Long Island's housing problem is bigger than mortgage rates

Whenever housing affordability comes up on Long Island, the conversation quickly turns to mortgage rates. Buyers hope a lower rate will put a home within reach.

I understand why. But the homebuyers I work with also face a problem that lower rates alone will not fix: finding a house they can afford that does not need a second budget for repairs.

In September, I worked with a buyer searching in Mastic and Mastic Beach with a $500,000 budget. They wanted a modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom house they could move into without extensive repairs. Almost everything we looked at needed substantial work.

For that buyer, the asking price was only part of the problem. Money spent on repairs would have to come from somewhere after the purchase.

We need more homes that working people can reasonably afford to buy and maintain. We also need smaller homes for longtime residents who want to downsize without leaving their families and communities.

The difficult question is where to put them.

Local control matters. Residents should have a say in what gets built near their homes. But local officials also need to help communities decide what they would support, rather than waiting for a developer to submit plans and a fight to begin.

Town and village officials could bring residents, builders, planning boards and infrastructure providers together to identify suitable properties. They should discuss the size of a project, parking, traffic, drainage and infrastructure before anyone spends years pursuing an application.

In Lindenhurst and Ronkonkoma, that discussion could include additional housing near railroad stations. In Selden and Centereach, it could include whether particular vacant or underused commercial properties would be better suited for housing. Being near a station or along a commercial road does not make every site appropriate. Each property needs a close look.

I would like to see willing municipalities identify a few sites where smaller housing developments could work and establish clear standards for those properties.

Tell builders what height, setbacks, parking and design the community expects. Determine what infrastructure improvements would be necessary. Give residents a chance to shape those expectations early.

Then give proposals that meet those standards a predictable review process.

We should also consider smaller projects. Could a handful of modest homes around a shared green work on a suitable property? Could that give first-time buyers or people downsizing an option without requiring a large apartment complex?

These are questions worth putting before residents.

I hear concerns about young people leaving Long Island and older homeowners struggling to stay. I also understand why neighbors worry about development. Traffic and drainage problems affect their daily lives. Those concerns need answers, but we still have to decide where more homes can go.

Some buyers may reasonably choose to wait for lower mortgage rates. That decision does not add a single home to the market.

Long Island will not solve its housing shortage with one project or one zoning change. But we can start identifying places where more housing makes sense and agreeing on what we would accept.

Otherwise, buyers like the one I recently worked with will keep searching with substantial budgets and finding that even a modest, livable home is difficult to reach.

This guest essay reflects the views of Jack Cutrone, a real estate salesperson with Patriot Real Properties who covers Suffolk and Nassau counties.