moving to jersey area (Englewood, Tenafly: real estate, homes, transfer)

[TrapDraw77]

Moving to Jersey as the result of the work transfer and starting to look to identify cities as we start the season.

Here are response to the basic Qs from the sticky note


Where are you coming from? Minneapolis (though we have lived in Chicago, Phily, and Boston before)
Why are you moving? promotion at work
Where will you be working ? Englewood, NJ

Will you buy or rent? Buy if possible
What is your budget ? 500-600k
What kind of place are you looking for ? single family house, 3 bed, 2 bath, good kitchen, attached garage

Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ? wife and 4 yo daughter
Do you need/want good public schools? definitely

Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in Wisteria Lane. single family homes where people are friendly buy stay out of your business


List three things that are important to you in order of importance.

1) good schools
2) short commute to office
3) proximity to golf courses, parks, recreation
4) not too far from manhattan for monthly dates with wifey

thanks for all your help.

[foodyum]

Look north. Some towns to consider are Demarest, Haworth and Norwood. You should be able to get a lovely home on quarter to half and acre with a 20 minute commute to Englewood via non highway roads. Most golf courses are private though.

[ALackOfCreativity]

I would also advise the local towns to the north of Englewood. There are four school districts in the area that are head and shoulders above the others (and almost everywhere else) and you should look to be in one of them as they are in your budget (at least the western half of Tenafly and Cresskill are, my knowledge of precise real estate values is a bit shakier further north). These are:

Tenafly
Cresskill
Northern Valley Demarest
Northern Valley Old Tappan

There is a local private country club (not a member and never been) and a public golf course as well (went years ago, at the time it was covered in goose dropping to a horrific degree, but, this was almost a decade ago and the problem may have been resolved since) in the area. While there are parks in the area (in Tenafly, Englewood, Demarest, etc.), they are pretty tiny. Great places to take a young kid a few times a year (especially the nature center in Tenafly) but not so interesting for an adult or older family. You are, however, a 30-45 minute drive away from some amazing hiking / bike trails / parks across the border in New York State though.

Commute will be anywhere from 5 minutes door-to-door from Tenafly to 25-30 from Old Tappan. Beyond that, the towns that feed into the above highschools are fairly homogenous. There are some subtle differences (Closter is more Korean, Demarest is uniformly wealthy rather than having a cheaper and more expensive side of town, Cresskill is a bit more laid back than Tenafly, etc.), but they are just that: subtle. While a bit longer of a commute & further from the city, the larger property sizes in Old Tappan might afford you a bit more of the privacy you are looking for, and the taxes are lowest there.