Not a good house hunting trip to NJ..... (Hackensack, Hoboken: apartment, condos)

[stevemorse]

Originally Posted by lolamom

You know, to your point about the Summit mentality--I know what you mean and it was a bit of what I felt in Chatham. I have to say that perhaps, just perhaps, my realtor did not help matters. She was very nice and I liked her a lot but she kept referring to Basking Ridge et al as "out there". She is from the Summit area and truly you could see she believed that anything out of the Summit area was in another planet. Although I knew it was not the case--having grown up in Morris and married in Somerset--it was hard to get excited. We drove around Chester and the entire ride up and down 206 she kept talking to me about how far out the airport was, yada yada. When I mentioned Hunterdon county she--for lack of better verbiage--swooned. SWOONED. I should have picked a realtor from Somerset. At the very least, I personally know and love a few elementary schools in those areas: Mt. Horab in Warren and Mt. Prospect in Basking Ridge.

However, a few things turned out to be deal breakers in the end beyond the very hefty price. One big thing for me was the fact my husband right now has a 2 min commute to work and a 20 min commute to the airport is hard to beat when the man travels 2-3 days out of the week. It's hard enough to get family time as it is and the fact remains that whether we are in NJ or not, he will still be on the road. The other is the weather as I have become utterly spoiled by spring-fall that lasts from March-November. Last of course was the $$$.

But I have to tell you with complete candor and honesty, you all have made me rethink my opinions. Seriously and I mean this. People are so polite in the South. I loved getting an ass-whoopin here--I had my husband and my sister in hysterics when I told the what I posted and the resonses I got. Am I a little bit spoiled? Well, yeah, a little.... But I am still a jersey girl through and through and I absolutely enjoy a good fight and hearing it like it is. I like the honesty and the directness of the northeast and I had forgotten that fact. "Y'all" to use a Southern phrase--with your common sense, go at em attitude and disarming frankness are REFRESHING in a way you would not understand unless you left the state.

Oh, and if you don't believe me, go and check out other state forums. None are nearly as funny, entertaining or combatitive as "ours", if I can still call it that.

xoxo
Lola

Your too polite for NJ now!!! Give us the finger!!!

[natona666]

I agree, Morris County has good hospitals & a lot of various health care facillities.
Well at least as a nurse you can always find work & the demand is always going up. Are you an RN?

[sandyshore]

get off her back - she is right - I always tell ppl that $500,000 buys you a mound of dirt in Chatham and Short Hills. $2 mill isnt that great looking of a house, in Atlanta I am sure you have something that looks like Aaron Spellings Mansion. This is why we moved to the shore, if you picked my house up and moved in to Chatham, easily a $3 mill house but down here it didnt even cost $700,000 brand new. Up north you pay for the name of the town and not the look of the house. Not 1 of my friends has a nice looking house, all have sh*t shacks but they think they are cool cause they are 30 mins from NYC. I lived in the Chatham area for 25 yrs, no thanks, never again.

[Alex07860]

It can be quite shocking, depressing, and down right spirit breaking looking for homes in NJ. Take a deep breath. If you're looking for a great home in a great neighborhood with excellent public and private schools try going a bit more North West. We live in Historic Newton and love it here. Kids are safe playing in the neighborhood and none of them have lojack installed. It's really a great place to be a kid. It's pretty nice to be an adult here too! It's a much slower relaxing pace. There's a beautiful Italianate home on the market here behind the Merriam House. It's under 700k but rivals any million plus home in Chester or elsewhere. It's all about where you look. The surrounding areas have many beautiful homes as well. I recommend Lori Caffrey she's a great agent and truly knows and loves this area.

Furniture Queen
aka Mrs.Alex07860

[Alex07860]

NJMLS - Search Results





Furniture Queen
aka Mrs.Alex07860

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by Alex07860

It can be quite shocking, depressing, and down right spirit breaking looking for homes in NJ. Take a deep breath. If you're looking for a great home in a great neighborhood with excellent public and private schools try going a bit more North West. We live in Historic Newton and love it here. Kids are safe playing in the neighborhood and none of them have lojack installed. It's really a great place to be a kid. It's pretty nice to be an adult here too! It's a much slower relaxing pace. There's a beautiful Italianate home on the market here behind the Merriam House. It's under 700k but rivals any million plus home in Chester or elsewhere. It's all about where you look. The surrounding areas have many beautiful homes as well. I recommend Lori Caffrey she's a great agent and truly knows and loves this area.

Furniture Queen
aka Mrs.Alex07860

Hey Mrs Alex...your hubby and I have been telling folks about how wonderful life in the NW is but it is falling on deaf ears! Oh and by the way, Alex said he'll give me that Green Home in SC if I give you my place in Frelinghuysen : )))

[Alex07860]

Originally Posted by wileynj

Hey Mrs Alex...your hubby and I have been telling folks about how wonderful life in the NW is but it is falling on deaf ears! Oh and by the way, Alex said he'll give me that Green Home in SC if I give you my place in Frelinghuysen : )))

Hey Terrie,

He does love Farfegnughen. I'm waiting to win the lottery so I can buy the Merriam house and repaint it. Whoever chose the pallet should have their eyes examined. As for the green home we'll sell it to you below market value.

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by Alex07860

Hey Terrie,

He does love Farfegnughen. I'm waiting to win the lottery so I can buy the Merriam house and repaint it. Whoever chose the pallet should have their eyes examined. As for the green home we'll sell it to you below market value.

LOL..It's Frelinghuysen not farfenugen... : )) Is that house the baby diaper brownish orange one on 612? If so, yes that is a horrible color! I wish I knew you and Alex a few years ago as I wanted to buy that historic hotel in Johnsonbug..went for like 200K and included the liquor license. They have been working on it for months but not much appears to be completed... I'm assuming they are busy with the interior stuff at the moment - can't wait until it's done. It should be really nice if done properly. Oh and below market value......which market ; )

[clyness]

Hi, I am not sure when you posted this, but maybe you should take a trip back to NJ now that the market is beginning to soften. Look in Summit...next to Chatham, but I think nicer...there are many beautiful older homes, particularly in North Summit, and while they tend to be very expensive, you may be able to find something you like for a little over $2 million. A very lovely house with beautiful gardens across the road from me went on the market at over $3 million a year ago and just sold for $2.3 million I think, so you may get lucky. FOrget two acres in Summit...land is scarce and most houses, even the largest and most expensive are on less than 2 acres and many on less than 1. Also Mendham is worth looking at if you don't mind living a little further out...many lovely homes there on many acres and a little bit more for your money there.
Good luck.

[aaahouse]

Maybe it's the time frame that when you were looking for a house, 2006. Now it's a better time to shop if you haven't bought. We are from ATL great area too. ATL and NJ are very different. quality of life is very different both places. ATL has more free time, and NJ doesn't. Economic... ATL has less pressure. Education, NJ is the one of the best in the nation. GA is not comparable in terms of Education.
If you are looking for a 2M house in ATL and trying to find a similar house in NJ for 2M, that's impossible. My feeling is... usually NJ houses are 2 or 3 times more for the similar and less house in ATL.
Anyway... I miss ATL a lot.