Lindy Real Estate Outlook: Buy Now, Sell Later

Looking to buy a home in Lindenhurst? Go right ahead. With home prices remaining stable, it's a great time to invest in some property, according to a long-time Lindenhurst real estate expert.

"To buy a house today is just smart; to not is just silly," said Frank Dell'Accio, managing partner at Century 21 AA Realty in Lindenhurst.

"You have the lowest interest rates in 50 years, [home] prices equal to 2001-02, mortgages are available with as little as 3.5 percent down, and you can finance your closing costs...there's no reason not to buy a home [now]," he said.

Dell'Accio has seen it all, having opened his Lindenhurst in 1977, when homes in the community were selling for $25,000. He said Lindy is now a high-$200,000, low-to-mid-$300,000 location in terms of home prices; not on the level it once was, but stable all the same.

From January through October of this year, there was five percent less homes on the market in Lindenhurst than the same time period a year ago, while sales rose more than three percent.

"That to me is an indication that people want to live in Lindenhurst...it's a very good position to be in for someone who asks, 'Is the town stable?'" Dell'Accio said, adding that Lindenhurst also allows another source of income in legal, owner occupied rentals, which further helps the market.

With regard to someone looking to sell his/her home, Dell'Accio stated he cannot predict if or when home prices will reach the highs they did in 2005-06. In fact, he thinks it's healthy for prices to gradually increase over time, rather than suddenly spike.

"When prices jump like that, and they outpace your income, you get what we got - [a recession]," Dell'Accio said. He also believes homes in Lindenhurst might go up in value next year by one percent, depending on the economy.

Furthermore, Dell'Accio stresses that foreclosures are not a major issue in Lindenhurst, and that less than one percent of the Lindy market is in foreclosure.

People who live here generally make it their primary residence, and if they also own a home in a resort area such as Florida, they're more likely to let that home go should they feel the economic crunch.

If anything, then there are more short sales in Lindenhurst, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the market. Homeowners might have financing in excess of the value of the home and face difficulty making mortgage payments, so rather than stay around to babysit the property, they move elsewhere, and simply turn over the keys to the realtor.

That means vacant homes, and it is there where there have been  on occasion. Dell'Accio says one such theft occurred in West Babylon where the owner of a vacant home, stripped of its copper piping, lived next door, but that it's not a rampant epidemic in Lindenhurst.

When it comes to foreclosures or the overall real estate market, folks are influenced by what they hear on the nightly news. That paints the national picture, not necessarily what's going on closer to home.

"Brian Williams is not talking about Lindenhurst, [or] about Suffolk County," Dell'Accio said. "He's talking about the national economy, so when they flash a sign on the screen that says foreclosures, go find out where it is; it's not typically in Lindenhurst."

So what is in Lindenhurst? Bottom line, said Frank Dell'Accio, Lindenhurst is a great place to live, with an estimated 85 percent of buyers moving in from 10 to 12 miles away.

"It's a strong town that has predominantly withstood any downturn in the market, it's a close-knit town, a blue-collar town, a family-oriented town...a very affordable town to live in," he said.