Girls who are house hunting in Nassau County

What are you looking for in your house hunting search and why? What's important to you in a house and where are you looking?

We're pretty new in the house hunting process and since I'm not from Nassau County, I don't know what school districts are good. I need lots of recommendations for nice areas with taxes preferrably below $8000-9000. Thanks!

We are looking in quite a few Nassau areas. The most important thing to us is the school district. Your right about the taxes because they never go down always up. It's important to FH that we have decent sized property. I also think it's really improtant to have a decent sized kitchen because to redo a kitchen is a crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy amount of money.

Some good school districts are:
Franklin Square
Merrick
Syosset
Old Bethpage
Seaford

Those are just to name a few.

School districts do change though. My parents bought a house in Farmingdale when I was eleven months old and by the time I was ready to go to middle school, my mom put me in private school and she was upset because at the time they were willing to pay so much in taxes for a good district and then it changed. My uncle is an attorney and sent his kids to copaigue schools ten years ago and now we live in copaigue district which is only marginally better than amityville these days. Until recently we had a house in Dix Hills but it wasn't Hills school district because they redrew the lines several years ago and it became south huntington school districts which really aren't bad but aren't as good either when you're paying for the area.

Just keep in mind that those things are subject to change by the time you have kids and they are ready for school, its scary :(

Taxes are important! My mom lives 10 minutes from us but right over the line from Suffolk to Nassau and she pays about $10k and we pay $4-5 including both property lots (this one and the lot across the s treet)

I just bought in Bellmore...North Bellmore actually. Ideally, we wanted to be in Western Nassau and North Shore but tax wise, it just wasn't do-able. Plus I couldn't see paying substantially more for a house that needs work on the north shore when I could buy something for less on the south shore thats move in ready.

Important things to us were a big kitchen, good school district and a good yard for entertaining! We also needed to be by the LIRR because we both work in Manhattan.

Most of the districts on the North Shore are fantastic...but south shore wise

Merrick
Bellmore
Franklin Square
Rockville Center

If you have no issues being further out in Nassau, Massapequa, Mass Park, Wantagh, Seaford....are all good.

Long Beach and Oceanside are also nice :)

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Posted by JamieAnt06202009

I want to be in Half Hollow Hills School District so bad. A lot of the houses are really expensive with crazy houses but if we find something with a price that;s not too bad we'd take it in a second.

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Believe it or not, I don't think that district is SOOOOOOOOO great....Parts of Wyandanch go to East, and parts of Deer Park go to West...so its still pretty mixed up...don't get me wrong, its good but I wouldn't kill to be there...personally I think where I am is just as good

Here are the rankings of top 10s (high schools only) in each county...

NASSAU:
1. Jericho (67.0)
2. Great Neck South (66.7)
3. Miller-Great Neck North (61.5)
4. Manhasset (60.8)
5. Roslyn (60.8)
6. The Wheatley School in Old Westbury (54.0)
7. Syosset (50.2)
8. Garden City (50.0)
9. John F. Kennedy (Bellmore-Merrick schools; 49.0)
10. North Shore (47.2)


SUFFOLK:
1. Cold Spring Harbor (73.5)
2. Half Hollow Hills West, Dix Hills (51.3)
3. Earl L. Vandermeulen, Port Jefferson schools (48.9)
4. Half Hollows Hills East (42.3)
5. Mattituck (46.4)
6. Harborfields (44.4)
7. Northport (41.8)
8. John H. Glenn (Elwood; 38.0)
9. Smithtown West (37)
10. Three Village (36.1), which includes students from Setauket, Stony Brook and East Setauket plus small pockets of Centereach, Port Jefferson, Lake Grove and St. James.

Your number one priority should be school district.

The best school districts in Nassau are:

Syosset
Jericho
Great Neck
Roslyn
Plainview/Old Bethpage
Pt. Washington

You can check newsdays school report card to get an idea of the different school districts.

Good school districts do not change, poor ones can get better or worse.

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Posted by KittyGags

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Posted by JamieAnt06202009

I want to be in Half Hollow Hills School District so bad. A lot of the houses are really expensive with crazy houses but if we find something with a price that;s not too bad we'd take it in a second.

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Believe it or not, I don't think that district is SOOOOOOOOO great....Parts of Wyandanch go to East, and parts of Deer Park go to West...so its still pretty mixed up...don't get me wrong, its good but I wouldn't kill to be there...personally I think where I am is just as good

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Really I wasn't aware of that. I thought Half Hollows West was really good. But you are right some Deer Park does go there. Maybe I should reconsider. Ahh. We really like Northport School District too but it's just so far for FH. He has to go to the city a lot of times so it would be hard. I like both North and South Shore so I am open to a lot of towns I just want to make sure the school district is good. I know it can change but at least good for now.

