Opinions needed..Holmdel Livingston Tenafly Westfield (real estate market, house prices, school rankings)
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We currently live in union county)- want to move primarily for 2 reasons- my wife wants a newer/bigger house and for son's school (currently 3rd grade) and we'd like our house where commute to either Midtown/downtown NYC or anywhere within NJ is manageable(under 90mins, if not lesser door to door) *Current commute for my wife to midtown is 110mins, door to door- since just getting in-out of metropark is costing her 10-12mins.
Our budget is 750/800K and son shows interest in STEM for now...we wanna promote that so after much web research, I've narrowed the list to these 4 towns- Livingston Tenafly Holmdel Westfield.
For high school rankings for STEM - I've already done deep research on these 4 towns on multiple data sources like Niche, Greatschools, US News ranking etc. And their ranking is 1. Tenafly 2. Livingston 3. Holmdel 4. Westfield. Now this is for local high schools- I'm not considering magnet (county schools) as they're highly selective and who knows if he can get in.
I know all 4 are quite different- My wife loves the kind of houses (read newer n bigger) money buys in Holmdel but some questions crop up. Need your honest but "Informed opinions" (guess comes from either living in town and commuting yourself and/or raising kids that went to good colleges etc.) And pls. keep your opinions coming...more is really merrier here as some people may have done commuted at diff. times etc.
1. While Holmdel is emerging a great choice for money, it seems local RE market took a big hit in 2008-2011- so house prices depressed a lot more than other 3 towns - is it true? In fact higher priced homes are staying on market much longer too.
2. How is the commute from Holmdel to midtown really(say around grand central)- both train and bus, door to door? My wife doesnt like ferry. I heard conflicting stories about bus- that PNC bank center has long wait times during rush hour etc. How is parking at rush hour? Also during rush hour, how is driving within holmdel itself to get to transit?
3. Tenalfy has the older homes and much pricier. Are schools there really that much better than say Holmdel etc? I'm referring to STEM side and preparing kids for top colleges (incl. Ivy Leagues)?
4. Westfield would be a huge compromise for wife (doesnt have newer in our budget) but is the commute really under 90mins...I know it has much lower frequency of trains.
well, im the holmdel expert (not really but i live in holmdel) but i cant say i have great answers for your holmdel specific questions. i dont think the holmdel real estate market is any worse than anywhere else. i bought my first holmdel house in 2009 and the person i bought it from took about a 90k hit on it since she bought during the peak times. 7 years later, i sold it for about the same i bought it. im not sure why it even matters to you. you should choose a place to live for the best life for your family, not as a real estate investment.
i drive to brooklyn so no input on commute. i think bus is popular.
The thing to keep in mind about South Jersey bus commutes is that even though the distance to the city is really far, the door to door is on par with some Bergen County commutes because it's mostly all highway. My sister commuted via the bus to Midtown and was about 1 hour 20 min door to door if she got a ride to the park and ride. However, every month there will be 2-3 days when her commute is 2-3 hours due to accidents on the Turnpike. My husband commutes from Bergen County and is 1.5 hours door to door. Even though it's less than half the distance. Because the Northern Jersey highways suck and are super congested all the time.
Her neighbor has taken the ferry but said it's not worth the extra money because it's about a 20 minute drive to the Seastreak. He took the train but said it wasn't reliable enough, so he drives, reluctantly.
I think if you can deal with the long distance commute, it's a nice town with low taxes for NJ. You won't get that kind of land or size house/newness in any of the other towns you listed for the price.
The thing to keep in mind about South Jersey bus commutes is that even though the distance to the city is really far, the door to door is on par with some Bergen County commutes because it's .........
I think if you can deal with the long distance commute, it's a nice town with low taxes for NJ. You won't get that kind of land or size house/newness in any of the other towns you listed for the price.
did she do it from holmdel? This is good insight as I did wonder how come at 35 miles to NYC its still adds only 10mins to final commute.
Also would love opinions from people about actual commute times from holmdel train or Bus?
well, im the holmdel expert (not really but i live in holmdel) but i cant say i have great answers for your holmdel specific questions. i dont think the holmdel real estate market is any worse than anywhere else. i bought my first holmdel house in 2009 and the person i bought it from took about a 90k hit on it since she bought during the peak times. 7 years later, i sold it for about the same i bought it. im not sure why it even matters to you. you should choose a place to live for the best life for your family, not as a real estate investment..
thanks for the first part of info...but not sure why you assumed and then advised about investment part - it was uncalled for!! Most if not all sane people (which I guess you are) want their house to not depreciate in few years- so it shd. be given some consideration!
Our budget is 750/800K and son shows interest in STEM for now...we wanna promote that so after much web research, I've narrowed the list to these 4 towns- Livingston Tenafly Holmdel Westfield.
For high school rankings for STEM - I've already done deep research on these 4 towns on multiple data sources like Niche, Greatschools, US News ranking etc.
i dont know how common this type of organization is, but holmdel has this HFEE (holmdel foundation for educational excellence) and they are primarily parents of children in the schools that wanted to raise their own money to spend on their own priorities for the schools. i know that they recently completed some STEM lab in one of the schools and i know they are building other facilities in the various holmdel schools.
thanks for the first part of info...but not sure why you assumed and then advised about investment part - it was uncalled for!! Most if not all sane people (which I guess you are) want their house to not depreciate in few years- so it shd. be given some consideration!
i will say what i want to say. you may not want it to depreciate but that isnt the priority in this decision. its a safe enough real estate market.
If you want to get your kid into an Ivy, you should move to another state. NJ kids have a harder time due to the glut of East Coast candidates. They call it "geographic diversity"
Anyway, all the towns you mentioned are good. For me, I would pick the one that has the best commute for both of you. Your kid will be your kid in any of those four places
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