Warren vs Basking Ridge (Summit, Madison: for sale, real estate market, condos)

[foodienj]

Hi, can someone tell me some of the pros and cons of Basking Ridge? We have young children and work in NYC.

[DodgeViper01]

Basking Ridge all the way out of the two. Basking Ridge has a more Northern town feel and by this I mean, has lots of scenery and is just different. Hard to explain really.

Warren does not seem to feel the same way to me. Many areas there can seem nice but I feel that with Route 22? being so close, it kinda kills the small town atmosphere.

Here is some more information regarding Basking Ridge:

Basking Ridge, New Jersey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[nobi]

I have a lot of friends in Warren and during warm season i go there to flea market every sunday and since i go to Warren since 1992 it has changed a lot. Before it used to be a nice and quiet towm full of farms right now most of the farms are gone and replaced with multi milion dollar homes, so its now a very rich people town even Howard Stern has a house in Warren.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by nobi

I have a lot of friends in Warren and during warm season i go there to flea market every sunday and since i go to Warren since 1992 it has changed a lot. Before it used to be a nice and quiet towm full of farms right now most of the farms are gone and replaced with multi milion dollar homes, so its now a very rich people town even Howard Stern has a house in Warren.

really? i haven't heard that one....

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by foodienj

Hi, can someone tell me some of the pros and cons of Basking Ridge? We have young children and work in NYC.

So much room for discussion on this question. Best is very subjective, and depends on so many things. Lacking the knowledge of exactly what makes a town good for you, we can take a look at some basic facts.
Both are very nice towns. They border each other, so your distance from highways & commuting times will differ from place to place. The eastern edge of Warren is further east than the eastern edge of Bernards, and therefore an exit closer on Rt 78 to NYC, and a shorter drive. Bernards township has two stations on the NJ transit Gladstone line (here's the NJTransit System Map), while Warren has none. Depending on where you are in Warren, you could use one of several stops on the same Gladstone line, or from the more southern parts of Warren, one or two stations on the Raritan Valley Line.

Both town have what are regarded as good school systems, though in recent comparisons, Bernards Township usually places higher in the rankings I've seen. For instance, this chart in NJMonthly (broken link)puts Ridge High (thats the High School in Bernards) at 11th on the list of top publicc high schools in NJ, while in the same ranking, Watching Hills Regional High (you guessed it, Warren's high school) places 38th. For a farily subjective view of all the numbers, go the NJ Depment of Education to look at District Report cards.

New Jersey is known for having some of the highest taxes in the nation. While that's true, these two towns have some of the lowest tax rates in the state. The 2007 tax rate in Warren is 1.65, meaning that you'll pay $1,650 dollars in taxes for each one hundred thousand dollars of assesed value. In Bernards, the tax rate is slightly lower, at 1.53.

And the current real estate market? Well, as withg much of NJ, it's favoring buyers right now, as there's a good supply of inventory, which is keeping prices down. At the moment, there are 174 properties for sale in Bernards, ranging from a one bedroom condo listed at $248k, all the way up to a spectacular 25 room custom home on almost 13 acres, priced at $11.9mil.
Of those, about 60 are townhomes or condos. In Warren, there are 111 properties for sale, from a three besdroom ranch listed at $399k to a 13 room home on almost 2 acres for $3,349,000. Interestingly, Warren has NO townhouses or condos, except for those that are either age or income restricted.

Well, there's an intro to both towns.
Just out of curiosity, how did you come to narrow it down to just these two? The towns that surround & border both of them are also very nice, and have many of the same qualities & attributes. Would towns like Bernardsville, Bridgewater, Long Hill or Berkeley Heights have been excluided from the search already?

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by Bill Keegan

New Jersey is known for having some of the highest taxes in the nation. While that's true, these two towns have some of the lowest tax rates in the state. The 2007 tax rate in Warren is 1.65, meaning that you'll pay $1,650 dollars in taxes for each one hundred thousand dollars of assesed value. In Bernards, the tax rate is slightly lower, at 1.53.

tax rate really doesn't mean much. just because the tax rate is low doesn't mean the taxes are low - it means there was probably a reassessment in the last few years. you can't tell me warren/bernards have lower taxes than a lot of towns in south jersey.

my tax rate is really high (over 3.50) - but our assessments are less than half of actual value and we have some of the lowest taxes in the county.

bottom line, bernards and warren are great places, and yes, their taxes are on the low side for the area, but i wouldn't tout a place just because the tax "rate" is low.

[nobi]

I dont know if its his primary house or not but i seen it, and most of the people in that area know about it and they showed to me, he had and dont know if he still has a very long SUV black limo infront of his house. Its not too far from Broadway Rd in Warren.

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by nobi

I dont know if its his primary house or not but i seen it, and most of the people in that area know about it and they showed to me, he had and dont know if he still has a very long SUV black limo infront of his house. Its not too far from Broadway Rd in Warren.

I have absolutely no clue what this is supposed to mean, relative to this thread.

[syncmaster]

Originally Posted by Bill Keegan

I have absolutely no clue what this is supposed to mean, relative to this thread.

It's about the Howard Stern reference made a few posts above.

[foodienj]

Thanks for all the responses. We are also open to berkeley heights. Bridgewater is a no and Bernardsville is beautiful but too far. I like Summit and Madison but we want some land so thats how we ended up in the 78/287 corridor. We would also like to live somewhere where there is a growing jewish community. We're not religious - just dont want to feel isolated . . .appreciate any more input.