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Old 06-26-2020, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,057 posts, read 83,912,900 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Busch Boy View Post
Howell is not a practical commute to the main job centers in North Jersey and NYC. People nowadays are not willing to have long commutes like in the past. People will pass up on towns like Randolph or Chester and buy in Rutherford or Wood-Ridge for a shorter commute. That definitely wasn’t the case during the 80s and 90s.

I hear now many employees are clamoring for more WFH options after Covid, so things might change. Let’s see.
I had two coworkers from Howell. One works in the WTC, the other in JC near the Holland Tunnel. One drove, one took the bus. Both said their commutes were around an hour, but both also left at around 6:30 a.m.

I don't know Randolph or Chester, but Rutherford and Wood-Ridge are more expensive than Howell. That's why people live there--to get more house for the money and a little more feeling of open space than you have in the older 'burbs.
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Old 06-26-2020, 11:48 AM
 
3,771 posts, read 1,508,827 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dabaomb View Post
Land is very precious anywhere close to NYC so developers are trying to maximize their investments. The way to do that is build the biggest house possible on the land that they buy.

This is happening everywhere. In Westchester, developers will build a 3500 SF house on an 1/8 of an acre and build a 6000+ SF house on a 1/4 acre.
the way they're maximizing in bergen is by building 2-3 unit townhouses and charging $900k+ for each unit.
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Old 06-26-2020, 03:09 PM
 
1,387 posts, read 4,001,619 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
I had two coworkers from Howell. One works in the WTC, the other in JC near the Holland Tunnel. One drove, one took the bus. Both said their commutes were around an hour, but both also left at around 6:30 a.m.

I don't know Randolph or Chester, but Rutherford and Wood-Ridge are more expensive than Howell. That's why people live there--to get more house for the money and a little more feeling of open space than you have in the older 'burbs.
How recent was this? While I’m sure some people still do it, the younger crowd (40 and younger) are less willing to do so compared to older generations. Heck, I had an uncle that commuted from the Poconos to his job in Union City for YEARS!

For example, my coworker works with me in Bergen County and her husband works in JC. They settled in Fair Lawn over moving further out in a town that provides the extra space they longed for. Long commutes are not worth it for them. A lot of my friends have done the same, even buying in towns that I would never even consider myself (i.e. Belleville and Clifton) for better commutes. Only one of my friends bit the bullet and moved up to Sussex County and sacrificed his commute time to get more bang for his buck.

Let’s see if Covid changes people’s tunes though...
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Old 07-02-2020, 10:53 AM
 
667 posts, read 1,838,732 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 46H View Post
I am in a Bergen Cty town with excellent schools and no empty space. There are lots of capes and ranches from the 1950s on 100 x 100 lots. Expanded capes go for about 500k. A builder just bought an old person's cape on a 100 x 100 lot for 350k. They stripped it down to the foundation and built a 3300 sq ft 4br 3.5 bath, 2 car garage house. It is not a fancy house and sort of fits in with the capes and ranches. If we estimate $150/sq ft to build it, the cost just to build was about 500k. When you add in the 350k to buy the original house, the total cost is at roughly $850k plus architect, permits, money cost. They are asking 960k and the builder told me they have 2 offers already. There is not a lot of profit in this situation.

This is the smallest rebuild in the neighborhood so far. There are 4 recently built knockdowns in the 4400 sq ft range built on some of the few 100 x 150 lots.

The idea that the builder should build a smaller house and make less profit is ludicrous.







I see this happening a lot. People sell their homes to builders to knock them down and rebuild, because they don't want to have to update everything. They don't even consider selling it as is.



But couldn't someone just 'outbid' the builder and move into the 'outdated' cape?


Maybe it has an old kitchen. But okay, maybe someone could offer 360,000 or even 380,000 (if they could jump in before the builder.) And for such a savings, put up with an older kitchen. And the older person who sold knows that their house is not knocked down, but has a new family.
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Old 07-02-2020, 11:16 AM
 
817 posts, read 755,395 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blahblahyoutoo View Post
the way they're maximizing in bergen is by building 2-3 unit townhouses and charging $900k+ for each unit.
This doesn't surprise me at all. Build the biggest house possible on the lot with no yard. Ranches are no longer practical because you can maximize square footage by building higher floors and by making the basement have a CO so that it can count as part of the square footage.
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Old 07-02-2020, 01:23 PM
 
Location: North Carolina
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The sad truth is Northern New Jersey is essentially "built-out". Sure, you can find a few pieces of open land in Upper Saddle River at $1,000,000+ an acre (two-acre minimum required) but the days of Levittown-like developments on some available land outside of town, are long over.

People who yearn to purchase an affordable, new, single-family home have to leave NJ to get their hands on one. The average selling price of a new home in the US is about $270,000. That amount gets you something a little more deluxe than a starter home too. I don't think the above amount bought you a new home in NJ since the 1980's. It's a real shame.

