Home Delivery

Houses for $300,000 or less: Bargains, but beware

Agent Steve Leighton said that he's seen a lot of interest in a Levittown three-bedroom, one-bath cape home, listed at $299,000. (Newsday / Ken Spencer / February 29, 2008)

BY ELLEN YAN | ellen.yan@newsday.com

March 21, 2008

Article tools

E-mail

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Facebook
- Fark
- Google
- Newsvine
- Reddit
- Yahoo

If you want a good house on Long Island for $300,000 or less, the word is you will probably have to give up on size or something else for these "get-in prices" to homeownership.

"You're going to get houses that are much older, and buyer beware," says Steve Leighton, an associate broker with the Keller Williams Realty office in Carle Place. "Sometimes you have to find a little diamond in the rough."

In many neighborhoods when houses are listed at $300,000 or less, there's often a reason, and buyers at this level have to be savvy. The house might need some "makeup," such as paint, or big repairs. It could have only one bathroom, sit next to train tracks or be in an "up-and-coming neighborhood."

But gems can be found, with 150-year-old charm or a guest cottage in the back. Or a brand-new home may be not quite within walking distance to a coffee shop. Or it could be a foreclosure and have granite countertops in the kitchen.

House hunters looking for more affordable prices might have to balance finances with what they can stomach, from the train whistle to huge repairs.

"People will choose to live in a not-so-great neighborhood, or people will live long distances from where they work and endure long commutes," says Barbara Lipman, who grew up in Southampton and is now research director for the Center for Housing Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based research group.

But trying to save on housing prices by living far from work can backfire, Lipman cautions. Research shows that commuting costs for those who live more than 10 or 15 miles from home often eat up price savings in the long run, she says.

In the center's recent report, Nassau-Suffolk ranked as the 15th most expensive U.S. homeownership market out of 201 metro areas. A household needs income of about $147,000 to afford recent median housing prices of about $450,000 on Long Island, the report notes.

Leighton says affordable homes are out there. He suggests looking at the bones of a property and having a "Zen moment." Ignore the junk and other surface problems, he says, and imagine you're living there - sitting on the couch watching TV, cooking in the kitchen, etc. - and see if it feels like home.

Remember a diamond in the rough doesn't have to be polished all at once, the broker says. In a ring, he says, one can set the big diamond first and save up for the smaller, surrounding stones.

"You really have to feel comfortable about the house you're buying," Leighton says, "and recognize the value and realize what to do to make it lovely."

RIVERHEAD: 2 bedrooms, hot tub, deck

Birchwood squares cover a living room wall of a Riverhead ranch, thanks to an owner who has an architecture degree and works as a construction project manager.

It's one of the contemporary touches Brian Frank, 33, and his wife, Jessica, 31, put in to cover '70s-style dark paneling after paying about $255,000 for the house three years ago. They first painted the wall purple, then put up the birchwood, creating a dark grid pattern around the light wood.

"We get compliments on it every time someone comes in," says Jessica Frank. "It's just like a focal point. We have lights that shine on it."

The two-bedroom house has grown too small for the Franks, who a few months ago celebrated the arrival of their third child. Out back there's a shower with heat, a hot tub and a three-level deck. Plants put in by the last owner spruce up the property, which is a third of an acre.

"Flowers bloom from spring to fall," says Frank, who's taking a postnatal break from teaching.

Railroad tracks are down the road, behind the house, but Jessica Frank says there's a lot of privacy and the train, which passes about four times a day with about two cars, isn't noisy. "I hardly notice it, and my kids love it," she says. "I was very concerned about it when we looked at the house. I made sure I was here when the train passed and realized that it was not a big deal."

The Franks are selling the house on their own for $299,000, but if the potential buyer does not have an agent, the price will be lower because a commission won't have to be paid. Those interested may e-mail the Franks at house4sale04@gmail.com.

"It's not the hugest house in the world," Jessica Frank says of her 950-square-foot home, "but there's nothing you have to do. You can walk in and put your furniture down here."