Work in Somerset County - Where to Buy? (East Brunswick, Old Bridge: houses, neighborhood)

[SweepTheLeg]

Hi everyone -

I've been reading up on here, and my wife and I are getting ready to start shopping for a house. I'll give some background to help out my questions:

We're looking for a 3-4 BR, 2.5 baths house. Budget is around 350-400. We're looking to buy the house and be done for the time being, staying at least 10 years.

I work in Bound Brook, but have no interest in living there because of the schools and the flooding issues.

I grew up in Middlesex county and I've lived here for the majority of my life. I've been looking around, and I've narrowed looking for good schools, decent taxes, and good value to the following areas:

East Brunswick
South Brunswick
Monroe
Plainsboro
Cranbury (way too expensive for our price range but still a nice area)
Hillsborough

Then we get a little farther out:
Aberdeen
Matawan
Manalapan
Hazlet
Old Bridge
Englishtown

Now, my question is, I don't know Somerset County or Hunterdon County at all. (I know Middlesex and Monmouth very well). Are there any areas outside of what I listed above that I should be looking into, taking into consideration my commute?

Thanks for your help!

[bsd650]

What about Hillsborough, Bridgewater, Flemington, Branchburg or Warren? All are nice areas with good school systems and within a 30 minute commute of Bound Brook.

Friends just purchased a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath on almost 1 acre in Hillsborough for $400,000. There are affordable homes in these communties.

Good Luck with your search.

[FUALL]

Originally Posted by SweepTheLeg

Hi everyone -

I've been reading up on here, and my wife and I are getting ready to start shopping for a house. I'll give some background to help out my questions:

We're looking for a 3-4 BR, 2.5 baths house. Budget is around 350-400. We're looking to buy the house and be done for the time being, staying at least 10 years.

I work in Bound Brook, but have no interest in living there because of the schools and the flooding issues.

I grew up in Middlesex county and I've lived here for the majority of my life. I've been looking around, and I've narrowed looking for good schools, decent taxes, and good value to the following areas:

East Brunswick
South Brunswick
Monroe
Plainsboro
Cranbury (way too expensive for our price range but still a nice area)
Hillsborough

Then we get a little farther out:
Aberdeen
Matawan
Manalapan
Hazlet
Old Bridge
Englishtown

Now, my question is, I don't know Somerset County or Hunterdon County at all. (I know Middlesex and Monmouth very well). Are there any areas outside of what I listed above that I should be looking into, taking into consideration my commute?

Thanks for your help!

For 400k, you can probably get older houses (30+ years old) in the any area in Somerset: Warren, Green Brook, Bridgewater, and Hillsborough would be good choices to commute to Bound Brook. Just go to realtor.com and you'll see the selection.

[SweepTheLeg]

Thank you both for your help. I should have put the qualifier that we are looking primarily at colonials which limits the search.

We looked in Strathmore in Aberdeen today and we liked the neighborhood, although the houses need a lot of decorating help.

[tandcookies]

Well if you want an older house, you might be able to find a cute fixer uppper in metuchen.

[lgb6]

Can anyone tell me what the communte for Branchburg to Staten Island would be? We are looking to relocate to either Branchburg area or nearby. Please be honest we have 4 kids 2 in elementary schools so we need good schools. Hillsborough was our other choice.
Please help