Help us find a house
THE BUYERS
Lorraine and Joseph Marcone are renting a home in Locust Valley, where they live with their sons, Zak, 13, and Max, 9, and their two dogs, Mary, a beagle-shepherd mix, and Xena, a tea cup Chihuahua. They want to stay on the North Shore, where Lorraine, 48, and Joseph, 51, both grew up, either in eastern Nassau or western Suffolk. But with about 18,000 properties for sale on the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island's website alone, the task of choosing the right property to buy seems daunting.
"I'm afraid to make the wrong choice," says Lorraine, a homemaker, who's been married to Joseph, a statistician, for 26 years. They don't want to spend more than $550,000; taxes should be less than $15,000, they say. They'd like anything but a fixer-upper or a high-ranch, and they'd like at least three-quarters of an acre. Space for an office as well as an in-ground pool, a fireplace and a large kitchen with a center island are musts. Their non-negotiables? "A lack of privacy, a declining school district, a busy, main road, industrial parks and high taxes," says Lorraine.
THE AGENTS
Three Realtors were asked to sort through the listings of houses for sale and pick the perfect home for the family: Cori Kaplan of Coldwell Banker Residential, Maria Boccard of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty, and Paula Johnson of Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes & Estates.
THEIR PICKS
18 Village Dr. W.
Style: Ranch
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 21/2
Price: $599,000
Kaplan chose this house in the high-ranking Half Hollow Hills school district on .87 acres with a deck. "It has an updated kitchen with a center island, granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances," Kaplan points out, as well as "a fireplace and beautiful hardwood floors." She acknowledges that the price is higher than what the Marcones want to spend, "but the prices these days are negotiable."
3 Butterfield Ct.
Style: Splanch
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 21/2
Price: $529,000
Boccard chose this house in the well-regarded Harborfields school district on a quiet cul-de-sac. Although the .47-acre property is smaller than what the Marcones want, it is large enough to accommodate a pool, she says. "The kitchen could use some upgrades, but is of a good size," she adds. "As the asking price is below what the Marcones are willing to pay, they could likely use the extra funds to make improvements to the home."
4 Woodfield Ave.
Style: Ranch
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3
Price: $649,000
Johnson picked this because it's "close to the beach, a park and parkways." Also, she says, the taxes at $10,184 are lower than the Marcones' stated limit. Other pluses include the size of the property - three-quarters of an acre - and the location on the North Shore - although, she admits, it's "a bit far east."
THE REACTION
The Marcones like the location of all three houses, but say the Greenlawn property is smaller than they want. Even though the Dix Hills house doesn't come with a pool and is farther south than they want to be, they say they want to see it - and, with a higher asking price than their budget, are "glad it's negotiable," says Lorraine. The Northport house is also out of their price range, but they also want to schedule a showing because it has "mostly what we want." For them, it's about the location. "We like the rustic feel and the proximity to the water, and the location is not too far east or west," Lorraine says, adding, "The North Shore is where we feel most at home."
So many houses, so little time
Shopping for a home these days is overwhelming. There are simply too many to choose from.
You make an appointment with your agent, and there are 10 to 12 homes to see, plus another 50 possibilities - and that's after you've already spent hours shopping around online to get a sense of what's available in your neighborhood of choice and at what price.
There are so many houses for sale (on Long Island, it would take more than a year to sell all the properties now on the market at their current prices) that you could spend months just mulling the possibilities. But that isn't a particularly efficient way to find a home. Your time is valuable, and so is your real estate agent's.
It's a far better use of your time to be strategic about what you really want to buy and where you want to buy it. Here are eight things you can do to narrow your focus and find the right home more quickly.
1. Create a wish list
Figure out what is most important to you in a property. If you want a particular size home with a certain number of bedrooms, put that at the top. If you want a certain school district, a particular neighborhood or development, that should go on the list as well. Don't waste time looking at properties that lack most of the things on your wish list.
2. Create a reality check
You may not be able to afford everything you want, even if the current real estate market is making it easier to get more than you would have just a couple of years ago. So make a list of exactly what you need to have in your new home. In other words, you may want four bedrooms - but need three. If you want a certain school district and nothing else will do, that would go on both your wish list and reality check.
Once you complete these two lists, prioritize them so you know exactly what you want and what you can't live without. It's an extremely useful filter you'll use to make fast, objective decisions about a given property. Given the large number of homes on the market, you might find homes that meet all of your needs. But, the truth is, you won't get everything on your wish list. You may live in this home for only the next five to 10 years. So, focus on those items on each list that are the highest priority. Try not to get hung up on some of the smaller issues that may not impact your day-to-day life at that home.
3. Get preapproved
This might be your most important step. If you don't know how much you can borrow in today's mortgage finance market, you don't know what - or if - you can buy. So, get preapproved by a lender. Having a fixed dollar amount in your mind will help you eliminate homes quickly. Get a copy of your credit report and make sure that your credit history is clean. You can get a free copy of your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com. This site will allow you to get one free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. You can also get a copy of your credit score from this site for under $10. Making sure your credit is in good shape is important before you try to buy a home.
4. Find your neighborhood of choice
Not every neighborhood is going to meet your reality check, so eliminate those that don't have everything you absolutely need. Next, eliminate those that you can't afford based on your loan preapproval. Then tour the neighborhoods that are left to figure out which one feels right to you.
5. Find an agent who specializes
If you're shopping for foreclosures and short sales, find an agent who specializes in foreclosures and short sales in your neighborhood of choice. It's far easier if you find someone who really knows and works a neighborhood and uses his or her knowledge to help further eliminate the number of available properties to see.
6. Use the Internet to eliminate homes
Before you go out with an agent, be sure to get a list of possible properties and eliminate those that don't meet at least your needs right off the top. Then look at the rest of the properties online to figure out which ones are worth a drive-by. Photo and video listings on the Internet will give you a pretty good idea of whether the home is one you could like.
7. Drive by the houses
Drive by the property, lot line to lot line. You want to see whether the exterior of the home and the actual block on which it sits further meet your needs and wants. You can drive by hundreds of homes in a few hours. Some homes may look nice but may not be situated in a place you'd like to live.
8. See homes at or below your price range
Your agent might tell you that a special house that's slightly above your price range is being sold by desperate and anxious sellers. If your agent is truly plugged in to the local scene and has inside information, and you have the time, go see the house. But to save time and streamline the process, you'll want to apply the affordability filter one last time. If you live in an area where there are hundreds of similar homes for sale, it can take a long time to go through each of these and do a 20-minute showing. Eliminating homes that simply won't work will help make the process more objective and less emotional.
- Tribune Media Services
