Huntington is home, and we never looked back

Huntington is a fantastic town. We moved here six years ago and never looked back. We live right in the village, so we get the village life every day: we walk to dinner, we see the same faces on Main Street, and we know which nights New York Avenue is going to be packed.

If you're comparing Huntington neighborhoods, start with the village itself. Main Street and New York Avenue are the center of it, lined with restaurants and shops. The Paramount brings in live music. The Cinema Arts Centre shows films you won't find at the multiplex. Heckscher Park sits right at the edge of the village, and the harbor, Huntington Bay and the Huntington Yacht Club are a short drive north. We're nestled right between Northport Village and Cold Spring Harbor, so you're never far from either.

Huntington is a hamlet in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, and most of it is served by the Huntington Union Free School District. And the thing that surprises people most when they move here: there's always something going on.

Our office is at 315 Main Street, right in the village, at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Laffey International Realty. Which means when you call us about a house on a Huntington street, there's a decent chance we walked past it this week.

That matters most with village houses, because no two are alike. A 1920s home with two additions and a bungalow down the block can't be priced off each other or off a spreadsheet. We walk every house together before we name a number. Mark spent 30 years in construction and homebuilding, and he looks at what's original, what was added and when, and what a buyer's inspector is going to point at. Then we show you our price, your number, and exactly how we got there. That's our pricing step, and it's the part sellers tell us they didn't get anywhere else.

For buyers, knowing the village means knowing the tradeoffs street by street: which blocks you can walk to Main Street from, which ones are quieter, and how much an old house might ask of you after closing. We'd rather you hear it from us before you bid than from an inspector after.

And when the sign goes up on a Huntington street, the neighbors notice. People in the village talk, they walk past, they know who's selling. We use that. Our Coming Soon push, the Just Listed cards and personal notes to buyers we already know are looking here get the word out before the open house, so the first weekend isn't a guess.

The houses here in the village are all different. You have very old historical homes, craftsman-style homes, cottages and bungalows. Some have been expanded, some more than once. Outside the village core you'll also find capes, colonials and ranches, and a few newer homes where an older one came down.

That variety is the reason we won't print an average sale price here. A Huntington average mixes a restored historic home with a small cottage and tells you nothing about either. What we do instead: comps from Huntington, in the same school district, the same style of house, similar size, sold within the last three to six months. When there aren't enough, we say so and tell you exactly how we widened the search.

Older homes also mean permits. Additions, finished basements and decks from decades ago don't always have paperwork at the building department. We have sellers check before we list, so it gets fixed calmly instead of in the middle of a deal. If you want to know where your house stands, a home valuation is the place to start.

One practical note for buyers: a village house that's been expanded twice can have a floor plan that surprises you, in a good way or a bad one. Walk it slowly, ask what was added when, and bring an inspector who knows older homes. We'll recommend two or three so you can pick.

So many village homes have been expanded over the years that the first question we ask on any showing is what was added and when. Mark spent 30 years in construction and homebuilding, and we walk these houses together looking at the additions, the roofline and the basement before anyone talks about offers. Sellers, we ask you to pull your permits and certificate of occupancy at the building department before we list, so a buyer's attorney never finds a surprise for you.

The clients who move here love Main Street and New York Avenue. They love the village vibe, the amount of restaurants and all the entertainment. There's always a community holiday parade. A lot of towns have their little league parade or their homecoming parade. In Huntington, we have something for every occasion.

Plenty of the buyers we work with here are coming from the city and want a little bit of that city energy without all the crazy and the chaos. The Huntington LIRR station on the Port Jefferson Branch is a short drive from the village, and Route 25A and Route 110 connect you to the rest of the North Shore. If you're making that move, our relocation page explains how we help.

How does it compare to Northport? Northport is really just as beautiful. It's just a different vibe: more boating and beach, a little more laid-back. Huntington is a little more bougie, a little more happening. We love both, and we're happy to show you the difference in person.