to all the buyers please help us sellers

where are you looking (what town)...
price range...
your must haves...
your must not haves...

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We are closing in a few weeks, but I can tell you that we were looking in Suffolk...mainly Lake Grove, Holbrook, Smithtown, Hauppague, Ronkonkoma, Lake Ronkonkama, etc (surrounding areas)
Must have were:
at least 3brs and 2 bths and at least a 1 car garg.
Basement was a plus, but not ness...only if it was a ranch was it absolutely ness.
Our price range was no higher then 425k and taxes not over 8500
Oh and we didn't really want a pool, but if it was above-ground not a big deal...inground on the other hand was not to our liking

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

thanks!!!

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

price range
200-250K MAX taxes no more then 8,500. Looking in west babylon & Lindenhurst (lindenhurst is where we want)

Must haves
Electric, Heat & plumbing must be good working condition. Roof and new windows something that we don't have to replace right away, wood floors, 2+ bedrooms but the master has to be a bit larger to fit a king size bed and furniture.

Would Like
a basement that could be finished or is finished, open floor plan or the ability to make an open floor plan we have enough $$ to remodel.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We are closing next week in Monmouth County, NJ, but I figured some of this might be helpful anyway!

Budget: $350K and under (we ended up contracting for $320K on our house)

Must Haves: At least 3 BR, at least 1.5 Bath (preferred 2), updated windows, yard space, either a garage or basement (for storage), W/D, Dishwasher

Would have liked: 2 baths, open floor plan kitchen/living area, AC, fenced in yard

The house we ended up choosing has 4 BR (although one is small, like a baby's room), 2 bath, unfinished basement but no garage, new (5 year old) roof, siding, and windows.

HTH!

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We're only looking in Floral Park Village or Williston Park (Herricks SD). We love those towns and agree that school district and proximity to the city are the most important things to both of us. We're fine with less house/more of a location that works for us with our commutes into the City.

3 Bedrooms

1.5 baths (at least) with one of those bathrooms on the main floor.

Side street only.

Plenty of parking in the driveway (can't park on the street overnight in FP).

We're looking for a well maintained, move in condition house that does not require any major renovations for the next couple of years. Part of me likes the idea of renovating (I watch HGTV all night long!) but I just feel like we'll be too broke to do anything for the next few years and I suppose we are going to end up with whatever is there for more than a few years. (Refinishing floors, carpeting or painting is okay).

I know my DH would like a fireplace, fenced yard and a finished basement. I would love a home office for those days when I work from home. Hopefully, we can get all that within our budget.

I would love Central Air and a Sun Room or 3 season room too, but I don't think we're going to be able to get that in our price range! That's on the wish list!

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Where we are looking:
*South South Nassau County
(Wantagh, N. Merrick, Massapequa and Massapequa Park)

Price Range:
*300k-400k
(wide range because, there are so many houses on the market, we will pay more for a house for it's location, and if it doesn't need much work - we would pay less if the house needs work but has great potential)

Must Haves:
* 3 or more bedrooms
* 1.5 to 2 baths
* Medium to Large size kitchen
* Family Room and/or basement
* Formal Dining Room
* 50 (or more) x100 (property size)
* Garage and driveway
* 150 to 200 Amps
* Gas/Hot Water
* Large Backyard
* Living Space
* Superior School District

Must NOT Haves:
* Pool
* Corner Property
* Near railroad
* Oil/Steam Heat
* Eat-In Kitchen
* 100 or less Amps
* Taxes higher than 8,700


At times this list is tough, because DH and I try to write out the positives and negatives and ask "can we really live without that" and/or does it have potential to add that 'must have' in due time...and use some of it as a bargaining chip...

Hope this helps!

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Looking in Nassau - New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Williston park, Mineola.

Budget around $420k, taxes not over $10k

I take the LIRR to hunterspoint and love the schedule from Mineola station.

Must haves:
3 BR's (1 large enough for king size bed)
1.5 bath (although 2 Full preferred)
basement (would prefer a garage too)
nice size fenced in yard
Dining room that can be flexible

Don't really want to HAVE to do any major renovations before we move in.

Good luck to everyone selling and those of us buying.

