Quote:
Originally Posted by lolamom
Please don't flame me for expressing this but we had the worst house hunting trip ever.. We are from NJ originally and this is my 3rd relo and we are looking in the $2M range so I thought this was going to be easy. Instead, I am wondering if we should move back at all....
We looked in Chatham, Basking Ridge, Madison, Harding, Chester..... and I was not able to find one---not one--home that didn't make me want to cry. We live in a very upscale part of Atlanta and our home is magnificent. I was ready to have to downsize--however, what I saw was shocking. Homes in Chatham were the worst---small lots, mixed streets and large homes that while pretty were nothing so special to justify almost $3M price tags. Basking Ridge, further out, was equally disappointing---homes that were so so with things such as TRAIN TRACKS running across the street (50 ft!) and/or across the street from a landfill.
The worst to me was the visit to a Chatham PS. Reportedly the best, it was charming. But their curriculum in 1st grade covered everything my private school children did in Prek3. I could actually get past that if that was all. But the entire package left me really demoralized.
We live smack within city borders on 2 acres here in Atlanta. Our home in NJ would be 6+M from what I can see. I knew that was going to be the case but what I did not expect was these homes would "feel" so incredibly overpriced. I just cannot imagine any of it being a sound investment. Seems like we are going to spend MUCH MORE to have less of a life. I am very torn up.
Worst of all is my family is there so this will be a huge dissapointment to them if we don't move.
I know some of you are going to just want to flame me, but please don't. This is more than about the house. It's about:
- quality of life
- economics
- education.
If anyone has any insight into how I should be looking at this, please advise. I told dh last night that maybe we should rent for a year somewhere fun like Hoboken, look for private schools and take our time doing so and see what real estate prices do. From what I could observe--and i don't care how fantastic Chatham is---those prices, for those homes, cannot be sustainable.
Thoughts and well meaning advice VERY welcomed.
Lola
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Lola, don't know where you will be working, but I'll put a plug in for Princeton, since no one else has
There are several homes in the township that are newer and seem to be well appointed. Some are on fairly large lots (2+ acres). They are also razing homes in the Boro and building larger homes. The town, itself, is pretty cute and the Princeton schools frequently make it into the best 100 in the country. There are also many private schools in the area to chose from. Check out reator.com zip 08540 and go directly to page 22. (I love looking at the "high" pages
)
You might also want to check out Pennington and Hopewell (08530). There are some lovely newer homes in that area in your price range and the schools there are pretty stellar!
Disclaimer: I am not a Re agent, far from it. Couldn't sell ice to an Eskimo
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03-06-2008, 08:38 PM
Well put !
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