I get a laugh out of seeing ads for new, single-family housing in North Jersey. Some development near the Pa border in Hunterdon County starting at "only $749,990". What a bargain! I'll take two with my $25k retirement income.

It seems the only way you can afford what used to be a nice, upper-middle class house in an upper-middle class town (Ridgewood, for example) is to have a secure job at Goldman-Sachs and hope you get that $250,000 Christmas bonus. I won't mention property taxes ...you all know about that one.

If you want an affordable, entry-level, new home, get in your car and drive for 12 hours, either West or South and I'm sure you'll come across a few. Hoping to get a cheap new house in the New York Metro area is about as easy as finding a 2-bedroom apartment in San Francisco for $400 a month. Lotsa luck with that!
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Old 07-02-2020, 03:23 PM
 
Location: New Jersey
4,152 posts, read 5,014,088 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Karen59 View Post
But couldn't someone just 'outbid' the builder and move into the 'outdated' cape?
Builders are constantly on the lookout for such properties, they have realtors on speed-dial, and vice versa. Those properties are usually sold before they even hit the MLS. Realtors love it, because they get the double-hit: commission when they sell to the builder, another commission when the builder sells it.
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Old 07-02-2020, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,057 posts, read 83,912,900 times
Reputation: 114296
Quote:
Originally Posted by Busch Boy View Post
How recent was this? While I’m sure some people still do it, the younger crowd (40 and younger) are less willing to do so compared to older generations. Heck, I had an uncle that commuted from the Poconos to his job in Union City for YEARS!

For example, my coworker works with me in Bergen County and her husband works in JC. They settled in Fair Lawn over moving further out in a town that provides the extra space they longed for. Long commutes are not worth it for them. A lot of my friends have done the same, even buying in towns that I would never even consider myself (i.e. Belleville and Clifton) for better commutes. Only one of my friends bit the bullet and moved up to Sussex County and sacrificed his commute time to get more bang for his buck.

Let’s see if Covid changes people’s tunes though...
It's now. Well, until March. Both women are in their 50s. Now they are working in Howell. In their houses.

My sister lives in Sussex County and works in Paramus normally. Of course, she is working from home now, too.

I knew people who lived in the Poconos and worked in the WTC.

There is also a difference if you drive vs. use public transportation. On a train, you can read, work, or nap.
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Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 07-02-2020 at 04:31 PM..
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Old 07-02-2020, 04:27 PM
 
9,434 posts, read 4,204,123 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Karen59 View Post
I see this happening a lot. People sell their homes to builders to knock them down and rebuild, because they don't want to have to update everything. They don't even consider selling it as is.



But couldn't someone just 'outbid' the builder and move into the 'outdated' cape?


Maybe it has an old kitchen. But okay, maybe someone could offer 360,000 or even 380,000 (if they could jump in before the builder.) And for such a savings, put up with an older kitchen. And the older person who sold knows that their house is not knocked down, but has a new family.
There’s a few reasons why that doesn’t happen too often. Builder often have no mortgage contingency, doesn’t care about an inspection, won’t nickel and dime on fixing a broken window or a new dishwasher, flexible on close timeline, will even rent it back if needed, generally just easier to deal with but will offer a lower price. They also have an in agents because they are repeat customers, agents know what they are looking for and will notify even before it hits the mls.
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Old 07-02-2020, 08:38 PM
 
667 posts, read 1,838,732 times
Reputation: 516
Quote:
Originally Posted by JG183 View Post
Builders are constantly on the lookout for such properties, they have realtors on speed-dial, and vice versa. Those properties are usually sold before they even hit the MLS. Realtors love it, because they get the double-hit: commission when they sell to the builder, another commission when the builder sells it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by foodyum View Post
There’s a few reasons why that doesn’t happen too often. Builder often have no mortgage contingency, doesn’t care about an inspection, won’t nickel and dime on fixing a broken window or a new dishwasher, flexible on close timeline, will even rent it back if needed, generally just easier to deal with but will offer a lower price. They also have an in agents because they are repeat customers, agents know what they are looking for and will notify even before it hits the mls.
I had a feeling it was something like this.

Someone who was absolutely determined would have to take out a personal loan to be able to come in with cash, get themselves in the loop so as to know agents, maybe even knock on some doors, walk around looking for that old house, make a cash offer when something turns up. The nice thing is, the buyer can inspect the property and have their lawyer involved, so it wouldn't be like an auction. The main thing is--the property is 'as is' and the buyer offers cash.

As soon as the buyer can get a certificate of occupancy, they can take out a Heloc based on the purchase price. (to pay back the personal loan)

I actually know this, because I did something similar. I live in Central Jersey where things are not so bad for new home buyers--so keep that in mind--but I still couldn't afford a starter home. I had to spend about 10,000 additional to get the certificate of occupancy, but I paid cash for my old outdated home, took out a HELOC to pay off the loan I needed to come up with the cash. I don't know if you can do this anymore. This was 2012.
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