Freehold (Newark, Paterson, Edison: real estate, houses, buying)

[jerseygirlInTN]

Hello,
my family and I are considering to relocate back home to NJ and are looking at Freehold. Does anyone have and personal info. (positive or negative) on this area in terms of the schools (we have 3 small boys, oldest will be entering Kindergarten in fall), hospitals (my husband is a physician), real estate, etc.? Is it realistic that we could live here and travel home to Mahwah for visits and West Paterson for church on Sundays? Our budget would be up to $600K for a 4 bed/2 ba house with a decent yard. How's traffic going north to Bergen, Passaic County on the weekends? Is traffic crazy in this area? My husband grew up in Mahwah and I grew up in Boston and we lived in Clifton/West Paterson and have commuted to Cedar Knolls, Newark, and Edison so we know about the daily commuter traffic for weekdays. Please no bashing of NJ; we now live in TN and STILL want to come back despite the traffic, congestion, taxes, increased housing costs. We just really miss family, church, and NJ in general. Yes we have a beautiful huge house and would do better financially but we're done with the South. There's no place like home.

[BobKovacs]

If you've got $600k to spend, you can find something nice in Freehold or any of the surrounding areas like Marlboro, Manalapan, etc.

The weekend traffic heading up to Mahwah and W. Paterson won't be too bad. Depending on where you end up buying, you're probably somewhere in the 1:15-1:30 drive time. The GSP can get a little nutty on Sundays in the summer, but it sounds like you'd be heading home (South) on Sunday afternoon while everyone else was heading back North from the shore, so you should be fine.

Bob

[christina0001]

Well I'm sure you know CentraState Hospital is located in Freehold. The homes around the hospital, in particular west of the hospital, are new and quite nice. The traffic on Rt. 9 in Freehold can be brutal, even on weekends, otherwise it is not bad. Be sure to stop at Ice Cream on 9 one night, on the Freehold/Howell border, which has the absolute best ice cream, and fudge. Freehold is a nice town and the towns surrounding it are also pretty nice.

[berryjuice4life]

def check out centra state as they are adding and building this beautiful addition to the hospital...College Park is real nice Khov community but they are in the mid 600's and taxes range there between 11,500 up to 13,000k If u would like more info on the freehold or manalapan/Marlboro area pls feel free to pm me...and yes christina is right the route 9 traffic is beyond hurendious since its gotten very overcrowded....for 600k u can find a nice home in Jackson and or Howell...as well...Jackson is still up and coming and the schools are really good IMO...

[jerseygirlInTN]

Thanks to everyone for their help! Are there any areas we should avoid ? Are pretty much all of the schools good? We would rather be a little north or west of Freehold so we would be a little closer to family and church in North Jersey. Probably 30 minutes max. Does anyone know how the school districts work? I was on Freehold school website but didn'y know for sure how the schools are zoned. Is there any major difference between the schools?

[Annie of Oldsmar]

Freehold area is a very nice place to live. Do not go to live in the downtown area, for there is a lot of situations there with too many persons for the space. It's the Freehold Borough area.
The areas around the Hospital are nice, lots of older houses with nice families .Besides the older areas theres the new construction which is ridiculously priced, but a lot of people are making money from this .
Marlboro, Manalapan are also very nice areas.
I lived in Freehold for some years, I really enjoyed it.

[exhdo1]

Originally Posted by jerseygirlInTN

Hello,
my family and I are considering to relocate back home to NJ and are looking at Freehold. Does anyone have and personal info. (positive or negative) on this area in terms of the schools (we have 3 small boys, oldest will be entering Kindergarten in fall), hospitals (my husband is a physician), real estate, etc.? Is it realistic that we could live here and travel home to Mahwah for visits and West Paterson for church on Sundays? Our budget would be up to $600K for a 4 bed/2 ba house with a decent yard. How's traffic going north to Bergen, Passaic County on the weekends? Is traffic crazy in this area? My husband grew up in Mahwah and I grew up in Boston and we lived in Clifton/West Paterson and have commuted to Cedar Knolls, Newark, and Edison so we know about the daily commuter traffic for weekdays. Please no bashing of NJ; we now live in TN and STILL want to come back despite the traffic, congestion, taxes, increased housing costs. We just really miss family, church, and NJ in general. Yes we have a beautiful huge house and would do better financially but we're done with the South. There's no place like home.

Mahwah is going to be aprox. an hour and a half and West Paterson about an hour by car. Remember that Freehold Township is nearly 40 square miles. It can have a suburban feel in some areas and almost rural in others. I live in Freehold Township (which is a different town than Freehold) and really enjoy the township. The schools are very good, the park system is great and there is plenty for kids to do. You can get a 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath 2 car garage home on a half acre possibly with a pool and nicely landscaped in the 500-550K range. That home would not be brand new. The home I described is similar to mine and I pay aprox. $7200 in property taxes. Someone else told you about Centra-State hospital in Freehold but there are a number of others within a half hour of town. Traffic does get heavy on rt.9 at times but any local people can tell you that you'll quickly learn the back roads and it's really not too much of an issue, (don't expect to zip in and out of the mall during the holidays, traffic and parking can get really bad). Other than that I think the township is a great choice for a family. Someone else mentioned Freehold Borough (which is the Monmouth County seat) it is a small town that is aprox 2 square miles and is surrounded by Freehold Township. Many people will automatically tell you to stay away from the borough because it has a large hispanic population. I personally would not assume any bodys ethnicity or where they would like to live so to that I would say research Freehold Borough yourself. If you enjoy eating out you'll propbably find youself going to the borough often. As far as zoning for the schools I'm not really sure what your asking. The high schools are a regional system and the location where you live and if your child elects a specific carrer path it will determine what high school they would go to. The Freehold Regional High School district is comprised of Freehold Borough , Freehold Township, Manlapan Township, Marlboro Township and Colts Neck. All of these towns have a high school and all have a specialty they teach. The elementary schools are in the same town where you would live and are specific to each town. Good luck with your search.

[jerseygirlInTN]

Thanks to everyone for their help! One last thing...Is this a growing area? This is a huge factor since my husband would be setting up his practice and would need a place that will still need physicians for a growing population. We would like to stay in one place permanently since it's hard to pick up and move your practice, especially since NJ has a ton of physicians already. What are hospitals are close by to Centra-State (within 30 min.) that would be competition or is Centra-State the major hospital for the area? As for the traffic for Route 9-is it mainly people commuting or shopping etc? Just wanted to know whether we would be traveling on this road daily or more on the weekends. Thanks again in advance!

[dcris]

I looked up homes "in the area" on the MLS (Yes, I'm a Realtor, but in PA) and found a bunch of nice listings up to $600,000 in the Upper Freehold/Allentown area. That might be an area to consider. The NJ TPK would be close enough to be your north/south corridor.

[berryjuice4life]

Jersey, Im in the business and licensed here however Im not Active as I am moving but My co-worker and Freind is with Remax and is awesome..she Works in Freehold..Just Pm me if your interested in the details..for about 550k u will get a split level and or colonial built in about 1986 and older...most of them do need some cosmetic but If u love the area and the layout all of that can be changed.....Freehold is one of my favorite towns...