 160k, that's 6,400 savings for living out of boro's. Also your after tax take home pay is probably around 8k, given the Freddie Mac/Fanny May 28%-33% rule, 4k a month going towards house payment might be a bit high, so saving for more down payment would make sense.
We have been researching various parts of L.I. and have visited some open houses in Valley Stream (school dist 13) Franklin Square, Malverne and Oceanside. We both work in the city and would like to keep our commute reasonable. We would ALSO like to find a decent size home (60x100), and TRY to keep the taxes under 9K, in a GOOD area, with GOOD SCHOOLS, since the reason of our apt to house move is primarily to have children Sounds easy enough, but it has been anything BUT.
, QUEENSCHIC
Of the areas you mentioned Franklin Square is good for elementary, but is part of the Sewanakha High School District - which is questionable. Oceanside is really good, but is hard to get in and out of. Valley Stream and Malverne, depends on your views.
Other areas to consider - New Hyde Park, Mineola and Floral Park.
Little Neck...lower taxes 20 minutes to Manhatten via LIRR.
Everthing in Nassau county is a money pit due to especially school taxes.
Let's see...$160K times approx. 4% city income tax...another $6400 on top of property taxes. Add about $1000 for 2 cars insurance and $250 for home insurance...not much savings, inflated home price, more crowded, worse schools.
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First time home owner, and we know nothing so, here I am, hoping to get some advice!