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Posted by KittyGags

I just bought in Bellmore...North Bellmore actually. Ideally, we wanted to be in Western Nassau and North Shore but tax wise, it just wasn't do-able. Plus I couldn't see paying substantially more for a house that needs work on the north shore when I could buy something for less on the south shore thats move in ready.

Important things to us were a big kitchen, good school district and a good yard for entertaining! We also needed to be by the LIRR because we both work in Manhattan.

Most of the districts on the North Shore are fantastic...but south shore wise

Merrick
Bellmore
Franklin Square
Rockville Center

If you have no issues being further out in Nassau, Massapequa, Mass Park, Wantagh, Seaford....are all good.

Long Beach and Oceanside are also nice :)

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I heard Rockville Centre was changing and that it wasn't so great anymore. Is this true, or is it still good?

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Posted by KittyGags

Here are the rankings of top 10s (high schools only) in each county...

NASSAU:
1. Jericho (67.0)
2. Great Neck South (66.7)
3. Miller-Great Neck North (61.5)
4. Manhasset (60.8)
5. Roslyn (60.8)
6. The Wheatley School in Old Westbury (54.0)
7. Syosset (50.2)
8. Garden City (50.0)
9. John F. Kennedy (Bellmore-Merrick schools; 49.0)
10. North Shore (47.2)


SUFFOLK:
1. Cold Spring Harbor (73.5)
2. Half Hollow Hills West, Dix Hills (51.3)
3. Earl L. Vandermeulen, Port Jefferson schools (48.9)
4. Half Hollows Hills East (42.3)
5. Mattituck (46.4)
6. Harborfields (44.4)
7. Northport (41.8)
8. John H. Glenn (Elwood; 38.0)
9. Smithtown West (37)
10. Three Village (36.1), which includes students from Setauket, Stony Brook and East Setauket plus small pockets of Centereach, Port Jefferson, Lake Grove and St. James.

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Thanks for this list!!! What town is North Shore school in?

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Posted by JamieAnt06202009

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Posted by KittyGags

Here are the rankings of top 10s (high schools only) in each county...

NASSAU:
1. Jericho (67.0)
2. Great Neck South (66.7)
3. Miller-Great Neck North (61.5)
4. Manhasset (60.8)
5. Roslyn (60.8)
6. The Wheatley School in Old Westbury (54.0)
7. Syosset (50.2)
8. Garden City (50.0)
9. John F. Kennedy (Bellmore-Merrick schools; 49.0)
10. North Shore (47.2)


SUFFOLK:
1. Cold Spring Harbor (73.5)
2. Half Hollow Hills West, Dix Hills (51.3)
3. Earl L. Vandermeulen, Port Jefferson schools (48.9)
4. Half Hollows Hills East (42.3)
5. Mattituck (46.4)
6. Harborfields (44.4)
7. Northport (41.8)
8. John H. Glenn (Elwood; 38.0)
9. Smithtown West (37)
10. Three Village (36.1), which includes students from Setauket, Stony Brook and East Setauket plus small pockets of Centereach, Port Jefferson, Lake Grove and St. James.

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Thanks for this list!!! What town is North Shore school in?

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Sea Cliff area I believe...its so nice there but just too hard to commute for us from there.

We are in the middle of the house purchasing process. We found a house in East Meadow but were looking in Levittown, EM, Wantagh, Massapequa, Bellmore, and Merrick. We were trying to get a home that was not too far away from the train station since FH works in the city, and I work in central Nassau.

We ended up finding a home which is only a few minutes from my job and kinda far from the train station, but for the money, and the school district it was well worth it. Our schools are #1 in EM and I guess average taxes, like $8,000-9,000.

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Posted by JamieAnt06202009

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Posted by KittyGags

I just bought in Bellmore...North Bellmore actually. Ideally, we wanted to be in Western Nassau and North Shore but tax wise, it just wasn't do-able. Plus I couldn't see paying substantially more for a house that needs work on the north shore when I could buy something for less on the south shore thats move in ready.

Important things to us were a big kitchen, good school district and a good yard for entertaining! We also needed to be by the LIRR because we both work in Manhattan.

Most of the districts on the North Shore are fantastic...but south shore wise

Merrick
Bellmore
Franklin Square
Rockville Center

If you have no issues being further out in Nassau, Massapequa, Mass Park, Wantagh, Seaford....are all good.

Long Beach and Oceanside are also nice :)

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I heard Rockville Centre was changing and that it wasn't so great anymore. Is this true, or is it still good?

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To respond to this part, I think its mixed but still decent...

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Posted by KittyGags

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Posted by JamieAnt06202009

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Posted by KittyGags

Here are the rankings of top 10s (high schools only) in each county...

