How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

So DH and I got to talking a little last night about where we would 'set up shop' buy a house, have kids all that stuff.

I'm Nassau through and through - we live in N. Babylon now and its almost culture shock for me to be in Suffolk... my commute got longer and more expensive and even my car insurance went up b/c of the move to Suffolk

I do NOT want to go further east and he does since he is through and through Suffolk... He also works in the school district where he grew up and that is a little further east from where we are now.

Was there something that helped you and DH decided where to settle?!?! If you aren't settled, what are your plans on figuring out where to do so?!?!!

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

DH and I grew up 2 towns away from each other. I grew up in Malverne and he grew up in Elmont, so when we were looking we were looking in Nassau. Both of our jobs, family and friends are all in nassau. He doesn't really care where we live. All major decisions are left up to me.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

We live in a co-op that our union owns so the rent is DIRT cheap and it's easy to get to work (we live in Flushing). When we buy a house though we decided it will be in Suffolk and probably closer to where I grew up (Floral Park) as opposed to where he grew up (Wantagh). We both work in the city and he said he wants no more then a 45 minute communte on the LIRR but would be happier with a 30 minute ride. We're thinking Mineola, Merrick, Williston Park, New Hyde Park, Hicksville, those areas. PLUS, we're looking at school districts. But we're not looking to move for about 3-5 years.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

DH and I grew up 1 town from each other and both sets of parents still live in the houses that we grew up in. So if it were to come that we were looking for another place to live we would keep it close to those areas (western Nassau). It would have to be somewhat close to a train station so I could walk back and forth. School district would come into play a lot...would have to have a good elementary school AND high school as we're undecided where we'll be later on in life for a private school education (DH went to Chaminade but I went to public - he says it's a great way to prepare for college).

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

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Posted by ourwedding9510

We live in a co-op that our union owns so the rent is DIRT cheap and it's easy to get to work (we live in Flushing). When we buy a house though we decided it will be in Suffolk and probably closer to where I grew up (Floral Park) as opposed to where he grew up (Wantagh). We both work in the city and he said he wants no more then a 45 minute communte on the LIRR but would be happier with a 30 minute ride. We're thinking Mineola, Merrick, Williston Park, New Hyde Park, Hicksville, those areas. PLUS, we're looking at school districts. But we're not looking to move for about 3-5 years.

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Whoop whoop! FP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

We bought a house in the best town that we could afford that was close to our families, because that's where we want to be. School districts are generally a huge thing to look at. We're sending our kids to Catholic school, so we didn't really care.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

Agreed - he was going on and on about schools (since he is a teacher) but all were further east then we are now.

His commute used to be 6 minutes to work and it's now 30... mine was 45 minute and now get be an hour and a half, hence why i do not want to move further east..

I just have a feeling it's going to be a battle for him to see the other side of things...

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

I'd make a list of things that are important to both of you before you even start looking - like house type, how many bedrooms, location from work (knowing this could change when jobs change) and even listing towns that are a definite no. Then take this list and compromise on some things...saying you could give a little on this if he were to give a little on that.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

We fell in love with Queens early on when we started dating. We lived in Astoria for a year renting, and then knew when it was time to buy, we wanted to stay in Queens - it's close to both of our families (his is in Queens, mine is in the city) which is really important, so Queens is the best of both worlds. I'm not sure if we'll ever move out of Queens and that makes me happy

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

Actually the decision was made for me. Jerry already had the house in Bayside and when we got married I just moved in. I had no problem with it- I like Bayside and my commute to work is only 15 min longer than it was before

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

We had a list of musts. School district was number 1. Also taxes played a huge role in our decision. Also important- commute, proximity to highways and family.

DH grew up in the city, I grew up in Nassau. We considered Suffolk because you get more for your money and the taxes are generally lower (where we were looking) but I just couldn't do it. Ive livd in Nassau my entire life. So we're just moving one town over. It's also much more convienent commuting wise- DH works in the city and I work in Nassau.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

well, i grew up in garden city, dh grew up in franklin square. we lived in franklin square before we got married, and didn't want to stay there. we wanted to go north shore nassau/western suffolk but in the end we wound up choosing garden city. no surprises that way lol. we were looking in areas where we didn't know anyone or anything about them, and no matter how much research we did, we just didn't feel comfortable with the unknown. we are very close to family and friends, which is good too.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

We decided based on work mileage - tried to keep it in the middle. It's perfect for us right now, 10 minutes from both our parents, not too far from friends.

Plus, I was drawn to the pool. It's not so bad - just wish the people in the building I lived in were normal human beings.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

I had a condo in Amityville and DH moved in.. in looking where to buy a house, we have two theories...

