Forest Hills, Queens

Forest Hills is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Queens and contains some very sought-after properties. This community is NOT considered a "fringe" in the midst of gentrification--it's a stable, popular, good neighborhood with good restaurants and shopping close to the LIRR, F/V/E trains.

Thank you Kyle!

hi flyport!

kylewest is right - it's a very desirable and established neighborhood. my good friend michele specializes in the area. one of her team members even wrote the book on nearby jackson heights. they know their stuff.

http://beaudoinrealtor.com/

good luck with your search!

best,

- rudy

Thanks Rudy!

Actually just read how Trader Joe's opened huge store in what they technically call Forest Hills. It's actually at the end of Metropolitan Ave. which is pretty much the way-western edge of Forest Hills, but still...it's just a 10 minute car ride from the village on Austin St.

That should make the neighborhood more appealing then it already it is!

flyport - it depends on how old you are and what you're looking for. It's a great place for families, it'd be my choice if I had one.

Being young and single though, it can be a pain when it takes 30-40 minutes to get into the city, or 1-2 hours to get home after midnight (depending how long you actually have to wait for the train) when the E & F are both local only. Also, getting on the train at 71st during rush hour isn't usually a problme, but the people at Jackson Heights pack it in pretty tight once you get there. One final note about the subway, you'll also find that traffic always seem to build up at the tunnels between Queens and Manhattan and lines build up at 53rd and lex for the E/V. The LIRR is also at 71st, it runs every half hour which isn't too bad. If you go out in the city, it only comes back at around 1:15 and 3:45 (either too early from when you go out or too late getting back).

The area seems to skew towards families and older adults (30+) so there isn't too much of a bar scene. Restaurants on and around Austin street are a plus, as is the shopping.

If you're set on a 1 bedroom and you're price range is keeping you from other areas, Forest Hills is a good choice due to it having a good amount of commercialized sections (austin & metropolitan), safe neighborhoods and a lot of transportation choices. If you're looking to live in an area you can go out in or want to go out in the city on a regular basis, you may want to look elsewhere. Maybe Astoria or Park Slope areas?

Forest Hills is a nice area, however when bidding, remember not to overpay, like the shcmucks in the city do. When Forest Hills is "discovered" finally by priced out city dwellers hopefully they wont bring their ludicrouse high bidding ways and ruin a good neighborhood. People in Forest Hills have better things to do than pay the huge mortgages on homes when ignorant homeseekers from Manhattan triple prices after they figure out there are actually vibrant neighborhoods a little further along the train rides from former industrial areas like LIC and Williamsburg.

Bonzo - So people in Forest Hills are against their home values tripling? Interesting. Thats quite an investment strategy. Hope it works well for them. They certainly will have better things to do than paying their mortgage, like paying for food. And Forest Hills is more than just a "little further" out than Williamsburg.

When home prices triple and rents dont follow, gross rent multipliers and cap rates suffer greatly, or have you not been following that trend in the last 10 years? So, yes it is a very, very, sound investment strategy.

Paying for food? Have you ever been to Forest Hills, or are you just talking out of your rear end? FH is very, very solidly middle class. The inhabitants however value other things in life and don't have to have the latest gold plated toilet seat to show off to their friends when they come over to take a leak.

As for distance. Forest Hills is a very quick train ride into the city, unless of course you are a fool who likes to pay 2-4000 a square foot to live three blocks from work. Not everyone wants to rush home to a hotel room sized apartment, a 25 minute ride is not a long commute.

If Forest Hills is far. I wonder what people think of nice neighborhoods even further out. I bet you think everyone who lives in Westchester or Greenwich Ct are a bunch of losers too?

Bonzo, it just sounds so silly when you make grand pronouncements about what all people in a community are like. It's laughable. You mean the people who live above shop fronts on Metropolitan Avenue share the same tastes and goals and lifestyles as the people in the multi-million dollar Tudor homes in Forest Hills Gardens? Part of what makes it a vibrant community is the diversity within it. I don't think villifying people who buy homes in Manhattan serves any point or really even makes sense. You sound really angry and kind of unhinged.

Im making ground pronouncements? I think your confused, most of the people here often very very heavily imply everything beyond 96th street or on the other side of a bridge is not even remotely worth any kind of positive consideration. Whats laughable is the level of insecurity that must be present behind the absolute need to have some kind of Manhattan address. Its so deep (the overly stuck-up attitude) that even when you talk about FH, you still have to differentiate between "people who live above shop fronts on Metropolitan Avenue" and "tastes and goals and lifestyles as the people in the multi-million dollar Tudor homes in Forest Hills Gardens".

I know people who have lived in both and I can tell you they are very much the same.

When young they lived along Metropolitan, when a little older they traded up to Forest Hills Gardens. Your so blinded by the "must have the multi-million dollar condo by my late twenties or early thirties" syndrome, that the concept of trading up seems alien to you. Forest Hills is a little more old world in its values and many of the wealthy there don't feel the need to overtly flaunt their wealth or set themselves up on a pedestal above everyone else. Successful kids take care of their parents first or other siblings before springing 2 to 3 million for a 1000 sq ft closet in the sky.

