Ok so here's my questions - FH is 25 and I'm 24 and we just can't figure out how so many people (or what feels like somany people) are buying houses on LI. How are people affording it??? Is there something I don't know??? Uhhh its so upsetting - I feel like we'll never be able to afford a house and FH is a lawyer and I'm a teacher. FH was at a closing the other day and some of the brokers made a comment about how you can't buy a house in South Huntington for under 450,000 which is pretty much the area we want to be in - we both grew up in Huntington and both of our families live there....
What are all you ladies doing???
cjb88
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FI and I used to think this way too, and now we are almost in contract for our first house!!!
We both lived at home rent free (and still do now) for as long as we could... so a huge chunk of our salaries were saved for a down payment. We ended up finding a house in Rocky Point for $345... with low taxes... not our first pick of area (we both grew up in Setauket and would have liked to stay here) but Rocky Point is still nice with a good school district... we saved enough to put 10% down... so that is how we are doing it... there is also this program that i qualified for that is giving money to first time home buyers ($12,000!) so that is helping a ton too!! There is hope...
RVM
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FI and I are in contract right now for a house in Westchester. We are supposed to have our closing in 2 weeks! We planned on buying a condo or co-op to start in but this house opportunity came along and we decided to go for it! We figure if we can't make the mortgage payments, just paint the house and redo the hardwood floors and put it back on the market. Worse case scenario hopefully!
DanielleBride
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which program is this if you don't mind me asking?
conigs25
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My FI and I bought a co-op in Smithtown. We thought that was a better route to go bc it was affordable and something we owned
serendipity0680
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I couldn't agree more, it is so expensive to buy a house on LI. I live in Nassau and can't even think about buying a house unless we want to spend betwenn $500,000 & $600,000.
kissy27
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I use to think the same way as everyone..FH is 26 & I am 25...We have been looking for over a year & were ready to give up...
Fortunately FH & I have both lived home rent free out entire lives...We have both been working full time since were were 18 (even through college)...FH works in sales, so there is constantly money coming in besides his base salary...We both bust our butts to save as much as possible...There are times we have to do without vacations & spending stupid money...But in the end that is the sacrafice we have to make...FH also had a lot of investments from when he was younger that has paid off....Both of us are debit free & that helps a bit...Plus we are paying also paying for our entire wedding...So saving has been the #1 priority now
I haven't wanted to say anything lately bc we are not 'officially' in contract yet (waiting for seller to sign) but we will be closing on our first house in August...We are fortunate enough to be putting 20% down & in our case helped us to negiotate a lot of things...In my eyes, there are times that you have to sacrafice things to get what you want...I feel very fortunate that FH & I are able to do what we are...I wish you all the best of luck! Don't get down about it, there is something out there for everyone!
kellwolfe
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were buying a condo because were not sure if we will end up staying on LI -
Blu-ize
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Posted by jaclyncalderon
Posted by Blu-ize
It's ridiculous and it's no fun to be house poor. This island of ours is out of control. We would neverbe able to afford our house now. We bought it over 2 years ago and it recently appraised for $200,000 over what we paid! Yikes! We bought when we were older than you and had to save for years. Here in LI it takes years to save unless you have help. Remember though that your FH will be making much more money as time goes by. By the time he is a 3rd year he could be making enough to afford a house. That time will go fast. You will get a job, but stressing yourself over it now won't do you any good. Enjoy your wedding planning, try not to go overboard with it and you may have some left towards your house! Trying to do both at the same time may just put you over the edge!
Thanks HUN!! That is so sweet of you!!!!! You made me feel better!
I'm glad -hang in there, everything will work out!
cantwait2bewed
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Me and Fh are closing on our home in PA which we are building, this Wed. It is a lot of resposibilty however our home is costing us 390k and it has 4 bdrms and 3 bths, its a huge house. And will be built from scratch. I am worried aobut giving up our lifestyle, but having a home is a great asset. You can never go wrong with owning your own home. We wouldnt be able to afford to live in LI though. Everything is just so expensive
jantany26
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You are definitely not the only one. That's why me and my husband are planning to moving to florida like in about two years and buy something down there. there is no way we can afford anything here in ny.
leese
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I'm stressing about this too - and I'm moving to Jersey. I don't know how we are going to do it!
cjb88
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Posted by DanielleBride
which program is this if you don't mind me asking?
here is the info:
Suffolk County Home Consortium Home Down Payment Assistance Program For First Time Homebuyers.... 853-5705
cjik
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We are 42 and 37, and we both earn decent incomes, according to some chart we are part of the upper middle class. But we can't afford anything decent in areas we would want to live in right now. Plus with the wedding (this year), we decided to put off looking for a home until next spring. I'm hoping the real estate market slows down by then, although I suppose interest rates will go up.
LaurenluvsTJ
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We have all the same thoughts. We are thinking of buying a 2 family house and then renting out half of it. We will probably go to queens where the taxes are lower, and the rent will pay for a lot of our mortgage payment .. that way we will be able to save money and hopefully buy a house on LI or westchester in a few years. Moving too far from NYC is not really an option, we both have jobs that are here and can't do in many other places, especially him.
jennymac
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You can find things under 450. you have to be patient and flexible and have a good realtor. Go to daniel gale and mlsli.com and sign up for emails. the really cheap ones go very very fast.
cjb88
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there are plenty of beautiful houses under 450 out here in the boonies!!! Especially in the Rocky Point area... low taxes too!!!
jandt2006
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rocky point looks like a nice area too.
KandM2006
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Queens is JUST as bad a LI!!! A home as big as a shoe box will cost you 500K ATLEAST and you get NO kind of yard or privacy!!! So we do have Lower taxes but is it REALLY worth it? Everything is relative I guess......
MrsStefan
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FH were talking about this last night. We cant afford NY so we are moving to Florida! But the problem is that I dont want to move right after the wedding. I want to be in NY for about 6 months after the wedding and then move. We couldnt decide where we are going to live in between the wedding and Florida, so last night we made a decision to rent an apartment privately. We dont want to get locked into a lease with a complex for a year because we want to move. We are hesitant to rent because nowadays rent is the same as a mortgage!!! But it looks like we need to really search for a good deal and then make a move. Its WAY TOO expensive to live in NY...and I dont think the houses are worth the money (but it is worth it to stay here if you have a lot of family or lies to LI)...just not for us!