NASSAU:
1. Jericho (67.0)
2. Great Neck South (66.7)
3. Miller-Great Neck North (61.5)
4. Manhasset (60.8)
5. Roslyn (60.8)
6. The Wheatley School in Old Westbury (54.0)
7. Syosset (50.2)
8. Garden City (50.0)
9. John F. Kennedy (Bellmore-Merrick schools; 49.0)
10. North Shore (47.2)


SUFFOLK:
1. Cold Spring Harbor (73.5)
2. Half Hollow Hills West, Dix Hills (51.3)
3. Earl L. Vandermeulen, Port Jefferson schools (48.9)
4. Half Hollows Hills East (42.3)
5. Mattituck (46.4)
6. Harborfields (44.4)
7. Northport (41.8)
8. John H. Glenn (Elwood; 38.0)
9. Smithtown West (37)
10. Three Village (36.1), which includes students from Setauket, Stony Brook and East Setauket plus small pockets of Centereach, Port Jefferson, Lake Grove and St. James.

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Thanks for this list!!! What town is North Shore school in?

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Sea Cliff area I believe...its so nice there but just too hard to commute for us from there.

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Sea Cliff is really nice but it is really off the beaten path. I would take me over an hour and FH as well. The highways aren't that close to it. But I really do love the town.

I feel torn when it comes to house hunting because I'm unsure if the school district will matter - will we be there by the time our kids are school aged? My fh is all about a smaller starter house - I'd like to buy a forever house in a good area that I don't predict will change.

My fh works in Oceanside and I work in Astoria and we live in Flushing. Both of us have about a half hour commute. My parents live in College Point and I know I will be using my mom as my children's day care provider and I know I want to stay at my current job so I'm trying to pick towns that aren't ridiculously far away to commute from house to College Point to Astoria and then back every day.

We are looking in Lynbrook, RVC, Long Beach and Oceanside and I'm unsure about all the school districts. Also, how good are the Valley Stream schools - does anyone know that?

This is such a stressful process!

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Posted by IrishBrideASmiling


We are in the middle of the house purchasing process. We found a house in East Meadow but were looking in Levittown, EM, Wantagh, Massapequa, Bellmore, and Merrick.

Our schools are #1 in EM and I guess average taxes, like $8,000-9,000.

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We looked in the same towns and bought in East Meadow too, for similar reasons. IMO most of the Nassau districts are very good.

Beware of media's 'rating' systems for public schools. US News uses the # of students that take AP courses to determine their ratings. But that would eliminate good districts with fewer or different kinds of advanced offerings. Your best bet is to talk to teachers or parents with kids in the district and get the 'inside scoop.'

If i had it my way, I'd stay in Queens. But, FH is itching to get out.

We are looking in Fkln Sq,Farmingdale, and I looked in Babylon in Suffolk.

Our situation is a bit different because we're getting a two fam (long story) but being from queens, to me, the closer to my fam the better! So places like Franklin Square, Rockville Ctr etc.

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Posted by JamieAnt06202009

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Posted by KittyGags

I just bought in Bellmore...North Bellmore actually. Ideally, we wanted to be in Western Nassau and North Shore but tax wise, it just wasn't do-able. Plus I couldn't see paying substantially more for a house that needs work on the north shore when I could buy something for less on the south shore thats move in ready.

Important things to us were a big kitchen, good school district and a good yard for entertaining! We also needed to be by the LIRR because we both work in Manhattan.

Most of the districts on the North Shore are fantastic...but south shore wise

Merrick
Bellmore
Franklin Square
Rockville Center

If you have no issues being further out in Nassau, Massapequa, Mass Park, Wantagh, Seaford....are all good.

Long Beach and Oceanside are also nice :)

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I heard Rockville Centre was changing and that it wasn't so great anymore. Is this true, or is it still good?

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10 girl crashing, for my itnernship I do education research and RVC-southside high school is definitly still a great school!!

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Posted by KittyGags

I just bought in Bellmore...North Bellmore actually. Ideally, we wanted to be in Western Nassau and North Shore but tax wise, it just wasn't do-able. Plus I couldn't see paying substantially more for a house that needs work on the north shore when I could buy something for less on the south shore thats move in ready.

Important things to us were a big kitchen, good school district and a good yard for entertaining! We also needed to be by the LIRR because we both work in Manhattan.

Most of the districts on the North Shore are fantastic...but south shore wise

Merrick
Bellmore
Franklin Square
Rockville Center

If you have no issues being further out in Nassau, Massapequa, Mass Park, Wantagh, Seaford....are all good.

Long Beach and Oceanside are also nice :)

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You get a LOT for your money education-wise in Oceanside. I'm a little partial because I teach there!!!

HHH is a Suffolk district, not a Nassau district.