Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
400k is very tough call for what you are seeking so I think your commute will be quite long unfortunately.
Depending on how much downpayment you have, one alternative option for you to consider are the coops in Fort Lee. You can find coop in Fort Lee for 400k for 3BR. Challenge though is they are priced like that because the maintenance is very high. Unless you have a big downpayment, coops in Fort Lee may not be affordable. Last time I looked in 2007ish I think 2 BR maint was 1k+ but it included gas/electric/heat? Don't quote me on that one, you can google for that easily yourself to check.
Positives are that Fort Lee's public school is good (not the 'best' but good) and GW is right there. You'll probably hurt yourself in car accident than actual crime in Fort Lee. Definitely mixed, although minorities are mostly Asians.
Personally, I think if you cannot find something that fit your need at the moment and 400k is already stretching your budget. Another suggestion you could consider is perhaps renting in NJ so you can get to know the towns and counties better while you continue to save for bigger downpayment.
Please do note that property tax in NJ is like Long Island, general rule of thumb is that prop tax is somewhere between 2-2.5% of property value. 500k home = 10k prop tax. This isn't the case everywhere because some towns will be higher, some will be lower, and some buildings have tax breaks, etc. But it should give you an idea of how much prop tax you need to account for. In return, you deduct prop tax from your income and also if you live in NJ you won't pay NYC income tax (2-4%)
You can do well with some persistence and yes - it is possible in the $400s. Drive a brutally hard bargain, be patient, do your homework and use a calculator to determine what is appropriate for you and to hell with what people ask for their homes or think they are worth because they watched HGTV the night before.
Here we go with this guy again. Stick to the Westfield thread.
Take a look in Bergen County. Toss out entirely the idea of new(er) home, although newer condo might be a possibility. Keep in mind that almost any school in NJ is going to be better than the majority of schools in the country. NJ has one of the best school systems going. Yes, there are individual exceptions and there is far less of a variance between towns by comparison to other states because NJ has a unique system of funding schools.
You can do well with some persistence and yes - it is possible in the $400s. Drive a brutally hard bargain, be patient, do your homework and use a calculator to determine what is appropriate for you and to hell with what people ask for their homes or think they are worth because they watched HGTV the night before.
Sure, $400s is [more] possible/doable, but OP is looking for something under $400k, ergo $300s.
But what everybody saying is that it is nearly impossible to find a large (and new) 3-4 bedroom home in an excellent school system and decently close to the Bronx for under $400k. And, as OP (as said) is willing to compromise because in this state, you really can't have it all. =/
Sure you do. No - people do not have to pay $600k to have a good school system and nice home.
Please note though OP is looking for at least 3, preferably 4 BR and I assume enough space for family of 5 in good public school district in commuter town with easy commute. For that, you'll a very hard time finding something...anything at 400k. Will either need to bump the budget quite a bit or change their expectations.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
