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1) In cherry hill, in chanticleer. 3 bedroom and 2 1/2 baths. End unit townhouse. All carpeted. It has a little outdoor space in the back and side of the house. Small but we don't need much outdoor space now. The master bedroom is a decent size. 2 other bedrooms are small but would work well. We have a two car driveway and one car garage. No basement. Not too many places for visitors to park, but we get two parking decals for ourselves or guests. But home is cozy. Also has fireplace.
No utilities included.
2) in collingswood. Right by the highschool in a cul de sac 3 bedroom cape colonial house. Inside is all redone. 2 full baths. All new carpets in every room (except kitchen). All new bathrooms. New appliances. Full unfinished basement. Also had two finished rooms upstairs (huge) (in addition to the 3 bedrooms). It has an outside deck that sits off the kitchen. Has small backyard and side yard. Also has enclosed front porch. Three car driveway. Fire place. We mow lawn.
In terms of rent it is a $50 dollar difference. No utilities included for either. Gas heat and central air for both. We are wondering how big of a difference utilities will be for these homes. That is a big deciding factor for us. Landlord says on average $275 for collingswood...but he is unsure..said it depends. And I know the chanticleer would be less.
We are renting for a couple years to feel out the area. We want to save money for a house but also want to have a good experience with this place. I have always wanted to live in more of a town/have a sense of community. So that points more to collingswood....but just can't decide. Love them both!!
Thoughts???? Help??
Also, we applied for the cherry hill place already and he said yes to us. We just saw the collingswood place today and loved it so haven't applied for it yet.
Any help with this would be much appreciated. Our biggest concerns are the (higher?) Utility bill in Collingswood and the traffic on the commute to and from the PATCO speed line in Cherry Hill.
If the square footage is comparable, for utilities, I'm not sure that there would be a huge difference between the two. The house may be a little more expensive. Exterior walls are a big factor. Since you'd be on the end of the townhouse, you'll still have 3.
That said, if the townhouse is newer, you may have better insulation - but build quality can vary so much. I would bet that the house in Collingswood is built better overall than the townhouse in Cherry Hill, because pre-war construction was typically pretty solid. That said, pre-war construction isn't the most energy efficient housing out there.
You can shop your energy in NJ. You can buy electric and gas rates from alternate companies. It won't save you a huge amount of change, but it can help lower your bill by about 10-15%.
To give you my experience, I own a 1943 brick cape cod in Collingswood. My house is 988 sq ft, block construction with a brick veneer. It has plaster walls and probably a whole 4" of insulation between the plaster and the block if there is even any behind the lathe. My high utility bills are in the winter.
Last month, during one of the coldest winters I can remember, my bill was $222 for everything (I have an old 60/40 efficiency gas heater). In the summer AC months, it is around $150 (I have a new high-efficiency central AC unit). The spring and summer are a deal - I can get my bill to around $65-75 by keeping the air/heat off. I am not home during the day, so I keep the thermostat set at:
Winter: 62 degrees during the day and 68 until bedtime
Summer: 78 degrees during the day and 72 at night (I can't sleep in a hot house)
Your difference between the two places would be probably no more than $100 a month on a bad month (super cold, super hot). I wouldn't make it your sole deciding factor. You can always play with the thermostat if you need to save money.
I'm biased because I live in Collingswood, but I think you'll love the area. It has everything within a few minutes of your door. The PATCO access, parks, proximity of local shopping, restaurants, and small town feel just don't exist in Cherry Hill. If you're renting and the schools aren't an issue, I recommend Collingswood. You can always manage your utility bills, but you can't change your location. Good luck!
The Cherry Hill location is in the middle of a LOT of traffic spots. If you will be driving between 4-6pm or 7-9am then there are a lot of areas that will just be busy/packed. I would avoid that area for that reason alone. Though you will be near more retail etc...
Collingswood is smaller town hence a tad further (not much) to large retail. I would lean towards collingwood. Cherry Hill doesn't do much for me.
If the utility bills are the real concern, check out the HVAC system in both places. If the Collingswood house was recently redone it may have newer and more high efficiency systems versus what you might have in Chanticleer. Also, a lot of townhome communities were built without natural gas infrastructure, so you may actually have a situation at Chanticleer where you are running a heat pump with electric backup. Those systems can get real costly to run. If that's the case you would also most likely have an electric hot water heater and cooking, which can add to the cost.
If you are taking PATCO daily, then Collingswood is the better choice and you could walk from that house to the PATCO stop versus needing to drive in Cherry Hill. Collingswood will also offer you more walkable amenities downtown whereas virtually everything in Cherry Hill is going to require a drive. Having to drive only for major retail trips is not a big deal coming from Collingswood even if Chanticleer is a little closer to major retail. So, based on what you want in the community it would seem Collingswood may be the better pick.
The only thing that might sway a choice back towards Chanticleer is if there are good community amenities you would take advantage of. If the community has a pool/rec/fitness center and you would actually use them, that can be a good value add versus paying for a gym or pool membership and having to drive to it.
Hi guys, thanks so much for all of your detailed responses. Big help.
We actually ended up choosing chanticleer in cherry hill. We looked at both places again yesterday and came to the conclusion that the collingswood house was too much house for us. And the lawn was huge...there was a fenced in part of the yard and we thought initially it wasn't our property...but found out yesterday that the fence was coming down and it was. So would be a lot to maintain for just a rental. And the house had a lot of windows....which we would have had to buy blinds or curtains for. The house in general is probably double the size of the chanticleer one. So no go. We don't have kids yet....so its just the two of us...but planning on trying so only.
So overall, we want to buy in a couple years so the extra maintenance and purchases wasn't worth it to us for a rental.
Chanticleer it is we are happy with out choice. We will get to know the area more through these couple rental years...see where we want to buy.
Not that it matters now, but yeah Chanticleer can be rough if you come up Kresson past the high school in the afternoons.
The drive to PATCO is pretty easy though. Just take Evesham to Ashland Station. I very rarely have any issues.
The "amenities" in Chanticleer aren't anything to write home about. The gym is virtually worthless. I guess if you'd reserve the community center for an event, that's something. The pool is just OK.
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we are happy with out choice. We will get to know the area more through these couple rental years...see where we want to buy.
