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Amazing how many people want to live in NJ for CHEAP!! ...and have the best of both worlds. These are the ones that have kids and want good schools. Sure everyone that has kids wants their kids to go to a good school. You pay $$$ lots of it either to live in a nice town or pay to send them to a private school. Either way NJ will DRAIN you of all your money no matter what you decide to do.
Please note that I didn't say "cheap." I want "cheapER" than Hoboken with all the things mentioned. I know places that meet that criteria exist.
And the key is find the place on the upswing, like those who bought brownstones in Hoboken in mid-1990s for $150K. Those today are selling for over $1,000,000.
Please note that I didn't say "cheap." I want "cheapER" than Hoboken with all the things mentioned. I know places that meet that criteria exist.
And the key is find the place on the upswing, like those who bought brownstones in Hoboken in mid-1990s for $150K. Those today are selling for over $1,000,000.
knowing what you can spend would be helpful. as i stated in my previous post, nothing in nj (the country perhaps) is on the upswing right now.
i lived in hoboken in the mid 90's. even more money was made in the 80's. i have 2 aquaintances who both made a fortune buying and renovation brownstones. at the time EVERYONE thought they were insane.
knowing what you can spend would be helpful. as i stated in my previous post, nothing in nj (the country perhaps) is on the upswing right now.
i lived in hoboken in the mid 90's. even more money was made in the 80's. i have 2 aquaintances who both made a fortune buying and renovation brownstones. at the time EVERYONE thought they were insane.
I'm sure they did! Clearly it's an inexact science. I lived in Harlem in the early 2000s. I lasted six months.
My wife, infant daughter and I currently live in the current Hoboken. But as our family grows, we're realizing that we'll soon be priced out of upgrading in town. We're looking for the next up and coming area, within commuting distance to NYC, and that offers good (or at least improving) schools.
(I saw a much older thread on here asking for the same thing, but thought I would try to get some new advice.)
Thanks for any input you can offer.
Brian
Downtown Jersey City? I live here now and definately feel that it hasn't reached it's peak yet and it's definately not as expensive as Hoboken. You can still find the random fixer upper 1-2 family (not a brownstone) for around $450K or under...
Morristown is another town that comes to mind that has a still evolving downtown with pretty active night scene.
I really wish they would clean up the area in and around Liberty State Park and the Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City. It has some of the most breathtaking views of the New York Harbour and lady Liberty but I wouldn't live there now even if they paid me to and that's with no kids yet. It has to be a matter of time though before it gets gentrified.
Please note that I didn't say "cheap." I want "cheapER" than Hoboken with all the things mentioned. I know places that meet that criteria exist.
And the key is find the place on the upswing, like those who bought brownstones in Hoboken in mid-1990s for $150K. Those today are selling for over $1,000,000.
Everyone is looking for cheaper, good luck finding what fits your criteria. I'm sure you will find it, it may take some time though.
Chatham and Madison are both beautiful, but I think we're pretty much priced out of those locales also.
I'm intrigued by New Brunswick. I like the downtown area; the shops and restaurants, at least. Are there areas/neighborhoods that are particularly nice these days?
Thanks for the responses.
my wife and i moved from Hoboken to West Orange. we have easy access to downtown millburn and south orange. taxes are high, but house prices are reasonably adjusted for those higher taxes. school system is good and a lot of elementary schools have been improving even further. it's never going to be "the next hoboken" but is that really what you're looking for?
my wife and i moved from Hoboken to West Orange. we have easy access to downtown millburn and south orange. taxes are high, but house prices are reasonably adjusted for those higher taxes. school system is good and a lot of elementary schools have been improving even further. it's never going to be "the next hoboken" but is that really what you're looking for?
WO would scare me with the tax situation. How stable are the tax rates? I wouldn't want to buy one of those "reasonably adjusted" houses and then be paying $14,000 in property taxes after a couple years.
it's never going to be "the next hoboken" but is that really what you're looking for?
Well, yes. Sort of.
We really like living there; its proximity to the city, the waterfront, the babies/puppies all over the place, the walkability of the town. Our daughter is only a baby, so we don't have the school issue to deal with yet. We pretty loathe the local system of government, the prices, the drunks on (fake) St. Paddy's Day. We're pretty far away from the craziness near the PATH, so that doesn't bother so much.
I guess we want an affordable place to live among other young families that isn't ridiculously far from NYC.
Thanks for the input. I'll definitely look into West Orange.
Please note that I didn't say "cheap." I want "cheapER" than Hoboken with all the things mentioned. I know places that meet that criteria exist.
And the key is find the place on the upswing, like those who bought brownstones in Hoboken in mid-1990s for $150K. Those today are selling for over $1,000,000.
honestly, this will never happen again. hoboken was the perfect storm of a battered down city, right next to the booming metropolis of NYC. every city on the coast has gone through this transformation. if you want something that hasn't appreciated much in the past 15 years, maybe look at paterson or newark? but you aren't getting good schools. i mean, what you're asking for is virtually impossible to find right now. you want a good school district, in a town that is behind the rest of NJ towns in commuting distance to NYC as far as economics go?
why don't you throw out your budget...and people can suggest towns based on that? then you can compare them to Hoboken as far as what they have to offer you, and you can decide if you're ready for the burbs.
We really living there, its proximity to the city, the waterfront, the babies/puppies all over the place, the walkability of the town. Our daughter is only a baby, so we don't have the school issue to deal with yet. We pretty loathe the local system of government, the prices, the drunks on (fake) St. Paddy's Day. We're pretty far away from the craziness near the PATH, so that doesn't bother so much.
I guess we want an affordable place to live among other young families that isn't ridiculously far from NYC.
Thanks for the input. I'll definitely look into West Orange.
It doesn't exist.
There are other places that could be "up and coming" years down the road - Union City sticks out as one of them - but I highly doubt you'd want to live in a place like that now. Same way you like Hoboken now but wouldn't have liked it 20 years ago.
Seems to me the type of place you're looking for could be good as an investment but not necessarily a place to live full-time.
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