Making the Move to NJ

[NewJersey?]

I live in Clifton. Wanna trade houses? Ha! jk

Good luck. I agree, you should do a lot of research and maybe come here and take a look around first. Not because you won't like it, but because it IS different. You may not like the 'difference'. Good luck.

[ottomobeale]

Plenty of decent areas well within an hour. Mostly West and North West.

A 200K house in Northern New Jersey would probably be in a bad neighborhood and on fire at the time...

Most of Morris County is under an hour away. Not aware of any bad areas in Morris County that are actually dangerous though some are a bit worn.

The further west you go generally the less expensive. Going west on I80 there is a decent cost reduction between Morris Plains milemarker (MM) 42 and Hopatcong MM 28. Further West (lower mile marker) = less money.

Understand in NJ its not necessarily distance away as time away.
From work I get to MM 42 in 45 mins typically. I get to MM 35 just 7 miles further in 1:05 typically. Fridays in Summer is worse because NYC empties out and they all go to the Poconos... On I80.

NJ is very different from most areas of the country.

BTW NJ... Its also NOT what you see when you fly into Newark. Far too many people see Newark and immediately hate NJ and think it all looks like that. On I80 Past MM56ish it gets more hilly and more tree covered. Past MM 42 it gets very hilly and tree covered. Rather nice actually. Expensive as her heck but nice.

Rent will depend on bedrooms too. How many you need?

[ep4property]

Originally Posted by RLM74

My Husband has been offered a Job in Clifton, NJ and we are considering accepting. We now reside in upstate SC. However I have heard some horror stories about moving to that specific area and I was hoping that someone could give me a list of good areas to consider moving too. At first he will probably rent, I will stay in SC til the beginning of the year then we will consider buying a home. He does not mind commuting an hour in any direction but no more than that. Neither of us have ever been to Jersey and are both clueless as to where to start looking. Anyone have any advice?

Thanks so much!

As a realtor in Essex and Passaic Counties, I will tell you that there are a number of towns that may fit your needs. In Clifton, there's the Montclair Hgts and Allwood sections, there's other towns Verona, Montclair, Bloomfield (Brookdale, Oakview, Fairview sections), Nutley, West Orange, Glen Ridge. There are rentals in that range, less so for 3 bedrooms, but they do exist. And, these towns are close to several community colleges and Montclair State University. In terms of purchases, average homes are in the $ 300's in some areas, more oin others. Feel free to email me privately for more info. Good luck! Elaine