50 Paumanake Ave

• MLS# 2133440 – Zillow Page
• Sold: $480,000 – 7/1/2009
• Prior Sales: none
• 3 bedrooms – 1.5 bath – Colonial
• Taxes: $11,696 – Village Taxes: $884

I liked this house quite a bit and wrote about it here, back in January. Originally listed for $549K, it then dropped to $499K in March. I thought it might go for closer to $450K, but $480K seems a reasonable number.

This is a much better, much more livable house house than some of the others that we’ve looked at in the Indian Section. Even though the selling price is a bit higher than I’d like, it still makes a good comp I think.

24 Kensington Rd

• MLS# 2112017 – Zillow Page
• Sold: $625,000 – 7/9/2009
• Prior Sales: none
• 3 bedrooms – 2 full/2 half bath – Split
• Taxes: $15,209 – Village Taxes: $1,013

752 Freedom St

• MLS# 2152632 – Zillow Page
• Sold: $347,500 – 7/9/2009
• Prior Sales: 07/22/2003 – $300,000
• 3 bedrooms – 1 bath – Split
• Taxes: $8,585 – Village Taxes: none

I don’t pay much attention to these houses in the North Babylon school district. There does seem to be a significant discount once you go north of the Babylon Village schools.

34 S Carll Ave

• MLS# 2176070 – Zillow Page
• Sold: $529,000 – 7/10/2009
• Prior Sales: 08/23/2000 – $355,000
• 4 bedrooms – 2 bath – Colonial
• Taxes: $7,919 – Village Taxes: $830

I love these old Babylon homes. It’s way out of our price range, but I’m a bit sorry that I didn’t get to see it before it got sold. Looks like it needed some work, but you can’t beat that 19th century charm, wraparound porch and big lot

• MLS# 2185361 – Zillow Page
• Ask $419,000
• Previous Sales:
  02/25/2003 – $280,000
• 3 bedrooms – 2 bath
• Taxes: $7,431 – Village Taxes: $761.62

I was really excited about this house, first posted on MLS last week, as it’s in our price range and the photos on MLS looked good. I didn’t want to wait for an open house because I was afraid it might sell quickly, so I arranged to view the house last weekend. And in the end, I liked the house a lot, but the bedrooms were just too small for us. The house listing read to me as a three bedroom two bath, with office. Which sounded perfect to me, other than I’d like a family room or den as well, but in our price range that’s becoming a bit of a pipe dream. However, the third bedroom IS the office. It’s a typical cape floor plan, but people expand houses all the time, so I was hoping there really was a third bedroom plus separate office. In reality, the third bedroom is downstairs, across from the living room, and it’s perfect as an office, as there’s room for two desks and shelving, or one desk and some bookcases. I guess you could wedge a twin-size bed in there but not much else. Certainly not a bed and a desk. The bedrooms upstairs aren’t too small in square footage, but the sloping dormered walls prevent you from getting much furniture in there other than a bed and a chest or so. Our bedroom furniture, which includes a long dresser with mirror and tall chests, wouldn’t fit in there at all. This would be a great house for a single person, a couple with no kids, or a couple with one child, or possibly two who were willing to share a bedroom. However…that’s not us.

So, it’s not for us, but it could be for one of you. I really admired how they did a fabulous job of maximizing space and storage. The kitchen is the best example of that. It’s a small kitchen, there’s no getting around that, but by putting in tall, narrow cabinets, your eye follows them up to the ceiling. The laminate counter is cut back whenever possible to allow more space between the two areas of the kitchen, and everything possible is tucked away, like the microwave, which is in a cubby underneath the counter. In other rooms, there’s storage for wine and other sundries in the dining room under the staircase, and in the downstairs bath they cut out storage cubbies in between the studs on one wall, and there are small cabinets tucked between the ceiling and the top of the bath/shower enclosure. I absolutely adored the covered patio on the southern side of the house, and the yard is quite nice, with mature plantings, although there’s no backyard to speak of as the house is situated at the back and to the side of the corner property.

Whoever renovated this house, whether it was the current owners or previous ones, did a fantastic job. It’s a very livable little house. But in the end it’s just too small for our family.