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Our agent said that there are "nice" and "nicer" areas of FL.. can anyone tell me which parts are nicer? Thanks
I think it's just how big the homes are in a particular area or development. There are no bad parts for sure, but there might be a few pockets that have 500,000 houses (as opposed to 2 million.) Most of the smaller and older (relatively speaking) homes would be on main roads though.
Allendale & Wyckoff have small downtowns, Ramsey a bit bigger. USR literally has Elmer's and a gas station...that's it.
Not sure what "paying a premium" for the Ridgewood train station means. Allendale & Ramsey have stations as well.
Franklin Lakes traditionally is one of the 2 or 3 fanciest towns in BC. You're not going to get a bargain there.
Allendale has a very small downtown. I wouldn't move to Allendale for the downtown, if that was an important factor.
You pay a premium in any of those three towns for the train line.
Franklin Lakes isn't cheap either of course. And the higher-end houses (2,3,4 mil) tend to make the less expensive houses more expensive because the market is skews high. The property taxes there are much lower than what you would pay in some other towns for the same value of house though.
When we were looking and drove through Old Tappan it looked like it was mostly mansions. I didn't want to feel like the poorest people in town! But it was very pretty. I love Wyckoff- it is just very pretty. For a downtown what about Woodcliff Lake or Westwood? Franklin Lakes is a nice town with good schools and the only thing I think I woudl choose FL over OT is that fact that it closer to things! Good luck, you will be happy with either.
We were previously trying to decide on Franklin Lakes or Wyckoff, and we decided on FL... but now we're interested in a home in Old Tappan as well. I don't know too much about the town (besides what I've read on these forums). Neither my husband nor I need to commute, so that isn't a factor. Here are some questions I thought of, but please feel free to expand:
-Are there more/less sidewalks in OT?
-How's the OT school system?
-Does OT have a downtown area?
Thanks so much!
Old Tappan has EXCELLENT schools, truly. Not too many sidewalks/streetlights in either town, & that seems to be part of their appeal. (F. Lakes also has very good schools, BTW.) Neither town really has a "downtown" -- both have commercial area concentrated in shopping plazas, & both have outstanding quality of life. Franklin Lakes generally has septic system, not sewers; Old Tappan has somewhat recently converted MOST of town to sewers. Both are fairly expensive places to live.
Last edited by GiantRutgersfan; 02-12-2011 at 04:07 PM..
I'm originally from Oradell and my wife and I are moving back to Bergen cty after spending 10 years living abroad. We have a tight budget of around 450K to buy a 3 bedroom home. I love Haworth/Closter but I don't think its reasonable to find a home for under 550K. We are 32 years old and are planning to start a family, and will work in and around NYC. Do you have any suggestions on a decent looking house in Bergen cty for under 500K? I was thinking maybe a small home in Englewood but even that is getting expensive.
Also, is it possible to buy a home in foreclosure this year and put 50K or so into it?
I grew up in Old Tappan, my folks still live there. It's a good safe, quiet family town for sure. No downtown but there is the Bi State shopping plaza with a nice A&P, good pizza, Starbucks, CVS, the usual stuff. Not really much to do in terms of entertainment but it's close enough to other stuff. About a 15 minute drive to the Palisades Mall.
It seems like it's mostly mansionfest but there's also plenty of blocks of modestly priced homes. My folks bought land on the east side of town on the Norwood border and built their house in the late 80s and have seen the property value increase significantly. That side of town is more working class and more similar to towns like Norwood and Northvale.
There's a degree of really stuck up people and their attitudes can really get on your nerves, but if you can brush that much off your shoulder it's a good town. Has only had stoplights for little over 20 years actually haha.
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Old Tappan vs. Franklin Lakes