Message edited 4/22/2009 11:30:53 AM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Area's we looked in:
1. Valley Stream SD #13 / Lynbrook SD #20
2. East Meadow SD
3. Massapequa Park/Wantagh/Seaford Area

Requirements:
bedrooms: 3 or more
bathrooms: 1-1/2 or more
Living space: living room & den
Dining: EIK Kitchen & Dining Room
Garage
Backyard
Attic OR Basement
Good Commute to City
Not on a Main Road



We ended up with:
East Meadow SD
3 Bedrooms
1-1/2 Baths
Living room
Den
EIK
Dining Room
1/2 Basement
2.5 car Garage w/ Attic & additional Shed
Backyard with IG Pool
LIRR: 44 min to Penn
Quiet family block

we sacrificed: bedroom size, master bedroom suite/bathroom, and style of home (we wanted colonial, we ended up with a splanch) but overall we got A LOT more than we thought we were ever going to find.

Message edited 4/22/2009 12:11:02 PM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We bought 8 months ago but I'll give you our list of must have & have nots in case it helps.

MUSTS
* Very Reasonable Commute To City
* Way of getting to train station w/o car - bus available- (no available parking spots by the time we travel in)
* Great school district
* At least 3 Bedrooms
* At least 1.5 Baths
* Gas not oil
* At least 50x100 property size (Nassau)
* Good sized kitchen
* All Bedrooms upstairs
* Basement



MUST NOT
* Be Located on a main road or road with a double yellow line
* Have a small or no backyard


And we ended up sacrificing on:

* The no bedrooms downstairs and got a cape
* A small kitchen but we can knock down a wall and make it the size we'd like in the near future.

In the end the house we're in had everything else that was truly important to us and couldn't be change (location on street, town, distance to city and distance to train) and it has the ability to add on or change whatever we didn't originally want.


Hope it helps!

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We are looking south shore western suffolk- mainly Lindenhurst, Babylon (NOT North Babylon), West Islip, East Islip (and Islip Terrace w/ EI SD), Oakdale and Sayville.

Must have-

3+ Bedrooms
1.5+ Baths
Basement
Large backyard
Closet space
Bedroom big enough for King size bed and furniture
Decent sized kitchen

I would like (but def. not deal breakers)

Fireplace
Garage
wood floors
formal dining room


Must not be on a main or high traffic road (no double yellow lines)
Not a huge fan of high-ranch homes

Trying to stay under 400 with taxes under $8500


Think it's possible?

Message edited 4/22/2009 4:18:58 PM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Would like:
4 beds
2 full baths
fireplace and the list above
and playroom on first floor

Message edited 5/14/2009 11:59:15 AM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Message edited 9/1/2011 2:13:25 PM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Most important in my book is that it has to be in a good school district!!!! absolute must have
some others:
2 baths
2-3 bedrooms for now. 4 for when I have kids
A fairly big backyard
garage
be in good condition! we are in no way good at repairs..so no fixer up'ers for me!
Be on a quiet block (i.e. not on a busy road, etc)
nearby to grocery stores and convenience stores
have a basement
extra storage space!!
updated kitchen's and baths..like I said we are no good at repairs and did not want something we had to put work into
master suite!!!
open floor plan
low taxes!

Luckily we found a house that met most of these qualifications!!!!

Message edited 4/22/2009 7:47:19 PM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We are going to be selling and buying.
Our current home is in West Islip.

What we want:
3 or more bedrooms
2 or more baths
CAC
finished basement
at least a 1 car garage
cannot be on a busy road
I would like a house with "character"

location-
we were looking in Massapequa, Bellmore, Seaford and Merrick

we did a complete 180 and decided on the North shore of Suffolk- Northport Village

This will be our "forever" house.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Posted by Elbee

Area's we looked in:
1. Valley Stream SD #13 / Lynbrook SD #20
2. East Meadow SD
3. Massapequa Park/Wantagh/Seaford Area

Requirements:
bedrooms: 3 or more
bathrooms: 1-1/2 or more
Living space: living room & den
Dining: EIK Kitchen & Dining Room
Garage
Backyard
Attic OR Basement
Good Commute to City
Not on a Main Road

Looking for something similar!



