Moving to Long Island - Looking for advice from Fanatics

**shagcarpetjesus** · 05-21-2010, 03:05 AM

Are any Fanatics out there familiar with Long Island? In particular, Nassau and Suffolk county? My family is going to be relocating from Phoenix to the NYC area this summer. We've pretty much focused our search for a new home on Long Island since my wife will be working at JFK with a possible position at LaGuardia in a year or two. My wife has been working in New York for the last 4 months, but we've been holding off on moving the whole fam until all of the kids are finished with school. We're not selling our home in Phoenix due to the fact that the housing market was hit so ridiculously hard here. We're going to try to rent it out for the forseeable future and see how much things rebound. Given that fact, we're obviously going to be renting in NYC.

Here's our situation, we've got 3 kids (entering 7th, 5th, and pre-K next fall) so obviously family friendly, good school district communities are a priority. So far my wife really likes Babylon. We haven't had much luck finding a suitable place to live there, but we are still looking. My wife found a decent looking place in Hauppauge that she is going to take a look at on Saturday. We found some rankings of the LI school districts recently that place Hauppauge in the top 10, even higher than Babylon. If anybody is familiar with the area, any input would be appreciated. Are we on the right track so far? If not, where should we be looking?

**BKLYNCyclone** · 05-21-2010, 08:14 AM

I've heard good things about Roslyn, but I don't really go east of JFK very often. We've considered moving that direction but I work in Manhattan and my wife teaches in Brooklyn.

**jdoggivjc** · 05-21-2010, 08:31 AM

Ironic that you mention Babylon and Hauppauge - I'm originally from that general area (Born in Islip, lived the first few years of my life in Deer Park), and my family still lives out there.

I have aunts living in Deer Park (Babylon TWP), Dix Hills (Huntington TWP) and another aunt that lives in Nesconset (Smithtown TWP), all in Suffolk County. All are very nice, quiet, safe neighborhoods. Deer Park doesn't have the greatest schools but Dix Hills and Nesconset (couldn't tell you what the district is for them) is very good.

If you think the housing market is bad in Phoenix, it's even worse on Long Island. I remember hearing a report a couple of years ago that most properties are overvalued by at least 40%. A simple house that would cost you in the neighborhood of $150,000 in Iowa would cost easily in excess of $500,000 in Long Island. It's not that the homes are worth that much, it's the land. So purchasing a home on Long Island isn't going to be easy whatsoever.

**delt4cy** · 05-21-2010, 08:36 AM

Here are some of the nice folks you may encounter:

Get Off Our Island

**weR138** · 05-21-2010, 08:37 AM

If you are looking at Amittyville and find a really big, really nice looking old colonial with dock access that is really reasonably (even under) priced. Do not do it. Trust me.

**Wesley** · 05-21-2010, 08:52 AM

So how much is rent on the island these days?

**jdoggivjc** · 05-21-2010, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by delt4cy

Here are some of the nice folks you may encounter:

Get Off Our Island

It would be offensive if it wasn't so totally true! Both of my cousins on my mom's side have at one time or another brought guidos home (before I really knew what the term meant), and the thought running through my head always was "could these guys be any more tool-like?" Being half Italian and from Long Island, whenever I visit family in New York or on a work trip in New Jersey, I always have to protect my inner guido from coming out. Then again, I work for a living and don't live in my parents' basement - I'm already ahead of the game...

**BCforISU** · 05-21-2010, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by jdoggivjc

Ironic that you mention Babylon and Hauppauge - I'm originally from that general area (Born in Islip, lived the first few years of my life in Deer Park), and my family still lives out there.

I have aunts living in Deer Park (Babylon TWP), Dix Hills (Huntington TWP) and another aunt that lives in Nesconset (Smithtown TWP), all in Suffolk County. All are very nice, quiet, safe neighborhoods. Deer Park doesn't have the greatest schools but Dix Hills and Nesconset (couldn't tell you what the district is for them) is very good.

If you think the housing market is bad in Phoenix, it's even worse on Long Island. I remember hearing a report a couple of years ago that most properties are overvalued by at least 40%. A simple house that would cost you in the neighborhood of $150,000 in Iowa would cost easily in excess of $500,000 in Long Island. It's not that the homes are worth that much, it's the land. So purchasing a home on Long Island isn't going to be easy whatsoever.

Sounds like a nice place to live...