Relocating to Philly area (Camden, Haddonfield: real estate, house, construction)

[tracy83072]

HI we are relocating to the Philly area and I was hoping for some information. We are looking for a suburb of Philadelphia on the New Jersey side that has a great school system and is very family oriented. I heard a lot of good things about Haddonfield and like the small town walkable thing. I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice that lives in the area. Also, any advice on similar towns would be appreciated. We can not go over 600K for a house... (but if you ask my hubby he'll say 500k )

[billb7581]

I'd look at Moorestown, similar type of town but your taxes are probably going to be lower (albeit still high) in Burlington county vs Camden county.

Riverton is similar but smaller, but is a sending district to Palmyra HS which isn't the greatest (a lot of the kids go to Holy Cross for HS). You wont have any school issue with Haddonfield or Moorestown though.

[tracy83072]

Sorry for the duplicate thread, I didn't think the first one went through!

[NatasNJ]

Haddonfield is good. You can get a decent place for $500k. Not an amazing house but something decent.

Cherry Hill area will get you more house but lesser schools (but still good)

Moorestown is a tad far out and has 2nd best area schools. (behind Haddonfield)

But haddonfields location puts it #1 if you ask me. GOod luck. Prepare for HIGH taxes.

[billb7581]

Tad far out from what? Camden?

[frankgn87]

you can surely get MORE then a decent house for $500k. easy..

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Originally Posted by NatasNJ

Haddonfield is good. You can get a decent place for $500k. Not an amazing house but something decent.

Cherry Hill area will get you more house but lesser schools (but still good)

Moorestown is a tad far out and has 2nd best area schools. (behind Haddonfield)

But haddonfields location puts it #1 if you ask me. GOod luck. Prepare for HIGH taxes.

[MoorestownResident]

Originally Posted by NatasNJ

Haddonfield is good. You can get a decent place for $500k. Not an amazing house but something decent.

Cherry Hill area will get you more house but lesser schools (but still good)

Moorestown is a tad far out and has 2nd best area schools. (behind Haddonfield)

But haddonfields location puts it #1 if you ask me. GOod luck. Prepare for HIGH taxes.

Moorestown's school system(s) is far larger than Haddonfield's. Moorestown has two K-12 school systems - the public system and Moorestown Friends, the latter being better than anything in Haddonfield. The highest SAT scores in SJ are at MFS. It is also one of the highest in Philly metro. The highest public schools test scores have gone back and forth between Haddonfield and MHS. MHS has seen a tremendous influx of new students from the growth in the past 10 years. Haddonfield is not a growth area and hasn't had to deal with growth issues.

For the OP, Moorestown and Haddonfield are perfect choices but your $600K isn't going to go as far as other nice towns with good schools systems. It depends on the size, age and condition of what you are looking for. Most of the newer construction during the boom was built in Burlington County as opposed to Camden County, which is older and developed decades before. Towns in BC that would suit your needs include the four Ms listed in terms of affordability - Mount Laurel, Marlton/Medford, then Moorestown. In Camden County, Haddonfield is a great choice, but expect very high taxes and small lots for the most part. Cherry Hill and Voorhees are other good options. BC is more open with larger lots, farms, etc., with less housing density than CC.

You can also look in Gloucester County - lots of growth down there. Mullica Hill and Woolwich are good choices. GC is going to have a more rural feel with suburban sprawl.

[NatasNJ]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

you can surely get MORE then a decent house for $500k. easy..

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More than a decent house? Show me. There are some decent places (decent is obviously very subjective) in Haddonfield between $350-$550.
For that same price in Voorhees or Cherry Hill you could get 2x as much house and in MUCH better condition. So in terms of what you get for the $ Haddonfield value is just DECENT.

If you spend $500k in Voorhees or Cherry Hill that same home in Haddonfield would break $700k easy.

So when I saw you can get a decent house in Haddonfield for $500k I stand by that and you are not get it EASY or much more for that price. You will either be giving up location in Haddonfield (in one of the lesser desireable areas of Haddonfield) or you will be in a average house for the area at best. Where as other areas that money will go much much further.

[frankgn87]

I am not allowed to post link to real estate site otherwise Id post a who lot for you at <500k.. just did a search and I found 40 nice ones $500k and down