We've narrowed down our search.

So first off- I know I had wrote last week that we put an offer in on a house. We decided to withdraw our offer and are no longer looking in Suffolk county. After driving back and forth to see the houses, I realized I just can't handle the commute. It was a hard decision because you do get more for your money in Suffolk.

Now our search is pretty much narrowed down to the Levittown (first choice), East Meadow, Wantagh area. Hopefully we'll be seeing some this weekend.

Narrowing the search down, I know, is going to make it more difficult to find a nice house in our price range. Especially since the areas we're looking in tend to have high taxes.

Any suggestions for the house hunt are more than welcome. Otherwise, good vibes are very much welcome too!

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Good luck! I think your search will be much more manageable now that you've narrowed things down. It's really smart of you to take location into account. As the old cliche goes, there are a lot of things you can change about a house, but location isn't one of them.

As far as your desired areas - have you considered the Forest City section of Wantagh? It is Wantagh, but Levittown school district (Lee Rd. elementary, Salk middle school, and MacArthur high). It's a great area for a first time homebuyer, and very family friendly. The neighborhood has a few special amenities, such as its own playground and a pool. People who live there always talk about the pride of ownership in the area - - people take good care of their property and participate in neighborhood activities. I've heard homeowners liken the elementary school, Lee Road, to a private school. I don't know what your budget is, but the homes for sale in Forest City are often priced in the $300K to $450K range, depending on style of the house, updates, etc. Many of the houses have basements and there are a variety of styles of homes in that area (mostly ranches, colonials, and capes). The neighborhood is basically laid out as two large circles (with a web of streets within each circle). It is located west of Wantagh Ave (and Wantagh Parkway), and north of Jerusalem Ave/south of North Jerusalem Rd.

FM me if you have any questions, because I work in all 3 of your desired towns and preview a lot of the homes there. I'd be happy to help, if you don't already have a local agent in mind.

Happy hunting!

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

There is also a section of Westbury- the "Salisbury" section - not Westbury school district - on the East Meadow side, it's very nice too.

I don't know what your price point is, but Carle Place is nice also, there is also a section of Mineola that goes to The Wheatley School District - which is excellent.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

I "settled" for a smaller house that I could get in Suffolk but DH works in the City and we decided the extra 1.5 hour commute every day was not worth it for your family.

We waited and we will be doing an extension this year.

Something you might want to consider when doing your search. A place that could be expended in the future.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

As far as Wantagh goes- we have looked into the Forest City section. My aunt and uncle live right next to the park and love it there. The only issue I have with that is: we would paying Wantagh taxes but going to the Levittown schools. If I lived in Wantagh I would want my kids to go to Wantagh schools (the better district). Also, as far as Levittown goes we're very interested in the Island Trees SD.


We are looking into Westbury as well (the Salisbury area in the E.M school district)- definatly in our price range.

Thank you for the advice

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Wantagh taxes are definitely higher. If you want Wantagh SD, Wantagh Woods is a very sought after neighborhood. My sister lives there, and there are some good deals in that area right now. I also like the Holiday Park section, and I always recommend that section to anyone who is looking for a split level home, as it is mostly splits. However, splits are usually priced higher than capes or ranches, so the price point is a bit higher in that area. If you go into south Wantagh, realize you may get into the flood zone and that can make your insurance a LOT pricier.

There's a nice section of north Seaford that goes to Island Trees SD, too, and there are some great houses in that area.

If taxes are a concern, you might want to consider South Hicksville (just north of Levittown). Hicksville's taxes are very reasonable ($6000K-$8000K, in general). I just sold a house in Hicksville and the taxes were around $6800 on a 4 bedroom cape in North Hicksville. South Hicksville has a very similar feel to Levittown, although not all of the houses are built on slab, so you could get a basement, if you wanted one. There is a ton of inventory in the $300K to $400K range right now. And if either of you commutes, Hicksville is a big hub for the LIRR.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

good luck! we are currently hunting in "Zone 5" Merrick to Massapequa - south shore.



ETA - check out the plainedge SD (parts of massapequa, seaford, bethpage, farmingdale).

Also Seaford, Massapequa, Merrick and Bellmore. Bethpage is nice too!

Maybe we will cross paths this weekend but don't put an offer on any houses that we might offer on

Message edited 2/9/2011 9:31:51 AM.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Posted by maymama

good luck! we are currently hunting in "Zone 5" Merrick to Massapequa - south shore.



ETA - check out the plainedge SD (parts of massapequa, seaford, bethpage, farmingdale).

Also Seaford, Massapequa, Merrick and Bellmore. Bethpage is nice too!

Maybe we will cross paths this weekend but don't put an offer on any houses that we might offer on

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

When you search on MLSLI try searching by school district. parts of seaford are Island Trees schools aslo!

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Posted by missfabulous

Posted by maymama

good luck! we are currently hunting in "Zone 5" Merrick to Massapequa - south shore.



ETA - check out the plainedge SD (parts of massapequa, seaford, bethpage, farmingdale).

Also Seaford, Massapequa, Merrick and Bellmore. Bethpage is nice too!

Maybe we will cross paths this weekend but don't put an offer on any houses that we might offer on

I would LOVE to have my kids go to the Plainedge SD...but I don't think we could afford it. The taxes are so high in Plainedge SD areas.
All of those areas are nice and I'm sure you'll find a great house there. Unfortunatly, we can't afford them.
DH and I aren't exactly rich. He's works for DSNY and I'm a teacher. We're trying to stay under 10k in taxes.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Posted by maymama

surprisingly enough, we have found a good number of houses under 10k in that area. Our limit is 11k so we are looking for under. Have you factored in Star? Star usually reduces taxes by about 1k!

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Posted by missfabulous

Posted by maymama

surprisingly enough, we have found a good number of houses under 10k in that area. Our limit is 11k so we are looking for under. Have you factored in Star? Star usually reduces taxes by about 1k!

Our limit is 9k but we may reach to 10k if the house was on the lower side cost-wise.

We are factoring in the star. My mom said to look at it without the star because taxes are always going up. So if its 9k with the star and 10k without just assume its 10k, beause within the next year or two it will probably be 10k anyway.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

I live in wantagh....levittown schools. My taxes are under 10,000.

i grew up in forest city area.....love it there but just couldn't find a house I loved with taxes on the lower side.

now i am closer to macarthur h.s. and really like our area. we were looking i the same places as you.....took a few months but we found something in our budget

good luck!

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

We just moved to Franklin Square and been very happy so far. Its Valley Stream school district which doesnt rate well and I had heard not great things, but the actual school we are zoned for is amazing. My son is in th 2nd grade and we have been thrilled with the school so far.

One thing I learned is that the ratings fir the schools arent always accurate, sometimes the test scores look bad, but then you find out its because the school has a special ed program where maybe higher scoring schools dont.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

I live in Levittown in the Island Trees School District. Taxes are lower in IT because the businesses on Hempstead Turnpike are zoned to IT not Levittown. I would check it out.

Also be aware that taxes do go up. When we first moved in our taxes were closer to $5000-6000. They are now closer to $9000. We have been here 7 years.

Message edited 2/10/2011 12:40:17 PM.

Re: We've narrowed down our search.

Hey, I am in Bellmore so pretty close by to the areas you posted, and we also have great schools!

I saw this house on CL the other day and sent it to my friend...not sure if you're willing to buy a fixer upper but this price is UNHEARD of in N Bellmore...

Click

And then when I just went to pull that link I found this house too that looks nice for the price!

Click