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In the past few weeks I have seen a bunch of 3BR townhouses in Bridgewater and Somerset. My wife and I liked both the towns, but we are having a hard time picking one. Townhouses in both these towns are within our budget (around 400k) and are planning on living in the place for at least next 10 years and raising a family.
I have listed all the pros and cons of both these towns. Will really appreciate if someone who lives in one of these towns can please comment.
Bridgewater (off Milltown road): Goods: newer properties (about 10-12 years old); great location (close to I-287 & I-78); excellent school system; easier commute (more njtransit stations nearby with ample parking); low crime; great chances of higher appreciation Bads: More pricey (around $415k); takes about 15 minutes longer to reach NYC (i work in NYC)
Somerset (Quailbrook): Goods: priced reasonable (around $350k); direct njtransit to NYC Bads: older properties (19-20 years old); average school system; hard to find parking at njtransit station; relatively higher crime; won't appreciate as much as bridgewater
Hi Dave, I have a friend who lives off of Milltown road and she also lives in a town home. She loves the area as well as the schools. I'm not familiar with Somerset but the section of Bridgewater you are looking at is very nice. My vote is Bridgewater. Good Luck to you!
I would go with Somerset. Bridgewater is okay, but isnt all its hyped up to be. I would def rather buy for 350K in Somerset over 415K in Bridgewater because the difference is minimal. And the commute is easier too.
1. Appreciation is something that CANNOT be predicted. There is no way of knowing what will happen in each town over the years. Plus, neighbouring areas tend to appreciate and depreciate the same percentage (unless something major happens).
2. From a couple of realtors I know, there are quite a few Quailbrook owners who over extended and quite a few upcoming foreclosures. You should be able to negotiate a VERY good price if you are willing to hustle a bit. Try to find a real estate agent who can negotiate hard for you.
One more thing - if you go to nj.com and the by the numbers section you can pull up crime figures for both towns proportional to population. For Bridgewater it is 15.2, Somerset 16.5 (per 1,000 population). Somersets is a touch higher but not overwhelmingly so, its crime reputation is somewhat overblown.
Take all the towns in Somerset county and ask which is the best and which is the worst. Bridgewatwer will be near the top of everybody list and Somerset will be near the bottom.
People move up from Somerset to Bridgewater nobody moves down to Somerset from Bridgewater.
There are some very nice areas of Franklin Twp unfortunately Somerset is not one of them plus the schools in Franklin twp. are not in the same league as Bridgewater.
There are good reasons why Bridgewater costs more.
I live in one of the townhomes in Bridgewater and I am very happy here. It's a great community with a very good school system. Also very accessible to major highways and shopping.
I don't know....I never liked Bridgewater. You can't go anywhere no matter the time of the day or day of week without a ton of traffic. It's overcrowded, IMHO. And I did live there when it was less congested than it is now.
School system...nothing to write home about but has a better rep than Franklin TWP. How much better is probably subjective b/c from what I understand B-water schools aren't what they were in the past.
Crime? Somerset's crime is localized...$400K townhomes are at the opposite end of the town. I don't know anything about the crime rate or localization in Bridgewater.
Distance to major roads? B-Water has Somerset beat...but that adds to the traffic.
Thank you everyone! I really appreciate your feedback.
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