Bad time to be a first time buyer. Any advice is appreciated.

I think its a GREAT time to be a first time buyer. There is no ridiculous crowd madness to deal with, the ball is in your court, and you have time on your side.

That being said, if part of your goal is investment, consider that RE is generally not a fantastic long term investment. You are talking about historical stock market lows, so if you are investing for the long term (10 years or more), you might want to start putting some dollars to work. I like to keep it simple... SPY and VIT.

Now, if you would personally like to own, then cool. But we're probably going to see declines for a bit, so don't jump. If you see something that makes you happy, cool. If not, maybe rent to see what the neighborhoods are like. Important... keep your down payment in cash, do not invest it.

That being said, many of those neighborhoods are good choices.... I think Forest Hills is a decent safe bet if you're trending a little older. A little younger, going for more new/hip/cheap, I've always liked Jackson Heights. Can't beat the food. Sunnyside to me is somewhere in the middle.

Key to ask yourself is where you think you want to be in 5 or 10 years. If you aren't sure, maybe waiting a little could be a good bet. If you find something that makes you happy and is cost effective versus the rent, cool.

Thanks NYC! i will spend a day or two in jackson heights and feel it out. if i get a good vibe, and come into a place i love i'll strongly consider it. i've seen listings are quite a bit less than sunnyside. perhaps i can grab a cheaper place there (relative to sunnyside/woodside area) and put a few dollars into the market (which i am also painfully naive about).

i was thinking sunnyside/woodside was a good bet b/c of the location. its just outside of LIC which was/is supposed to boom, but its not all nasty and industrial. you still get to midtown in less than 20 mins. i think that the skillman ave/sunnyside gardens still has that nice neighborhood feel, kinda like the ditmars section of astoria, and that as queens becomes a more sought after location, it would take off. i don't see myself in the place for more than 10 years, but who knows. i just think paying 1300 in rent or 1600 in mortgage/common charges makes renting seem kinda pointless.

> I just think paying 1300 in rent or 1600 in mortgage/common charges makes renting seem kinda
> pointless.

But, on the flip side, is paying $1300 in rent so you might be able to get a better apartment at $1300 in mortgage in a year a bad bet?

So much of it is going to come down to housing stock and what type of space you want to own -- Sunnyside is full of those semi-attached houses, but only has about three co-op apartment buildings. Jackson heights, on the other hand, is full of co-op apartments -- but if you have a dog, your selection will be pretty limited.

"Forest Hills" is a brand name that's used to cover a lot of ground -- it's kind of like saying "Harlem" -- but you might want to consider looking over in the subsection by Yellowstone Blvd. for a starter place.

I also think you'll get a lot of good general info from my book (shameless plug) which was adapted for an article in Money Magazine last summer: http://tinyurl.com/2ag28z

Good luck!

ali r.
{downtown broker}

what kind of downpayment will you put down and loan (with interest rates) can you get?

BWC

@ brainwashed - if i keep it around 250k i can put down 20%, i only found out info about one mortgage so far and it was at 6.5% from citi.

@ nyc - you make a good point, i'm certainly not going to rush into my decision. i'll consider renting again, if i can narrow my search down to one neighborhood, renting there for a year first is definitely not a bad idea.

@ front porch - no dog. yeah i have been in a few of the buildings in sunnyside and really liked it. there are a few surrounding doughboy park that i didn't particularly care for, then a few older pre-war buildings along skillman that i really dug. thanks for the specifics on forest hills, i'll definitely check that area out as well.

My sister purchased a 2 bedroom apt on the Woodside/Astoria border in a complex called Boulevard Gardens in the low $200’s three years ago.
The subway station is two blocks away (Northern Boulevard R/V lines) and it takes less then 30 minutes to get to midtown. She also has a car and she finds parking on the street. There are a few stores around (CVS, dry cleaners, deli) in the area, but there does not seem to be any restaurants in the immediate vicinity.
I have visited her a bunch of times and it is definitely a diverse area with families, old timers and younger people, but it does have that neighborhood vibe.

@ front_porch - only 3 co-ops in Sunnyside? I see you did your research.

Sunnyside does have fewer apartment buildings so there is less of a crowded feeling as you get in Jackson Heights. I'm not sure of your situation right now, but I purchased a 2 BR a few years ago instead of a 1 BR so that my living quarters would not limit me for the next 7 years or so in case I got married or have a child. I got a roommate that helped pay the price difference between the 1 BR and 2 BR. A room in Sunnyside can fetch $600/mo and up.

@new account- i've thought about that. a 2BR in sunnyside runs over 300k more or less, i can swing a 2BR in forest hills or jackson heights, maybe in woodside. but you make an excellent point.

@roxy - i get very mixed reviews on blvd gardens.

2-bedrooms is the way to go. Besides, aren't interest rates supposed to be super low right now? Which would make this a good time to invest for the long-term... that means, two-bedrooms. :)

Rates are high right now if you're considering the recent past (5 years or so).