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My first post though I have been using city-data for sometime now for information. I hope to provide some in return in now that I'm official.
A little background:
I'm currently living/own a pre-war one bedroom coop apartment building Forest Hills, Queens in New York. My wife and I have been living here for sometime now 7+ years, it's a great and safe neighborhood, convenient and walks to everything as well as highways (yes we own a car). We now have our 1 year old son and he's beginning to explore life and or course as parents we want the best for him growing up as far as friends, social development, education, etc.
Why we are moving out:
Unfortunately, we are going to be priced out of New York for the space we want our family to grow in. 450k for a two bedroom apartment with a 1500 maintenance/month and 1000sq/ft is just not going to work for us. 450k I'm looking into a 3bedroom 2.5bath and simply ROOM. 2000ft maybe?
The Search:
New Jersey Nutley, Pompton Lakes, Livingston, Verona are areas we are looking into as they have good schools for our son's future as well as being somewhat affordable in the 450k price range but still within one hour to New York.
Things I don't know:
How much does it really cost to run a house? Coming from an apartment (coop) where heat/water and taxes is included in your maintenance bill, I really don't know what to expect for a house. Here is what I calculated so far for cost of living in a 2000ft house and I would love input from those who have made the transition or just experience or owning a home. Am I totally wrong on my numbers and am I missing anything here?
Specs of house:
2000ft house with average insulation, etc. Good roof, everything is working and is running gas.
Mortgage - Lets just make the numbers easy and say I purchased the home for 450K cash, yea right!!!!!
Electric - 250 (A minimal lifestyle nothing crazy here, no 5000w system system or anything like that, no fish tanks, etc.)
Water - 100 (Is this what it would cost?)
Gas - 150 (My current gas bill is less than 20 a month for cooking gas is this right for a 2000ft house)
Insurance - 150 (Am I even close with this number?)
Repair Cost (I'm pretty conservative so would this be a good number to set aside for unexpected repairs? No/Less) - 500
Yard work - 50 (Tools, etc, I will probably need to do this myself, a first timer guys/gals)
property taxes (damn NJ is expensive) - 1000 (ex:12k/per yr)
Any input or information here would be greatly appreciated from the community. Hope I'm not missing anything.
Every house is different. I will leave the realism (or not) of getting a 2k sq ft house at that price in those area to others who know the area better (hint: I think you may need to either up your budget or lower your square footage)
I think, if you make assumption that you are heating with gas (as opposed to oil), you may average out to 150/mo, but winter months could be 300-500, in my estimation (1700 sq ft 1.5 bath split--what I am basing this on).
Yard work was kind of sticker shock for me, when I got my first house (2 years ago). Fertilizer (especially organic--I have small kids) is $$$. Depending on the yard, just this could set you back $70-150 in the spring and fall.
I think your other numbers are pretty reasonable otherwise.
your water estimate might be high--depends on how often you water the lawn. Also, many like to get the water company protection plans. My total water bill is $90--$60 of that is the insurance
Every house is different. I will leave the realism (or not) of getting a 2k sq ft house at that price in those area to others who know the area better (hint: I think you may need to either up your budget or lower your square footage)
I think, if you make assumption that you are heating with gas (as opposed to oil), you may average out to 150/mo, but winter months could be 300-500, in my estimation (1700 sq ft 1.5 bath split--what I am basing this on).
Yard work was kind of sticker shock for me, when I got my first house (2 years ago). Fertilizer (especially organic--I have small kids) is $$$. Depending on the yard, just this could set you back $70-150 in the spring and fall.
I think your other numbers are pretty reasonable otherwise.
Thanks is great information. Thanks so much. I'm looking to averaging what hopefully some other folks comment here. Yea, I figured my yard work numbers was off, as I never did any yard work in my life, LOL. Great to know.
your water estimate might be high--depends on how often you water the lawn. Also, many like to get the water company protection plans. My total water bill is $90--$60 of that is the insurance
sirk98 you had mentioned water protection plans. This is the exact reason for my post, I'm clueless, what is that, insurance for water?
My first post though I have been using city-data for sometime now for information. I hope to provide some in return in now that I'm official.
