Apprehensive about buying in jersey (apartment, rent, mortgage)

[p_r]

Quick background: My wife and I have been in US for about 8 yrs now (lived in midwest for 7, and last year in jersey). We have enough set aside for downpayment and earn enough to be able to afford a 600-700k home, but we want to go conservative and buy something around 400k in the northern jersey area.

That said, we have mixed feelings about jersey - sure the proximity to nyc and lucrative jobs brought us here. But, I got to say the same quality of life could be had at half the earning (and half the cost) out in the midwest - am i wrong? In spite of the sky high property taxes, why are even the supposedly good parts of jersey so run-down when compared to suburbs of midwest cities. Wherz all the tax money going? To maintain other states suburbs?

So, this is the dilemma (buy now which means stay in jersey for 5-7 years to break even or dont buy now and move out in 2 yrs).

I would like to hear your input...

[nj_guy1975]

Well man, you probably know the midwest better than most people on this forum, so you'd be better positioned to know whether the same quality of ilfe can be had for half the earnings (and half the cost) in the midwest. I suspect in many respects, it's true.

Many of us are here in the NE because we grew up here, and for better or worse, this is home and our families are here. Others come to the NY-metro area to get a start in a career, and move out of the area once they have some experience under their belt.

Property taxes, high cost of living, highest population density in the nation ... there are many hassles to living in NJ. There are also many positive aspects of living here, as I'm sure you have figured out by now.

However, if you don't need be be here for work, and you don't have family in this part of the country, and you're doubting whether you want to stay here for another 5-7 years ... it's probably not a good idea to make a major investment like buying a home until you're figured out what you want to do.

[wileynj]

You'll never go wrong investing in property in NJ. Even now, although everyone is complaining...no one is really losing we're just not gaining what we feel we should or have in the past - no more 100 - 200K profit after only 2 yrs of ownership. I know what you mean about the "run down" areas...except we don't consider them run down but rather..the older sections and they often tend to be the expensive sections. If you want a mid-western suburban feel...newer developments, you have to venture North - Northwest or South - Southwest. 400K will get you alot more out this way as well. So my suggestion, invest in NJ...selling 5 to 7 years from now, you'll make a profit.

[christina0001]

Howdy.
I'm from New Jersey. I love it there. If my husband and I made double or triple our salary, we'd have bought there, stayed there, died there. Our families are there.
Instead, we relocated last year to the Kansas City, MO metro area. We took less than a 10% pay cut, and our mortgage payment here (for a modest 3 bed, 2.5 bath house) is about 10% more than what our rent was for our little apartment in NJ. There's plenty to do here...really we don't miss anything about NJ except for our families (and pizza).
The tax difference is significant, too. Our taxes here are about $2500/year; most folk where we lived in NJ pay at least double if not triple that for comparably sized homes. Where does the tax money go? Beats me.