Suffolk homes that sold for less than $600,000

One red-shingled ranch-style house in Miller Place was "a great starter home," said listing agent Donna McKeown, of Signature Premier Properties, who represented its sellers. But the house could have done with some updating inside and out, she said.

Still, in late April, McKeown and her clients closed the sale at $565,000 — $26,000 over the asking price.

In Suffolk County, where the median closing price of single-family homes was $655,000 in March, according to OneKey MLS, those with budgets in the neighborhood of $600,000 are in "a difficult place to be," McKeown said.

"You might have to do a little bit of work, you may have to move a little further east or west or whatever it may be," she said. "You may have to sacrifice the basement, or sacrifice a garage, or sacrifice something."

Set on a flat 0.8-acre parcel on Miller Place Road, the three-bed, 1½-bath house covers 1,204 square feet, according to the listing. Inside, there are wood floors, a wood-burning fireplace and custom crown molding.

The property is on a busy road but still offers privacy, McKeown said. There are an attached two-car garage and an unfinished basement.

McKeown and her clients listed the Miller Place property for $539,000 in February, she said. The sale closed on April 28 at $565,000.

In April 2023, McKeown listed the same property for the previous owner. At that time, the property was priced at $485,000 and sold in July 2023 for $530,000, McKeown said.

"The market in this area hasn't changed dramatically, and they didn't really do a lot of improvements to the house since they bought it," said McKeown of her rationale in pricing the home in 2025.

A 1,040-square-foot ranch-style house on a 0.25-acre property in Shirley was on the market for approximately 43 days, said listing agent Daniel Patterson. The initial asking price for the three-bed, one-bath was "a reach," he said, based on current market conditions.

"Typically, what we tell our sellers is, after we've done our first open house and we see how the first week goes, then we'll adjust the price accordingly," said Patterson, who co-listed the property with his mother, Elaine Patterson, for Signature Premier Properties.

The Pattersons and their clients dropped the price to $479,000 and closed the sale at $474,000 in late April.

"This one, it needed a little bit of updating, so that did limit some of the buyers," Daniel Patterson said. "It wasn't one of those big frenzies."

He described the property as "pre-foreclosure," with unresolved certificate of occupancy issues and in need of a laundry list of repairs.

The house does have a full basement, which is the same square footage of the house, Patterson said, and a one-car garage. The agents hosted open houses and private showings. Another agent who showed the property privately brought the buyer, he said.

In Islip Terrace, the closing price of this three-bed, 1½-bath house reflected the work the homebuyer might put into it, said listing agent Anthony Autera, of Signature Premier Properties.

"It was livable, it just hadn't been updated since the '70s," Autera said. "It's like everything was straight out of 1975."

Autera estimated the 1,200-square-foot ranch-style house would require roughly $100,000 worth of renovation. Though the house was technically move-in ready, Autera suggested it would need kitchen and bathroom updates, refinished floors, a paint job, a new roof and fresh siding.

"After the renovation, the house would immediately have a nice chunk of equity," he said.

If the buyer were to put $100,000 into the house, Autera theorized the property value would jump to the high $600,000s.

According to Autera, the home's selling points included its central location and proximity to major highways. The address falls within the East Islip Union Free School District, he said.

To prospective buyers looking for a Long Island home that costs less than $600,000, Autera advises recognizing the potential of a property.

"A lot of people get turned off immediately when they see the condition of a house, but you have to have a vision," said Autera, who bought his own house in 2000 as a two-bedroom bungalow and spent the next decade renovating and expanding it. "You have to have ideas, and have an open mind."

A two-bedroom, 1½ -bathroom ranch-style house in the Leisure Knoll senior community went for $26,000 over asking in late April, said listing agent Laurie Linkletter.

"It was priced lower because it only had 1½ bathrooms, but it was nicely done inside," said Linkletter, of Signature Premier Properties.

The Ridge development consists of free-standing, two-bedroom homes, some of which have two full bathrooms, Linkletter said. A monthly $380 homeowners association fee covers lawn maintenance, snow removal and the use of tennis and pickleball courts, a pool and the clubhouse, Linkletter said. The community gate closes at night, she added.

"It's one of the more affordable communities," she said. "It's pretty far out on Long Island."

Linkletter recommends prospective homebuyers explore listings at least $50,000 below the top of their budget knowing they will likely have to offer more than asking.

Numbers aside, Linkletter also suggests finding out what the seller's priorities are: Do they need the deal to be done within a certain time frame, or a significant amount of money down on contract?

"Every seller's afraid that the sale won't go through," she said. "They're going to choose the most solid buyer."

A three-bedroom Selden home wearing neutral-toned shingles sold for $20,000 over asking in the final days of April, said listing agent John Maloney, of the Furnari Team at Exit Realty Island Elite.

"The house is well taken care of, but it's not overly updated with super high-end things that would try to inflate the price," Maloney said.

The 1,276-square-foot ranch has one bathroom and an attached garage. The home sits on a 0.28-acre parcel that falls within the Middle Country Central School District.

The selling process went smoothly, Maloney said. Homes around this size — two and three-bedrooms — are in especially high demand, which drives up the cost, Maloney said.

"They're way overinflated, there's so much demand for them," he said.

To those looking to buy a home for less than $600,000, Maloney stresses the importance of working with an agent who will best represent the buyer's interest.

"The key is having an agent that knows how to present an offer that is going to satisfy whatever needs that the seller has," he said. "And that's part of being a good agent, is figuring out what those needs are."

This might mean offering to accommodate the seller's timeline, or to cover the cost of projects the seller has to do to pass a Federal Housing Administration inspection. An FHA inspection is required when the prospective buyer wants to buy the home using an FHA loan.

"You need an agent that is going to be thinking about everything as they're falling asleep and then thinking about it again as they wake up," Maloney said. "That's how you're successful as a buyer, is having an agent like that."

Peach-hued siding and chestnut detailing cover the facade of a 1,100-square-foot ranch-style home in Ronkonkoma. Inside, the three-bed, one-bath house is a callback to the '70s: yellow countertops and brown paneling, said listing agent Jodi Fein.

But the house, which sits on a 0.19-acre parcel alongside a one-car detached garage, sold for $70,000 above asking.

"It will require updating, but it is completely livable and inhabitable right now," said Fein, who co-listed the property with Thomas Schwaber for Realty Connect USA. "It was kept perfectly by the previous owner."

Fein and Schwaber showed the property for less than a week and held one open house, Fein said. The listing inspired a bidding war that culminated in an April 28 closing.

"It's in great condition, it's just dated," she said of the home.

Fein called the sub-$600,000 market "the toughest" market right now. To those shopping in that price range, she offers reassurance.

"I would tell them, please be patient, don't lose hope, there will be a house out there for you," Fein said. "It's very competitive right now, but there will be the right house."

By Arielle Dollinger

arielle.dollinger@newsday.com@aridollinger

Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.