How home prices will change neighborhoods (Hackensack, Fair Lawn: real estate market, condo, townhouse)

[VeradoDan]

Originally Posted by luckyshoes

Yeah, I think there are some towns that are going to change over one way or the other. And seniors will continue to get pushed out to other states, which I think is a shame.

Not just seniors, but young people too. One of the state's newspapers (forget which) did a study on who is leaving New Jersey, and it found just as many young adults as retirees are leaving. It affects both ends of the spectrum. The ones who are staying are the people who already have bought a home, have a steady job, etc. The bottom line is that home prices are far too high for a young person to save up and buy a home in a nice suburban neighborhood, which (in my opinion) is perhaps even more sad than the older person getting priced out.

[zhelder]

There's an article in The Record today about the "return of the $300,000 house" in the Bergen-Passaic area. The article states that more houses are available in the $300,000 range in the area, and that towns that were "traditionally more expensive" have nicer houses available in that range.

What are the "traditionally more expensive towns"? Bergenfield, New Milford, Woodland Park (that name still cracks me up), and Fair Lawn. Of that group, Fair Lawn is probably the most expensive of that group, and, at best, could probably be classified as "mid-range to upper mid-range" in terms of housing prices in Bergen/Passaic counties. The article does quote a realtor saying that properties are available in towns like Westwood and Woodcliff Lake. The cheapest house I see in Woodcliff Lake right now on Realtor.com is $329,000, and it looks like it may not have been lived in since the 19th Century. The next cheapest house is $349,000. There appears to be four properties in Westwood for $300,000 or less. Two are condos (and the one that's pictured looks VERY no frills), and the other two houses looks like disasters.

And even in the towns like New Milford, Fair Lawn, Bergenfield, and Woodland Park, the houses that people are getting for $300,000 are still extremely modest.

Here's the article, but take it with a (large) grain of salt:

NorthJersey.com: The $300,000 house has returned

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by zhelder

The next cheapest house is $349,000. There appears to be four properties in Westwood for $300,000 or less. Two are condos (and the one that's pictured looks VERY no frills), and the other two houses looks like disasters.

Keep in mind that when such a place does come on the market, it tends to move pretty quickly. If you look at sales instead of listings, you may see a very different mix. The listings tends to over-represent places that spend more days on the market.

In South Orange, there are only 4 (excluding foreclosures) detached houses under 300, all are "as is" or distressed sales.

However, there have been places that show up on the market for under 300, or close enough that they sell for under 300 -- but they don't stay on the market very long, so you won't see many of them in the listings.

[zhelder]

Just a quick update to my post above, the article also mentions Rochelle Park and Bogota as towns with $300,000 range homes. Again, mid-range towns.

And the article gives a few examples of people who were able to get some deals on decent houses in these towns. But these are exceptions, not the norm.

[GiantRutgersfan]

Originally Posted by VeradoDan

Not just seniors, but young people too. One of the state's newspapers (forget which) did a study on who is leaving New Jersey, and it found just as many young adults as retirees are leaving. It affects both ends of the spectrum. The ones who are staying are the people who already have bought a home, have a steady job, etc. The bottom line is that home prices are far too high for a young person to save up and buy a home in a nice suburban neighborhood, which (in my opinion) is perhaps even more sad than the older person getting priced out.

Why would young people stay in NJ, when for the price of owning property in NJ, they could save up a good $15,000 a year and use it to purchase property elsewhere?

These folks can legitimately leave NJ for a state like PA or anywhere down south or in the midwest where a nice house costs like $150,000 and live the good life.

[VeradoDan]

Originally Posted by GiantRutgersfan

Why would young people stay in NJ, when for the price of owning property in NJ, they could save up a good $15,000 a year and use it to purchase property elsewhere?

These folks can legitimately leave NJ for a state like PA or anywhere down south or in the midwest where a nice house costs like $150,000 and live the good life.

I tend to agree with that. Unless you're one of the lucky few who can get a great job very early on after college and make a lot of money, the prospect of being able to keep up with your personal bills while saving to buy a house in a good town in New Jersey seems out of reach. Then, of course, you can potentially double your mortgage payment with property taxes. True, you may not make as much money somewhere else (although salaries in NJ today are pretty low with the economy and so many looking for jobs) but if you can live a better lifestyle, what does the dollar figure matter anyway?

[openheads]

Originally Posted by VeradoDan

I tend to agree with that. Unless you're one of the lucky few who can get a great job very early on after college and make a lot of money, the prospect of being able to keep up with your personal bills while saving to buy a house in a good town in New Jersey seems out of reach. Then, of course, you can potentially double your mortgage payment with property taxes. True, you may not make as much money somewhere else (although salaries in NJ today are pretty low with the economy and so many looking for jobs) but if you can live a better lifestyle, what does the dollar figure matter anyway?

And yet my brother & his wife (who both don't have college degrees) purchased a house in a nice (not rich) town in North Jersey & are not struggling to pay bills with 2 kids.
Hummmm??????????

[VeradoDan]

Originally Posted by openheads

And yet my brother & his wife (who both don't have college degrees) purchased a house in a nice (not rich) town in North Jersey & are not struggling to pay bills with 2 kids.
Hummmm??????????

Some people are lucky. For others, it's a very tough time being able to afford a house in New Jersey. You certainly can't dispute that, and the numbers back up what I posted earlier.

[gradstudent77]

Originally Posted by VeradoDan

Not just seniors, but young people too. One of the state's newspapers (forget which) did a study on who is leaving New Jersey, and it found just as many young adults as retirees are leaving. It affects both ends of the spectrum. The ones who are staying are the people who already have bought a home, have a steady job, etc. The bottom line is that home prices are far too high for a young person to save up and buy a home in a nice suburban neighborhood, which (in my opinion) is perhaps even more sad than the older person getting priced out.

The young people need to get over this whole "nice suburban town" thing or good riddance when they leave for greener pastures. I have friends who are like that, they simply must own a house never a condo. They look down their noses at towns I consider to be great while they are much, much less wealthy than I am and presumably will be in the future, considering how our career arcs are shaping up so far.

[USER876]

In a lot of towns, the townhomes are as much as or more than single family homes!