So nope, no anger. I dont write my responses for myself. I write so some young 20-something (the kind I employ) can find a crack in the "I must have everything by 30" mentality (since they are seeking advice it seems from this board). They dont have to feel unsuccessful at 28 because they can only afford a 300k 1 or 2 BR in FH while they are working their way up in the world (which is what I sense from the young people I employ....... and many of the commenters on Streeteasy have clarified a little more for me where these attitudes come from...).

The only ones unhinged are the ones who think everything worthwhile in reality is located in the 100+ blocks of Southern Manhattan to the exclusion of everything else.

It's just when you go on about Manhattan that way it sounds like YOU are the one with a complex. Whatever.

Bonzo--wait, aside from the fact that this is a residential r.e. blog, you're telling me that you'd rather have home and/or commercial r.e. values remain stagnant than triple? I hope you;re talking from a buyer's point of view as sure thats a bad scenario for the schmucks who never bought anything in the first place, but for the guys in the market, a tripling of values is a very good thing. I'm sure the 20 somethings you emply in whatever business it is that you do fall under the aegis of said schmucks. I know you're chomping at the bit to tell us all what it is exactly that you do, so do it. Otherwise, hinting at some unknown business you have as if we are all agog at some anonymous Forest Hills lover is ridiculous. We're not a bunch of kids here.

"Successful kids take care of their parents first or other siblings before springing 2 to 3 million for a 1000 sq ft closet in the sky"

This is a stupid, naive, and narrow minded comment. You have a serious inferiority complex.

Would I rather not have the insane appreciation that has occurred over the last 7-8 years? The answer is obvious. If everything is going up whats the point of selling my home to buy another if residential has tripled almost everywhere in New York. I can't buy another building (historically residential and commercial prices are deeply interrelated) for investment anymore either because of the returns I get, I might as well just put all my money in cds or a mutual fund. The reason I get the impression you are all kids is because you dont seem to have a memory of prices as early as just 1999. The next 6 or 12 family I want to buy, typically built in the 1930's hasnt got in any better condition (structurally) even when upgraded, yet the price has more than tripled without an equivalent corresponding increase in rent or cap rate. Without the insane appreciation I could have bought a 60 or 70 unit. Without triple appreciation I can get six times the building because the cap rates and grm make sense. I also start making money from day one, because the income makes sense and I dont have to wait for future growth. Nowadays you need a much bigger down payment, all future growth is already way priced in, cash on cash returns are horrible, no matter how you compute it, real estate is no longer that cash cow it use to be. So yes high prices hurt everyone, rich and poor, which is a concept many of you seem to have a very hard time getting. You have to put away your little stock market models of future growth that everyone tried to apply to real estate after 2000 and get back to reality. If you had any experience or knowledge of what it is like to manage a large investment property, dealing with tenants, planning for maintenance and emergencies (that usually, eventually, almost inevitably happen), hiring the right super, taking out the garbage, you would never buy a building with a 4.5% cap rate.

I am not mentioning my business to inspire any kind of awe and the reason I dont mention it further is because my employees sometimes read this board/blog. When it first went up I even mentioned it to them before I started posting because of the open house feature. When you post all your personal info about where you work, then I may as well. I dont need some internet crazies looking me up at work (or harassing my tenants).

bonzo--i own a 6 family in bushwick. I know all about this shit. yes my only property (currently) but if you think there are no deals to be had, you're looking in the wrong place. but again, this is more of a residential r.e. blog.

I appreciate every one's comments. Forest Hills ( in my opinion) is still affordable for someone who is a young professional like myself making 80k a year. I can get a one bedroom for less than 200k. The only drawback is the nightlife. I love to hang out in the city. But I guess I would not mind the long train ride at 4am in the morning if it will mean that I will pay 300k less for an apartment then I would pay in Manhattan.

Forest Hills is lovely, and reasonable. If you also like the nightlife, check out Central Harlem. Really. Go take a look. It's great and the prices aren't much different and you have the express West Side stop. Good luck.

If you are thinking of moving to Queens and want a neighborhood that is a little closer to Manhattan and has a better nightlife you may want to look at Woodside. Downtown woodside has great restaurants (not to mention Sunnyside Gardens which is two stops on the 7 away, or a 15 minute walk if you feel like getting some exercise has some absulutely fantastic upscale restaurants) and a really happening bar scene. Price wise the teo neighborhoods are pretty comparable too. I was looking at a place in FH last year. I almost bought, but found an apartment in Woodside that I loved. As it turns out I ended up liking the woodside neighborhood more that Forest Hills. The only thing Woodside lacks is the shopping that FH has. But the Queens Mall and 5th Ave in Manhattan are 15 and 20 minutes away respectively so it hasn't made much of a difference to me, and I save almost a half hour on my commute every day.

Thanks About and Crackerjack. I still like Forest Hills. The shopping would be key also. I dont mind the train ride to be an extra 15 mins into the city. I appreciate everyones comments. Its good to have other people's perspective.