Hi All,
My husband and I currently live in Fair Lawn NJ (Bergen County)...in a humble home that would probably sell for 350K to 425K when the market calms down as it seems to be doing. Not sure in this current selling environment. That is a conservative to fair estimate I think, but I can''t be sure of anything.. Our property taxes are 10K a year today and we are 4 1/2 years from being able to sell and retire. We do truly love this town, but our retirement income will be moderate and have to last us for god knows how long, so the taxes will just eat too much of it and we also do not want a colonial two floor home with the washing machine and freezer in the basement. My knees are starting to ache from all these stairs. I am trying to do my research early and have a plan in place for when our time comes.
I want to stay in NJ as I have two children who own homes and are employed here, but in a lower tax area that is fairly safe and a little closer to the jersey shore. Not really really close, but an hour-ish away would be okay. We spent a lot of our summers at the Jersey shore and it would be lovely to take a few day trips here & there.
It would be nice if we could pocket 100K after selling, and pay cash for the new home. So I think our purchase price would be 250K to 300K for a 2 bed 2 bath minimum. Depending on the tax rate, I would go to a 3 bed as well, but it would just be a storage room or a divorce room for my children. Extra BR#2 would be a guest room or/escape from my husband in case he turns out to be an annoying retiree
Since we will be retirees we are not too concerned about the school system.
I guess what I worry about is:
I do not want an HOA-I want a home I own where I am not dictated too other than reasonable town ordinaces
Ability to food shop nearby
Access to medical facilities within reason
Smaller lot with less landscaping / property maintenance
I have researched so many towns in ocean county, but many are low rent or too close to the ocean that I am concerned about another hurricane Sandy.
I welcome any feedback or advice you have for me. We are not politically opinionated or easily offended so that doesn't matter-but we would like a diverse community and not one over-run by only one culture.
If you think of any point I should also consider when researching, kindly let me know. I am in the early stages here.
Thank you sooo much in advance kind City-data friends!.
A