Today Long Island

The advantage of working with a licensed real estate agent, primarily is that he or she has access to most available properties through the multiple listing service. If you have your heart set on a specific community, dealing with a local agent is a good way to go.

Local agents tend to be more familiar with the community, and in most cases live in that community. In addition, a local agent will have exclusive rights to sell some homes that are not listed with MLS.

Long Island Communities:
The island has a few different regions. Some are drastically different than others. You've got the two shores (North Shore and South Shore) with their very different lifestyles. Then there's the Middle - without a shore to call it's own this area has far less marina's and tourist haunts. Then there is the "East End" which includes the exclusive Hamptons, "The Playground of the Rich and Famous". You also have the two main Counties: Nassau County and Suffolk County? Nassau County is the first county on Long Island that you hit upon escaping the city, popular for it's (relatively) short commute to Manhattan. From the middle of Nassau your commute is about an hour on the Long Island Rail Road.

Confounding things a little more - Suffolk County is so big that we often refer to it as "Eastern Suffolk" or "Western Suffolk". Western Suffolk buts up against Nassau County and is as a result is closer to Manhattan. It's much more populated per square mile than it's Eastern counterpart. You can still commute to New York from Western Suffolk but this is the end of the Electric line of the Long Island Rail Road. Commuters heading farther east than towns in Western Suffolk need to transfer to a diesel train.

As you head toward Eastern Suffolk you start to see a change in scenery as it begins to get more rural. Farms and the Pine Barrens take up much of the land and if you do want to build your own home this is the place to do it. But the commute to Manhattan can be hours from parts East so take that into consideration.

Long Island Demographics:

Albertson, Amagansett, Amityville , Aquebogue, Atlantic Beach, Babylon,  Baldwin, Baldwin Harbor, Bay Shore ,  Bayport,  Bayville,  Bellmore, Bellport, Bethpage, Blue Point, Bohemia,  Brentwood, Bridgehampton, Brightwaters,  Brookhaven, Calverton, Carle Place,  Cedarhurst, Center Moriches, Centereach, Centerport,  Central Islip, Cold Spring Harbor, Commack,  Copiague, Coram, Cutchogue,  Deer Park, Dix Hills, East Hampton, East Hills, East Islip, East Marion, East Meadow, East Moriches, East Northport, East Norwich, East Quogue, East Rockaway, East Setauket, Eastport,  Elmont, Farmingdale,  Farmingville,  Floral Park, Fort Salonga, Franklin Square ,  Freeport , Garden City , Garden City Park, Glen Cove, Glen Head, Glen Oaks, Glenwood Landing, Great Neck, Great River, GreenLawn, Greenport, Greenvale, Hampton Bays,  Hauppauge, Hempstead , Hewlett , Hicksville , Holbrook ,Holtsville, Huntington , Huntington Station , Islip ,  Inwood, Island Park, Islandia, Islip, Islip Terrace, Jamesport, Jericho, Kings Park, Lake Grove, Laurel, Lake Ronkonkoma, Lawrence, Levittown, Lindenhurst, Locust Valley, Long Beach, Lynbrook,  Malverne, Manhasset,  Manorville, Manorhaven,  Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Mattituck,  Medford, Melville , Merrick, Middle Island, Mill Neck, Miller Place,  Mineola, Montauk, Moriches, Mount Sinai,  Nesconset, New Hyde Park, Northport, New Cassel , North Amityville , North Babylon, Northport, North Bellmore, North Lindenhurst, North Massapequa , North Patchogue, Oakdale, Ocean Beach, Oceanside, Old Westbury, Orient, Oyster Bay, Patchogue, Plainedge Peconic, Plainview, Point Lookout, Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, Port Washington, Quogue, Remsenburg, Ridge, Riverhead , Rockville Centre, Rocky Point, Ronkonkoma, Roosevelt, Roslyn, Roslyn Heights, Sag Harbor, Sagaponack, Saint James, Salisbury Sayville, Sea Cliff, Seaford , Selden, Shelter Island, Shelter Island Heights, Shirley, Shoreham, Smithtown, Sound Beach, St. James, South Jamesport, SouthHampton, Southhold, Speonk, Stony Brook, Syosset, Uniondale, Upton, Valley Stream, Wading River, Wainscott, Wantagh, Water Mill, West Babylon, West Hempstead, West Islip, West Sayville, Westbury, Westhampton, Westhampton Beach,  Williston Park, Woodbury , Woodmere, Wyandanch, Yaphank.