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Hey guys, just a few questions for residents. Really looking for basic stats. Appreciate it!!
Is this a sealed bid process, best and final offer like Montclair, where the listing price is a teaser price. Or is Verona a conventional bidding process where you get close to, or at sellers ask?
Regarding taxes, is a reassessment triggered at purchase? Or is there a certain minimum threshold for assessment as a percentage of purchase price, with the millage rate then applied? I.e. a house has an assessment of 500k and sells for 700k, and the 500k gets bumped up to say 85% of purchase.
Is grieving taxes any different in this town? Some succeed, but generally there is pushback? I suppose this goes hand in hand with the above question about having a minimum assessment as a percentage of purchase.
Outside of taxes, does the town mandate any other bills? Trash, sewer, supplemental school tax? If so, any numbers would be helpful.
Does the public elementary school offer prek? If so what is the cost?
Anyone drive to Bay St to catch the train? I am trying to contact them but no one picks up the phone. Do they offer monthly parking for non residents? Is there a long wait list? What is the cost?
I can try to answer your questions based on my knowledge.
Is this a sealed bid process, best and final offer like Montclair, where the listing price is a teaser price. Or is Verona a conventional bidding process where you get close to, or at sellers ask?
Usually the list price isn't a teaser price, but you gotta look at the comps. I paid closed to the asking.
Regarding taxes, is a reassessment triggered at purchase? Or is there a certain minimum threshold for assessment as a percentage of purchase price, with the millage rate then applied? I.e. a house has an assessment of 500k and sells for 700k, and the 500k gets bumped up to say 85% of purchase.
Purchase does not trigger a reassessment. Assessors don't look at your purchase price, but don't quote me on this.
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Is grieving taxes any different in this town? Some succeed, but generally there is pushback? I suppose this goes hand in hand with the above question about having a minimum assessment as a percentage of purchase.
I haven't done it personally, from what I heard, they look at other houses within your area to see if you are overpaid or underpaid.
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Outside of taxes, does the town mandate any other bills? Trash, sewer, supplemental school tax? If so, any numbers would be helpful.
Trash is included, sewer, you pay with your water bill, every quarter, mine runs around $200 per quarter.
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Does the public elementary school offer prek? If so what is the cost?
No free pre-k, there are few private places, full day pre-k (M-F) cost around $600-$1000 per month.
Free public Kindergarten is half-day, so keep that in mind.
I will be happy to answer any other questions about Verona. It's a great little town, a lot of friendly people and a lot of young families, I think it was voted the best town to live in 2010 by NJ Monthly.
Anyone drive to Bay St to catch the train? I am trying to contact them but no one picks up the phone. Do they offer monthly parking for non residents? Is there a long wait list? What is the cost?
Thanks
Pretty much every NJ Transit station has a long wait list for parking. My neighbor from West Orange used to park in the daily spots at Bay St. station every day. It's $5/day and obviously you need to get there fairly early to get a spot. He always got there before 8 and never had a problem.
It's generally not like Montclair in terms of pricing and bidding wars, but there are some locations and times when it happens. A good realtor would advise you when that is the case or not.
Bay Street has a loooong wait list even if you live in Montclair and daily parking is $7/day, not $5. Bloomfield, Montclair State, or Glen Ridge may have available parking but they'll be further away. Verona was looking into a jitney, which would have been great and improved home values given it's probably one of the few downsides for the town (not having the public transport access), but that seems to have gone nowhere, sadly.
Verona is desirable but fairly stable over the past year. The median selling price over the last 12 months is $410,000 with the typical home selling at 98% of its final list price. For the prior 12 months, the median selling price was $400,000 with a similar 98% sale to list price ratio. This of course does not include re-lists, but most homes in Verona sell during the first go-round. The median days-on-market for the past 12 months is 33 days, compared with 36 days for the prior 12 months. So homes do not stay on the market for all that long. There are 76 listings on the market, and 210 homes sold in the past 12 months, yielding 4.3 months of inventory.
So it's not crazy, but it is strong, and if you are shopping there and decide to move forward, you should act decisively.
Thanks guys. The bay St daily passes before 8am will be the most critical part. Dual commuters working 10 hr days. Without that we are screwed. Even entertaining parking in NYC and driving together to and fro. Will try to drive by bay st and talk to passer byers.
Have you considered towns like Cedar Grove or Little Falls? Both of those towns are close to Montclair State University, which from what I have been told, has a very large parking deck for train commuters. That might be a better option for you.
Generally not a bidding war town, but there was a house last month in the low $500's that got 3 offers.
As to the success of a tax appeal, depends what your assessment is, obviously. In a rising market, it's increasingly difficult to appeal because your comp sales (which is what the county tax board works off of) are higher.
JaRuss, you kind of seen all over the map in terms of what towns you are considering. If you want be near a short direct train and are willing to spend $950k, why are you not considering Maplewood, South Orange, Millburn and Summit? M/SO schools are comparable to Montclair. Summit and Milburn schools are much better and you won't get as much house for the same purchase price but the taxes are lower and it's not like 950k gets you nothing. Chatham and Madison could also be options. If you are taking a car home late at night anyway, the extra distance doesn't matter as much.
JaRuss, you kind of seen all over the map in terms of what towns you are considering. If you want be near a short direct train and are willing to spend $950k, why are you not considering Maplewood, South Orange, Millburn and Summit? M/SO schools are comparable to Montclair. Summit and Milburn schools are much better and you won't get as much house for the same purchase price but the taxes are lower and it's not like 950k gets you nothing. Chatham and Madison could also be options. If you are taking a car home late at night anyway, the extra distance doesn't matter as much.
I don't see anywhere in this thread where he said anything about spending 950K.
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