East Orange... MY Perspective

[gradstudent77]

Originally Posted by fxMom

***

That being said, I am glad to say that my husband and I are about to purchase a home in EO on a very nice, quiet street near the Bloomfield border. Our youngest son will continue at the Charter School, while our oldest son will be entering his first year at an ivy league college. So to BlueEyes84, I welcome you to East Orange. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Much congrats on the bolded.

[gagaliya]

Bayonne, NJ, 07002 - MLS ID#80011894 - Multi-Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

much much better area (by comparison)

Originally Posted by gradstudent77

I don't know if these are missing their plumbing or what, but:

New Jersey MLS

New Jersey MLS

New Jersey MLS

If that 3family listed for $120,000 can be had for $110,000 then a 20% down, 30-year mortgage at 7% would mean a monthly payment of $585.
If we assume the house requires $40,000 worth of repairs, so the house's price is effectively $150,000, then the mortgage payment is $800/month.

Since the listing says it has 5BR's, let's assume it has one studio, one 1Br and one 3BR apt. From CL, it looks like a studio in EO can be had for $600/month. 1BR's in the $700s. So, its $1300/month worth of income to cover expenses plus a place to live for the owner. The question is: can you put up with the low QOL? If I wasn't moving away from this metro for school, I would absolutely be living somewhere like there. I don't own much anything (valuable or otherwise, I'm a cheap dude, what can I say) so the burglars won't get much and my car (although, I won't likely own one ever again) will always be at least 10 years old, regardless of how wealthy I ever become.

I'm not really advocating that families move into places like EO. I'm just saying that running to the burbs and then when NYC burbs are too expensive, running to other metros is not necessary. I don't like the attitude a lot of ppl, in real life and on this forum, have towards towns with a lower socio-economic compostion.

DISCLAIMER #1: I'm not advertising those properties, and I am posting ads just for the sake of the conversation we are having.

DISCLAIMER #2: Obviously the numbers I used in my example are a bit better than one can find most of the time. The example I posted would be a wild financial slam dunk, so there must be more wrong with the property than I estimated in my repair bill of $40k. But hey, you never know, it might be accurate.

[fxMom]

It's all about Location, Location, Location. If you were to take that house and put it on the other side of East Orange near Watsessing Park it would have a much better value. I think the things that are causing the prices to be what it is are location, typical condition of homes in that area, and overall effect of the market.

As for apartments, again it depends on where. Although I personally detest apartment buildings, I'd rather live in one on Prospect Street than on South Harrison --again quality of life. There are nice townhomes on Prospect near William Street and further up are the new ones near Upsala (brand spanking new!!!). If you look and you find a realtor who really knows the area, you can get something really nice without having to fear for your life

[gradstudent77]

Originally Posted by gagaliya

Bayonne, NJ, 07002 - MLS ID#80011894 - Multi-Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

much much better area (by comparison)

Nice find. That's a very attractive price for a two-family. I agree that the area is much,much better. Why is it that when I searched, the least expensive multi-fam I could find in Bayonne is $235k??

[FreshFresh]

Originally Posted by seque5tra

yeah. You pretty much nailed it on the head.
There are people on this forum that think west orange is too diverse*, so what do you expect?

*'diverse' is city-data code for 'not white enough'

lol!!!!!

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by fxMom

- Don't get caught on the wrong side of town. The quality of life is gauged literally on a street-by-street basis.

As someone living in the non-downtown part of Jersey City, I can identify with this. I'm happy with my block, but I'm half a block from the main drag for the local homeless people, and 6 blocks from the infamous Montgomery projects. Not the best place for wandering around if you don't know where you're going.