Looking to move to Jersey - Advise please. (Edison, Wayne: cul-de-sac, for sale)

[kobain]

Greetings, first time poster, long time lurker..

My pregnant wife and I are looking to move to Jersey, but are not sure of which towns are right for us/we can afford. Together we make around 120K/year I'm looking for a house on a town that has an easy commute to NYC where we both work, affordable (looking to what we make I would say we can probably afford around 275K for a house) and is family friendly. Any tips will be highly appreciated.

[BobKovacs]

There's very little, if anything in a decent area that's an "easy commute" to NYC for $275k. I'm assuming you've also factored in either a loss of income from the wife staying home with the kid, or the cost of daycare? If you're schleping in and out of NYC, you'll not only be paying the daycare rate (over $1,000/month in most cases), but also overtime costs for having to keep the kid late at the daycare center.

[tdstyles]

275K is low but it can be done. Granted we are not talking Millburn or Ridgewood and you have to manage your expectations quite a bit since $300K(more realistically $350K) is really the barrier to entry for anything in North Jersey, in a good family area, within an hour commute into NYC. So the houses you will be looking at will be mostly small capes and bungalows(2 or 3brs w 1 bath), not updated, on irregular lots and/or busy streets. This pickins will be slim! Zillow - Real Estate, Homes for Sale & Real Estate Values is a great resource. Areas I would recommend are:

Hawthorne
Fair Lawn
Wayne(pushing the hour commute barrier)
Nutley
Rutherford
Lyndhurst

[tahiti]

nutley's a good choice and I saw some cute homes in your price range!

[JKasper]

Monroe Twp 08831

[RobRiguez]

Come on down to South Edison. Blue collar, 2 bedrooms no prob for 275-300. 50 min train ride to NYPennStation.

[mirsk2010]

You won't have luck in that price range for anything decent close to the city so in that price range you can expect to live 45 minutes to 60 minutes west on route 80. Then from there plan on being 10-15 minutes off 15 or 206. Mount Olive is great place with great schools and if appreciate nature, being on a cul-de-sac and being part of a great neighboorhood with lots of kids

[Safetyman40]

hey try hillside new jersey and I know you can find a family friendly place for under that price you quoted and have a place that is not dangerous and only 30 min minutes if driving depending on the time of day or rail service. As quite as it kept just check it out with a stay at airport hotel and tour the town on the weekend and during the week see for yourself. good luck.

[poppy123]

you can try south jersey around aberdeen or hazlet nj nice area

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by poppy123

you can try south jersey around aberdeen or hazlet nj nice area

That it is, but I am on that train line and your talking about an hour and twenty, hour and a half train ride to Penn Station NY.

Which, OP, is not necessarily a terrible thing. My station is another 20 minutes beyond those towns. If you like to read, that's your time to do it undisturbed. Hazlet is a family town, and it's near the shore area.