A little background:
I'm currently living/own a pre-war one bedroom coop apartment building Forest Hills, Queens in New York. My wife and I have been living here for sometime now 7+ years, it's a great and safe neighborhood, convenient and walks to everything as well as highways (yes we own a car). We now have our 1 year old son and he's beginning to explore life and or course as parents we want the best for him growing up as far as friends, social development, education, etc.
Why we are moving out:
Unfortunately, we are going to be priced out of New York for the space we want our family to grow in. 450k for a two bedroom apartment with a 1500 maintenance/month and 1000sq/ft is just not going to work for us. 450k I'm looking into a 3bedroom 2.5bath and simply ROOM. 2000ft maybe?
The Search:
New Jersey Nutley, Pompton Lakes, Livingston, Verona are areas we are looking into as they have good schools for our son's future as well as being somewhat affordable in the 450k price range but still within one hour to New York.
Things I don't know:
How much does it really cost to run a house? Coming from an apartment (coop) where heat/water and taxes is included in your maintenance bill, I really don't know what to expect for a house. Here is what I calculated so far for cost of living in a 2000ft house and I would love input from those who have made the transition or just experience or owning a home. Am I totally wrong on my numbers and am I missing anything here?
Specs of house:
2000ft house with average insulation, etc. Good roof, everything is working and is running gas.
Mortgage - Lets just make the numbers easy and say I purchased the home for 450K cash, yea right!!!!!
Electric - 250 (A minimal lifestyle nothing crazy here, no 5000w system system or anything like that, no fish tanks, etc.)
Water - 100 (Is this what it would cost?)
Gas - 150 (My current gas bill is less than 20 a month for cooking gas is this right for a 2000ft house)
Insurance - 150 (Am I even close with this number?)
Repair Cost (I'm pretty conservative so would this be a good number to set aside for unexpected repairs? No/Less) - 500
Yard work - 50 (Tools, etc, I will probably need to do this myself, a first timer guys/gals)
property taxes (damn NJ is expensive) - 1000 (ex:12k/per yr)
Any input or information here would be greatly appreciated from the community. Hope I'm not missing anything.
You can look into Northern Fairfield County Connecticut property taxes are bit less than New Jersey the commute to NYC might be little over 1 hour to 1.5 to Grand Central alot of CT residents commute back and fourth to NYC for work. You can look into Trumbull, Fairfield, Brookfield, Ridgefield for starter homes. Alot of high paying jobs are located in Stamford/Norwalk
You can look into Northern Fairfield County Connecticut property taxes are bit less than New Jersey the commute to NYC might be little over 1 hour to 1.5 to Grand Central alot of CT residents commute back and fourth to NYC for work. You can look into Trumbull, Fairfield, Brookfield, Ridgefield for starter homes. Alot of high paying jobs are located in Stamford/Norwalk
Thanks. Will looking but trying our best to stay in NJ. CT can get bad winters and I myself work mostly in NJ right now. Lets see what the wife thinks .
I think all of your numbers are pretty close and probably average out to be right or a little high. It depends on how old the house is (for repair costs) and what type of heat you have gas/oil/electric
gas+electric for my house (2500 sqft) can hit $500/month (mostly gas for heat) in the winter, and maybe $400 in a really hot summer month (mostly electric for A/C). My water is around that in the summer when we water the lawn a lot (we have 3 adults and 2 teenagers). Insurance is around $100/month
Other things in my town, $50/month for private trash (yea) and $350/year for sewerage (just because they can)
Remember cable TV (if you have it now, it might be in your HOA fees)
Thanks. Will looking but trying our best to stay in NJ. CT can get bad winters and I myself work mostly in NJ right now. Lets see what the wife thinks .
Fairfield County has some nice suburbs that close to NYC with nice walkable downtown centers, close to beaches, top rated schools with alot of activities/academics for kids $450,000-500,000 will get starter home with decent size lot taxes will be bit lower than NJ. You have Metro North that go to Grand Central 42nd Street area. If you want spent a day in smaller city in CT but still not too far from NYC you can stop by in Stamford. Downtown Stamford is nice you got bars, restaurants, shopping mall just minutes from Stamford train station
sirk98 you had mentioned water protection plans. This is the exact reason for my post, I'm clueless, what is that, insurance for water?
Covers the pipe from the street to the house,
(But NOT the pipes inside the house past the water meter).
If it breaks, Etc.
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