How this Gen Z couple bought a house on Long Island — and what they'd do differently

"Let's talk about buying a house on Long Island," Erin Feeney told her followers in a TikTok from February.

The 27-year-old, with her 29-year-old fiance, Brandon Donnelly, have done it. They now reside in a four-bedroom, one-bathroom home on the south shore of Nassau County, closing for $775,000 last July.

Her TikTok has amassed 44,000 views, with comments including, "Buying on LI at 27 is a huge accomplishment!" Other users have asked about their budget, real estate agents, renovation costs and above all else: How did they do it?

Here are some key takeaways from this Gen Z's home search.

The buyers

Erin Feeney, 27, and Brandon Donnelly, 29

What they got

4-bed, 1-bath home in south shore Nassau County

What they paid

$775,000

Step 1: Save, track, repeat

One tip Feeney shared: Have the goal in mind, while cutting major costs along the way, whenever possible.

"We knew we always wanted to buy a house; that was always our goal," said Feeney, who is a nurse. "We were renting an apartment for a year and we were like, how are we going to save money when we're renting an apartment, with all the other expenses on Long Island? So we ended up moving back home."

Feeney, who is from Franklin Square, said they "hunkered down" and took a close look at their finances during this time.

"You don't realize how fast your money can go out the door," Feeney said. "I would recommend tracking every single dollar that you spend, because you're not going to realize where your money is going until you actually sit down and visualize where it's going."

By cutting down on activities like vacations and tracking unnecessary spending habits, the couple was able to save up a good chunk of money while living at home, Feeney said. Her fiance, who is a CPA, created a spreadsheet to figure out what would be sustainable for the couple in terms of a down payment, taxes and monthly payments.

"Our family had such a different experience when they bought their house," Feeney said. "You can't compare. My fiance and I make over six figures and it took us this long to save and buy a house."

Step 2: Assemble the team

When it came time to start house-hunting, Feeney learned quickly, "everything moves super fast."

"If you don't jump on something and you don't have the right team behind you, it's impossible to get the house," she said.

Feeney found her real estate agents through Instagram: Nicholas Larsen and Natalie Villecco, of Real Broker NY. That's how most of their clients find them, and around 75% of the people they help are in their 20s, Villecco said.

"With our social media, we treat it like a resume," she added.

Villecco and Larsen, who are also Gen Z Long Islanders, conduct introductory calls with their buyers to gather information, give an overview of the process and get to know each other.

"We saw a lot of homes together, and we were looking at some of the most competitive towns on Long Island," Villecco said.

One surprising part of the process, Feeney said, was seeing homes that needed lots of TLC at high price points.

"A lot of them were older, and for the amount of money some of these houses cost. ... It was definitely a shock being like, 'We're about to spend our life savings on something that needs so much work,' " she said.

Step 3: Get ready to be flexible

Feeney and Donnelly were set on moving to south shore Nassau, but found that they needed to adjust their price range to find better options. After looking at homes between $600,000 and $700,000 (and having their offers rejected twice), they raised their ceiling to $800,000.

Then, they found the one. It was a rainy day when they visited the open house, and there was no line to get inside, Feeney remembered.

"When we first saw this house, we felt like it was meant to be," she said.

Villecco and Feeney recognized it needed some cosmetic work, but was still move-in ready. Larsen spoke with the listing agent about the seller's timeline, and learned they needed a longer closing period. The agents worked that into their offer.

Although Feeney and Donnelly were able to be flexible about their price point during their search, setting firm intentions from the start also helped them land their home, Villecco said.

"I was super confident in us and in them," she added. "They were very clear on what they wanted, and that makes it easy for us to send over properties and work to find something that fits all their needs."

Settling in, final thoughts

The couple has been hard at work making their house into a home by adding new flooring, replacing doors and a window, painting, landscaping and planning their kitchen and bathroom revamps, which they'll tackle after their wedding in June.

Feeney is the first among her friends buy a home, she said, while they either rent apartments in New York City or live with family on Long Island.

Looking back on the process, "the biggest takeaway is starting young," Feeney said. If she could go back even just five years, she said, she would have started saving her money sooner: "At the end of the day, you have to think about the long-term picture."

Have you recently bought a house on Long Island — or are you in the middle of the buying process now? Email your success story to rachel.weiss@newsday.com