Job offer in Queens, would like to relocate to Long Island (New York: how much, house prices)

[BTDx]

Hi everyone! I got a job offer in Queens and am considering relocating my family to Long Island. From my research it seems like Bellmore or Levittown would be a good fit, but I'd like feedback about those areas and am open to suggestions of new areas to look into. We're looking to spend no more than 500k on a 3 bedroom 2 bath home. We would like to be no more than 25 miles from Queens and prefer to live on Long Island not Queens.

We want to be in a good school district, my little girl will be entering Elementary school this fall.

Also for anyone who has driven up to Long Island from the south recently, I'm wondering what the toll costs will be. Someone told me that in total it will be around 80 dollars, that seems a bit high? Is that really the cost of the tolls combined from MD to NYC taking i-95?

[Gpsma]

I just did a round trp to baltimore but i cant say what the exact tolls were because i use ez pass...but the most expensive toll will be the bridges not 95. However it will not be anywhere near 80 total.

Go for bellmore over levitown

[BTDx]

Thank you for your response. I knew 80 dollars seemed a bit much, don't know where my friend got that amount from.

Why would you choose Bellmore over Levittown? Is Levittown a bad area?

[Gpsma]

Not bad but becoming a bit run down and dropping down in the middle class spectrum. Belllmore is part of the Long Island Riviera.....much nicer area than levittown.

[BTDx]

Thank you. Are there any other towns that would also work for us? Is the school district in Bellmore good?

Where in Nassau County would I get the most house for my buck?
We can afford to spend at least 500k on a home but my husband
would rather spend 100-200k just because he hates spending money
no matter if we can afford to or not, but I told him finding a 100k 3br
home on Long Island will probably land us in undesirable areas.

Am I wrong?

[twingles]

You won't get a house in a decent area of Nassau for $200K. You might not get any house at all for $200K - not sure how much the market has plummeted.

I suggest focusing on some of the south shore towns - you live on the coast, so are you looking for the same sort of lifestyle when you move? You can get a nice house for $500K, and probably less, on the south shore.

As far as the cost to drive up from NC....my guess is your friend was including gas in that total. I think the tolls are probably closer to $25...but we also use EZPass so I'm not 100% sure.

[ydsavaged]

As Twingles said - and I can confirm that for 100-200k you will land in a 1 bedroom in a undesirable/bad area.

"decent" for LI starts at the 250-300k mark depending on the area...and even 300k will get you a fixer upper a lot of the time. Sad but it's the truth. House prices/taxes are completely out of control.

I would add Wantagh to your search too...But I'm really only helpful when it comes to Suffolk.

Best

ydsavaged

[LINative]

BTD, do you know what part of Queens your job offer is for? It might help give a idea what communities to suggest to you. If you know the approximiate area, we even might be tell if there is a train station nearby.

Also you mentioned Levittown and Bellmore which are more classic suburban communities, by New York standards anyway. Does this matter or would you willing to move to a more denser (but still nice) community closer to Queens?

[BTDx]

We are looking for a town similar to Bellmore and Levittown, nothing too dense. My mother used to live in Plainview and from what I know that's the type of place we'd like to move to. My job will be around Cambria Heights.

Twingles-Where we live doesn't have to be similar to Oak Island, but we wouldn't mind it being similar either. How's Long Beach? Would you say it's similar to Oak Island?

[StephM]

Ditch Levittown, look in Bellmore, massapequa, Wantagh, and Merrick areas. Great schools, great neighborhoods, and for $500k you'll be able to f d something great.