1. If we stay in NY - staying in Amityville/Copiague area. It's 4 minutes to work for both of us... and with in a mile of 90% of my family. His family is in Bethpage & Brooklyn, so still close.

2. We may end up in NC near my sister (outside Raleigh).

We're not really ready to buy a house (though the dogs are!) ... hopefully in the next 2 years. I think we're both leaning towards NC to get more bang for our buck.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

We moved to where i was closest to my job. DH isnt from LI or NY so he didnt have a preference. I love North Babylon since its near my parents and closer to my friends and family. If I had a choice and the money I would move back to my hometown and take the longer commute. I really loved suffolk so if we do stay on LI we proabably wont move out of Suffolk.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

Crashing because I feel like I might have some insight

FH and I grew up in the same town in Western Nassau (Williston Park)

5 years ago, I moved to Huntington with my parents, his parents are still in WP.

I work in Melville, he works in Port Washington - so right now we both have a 10 minute commute to work. We looked basically everywhere between Huntington and WP. We wanted to be close to family, but also be a good SD (most importantly) - LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!

Most of the houses in our price range ($300-400K) with taxes under $10K that were still in decent areas were in Western Suffolk (Huntington, East Northport, South Huntington, Dix Hills, Greenlawn), etc. We saw a bunch of houses in Plainview and Oyster Bay in that range (but with $12-15K taxes) but they needed a ton of work, were on main roads, backed train stations, or were basically on top of each other.

Here were my arguments:
- we'll probably have kids within the next few years, hence it is important for us to live closer to my job than his
- since my mother will probably be our primary babysitter, it is mportant for us to be closer to her
- his parents are contemplating moving to queens in the next year or two anyway, and we can't afford western nassau so we might as well be closer to my parents
- you get more bang for your buck in suffolk and where we were looking was still only an hour from the city

we ultimately decided on a house in South Huntington - it was right in the middle of our price range ($367K) with $7500 taxes. South Huntington school district which is a decent district (you can't realistically expect the 'best' for $300K), right near St. Anthony's high school. Close to highways and shopping, and major streets (Route 110, Jericho Turnpike, Old Country Road etc.). For us it was perfect - just make sure you do your own analysis like this and try to think about the future as well.

for us, our new house is 10 minutes from my office and 25 from his. 10 minutes from my parents and 25 minutes from his

HTH!!!!

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

We're in N. Babylon right now, but after our lease at our apartment, we're hoping to back to commack (where we were originally living), or east northport. We absolutely loved it there, the school districts are great and the neighborhoods are safe.

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

This has been SUPER HARD for DH and I... His family is from Westchester (Somers) and mine is in Suffolk (Kings Park).

We originally wanted to move to Westchester, since I was willing to compromise on my job (which is in Nassau), so he could take the train into Grand Central.

But now he's more open to taking the LIRR and I won't have to switch jobs so we're looking at middle Nassau (Everywhere from New Hyde Park to Seaford). It's really a struggle, but I think we're getting closer...

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

It all starts with a list.

Pros and Cons of each neighborhood that you like. Then work it from there.

We are looking in Nassau & Suffolk.

Massapequa, Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh & Seaford

Lindenhurst, Babylon & West Islip

We have been looking for a year. Seriously looking for this past month (DH's house is in contract now) What we have noticed is you get so much more property for your money in Suffolk. I mean a significant amount. Yes, moving to W. Islip adds an extra 10minutes onto DH's commute (I work from home), but to us it's worth it to be in that town, with very good schools and a large piece of property. (You also have to consider resale value as well)

The Suffolk homes with the property we are looking at in Nassau would be an extra $70k Easy and the taxes will practically double.

We still haven't settled on anything yet, but we're leaning heavily to W. Islip

Research Research Research!!!

Re: How did you decide where to live?!?!?!

I'm from Queens and my hubby has lived in Suffolk since he was 11. I moved out here 3 1/2 years ago and there was no way I was working in the city. I had to get a new job, and kick myself constantly for it. I wish we could have compromised somewhat but I don't think either of us would have been happy halfway between the city and Medford. I still wouldn't have liked the commute.
We realized we would never be happy with a house on LI. We would pay out the nose for something we could afford but really didn't like. I just don't think I should have to pay 300k for my first house. It seems crazy. And the taxes are nuts! We could never afford them with what we make now. So we will be moving to NC within the next year so we can actually have a quality of life we like and afford it! When we buy a house we get to have the whole neighborhood debate, but around Raleigh where we want to live, everything is pretty easy to get to so nothing is really as far as it seems! Out here something can be close but it takes forever to get to because of traffic!