feel like a bum in westchster, considering NJ (Montclair, Paramus: for sale, real estate market)

[LightningMcQueen]

We make a decent living, but housing and property tax on this side of the Hudson is ridiculous. I know very little about NJ, but I get the sense that the cost of housing is more reasonable for you guys. So I would like to ask this forum to help me get grounded on what towns I should consider.

I work in Midtown and would like to be within 30 min to Penn Station. We are thinking somewhere between the GW and the Tappan Zee. School is important because we have a son starting Kindergarten soon.

Is it realistic to expect to find a decent 3bd 2bth house/condo under $500K with the above criterias. If so, what are the towns? How about a rental for such residence for under $3000 per month.

Lastly, what MLS sites do you recommend that let's you search by school districts as opposed to just by town names? (I'm assuming, similar to Westchester, town names don't always line up with school districts.)

[BergenCountyJohnny]

There are many parts of NJ that will be less expensive than Westchester, but those areas might be a bit of a downgrade from the ritzier parts of Westchester. The nicer, more affluent towns in NJ that would be more similar to Westchester probably won't save you a ton of money but might be marginally cheaper. You might do better in Rockland County, NY, which is closer to Westchester because of the Tappan Zee and is a little more like Westchester in that they are the same state and have a similar "feel". Rockland has some upscale towns and neighborhoods which are less expensive than the affluent neighboring NJ towns in Bergen County.

With the Real Estate Market being as it is, however, you may be able to get a good deal. My town, Park Ridge, is very nice and has a great school system. Here, you'd probably be able to buy a home for $500,000 and it would be a nice home, 3 BR 1 or 2 BA, older home (50's to 70's/80's built). It might run a bit more, or for all I know could be less these days.

Good luck in your search!

[Thosepeskyfacts]

There's no place between the GW and the Tapanzee where you can take a train to New York Penn inside of 30 minutes. It's simply not possible.

The only places you can do that are in towns like Lyndhurst and Montclair. You might have to look a little further west and south.

[LightningMcQueen]

Originally Posted by Thosepeskyfacts

There's no place between the GW and the Tapanzee where you can take a train to New York Penn inside of 30 minutes. It's simply not possible.

The only places you can do that are in towns like Lyndhurst and Montclair. You might have to look a little further west and south.

I'm not familiar with the commuter trains in NJ, but I thought that kind of timing would be possible because if you pick a spot on the map between the two bridges and go over to the westchester side parallel to the point you picked, then you are within 30 mins to mid town via the metro north. But perhaps that's not correct.

[LightningMcQueen]

Originally Posted by BergenCountyJohnny

There are many parts of NJ that will be less expensive than Westchester, but those areas might be a bit of a downgrade from the ritzier parts of Westchester. The nicer, more affluent towns in NJ that would be more similar to Westchester probably won't save you a ton of money but might be marginally cheaper. You might do better in Rockland County, NY, which is closer to Westchester because of the Tappan Zee and is a little more like Westchester in that they are the same state and have a similar "feel". Rockland has some upscale towns and neighborhoods which are less expensive than the affluent neighboring NJ towns in Bergen County.

With the Real Estate Market being as it is, however, you may be able to get a good deal. My town, Park Ridge, is very nice and has a great school system. Here, you'd probably be able to buy a home for $500,000 and it would be a nice home, 3 BR 1 or 2 BA, older home (50's to 70's/80's built). It might run a bit more, or for all I know could be less these days.

Good luck in your search!

I did a search on a real estate site for Norwood, (I visited the area about 3 yrs ago and remember hearing that it has good schools.) and I see a lot more selection under the $500K range than I would in Westchester that would be equivalent distance from midtown.

Now I'm not sure what the train time would be from there to midtown, but right now I'm just picking a point on a map. Also, I'm not sure what kind of condition or neighborhood this kind of price gets you. But from the pictures, it looks like a house that would be at least $650K over in a similar town in Westchester, whose tax would be something like $15K to $20K. I'm assuming Norwood is a desirable school district.

The website I used doesn't show the property tax. What would be the tax for a house in the 400K to 500K range in a town like Norwood?

[HalfFull]

Originally Posted by LightningMcQueen

I'm not familiar with the commuter trains in NJ, but I thought that kind of timing would be possible because if you pick a spot on the map between the two bridges and go over to the westchester side parallel to the point you picked, then you are within 30 mins to mid town via the metro north. But perhaps that's not correct.

