My daughter is looking to purchase a home on the North Shore of Nassau County and to come back from Queens to save a boatload of money.
The reason that I say this is that homeowners and others, (and those who should be buying instead of renting), that I have spoken to, who happen to be fortunate to earn $100,000 plus need to fire their accountants.
If you add up your city income tax, supposed “cheap real estate taxes on a 18′ X 90′ or a 40′ X 100′ lot, or larger, your water bill (water costs more to pump down from the reservoirs upstate) (included in your coop maintenance, raising that cost) and auto insurance and the quality of life, and also the school districts; Nassau County offers so much more!
Oh yeah, do you remember that crazy record-breaking snow of 27.5 inches on January 22, 2016, and those who suffered in Queens (Nassau and Suffolk too) being really stuck and had to abandon their cars; as well as a few died because the EMS vehicles in Queens, couldn’t get down certain blocks and either could the plows?
So when the next heavy snow hits; good luck if you are on a tertiary street, you might as well stay in your home for up to 24-48 hours and relax and watch the boob tube!
Years ago, the powers that be were trying to make the “Big Apple” the 51st State and I quote from Wikipedia “New York City: the 51st State was the platform of the Norman Mailer–Jimmy Breslin candidacy in the 1969 New York City Democratic mayoral primary election.
Mailer, a novelist, journalist, and filmmaker, and Breslin, an author and at the time a New York City newspaper columnist, proposed that the five New York City boroughs should secede from New York State, and become the 51st state of the U.S. Mailer topped the ticket as candidate for Mayor; his running mate, Breslin, sought the office of City Council President.
Their platform featured placing city governmental control in the hands of the neighborhoods, and offered unique and creative – if impractical and even logistically impossible – solutions to air pollution, traffic congestion, school overcrowding, and crime.
After a strong grassroots campaign, the ticket entered the primary on June 17, 1969, as decided underdogs.
They finished second to last, garnering a citywide total of 41,288 votes, 5 percent of the total votes cast.
One never knows what would have happened if New York City had become the 51st State and maybe, just maybe it would have been even more successful than what it is today and maybe there wouldn’t be a city income tax and other burdensome costs to those who now have moved or are moving out and into the other counties away from the 5 boroughs or even out of state as the current exodus of the millennial group and others continue to deplete our population all over New York State and negates the numbers of those coming in.
So the question is, why are people with higher incomes staying put, still residing in Queens, when Nassau in so many ways offers more, especially when it comes to the schools?
I can’t provide you an exact answer, maybe they like paying more, have too many friends in the area, feel comfortable or complacent, lazy and not motivated to move. But one should be questioning their accountants as to the #1 way to save money, and if you fit that income profile that I mentioned at the beginning of this column would move out of Queens, even if it isn’t Long Island. Moving out of State would save you a “boatload of money.”
But obviously, it sounds so easy for me to say this because I am somewhat comfortable financially and in my surroundings with my children and grandchildren nearby, but I am also cognizant of the fact that more individuals and families are truly struggling to get by to be able to stay in New York.
My suggestion is to start a small side or internet business, any type of affordable one with as low a risk as possible (unless you have funds to fuel something larger that you can afford the greater risk, but will potentially gain a greater return) or you could consider earning your real estate license in as little as 16 days with a minimal cost of about $1200 (includes the class in person or online, class exam, New York State exam, license fee, errors and omissions insurance, and business cards and be sponsored by a licensed Brokerage) to begin your career than you might suddenly learn to grow into and have a passion for, but never considered “pulling the trigger” and to begin.
When there is no risk, there is no reward, no pain, no gain and if you don’t take the first step to start, you will never finish! This is in no way a solicitation, but to educate those who want more financial freedom and to also scale their incomes and/or business to a higher level to be in a position, once you reach that magic number that allows you to escape the expensive costs of living in Queens and move; if not on Long Island, but pretty much anywhere else.
However, that all depends on if your business or job is transferable to another area or your business is portable enough to run it anywhere. I truly and thoroughly love and enjoy living in Long Island and will most likely never leave, but I am fortunate to live and work there and have available choices and want to be around my family.
You too can accomplish this if you start thinking outside the box, go back to school, learn a different trade, think of a viable business to start part-time that you always wanted to be in and as they say, “just do it” and then earn the necessary monies to move, Good Luck in whatever endeavor you choose!
Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute and also as a Certified International Property Specialist (He can be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email: Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com to answer any of your questions or concerns.
