Relocating to North Bellmore (Freeport, Merrick: insurance, lawyers, buying a home)
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I was great friends with Amos Zereoue BEFORE he became a star. Black has nothing to do with it. But who wants to live in an area where the housing market is dropping (Bellmore and South Bellmore aren't) and the area is becoming a pocket Muslim community?
If I were looking on the South Shore in Nassau like you are & wanted north of Sunrise due to flooding concerns I would choose Wantagh over Bellmore in heartbeat.
Wantagh's taxes are a major turn-off. $16K/yr for a 1200 sq ft 3 bd/2 bath home when the same home in Bellmore would be $11K/taxes or less. Husband is leaning toward Bellmore as he works part time in the town. We are fortunate that schools dont factor in our decision as we are CF (child-free).
Wantagh's taxes are a major turn-off. $16K/yr for a 1200 sq ft 3 bd/2 bath home when the same home in Bellmore would be $11K/taxes or less. Husband is leaning toward Bellmore as he works part time in the town. We are fortunate that schools dont factor in our decision as we are CF (child-free).
My friend just sold her 1,400 sq ft cape in Wantagh Woods. Taxes were $10k.
I was using it for point of reference since you were mentioning looking at a small home. Ok, a 3 bed, 2 bath ranch just sold and taxes were $11k. The taxes are all over the place anywhere. You don't have to worry about schools, so you can go to any town and enjoy. Lori and I were giving our perspectives because we lived there. But if you love it, God bless and enjoy!
Other than the installation of a mosque, an apartment complex and an elementary school that closed (which was likely due to lower enrollments as the new trend seems to show more couples are not having kids), I do not see any evidence of how North Bellmore is "getting worse". Do you have crime stats that show an increase for the last 5 years? Are you basing it on more black/brown faces walking the streets? Are there new gold cash/pawn shops popping up all over Bedford Ave or Newbridge Rd?
Also, given the uncertainty of the real estate market, prices can go either up, down or even stay the same subject to market fluctuations in the overall economy...how can anyone realistically say "this house will be worth less in 10-20 years than what you paid for it." I am sure those who bought in Williamsburg, Brooklyn 20 years ago never imagined their brownstone would fetch more than $500K or that half of Brooklyn would become gentrified with Manhattan's artists and young professionals. The variable of time is just too uncertain to make such claims...I just find this perspective unnecessarily alarmist. No one has a crystall ball to predict where the winds blow.
Just basic observation by what I see with my own eyes living in area on & off from 89-present. Guess it's a wait & see kind of thing. Ask again in 5 years & see how different area is from today. Would the people that purchased in Baldwin about 10 years ago have done the same if they knew that area would be what it is today? We don't have a crystal ball..but seeing is believing.
I was great friends with Amos Zereoue BEFORE he became a star. Black has nothing to do with it. But who wants to live in an area where the housing market is dropping (Bellmore and South Bellmore aren't) and the area is becoming a pocket Muslim community?
Oh no, a pocket Muslim community! Oh no! The sky is falling..those muslims are all terrorists anyway right? oh no, the whole town is going to hell in a hand basket because of one religious group that attends a mosque in town..people who just want to practice their religion, one of their rights under the US Constitution...
how about the fact that the Nassau County Jail, with dangerous felons and convicts, are sleeping smack dab in the middle of another "mostly white" town of East Meadow??
Mr. Politically incorrect- you should just change your name to Mr Racist Un-PC.
Oh no, a pocket Muslim community! Oh no! The sky is falling..those muslims are all terrorists anyway right? oh no, the whole town is going to hell in a hand basket because of one religious group that attends a mosque in town..people who just want to practice their religion, one of their rights under the US Constitution...
how about the fact that the Nassau County Jail, with dangerous felons and convicts, are sleeping smack dab in the middle of another "mostly white" town of East Meadow??
Mr. Politically incorrect- you should just change your name to Mr Racist Un-PC.
I said I wouldn't live in South Merrick either. I'd like to point out that YOU likened them to terrorists. I don't like religious enclaves of any denomination. Have a great time in N. Bellmore.
Just basic observation by what I see with my own eyes living in area on & off from 89-present. Guess it's a wait & see kind of thing. Ask again in 5 years & see how different area is from today. Would the people that purchased in Baldwin about 10 years ago have done the same if they knew that area would be what it is today? We don't have a crystal ball..but seeing is believing.
Actually, yes. my husband bought our house in Baldwin in 2004 and he would buy it again today if we had not been remapped into a flood zone in 2011. Thats the only reason my husband wants to move anyway, otherwise we would likely stay. In fact, any changes that Baldwin residents view as a potential negative (ie like one proposal to build a second strip club/bar on Grand Ave) was met with vehement opposition from the Baldwin Civic Association..you know..those community groups that EVERY town resident should attend to voice their approval or disapproval of "undesirable" changes that they see developing...i am sure rich towns like Great Neck, Sands Point, Muttontown and Old Brookville have active community leaders who are on the up and up to make sure their town doesnt "get worse with time" as some of you believe North Bellmore is doing.(see Exhibit A below)..Unlike some folks who just give up and move away to another town to escape dealing with the changes, there are people who love their town and band together to make sure their voices are heard and the town retains their desirable "qualities" whatever they may be.
Well North Merrick is on the border with areas that are not as good as N. Bellmore as is evident. N. Merrick is still nice. Don't know as much about it as I do about N. Bellmore though. My info for future of N. Bellmore comes from almost daily observation & knowing many people there. As well as being close with an long time RE investor that almost exclusively invests in Bellmore area since early 80's. It is changing & not for the better. As for N. Merrick I feel the same kind of as N. Bellmore in recommending it for buyers (longer term than a renter). If you plan to have kids (at least for now as we all know this can change) Merrick & Bellmore (south of Sunrise) is zoned for JFK HS. In Merrick or Bellmore North of Sunrise you are zoned for Calhoun. Drive by both in person & see for yourself the differences. That is only true way to see it..not from internet posts. Then people can make their best informed decisions.
And WALKING around is important, sometimes you dont get the same feel while just riding through. East Meadow is also on its way down and that could be spilling over into N.Bellmore as well. Was recently in the area and noticed alot of shady people walking around with bags of booze and some homeless as well. Some asked me for change or cigarrettes (this was along Hempstead Turnpike across from the park). There's also a church (Pentacostal) on East Meadow Ave that is operating an illegal radio station in guess what language (not english!). That big antenna on their roof is so obvious! The only nicer parts of East Meadow ironically are more toward Westbury, the Salisbury section.
A Best Yet opened up too, that's a ghetto supermarket associated with struggling areas.
I wouldn't immediately write off North of Sunrise is Bellmore, I think once you get to Beltagh you start noticing the difference.
I see your point about N.Bellmore though, the Newbridge area by that old Friendly's is run down, East Meadow is in decline nearby. Many years from now these areas will probably become an extension of Uniondale, certainly parts of East Meadow are looking that way. Parts of N.Merrick toward Camp/Meadowbrook Ave are looking more run down too and I see cars parked on lawns (flophouses) around Meadowbrook/Washington, I guess Roosevelt is creeping in.
Bellmore is losing its middle class, and in their place in the north part are going to be undesirables & illegals, and the south part will be more rich people. I have seen these changes and its happening across the entire island as a whole. Which is why I keep saying you now have to be rich (or very lucky) to be able to afford living in one of the nicer areas.
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