We ended up with:
East Meadow SD
3 Bedrooms
1-1/2 Baths
Living room
Den
EIK
Dining Room
1/2 Basement
2.5 car Garage w/ Attic & additional Shed
Backyard with IG Pool
LIRR: 44 min to Penn
Quiet family block

we sacrificed: bedroom size, master bedroom suite/bathroom, and style of home (we wanted colonial, we ended up with a splanch) but overall we got A LOT more than we thought we were ever going to find.

Message edited 4/22/2009 11:38:24 PM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Posted by KarissaD

Posted by Elbee

Area's we looked in:
1. Valley Stream SD #13 / Lynbrook SD #20
2. East Meadow SD
3. Massapequa Park/Wantagh/Seaford Area

Requirements:
bedrooms: 3 or more
bathrooms: 1-1/2 or more
Living space: living room & den
Dining: EIK Kitchen & Dining Room
Garage
Backyard
Attic OR Basement
Good Commute to City
Not on a Main Road

Looking for something similar!



We ended up with:
East Meadow SD
3 Bedrooms
1-1/2 Baths
Living room
Den
EIK
Dining Room
1/2 Basement
2.5 car Garage w/ Attic & additional Shed
Backyard with IG Pool
LIRR: 44 min to Penn
Quiet family block

we sacrificed: bedroom size, master bedroom suite/bathroom, and style of home (we wanted colonial, we ended up with a splanch) but overall we got A LOT more than we thought we were ever going to find.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

For my DH and me, we weren't really working with a "must have" list because we were looking more for the right opportunity.

We wanted 3 bedrooms, 1.5 or more baths, good schools, hardwood floors, not on a main road, and something we could live in while fixing it up, since a lot of what we saw needed major work before you could move in.

We were looking in Kings Park, Northport and East Northport.

We wound up buying a 3 bedroom 1 bath in Kings Park because it was a great deal and opportunity for us to affordably get into something and then fix it up. We sacrificed with just the one bathroom, and the kitchen and bath are both small and need updating. However it has a full, dry basement that we could easily finish and add a bathroom to down the road. It's likely not our forever home but if we had to stay we could provided we finish the basement. The biggest sacrifice was the garage - the house we bought doesn't have one. However it was such a great deal that we felt it was worth the investment.

*

Message edited 11/28/2009 12:38:30 PM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We are hopefully closing in the middle of JUNE.

LOCATION

We looked in Suffolk county. We want a house close to the LIE with good schools. Sachem, Connetquot are great.

House. Range 350k-370k ( depending on taxes )

The house had to have a garage, finished basement,at least 3 nice size bedrooms and at least 1.5 baths. STructure of the house needs to be a 10. Cosmetics didnt matter. We also did NOT want an inground pool. House must be on a nice, quiet block.

Extras that helped
Fireplace
woodfloors
new appliances
No smells in the house, not even a candle!!
Taxes no higher than 7200 a year.
An outside deck
Inground sprinklers
Central air

We looked for almos 17 months and finally found something that had all of these. We do not have an Eat in kitchen though...just the dining room.

Message edited 4/24/2009 10:49:18 AM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

2 bed, 1.5 - 2 bath port jeff station, setauket, rocky point, sound beach, miller place, surrounding area

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

We want suffolk county close to the LIE for commuting to work.
Off main roads and not near railroad. Good school district.
At least 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms. Plenty of closet/storage space with garage.
Finished basement.
Kitchen with a good layout - EIK with island and dishwasher all +++. Structurally sound with electric, heat, plumbing, roof windows and anything else in good condition.
Open floor plan a +
Decent sized backyard good for children and entertaining, newer deck or patio a +.

We don't mind the house not being to our exact taste. But for cosmetic renovations we will consider that when we make an offer. If the kitchen, bathrooms and deck/patio all need updating - we are going to need money to take care of those things to make it "our" home.

I also liked Kristin's no scents including candle! What are you hiding?

Message edited 9/11/2009 12:56:11 PM.

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Bumping thread because I'm curious with how everyone did??

Did you get what you wanted? if not what did you sacrifice?

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

Re: to all the buyers please help us sellers

great idea on a bump!!!

i am intersted too in how everyone faired.

and i will add:


i am looking in wantagh / seaford / levittown

AT LEAST:
3 bedrooms
1.5 baths

basement AND /or garage
play room
attic

50 X 100 at least

would prefer a split, ranch over capes, unless the cape was expanded...

looking for fixer upper, don't want finished...