How is everyone doing it? (East Orange, Irvington: big house, safe neighborhood, buying)

[LittleMissSunshine]

Not EVERYONE needs a McMansion. My parent's house is 4 bedroom and nice, but a lil older. It's only valued at $390,000, which for a nice part of New Jersey ( a mile outside of Moorestown) is modest. We're in South Jersey, but we used to live in North Jersey in a very similar level of house.

It's all about knowing what you can afford and sticking to it. And there are people who can afford McMansions or Mansions and good for them. And there are people who can't and over extend themselves to keep up with the jones, those people are idiots in my opinions and yes there are plenty of them here, but also everywhere.

I see nothing wrong with older homes, a lot of them have more character anyway. If I was ever going to buy a really large home, I would still want an older one.

[nsa162]

With the crazy taxes in NJ, your tax bill is pretty much like another mortgage. People i know living in Delaware pay less than $500.00 a year in property taxes. Someone i know in Louisiana pays 300.00 a year. There is no reason for it to be so high. Other states have the same expenses. Roads, schools, police etc..

[njguy]

Originally Posted by LittleMissSunshine

Not EVERYONE needs a McMansion. My parent's house is 4 bedroom and nice, but a lil older. It's only valued at $390,000, which for a nice part of New Jersey ( a mile outside of Moorestown) is modest. We're in South Jersey, but we used to live in North Jersey in a very similar level of house.

It's all about knowing what you can afford and sticking to it. And there are people who can afford McMansions or Mansions and good for them. And there are people who can't and over extend themselves to keep up with the jones, those people are idiots in my opinions and yes there are plenty of them here, but also everywhere.

I see nothing wrong with older homes, a lot of them have more character anyway. If I was ever going to buy a really large home, I would still want an older one.

Well said LittleMissSunshine you're wiser than your years

I just added to your reputation - you well deserve it

The problem with many people is that they care too darn much on what other people think of them and or have to show off and it doesn't stop with their home purchase (I mean new heavy overextended debt) - a crucial mistake not only on the mortgage affordability front but the "wonderful" ultra-high property taxes that have to be paid here in NJ on that house. Why can't people live at or below their means is good for another thread topic in itself. What happens when that job gets pulled-out from under one - more problems as many are redlining their paychecks as it is unnecessarily.

[NewHomeHappy]

Originally Posted by kort677

give it a rest, there won't be too many forclosures in rumson or colts neck, believe or not there are many very successful people who can afford what they have.
Most people who are getting in forclosure troubles are in the lower end of the pool.

another way these people are affording these homes are by trading up to them, the price increases of the past 10 years was wild, my home went up 400%

Thanks for speaking up Kort677. Well said. I gave you pos. reps for that post.

[Hemingway]

Wouldn't it also be possible that people owned their properties long enough to make a more-than-tidy profit at sale, and trade up?

I owned a townhouse in Northern NJ for 15 years, bought it new at 115,000, of which I mortgaged 74,000. I sold it 15 years later for just over 300,000, of which most of that was profit. Now, we sold with the intention of leaving NJ and 'pocketing' the cash as a nest-egg. But wouldn't most people use the money to buy a larger home? The people who bought my Townhouse paid cash, because they had owned their 1950s (well-kept) ranch for 30 years and sold it for almost 600,000, they were from Kinnelon. By the way, I am in no way disagreeing with any of the previous posters,(In fact I totally agree with the McMansion thing and people living WAY beyond their means!)I am just adding my own story.

[njguy]

Originally Posted by Hemingway

Wouldn't it also be possible that people owned their properties long enough to make a more-than-tidy profit at sale, and trade up?

I owned a townhouse in Northern NJ for 15 years, bought it new at 115,000, of which I mortgaged 74,000. I sold it 15 years later for just over 300,000, of which most of that was profit. Now, we sold with the intention of leaving NJ and 'pocketing' the cash as a nest-egg. But wouldn't most people use the money to buy a larger home? The people who bought my Townhouse paid cash, because they had owned their 1950s (well-kept) ranch for 30 years and sold it for almost 600,000, they were from Kinnelon. By the way, I am in no way disagreeing with any of the previous posters,(In fact I totally agree with the McMansion thing and people living WAY beyond their means!)I am just adding my own story.

I'll add to this that some of these people that trade-up get stuck later on when their property taxes are too much for them, hence which either makes it better for them to have kept their former home or to have moved out of NJ (to a more property tax friendly state) after selling.

[kort677]

Originally Posted by nsa162

With the crazy taxes in NJ, your tax bill is pretty much like another mortgage. People i know living in Delaware pay less than $500.00 a year in property taxes. Someone i know in Louisiana pays 300.00 a year. There is no reason for it to be so high. Other states have the same expenses. Roads, schools, police etc..

yes you are 100% correct, it can cost less to live in those places but are there the same opportunities to make the big bucks like you can in NY/NJ?
If you can cut your ties to the big bucks then you should leave NJ and the confiscatory taxes, but many people aren't in that position.

The reason taxes are so high is that we have 100k a year cops, schools that are top heavy with 150k a year administors, crazy pension benefits for government workers and many other wasteful practices like abbott school districts, in long branch they just finished a middle school building, the cost? over $33 million! we are all paying for the foolishness.

[DodgeViper01]

Originally Posted by nsa162

With the crazy taxes in NJ, your tax bill is pretty much like another mortgage. People i know living in Delaware pay less than $500.00 a year in property taxes. Someone i know in Louisiana pays 300.00 a year. There is no reason for it to be so high. Other states have the same expenses. Roads, schools, police etc..

I did not even know taxes went that low. Darn NJ!

[kort677]

Originally Posted by DodgeViper01

I did not even know taxes went that low. Darn NJ!

he's missing the other half of the equation, sales taxes on food from the supermarket in LA, huge auto reg taxes and other crazy taxes that NJ doesn't have. That said property taxes in NJ and many other places have gotten insane.
FWIW 25 years ago my property taxes ran a bit under 2k a year now it is over 16k

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by DodgeViper01

I did not even know taxes went that low. Darn NJ!

But what do you get for these taxes. Poor schools, no police or fire protection. No decent parks or beaches. No services at all. Also, the wages in the area are most likely at poverty levels. I firmly believe you get what you pay for and down south you pay nothing and you get nothing. JMHO Jay