XOXO

Thanks Nina! *NM*

x

x

Pepper, this will answer your ?'s, but a little long also!

We looked at what seemed like a million houses before finding this one. We loved most of them, but they were out of our price range. The others, were snached up in no time! We had a binder on another house before this, but it fell through b/c the owners decided that they wanted $2,000 more than what they originally wanted. (just wasn't meant to be).

My FI and I knew the areas we were interested in and only looked there. The house we found was a catch! We were very lucky to have found it. It only needs cosmetics done. The house, although 35 years old, is in perfect shape. As I said before, we looked at it on a Sat. night (it was put on the market on Sat. morning). My mother found the ad. in the paper and gave it to me. I called and the realator had to call me back b/c she wasn't in her office. My FI and I had made appts. to look at other houses, and were on our way to one when she called me back. I told her I really wanted to see it today and was a bit pushy (I am not at all a pushy person). She said she was busy all day, but perhaps after dinner. I told her that that time would be great since I was going over to my MOH's house (who lives in that area). Well, she called me back a few hours later and told me she could get me in at 7:00 pm. We went, and when we walked into the house, we just knew we wanted it. It has this gorgeous staircase that curves, the hallway and living room has cathedral ceilings, etc. Just, it was decorated in the erly 60's and never redone! We told the relator that we HAD to come back the next day with our parents, and actually had her bump the first appt. that was going to see the house since we wanted to be the first ones in!

The next day when we came back, we told the relator that we were going to make a full offer, and she told us that another couple was coming an hour after us to make an offer also, but they were with a different relator and she didn't know any info on them. (they were the ones we bumped) We met our relator at her office later on that day and set a binder. She told us that she was going to present both offers to the couple at 7 pm that night and that she would get back to us.

Well, waiting on pins and needles, an hour after she told us she was meeting with the couple, she called to tell me the house is ours! From that point on, we only had 72 hours to find an engineer, set the appt. and to contact a lawyer. The engineer came the next day and gave the house a clean bill of health. He actually told us that he has never seen a 35 year old house in such good shape!

It is a mad race, but it just goes! Oh yeah, we were pre-approved for a mortgage even before we started looking at houses. That helps you tremendously since people take you seriously when you have one. It also helps you know how much you can afford. We took out a mortgage a lot less than the bank said we could handle b/c we didn't want to have our lives run by our house just yet. We are young (I'm turining 29 tomorrow) and still want to be able to go on vacation without worrying about making our ends meet. the bank told us that since we have stable jobs, and since our salaries will increase each year (we're both teachers), we should go for a more expensive house. My FI and i both feel that we have a few years before we actually get our dream home. Just want to enjoy life right now without much debt.

OH- we are closing in either july or aug. The contract says aug 1st, but the couple may want to get out earlier if they can (they are both elderly and the original owners of the houes- they can't climb the stairs anymore)

Good luck and let me know if you need any more help. - BTW- we put 10% down as a deposit. Most banks will tell you you have to put down 20%, but it's not true! You can put as little as 5% down.

Kelly..more questions for you!

Hi Kelly: First I want to say Congratulations on your new home and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
My question is: If you only put down 10% doesn't that make your monthly payments VERY HIGH? My FH have disagreed about this for a while. I tell him that we have to put at least $100,000 down for our monthly payments to be reasonable and he keeps on telling me that we can put down 10% and have no problems (He says that we should put down $30-50,000). What do you think? Thanks! :)

Marcela...

I don't know how much you plan on spending on a house, but 10% is more than enough. Our monthly payments are very reasonable (they will be about $1,700 a month) We originally decided on putting down 20%- and saved enough for it, however decided on 10% to keep a little spending cash for our wedding. The difference was only $100 a month. Not bad at all. Also, our lawyer told us that we can decide to put more $ down (add it to our down payment) before our closing date, but I don't think $100 a month will kill us. We only started saving in Sept. for this (as soon as we got engaged- I was never a big saver and niether was my FH). Well, we were able to afford a 4 bedroom coloinial in a really nice area.

My advice for you is to find a bank that will be able to tell you your options. If you need any recommendations/help, email me and I will help you as much as I can. It is possible and you don't have to put down so much.

Kelly
[email protected]

The Reality Buying a Home In LI

I worked in a real estate office many many years ago, and I can say that I do not see a softening in the market here at all. If anything, it is so far out of hand I don't know where it will end up. Homes in our neighborhood are going into bidding wars, and 2 homes went for 300k and 500k MORE than the asking price. The strangest part is both homes needed about 100k in repairs.
As long as people are willing to pay these prices, and have the money to do so, the market will not crash. Neighbors are looking to sell knowing they will make a killing based on what the other homes are going for.

I guess it is the classic economic principle of the law of supply and demand.

