Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello, I recently received a job offer to work in mt. Laurel. I am inclined to take the job, but the rent for an apartment in a decent part of town seem to be outrageous. I have a wife and baby and am looking for a 2 bedroom apartmetn roughly 800-1000 sq ft. It seems that whether i go south or north that this will cost me about $1200 a month, this is a bit of a sticker shock as i currently pay 800 for a rather nice apartment in Salem, Va.
Is this just the cost of housing in the area? I am willing to commute, I would love to find a place that is relatively quiet, but near a Walmart and some decent fast food, a Barnes and nobles would be a huge plus.
One last issue, i am very crime averse. i understand that we live in the world and bad people do bad things and i cannot totally isolate myself from this, but i would prefer to live somewhere where at most the crime rate is at the national average. I do not want to have to worry about my family when i am gone as i may need to spend some overnight rips in this job.
$1200 is probably on the low end for a 2/2 apartment in Mt Laurel/Cherry Hill/Marlton area. Property taxes are high in New Jersey so it's reflected in the rent.
I think you're going to need to get used to the sticker shock. Most 2/2 apartments and condos in nice areas are going to be more than $1,200. That price point is really what I would consider the compromise range where you can get the size you want in a decent (not great) area, but may need to settle for an older place.
A nice 2BR apartment in a great area is probably going to start in the $1,400-$1,600 range and go up from there. The last place I rented was a 2BR+den 1.5BA townhome (~1,400sq.ft.) in Moorestown (the kind of community you want) and the rent was $1,500 a month, which was a bargain compared to some of the other places we looked at.
If you want something under $1000 for a basic 2BR, Fox Meadow in Maple Shade may fit your budget but will fall short in some of the things you are looking for.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,666,340 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scire
Hello, I recently received a job offer to work in mt. Laurel. I am inclined to take the job, but the rent for an apartment in a decent part of town seem to be outrageous. I have a wife and baby and am looking for a 2 bedroom apartmetn roughly 800-1000 sq ft. It seems that whether i go south or north that this will cost me about $1200 a month, this is a bit of a sticker shock as i currently pay 800 for a rather nice apartment in Salem, Va.
Is this just the cost of housing in the area? I am willing to commute, I would love to find a place that is relatively quiet, but near a Walmart and some decent fast food, a Barnes and nobles would be a huge plus.
One last issue, i am very crime averse. i understand that we live in the world and bad people do bad things and i cannot totally isolate myself from this, but i would prefer to live somewhere where at most the crime rate is at the national average. I do not want to have to worry about my family when i am gone as i may need to spend some overnight rips in this job.
Thanks in advance!
regards,
Scire
You'll find that Target is more prevalent than Walmart.
Would you expect to find apartments like what you are looking for at a similar distance from DC for the same price as Salem, VA? You could look in more rural areas of South Jersey & will probably pay less rent, but you'll eat that up paying for the gasoline.
I did some more searching, reach out to an old friend who used to live in Philly, he recommended the Stratford area and the Brookview apartment complex has a lot of what i am looking for. Gas is not too much of an issue for me, as the job i am getting comes with a company vehicle and company gas card. There is something to be said for time, but i don't expect trips around Philly will be traffic free anyways. I did not expect the prices to be the same, but looking at an increase of rent 150% to 200% is a bit hard to swallow and affects if i will take the job.
I found that the crime rate in Stratford was on par with the national average, can anyone comment on whether this area is nice, and also any feedback on Brookview would be much appreciated. Thanks again for all your comments, they are much appreciated
If you ask me, it's not particularly nice, but it's not a bad area either. Some of the neighboring towns are nicer (Gibbsboro) and not as nice (Lindenwold), and the overall area on White Horse Pike has a lot of vacant, dilapidated commercial real estate, but you could certainly do worse than Stratford. There is a new Wal mart a few miles away in Somerdale. There is a hospital in Stratford (Kennedy) but it's small. I encourage you to come check out the area before you make a move.
Yeah, Stratford itself isn't bad, but the surrounding area can be a real hit or miss and changes from town to town. I don't have much to offer on Brookview other than it is in one of the less desirable areas of Stratford. It's not bad as in crime ridden, just not as nice as other sections. It's sandwiched between Atlantic Ave. and the White Horse Pike in a mixed residential neighborhood. The rates are cheap at under $1k for a 2BR which means it is either small or sketchy.
My wife and I lived at Robin Hill in Voorhess for 6 months as part of the relocation back to NJ with my company. It was a pretty nice complex in a decent area. It had real easy access to PATCO to Philly, is right down the street from the new Wal*Mart tarp mentioned and is around the corner from the Voorhees Town Center (small retail mall).
When we lived there we felt the 2BR were a decent size and had a washer/dryer in the unit. The rent ran $1,110 and I think may be pushing $1,200 now. In all honesty this is about as cheap as it's going to get in a decent area/complex.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
