Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

not that bad of a location, okay SD's quiet dead end street OR a house that's smaller but in a better location and better school districts?

Also, how important is it to you that there is a full finished basement v. a crawl basement?

UPDATE:
Hey there, just got back from the open house in Norhport. It's a cute starter house.. the thing is the LIRR runs along the back of the house, right behind the backyard... The kitchen needs major updating. It was cute though for the price and the area is great.

Message edited 4/15/2007 3:08:21 PM.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

1st rule of real estate- location, location, location

buy the worst house on the best bock - not the best house on an ok block

I am the daughter of a very successful real estate broker and the wife of a mortgage banker- -so this has been drilled into myhead for 30 yeas

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Worst house in the best neighborhood!!!!

It's what we did when we took over DH parents house last year!!!

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

I would take the smaller house in a better school district and location. Both times we have bought our first priority was buying in the best neighborhood/school district we could afford.

To your second question I really like having a full basement for storage and when we fix up the finished basement in our new house we will also use it as a den to hang out in.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Here's my opinion, chances are both towns would be very nice to raise a family. Lets face it there are very FEW places on LI that are truly unsafe or unsavory. I think sometimes the worst house on the best block theory is a recipe for disaster. People often buy over their heads into a town that is $$$$ in everyway. Meaning unless you see you income doubling or tripling you'll always be at the bottom of the food chain. I personally would never move into an
"elite" wealthly schoool district no matter how awesome the reputation because i would never want my kids to experience the keeping up with the rich kids lifestyle.
My son graduated from Connetquot in 2005, that is a very middle class district with a small waterfront population that is more wealthy. The student parking lot was filled with brand new escalades, BMW's, Acuras, Lexus'.
Imagine what the parking lot in Cold Spring Harbor looks like.

I'm really NOT into the keeping up with the Joneses, and yes RE is about location, but lets face it-this is LI, not Podunk. If you happily raise a family in any home here for many years your investment will appreciate & you will have made a good choice.

As for the basement, I'd rather have a full, but depending on the house it may not be a deal breaker for me.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

I would definitely choose the smaller house in the better neighborhood and school districts.

Not all neighborhoods are created alike and neither are all of the school districts. There are vast differences among school districts on Long Island.

Good luck!

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Smaller home in a good neighborhood and school district. As long as the money was about the same as I imagine it is from your post. You can always change the house, but you can't change it's location.

Full basement would be my choice however if there was adequate storage in the house or a shed or something that would be ok too.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Message edited 4/15/2007 2:03:16 PM.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

definitely location first..we needed a full basement because we have kids. we settled on a half basement but its a split so there is still plenty of room.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Smaller home, better location.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Location.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

So, most of you would choose the better location. Well, here is my situation. There is this house that my dh and I put a bid on in N. Babylon, literally a couple of blocks away from where we currently live. We love the house! The area is ok. The house is everything we would want, it has an updated kitchen, nice formal dining room, full finished basement and 4 bedrooms, the back yard is very nice with finished pavers and an above ground pool, although not sure we would keep the pool..the house is set on a corner property on a dead end street, so it's very quiet, hardly any traffic. The outside of the house is updated as well, with a brand new architectural roof, etc. It's in SD # 3 I believe. Which is ok...

My first choice for location would be Northport/ E. Northport. We were looking there before we saw the house in N. Babylon, but there were no houses that were in our range. We recently saw one that is in our range.. but it does not have a full finished basement, it has a crawl space basement. I am not sure of the inside yet, we'll be going to see it today, pending the weather. The outside looks nice. It's one bedroom less than the N. Babylon house and it has 1 full bath plus a half v. the house in N. Babylon with 2 full baths. I notice it is listed on a semi busy street...but a friend of mine that lives 5 minutes away from the street says it's not too busy.

I know that the E-northport schools are much better that N. Bablyon schools.. but I figure that I would not have to really think about that until 7 or 8 years from now.

Both houses would be around the same price. We would get more house for our money with the N. Babylon house though.

UGHHHH this is overwhelming.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

My DH and I were in the same situation a few weeks ago we saw a house in an area that is ok on an ok block but the house was great and huge! We then saw a great house in West Islip on a great block but the house is small. We are going into contract on the smaller house. I figure we can always build up (its a ranch) and we can always redo the basment and make it more roomy. Location was a definte for us as well as the school system (i'm a teacher).

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

def smaller house better location!

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Posted by VFranchino

So, most of you would choose the better location. Well, here is my situation. There is this house that my dh and I put a bid on in N. Babylon, literally a couple of blocks away from where we currently live. We love the house! The area is ok. The house is everything we would want, it has an updated kitchen, nice formal dining room, full finished basement and 4 bedrooms, the back yard is very nice with finished pavers and an above ground pool, although not sure we would keep the pool..the house is set on a corner property on a dead end street, so it's very quiet, hardly any traffic. The outside of the house is updated as well, with a brand new architectural roof, etc. It's in SD # 3 I believe. Which is ok...

My first choice for location would be Northport/ E. Northport. We were looking there before we saw the house in N. Babylon, but there were no houses that were in our range. We recently saw one that is in our range.. but it does not have a full finished basement, it has a crawl space basement. I am not sure of the inside yet, we'll be going to see it today, pending the weather. The outside looks nice. It's one bedroom less than the N. Babylon house and it has 1 full bath plus a half v. the house in N. Babylon with 2 full baths. I notice it is listed on a semi busy street...but a friend of mine that lives 5 minutes away from the street says it's not too busy.

I know that the E-northport schools are much better that N. Bablyon schools.. but I figure that I would not have to really think about that until 7 or 8 years from now.

Both houses would be around the same price. We would get more house for our money with the N. Babylon house though.

UGHHHH this is overwhelming.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

smaller house and better location. DH and I could've bought a really bit house in a town that we didn't care for for many reasons (though the neighborhood itself was nice) or a smaller house in east rockaway, which is what we did. we still love the neighborhood, the feel of the town, everything!

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Please see my update! Thanks

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

It seems to me that neither of these two homes are right for you. I think prices will continue to come down and/or sellers will negotiate more over the coming months so maybe you should wait for a home that is a better fit in the town you prefer.
I don't think N. Babylon is a bad, but I understand why east northport may be more "desirable".
I think both towns would provide a great lifestyle for a young family, who knows what could happen in ten years.
You could build the little house on the semi-busy road into what you love & the road could become even busier.
How do the taxes compare?
Are you at the top of your budget with these homes?

Didn't you post a while ago that you walked into a house & it felt like home?
Was it one of these?

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Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

Worst house in the better neighborhood. You can make the house one of the best if you work on it.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

I believe in the general rule that location is key. However, there are exceptions. My friend grew up in the worst house in an exclusive neighborhood. Her parents had a lot of financial setbacks and any work they thought they could do just never got done. It was a difficult childhood for her.

I live in the average house for my area, in a great school district. My location within the development is great. All those things are important to me, even though I do not think I can ever have the best house around here.

Re: Which would you choose? More house for the money in..

After reading your update, I would not pick the house in E. Northport.

I don't want LIRR tracks in my backyard. While E. Northport is a plus in location, the LIRR in your backyard is NOT.