We plan on staying here long enough to save enough to put 50% on a house elsewhere in the state or country. Homes elsewhere are so much more reasonable, and in many instances, are brand new, and for a fraction of the LI mortgage price, as well as a fraction of the property and school taxes. I don't want to live to work to pay my mortgage and taxes.
I think the concept of what LIers feel is 'reasonable' is probably very warped compared to the national average.
I do applaud anyone who can afford to get a house in this market. They must have worked very hard and saved very diligently to get such a large downpayment.

pick your brain some more!

kelly4 congrats on the house! Sounds like its a mad race though which is kind of discouraging. So you mentioned you bought in suffolk which areas had good school districts? Did you find it cheaper than nassau after all? I saw someone posted about putting 100,000 down, there is no way ill be able to swing that, what do you think is enough? We will probably have about 60 but that is without much left for anything else including furniture haha oh gosh!
Well Happy birthday
thanks for the input

pick your brain some more!

Hi and thanks!

$100k is way too much! If you can put $60k down, that's great, however unescessary! Don't strap yourself! We put way less than that and were able to get a great house in a great area!

As for school Districts: I grew up and work in Smithtown, and I do have to say that they are great! I do want my kids to go there and my FH (who also works in Smithtown) agrees. He went to school in Commack, which is another great district. We bought our house i three village area, which I had though is a good district, but more than a couple of teachers in my building who live in this area and have children who either attended Three Village, or are still going there say that they are just living off thier rep for the past few years. I keep hearing negs. about this SD. However, it is the support thathe parents give at home that make all the difference, wether in a good district or not. You still have lawyers and Dr's coming out of less fortunate districts. It is also the teachers that the SD employ. They are the best resource for your children. A great teacher, given next to nothing can take what is offered and turn it into a wonderful learning world for his/her children. Also, on the otherhand, a teacher in a more fortunate SD can do nothing special for a child and lead them no where. It all depends onthe type of family the child belongs to. If they have the support and drive at home, anything is possible. Well, another fact is if you have a child with special needs. If you do, you have to make sure the district can financially support your child educationally. This is where a good district is the most important. If a district doesn't have prgrams tha will meet the needs for the child, the child won't get a fair shot of an education.

Well, there are many other great districts out there. I also know Connetquot is great, Cold spring harbor, Northport, etc. just to name a few. You really have to decide what you can afford right now, look at he school report cards, visit buildings (if this is really impt. to you) and see if you like them. My FH and I both have though our education at Smithtown and Commack was top, so we are predujice towards these areas. It's not to say that there aren't others like this around.

I think, if you have $60k to spend, you will be able to find your perfect house in the SD you want with no problem. Just realize that the good houses go quickly and be prepared to shop around first before you make your decision!

Best of luck to you all!

As mentioned before, if anyone has anymore questions, you can always email me!

Kelly
[email protected]

Kelly

Thank you so much. I feel a lot better. We might actually be able to afford something!!! Thanks again and Congrats and Good Luck to you!!

Kelly4 - RE: 3-Vlg

Hi Kelly,
I actually went to school in the Three Village District my whole life until senior year (when I attended Harborfields - Centerport/Greenlawn). The district is really great. They offer an incredible amount of programs and classes (e.g.: they offer aprox. 25 different art classes in the high school as opposed to maybe aprox. 3-4 in other districts). I would recommend the district to anyone. I know that Ward Melville HS has a reputation for being a 'drug' school and I won't lie - There were a lot of drugs there. It was primarily due to the fact that there were a lot of kids there who came from wealthy families so they had the money to buy drugs. However, you will find drugs in any district. When I am ready to buy a house, I will definitely try to buy in the 3-Vlg area (if I can afford it! :) ) - I hope this info helps -

Thanks Meg9! It's great to hear some Pos. after all the neg

like I had said before, no matter what the district's rep, it is what YOU make of it. You don't nescessarly have to go to the best schools to get a great education. I'm glad to hear that you had a great experience in 3vil. I hope we will too! Thank you for the input.

Smithtown!!

Thats funny that is the area that I decided it might be worth looking into suffolk for! I hope the houses there arent outrageous by the time I buy, I wont be ready to buy until next year but i know i will start looking within the next few months, thanks so much for all the info ladies!

Smithtown!!

Tarakinspa-

I currently live in Smithtown and have looked around for an affordable house in that area, but it was hard to find. I do have to say that I love living in Smithtown and when I move I will truely miss it. I do plan on moving back in a few years though. I can tell you that the house prices in Smithtown are higher than average. You can find a house for mid $200K, but it is on a VERY small property size and needs a lot of work (gut the entire house!) Houses that are in move in condition go for a lot more. but, it is a great area and I do highly recommend it!

Best of luck on your search!