Town of Smithtown, the river town next door

The Town of Smithtown sits in the middle of Suffolk County's North Shore, just east of the Town of Huntington, where we live and work. The Nissequogue River runs through it toward Long Island Sound, and a lot of the town's character comes from that river and the parks along it.

Town of Smithtown neighborhoods include the hamlet of Smithtown itself, with its Main Street and the famous Bull statue, plus Kings Park, St. James, Nesconset, part of Hauppauge, part of Commack, and the small villages of the Branch, Head of the Harbor and Nissequogue. Each hamlet has its own school district or shares one, including the Smithtown Central School District, Commack, Kings Park and Hauppauge.

The LIRR Port Jefferson Branch runs through with stations in Kings Park, Smithtown and St. James, and the LIE, Northern State and Sunken Meadow Parkway carry the drive.

For sellers, that means buyers here are often comparing districts as much as houses, and we price with that in mind. For buyers, it means you can choose between a North Shore village feel, a hamlet with its own train station, or quick highway access, all inside one town.

The town also keeps a lot of its history in plain sight, from the old homes near the historic centers to the farmland and estates closer to the Sound. For sellers, that history can be a real asset when it is presented well. For buyers, it means asking early about the age of a home and what has been updated, because a house from the 1800s and one from the 1960s live very differently.

The Town of Smithtown dates to 1665, and the Bull, a five-ton bronze, has stood for its founder's legendary ride since 1941. Caleb Smith State Park Preserve covers 543 acres, and Hoyt Farm Nature Preserve is the Town's own 133-acre park. Across the town, the Census puts the typical home's year built at 1967, and about 87 percent are single-family houses.

Smithtown is our next-door neighbor. Our office is on Main Street in Huntington, and Commack and Smithtown are an easy drive east. Many of our buyers shop both towns at once, so we know how a colonial in Commack compares to one in East Northport, and why it is not the same as one in St. James.

Every price follows the same rules an appraiser uses: same town, same school district, same style, similar size, sold in the last three to six months. In a town where the district lines and the hamlet names do not always match, those rules keep sellers from being priced off the wrong sales. We walk every house together first, with Mark's 30 years in construction behind it, and you see our price next to yours. Read the method on our pricing page.

Through Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Laffey International Realty, your home gets the launch described on our process page. We pick up the phone. Not at 2am, we sleep occasionally like everyone else, but long after most agents have called it a night.

You get weekly updates, written or by phone, the whole way through. And with System 31 from Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, if there is no accepted offer in 30 days, we sit back down on day 31 and decide the next move together.

Housing across the Town of Smithtown is mostly single-family: colonials, capes, ranches, high ranches and split-levels, many from the postwar decades, plus older homes near the historic centers and larger estate homes in the North Shore villages near the Sound. Lot sizes often run larger than on the South Shore.

A town-wide average blurs all of that. If you are selling, start with a home valuation. If you are moving from a smaller house into more room, our move-up buyer page explains how we time the sale and the purchase.

Before we list, sellers pull permits and certificates of occupancy at the Town of Smithtown building department, or at their village if they live in one. Older homes near the historic centers and homes with additions are where open permits usually turn up. Mark knows where to look, and we walk the house together before we name a number. If you are settling a parent's estate in town, our probate and trust sales page explains the steps.

Many buyers who look in the Town of Smithtown are also looking in the Town of Huntington, and the right choice usually comes down to the specific house and the school district rather than the town name. We check the district for every address, and we help you compare similar homes across the town line so you can see where your budget goes furthest.

Much of the housing here is postwar colonials, capes, ranches, high ranches and split-levels, many expanded over the years. We walk every house together, and Mark, who spent 30 years in construction and homebuilding, looks at those expansions, the roof, the systems and the foundation. He will tell you which updates are cosmetic and which are expensive before you write an offer.

Sellers, we ask you to pull your permits and certificate of occupancy at the building department before listing, so an old addition never surprises a buyer's attorney. Then we price against homes in your town and school district, of the same style and size, sold within three to six months. Older homes near the historic centers and larger properties get the same care, priced against their own kind.

Our process page walks through every step, from the first walk-through to closing.

If you are relocating and do not know either town yet, we start with a real consultation about how you want to live, then show you homes on both sides so the choice is yours.

The Town of Smithtown has some of Long Island's best parks: Sunken Meadow State Park on the Sound in Kings Park, Caleb Smith State Park Preserve, Blydenburgh County Park and Nissequogue River State Park. Weekends here are trails, the beach on the Sound, and dinner on Main Street. Pick a community above and we will show you around.

The Nissequogue River itself is popular with kayakers, and the Smithtown Main Street area adds dinner and a show.