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Real LI

Buying and selling real estate in the communities of Long Island

Why you should buy our house in Massapequa

John and Kathy Healy at their home at

Photo credit: Howard Schnapp

Sellers: John and Kathy Healy

Address: 2 Seneca Place, Massapequa

Asking price: $825,000

The competition: Waterfront homes with four bedrooms in the Massapequa school district are priced between $475,000 and $1,699,000.

Recent sale on the block: A four-bedroom canal-front Victorian on Alhambra Road sold in April for $905,000.

Taxes: $16,306

Time on the market: Since May

Listing agent: Lynn Karp, RE/MAX Innovations, Wantagh, 516-659-2291

Why it's for sale: "We've been here 19 years and decided it's time for a change," says John, 54, who is retired from Wall Street. He and his wife, Kathy, also 54, have two grown children.

Renovated inside and out, this eight-room house -- described as a cape and Colonial mix -- is set on a dead-end street on a 106-by-90-foot parcel with a floating dock and 106 feet of bulkhead. Every room has a water view, John says.

As the Healys made enhancements to their 80-year-old home, they were mindful of its age. They added period-appropriate appointments, such as crown and decorative moldings, a tin ceiling and French doors.

Other features include wood floors, a marble gas fireplace and a spiral staircase to the finished attic, as well as four bedrooms and three baths. A deck wraps from the side to the front of the house. John chats about the house and a second deck:

"We have a small deck off the main bedroom. That's where I take my coffee .  . in the morning. I crank out the awning and gaze down the river -- it's very peaceful . . . It's a warm and charming home."

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