Try the njtransit website. You should be able to pick a few towns and see the time to Penn.

I'm not familiar with a mls site that would allow you to search by school disctrict. But otherwise, I like this site: GSMLS

[LightningMcQueen]

Originally Posted by HalfFull

Try the njtransit website. You should be able to pick a few towns and see the time to Penn.

I'm not familiar with a mls site that would allow you to search by school disctrict. But otherwise, I like this site: GSMLS

Thanks for the site, but that site doens't bring up everything I found via another national site with the same search criteria... unless "Norwood, NJ" means different things to the national site I used vs GSMLS.

[BPerone201]

Stay away from Morris and Essex counties since the taxes there are horrendous.
Bergen county can be bad to, but that's more for the southern half of the county..

Look into Paramus. The taxes are lower in Paramus then its surrounding towns. The schools are also pretty good too.

[LCMT]

Here is the info from a forum I have posted on here in case you didn't see it. These are the websites I have found to be most helpful.

Garden State MLS
Real Estate Listings, Homes for Sale and Rental Property Listings – REALTOR.com®
Home search: gsmls has taxes, realtor sometimes has maps.

Your web browser and the Maps site are incompatible
The birds eye is useful in checking how busy the road is, what the neighborhood looks like, how close the highways were and what is in the surrounding area.

http://tax1.co.monmouth.nj.us/cgi-bi...t=0801&mode=11
PropertyShark - Real Estate Maps, Foreclosures, Property Reports and Comparables
Nj tax records/Property shark. Lets you look into taxes, land size, sq footage, etc. Helped us to see how much they paid for the home and if they were overpricing their home. Also can look at the rest of the neighorhood to see how much everything bubbled and help you assess a better value. Good for comps also. If values might go back to 02/03 values this will give you a idea on what you might want to pay.

NJ Highlands Council - Interactive Map
NJ wetlands/highlands protection map
This site lets you put in an address of a home you are interested in to see if the property you are purchasing is in a protected zone in northern nj. Issues w/ this might be if you want to put an inground/above ground pool, remove some brush/trees to make your yard bigger or if you want to add an addition. Make sure you know what you can do w/ your property so you can create the home you want without any legal ramifications.

Schooldigger.com -- Search and compare elementary, middle, and high schools.
We found to be the most accurate site for finding how good the schools are in the neighborhood.

Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address
Walkscore: type in your address and it tells you how walkable your town is. Good to see where the nearest grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants, libraries, schools etc are to your probable purchase.

Trulia - Real Estate, Homes For Sale, Sold Properties, Real Estate Maps
Real Estate, Homes for Sale & Real Estate Values - Zillow
Good for comps/recently sold properties & home locations.

Stop the Lines - Opposition to PSE&G power lines
There is a possible powerline project going though that might add additional taller towers. Useful to see on the map where the possible PSE&G powerlines might be put up. How might this effect your health, property values and the landscape of your neighborhood.

FYI
Make sure your home is not in a flood zone
Make sure you research if that particular town is reassessing its property taxes.
From experience try to get a disclosure emailed to you up front so you can see if you want to move forward on a property. We have found things out after seeing the property a few times that stopped us in our tracks. This is a waste of everyone's time. This will also give you an idea how old the septic is and if it will have to be replaced soon after you purchase your home. This could be a big expense.
Septic Care: What is a Septic System? How Does a Septic System Work? Why Does a Septic System Fail? What are Signs of a Failing Septic System?

Good luck and have fun home shopping!

[gradstudent77]

Originally Posted by LightningMcQueen

I did a search on a real estate site for Norwood, (I visited the area about 3 yrs ago and remember hearing that it has good schools.) and I see a lot more selection under the $500K range than I would in Westchester that would be equivalent distance from midtown.

Now I'm not sure what the train time would be from there to midtown, but right now I'm just picking a point on a map. Also, I'm not sure what kind of condition or neighborhood this kind of price gets you. But from the pictures, it looks like a house that would be at least $650K over in a similar town in Westchester, whose tax would be something like $15K to $20K. I'm assuming Norwood is a desirable school district.

The website I used doesn't show the property tax. What would be the tax for a house in the 400K to 500K range in a town like Norwood?

Probably about $12,000/yr.