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We're not sure where he'd be working yet other than the NYC area. It's not a desk job, lots of client face time, and will include working on-site at various client locations at least some of the time, possibly a lot of it. It could be that he'd be commuting to one area of Manhattan for a while, then a city in New Jersey for a few months, etc. We'll know more on that shortly. That's why we were thinking New Jersey/close to Manhattan. That way he'd be as close as possible to most, if not all, of his clients.
Maybe it would be best to wait until you have more information as to exactly where in Jersey and NYC he would have to work. Meanwhile, pull out a map (or look one up on line) and get a feel for the layout of the geography. Living too far north in Jersey might be a PITA for him if he has to make long drives to other parts of Jersey. Basically, remember this--most of NYC is directly EAST of NJ, while the rest of NY State is north. Here's an example--I commuted to Manhattan for years from a town called Ridgewood, which is about 30 miles NW of downtown Manhattan, where I worked. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get to work. My daughter took horseback riding lessons in Pearl River, NY (Rockland County), which was directly north, and it took only 20 minutes to drive there. Then I moved to Monmouth County, NJ, which is 60 miles south from where I used to live. It takes me an hour and 50 minutes to get to work now in the Flatiron section of Manhattan (23rd Street). But from down here I can also drive 15 minutes to the beach, look across the water at Staten Island (part of NYC), see the Empire State Building in the distance, and see planes taking off from JFKIA in Queens, and I can be in Staten Island in 25 minutes by car.
So, you might need something sort of centrally located, with access to the city but also near the major highways to reach his NJ clients.
I think you make a really good point about native NYers vs. imports and standard of living expectations. I have to admit, I shudder at the prices I see on NY RE sites. You can get so, so, so much more where we are now for so much less. And no rat race. But... no Manhattan. And that's a big 'but' in my book.
In my husband's case, it's becoming very apparent that to make the career moves he needs to make, we're going to have to be near a hub for his industry. Which means one of the coasts, for us. So we may not really have a lot of choice, at least for a while. Till then, I may have to dream about my big backyard and the rolling acres just minutes from my house... sigh.
As others have noted, there are some lovely areas in Brooklyn where you may not get a big backyard but would be in close proximity to beautiful park space - i.e. Marine Park. The downside is that the commute into Manhattan is not short.
There are also some lovely areas in NJ where, again, you may not get a backyard with a rental, but, you would be close to park space, have lots of trees and the commute into Manhattan is not too bad - i.e. the Bogota, Teaneck, Leonia corridor.
Personally, I wouldn't live in Hoboken - it is much too urban for me.
The reality is that the commute is always longer than advertised, unless one is traveling off-peak hours, like, say Sunday morning at 7am.
For your initial rental, with your husband's work schedule being variable, you might consider living in Riverdale, as he could be in Midtown in 30 minutes or less via Metro-North. Driving to NJ is not bad from Riverdale as it's very close to the George Washington Bridge. It's a safe, quiet, very family-oriented neighborhood, and is not a bad value, overall. It's also relatively easy to get to Long Island from there, and it neighbors Westchester, if those are also areas in which he may have to visit clients. Fort Lee is also a good consideration, as previously mentioned, but you don't have the same ease of the Midtown commute, having to take the bus and transfer to the subway. Riverdale also has express buses to the east and west sides, stopping on the UES and UWS respectively to Midtown, and an express to Lower Manhattan. It's an easier commute since one does not have to take the subway, and potentially transfer, but the buses can be slower in traffic, though they do use the bus lane and once in Manhattan, the trip is not too bad at all.
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The Train is literally a 15 min ride by car and then another 30-40 min into the city. If you want to go bus--> train then it'll take up an extra 20 min. The belt parkway is a 5 min ride away and so is the Flatbush Ave commercial strip.
Finding parking near the subway can be a PITA. Remember that near the subway is usually a commercial district (and I know there's one by the Avenue U station on the B/Q line).
If she doesn't want to deal with the subway, she'd be able to take the BM1 express bus directly to Manhattan. It might take longer (and it runs less frequently than the subway), but once on the bus, she could sit back and relax.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna
The problem is that the OP wasn't clear. In the first post, she is looking for a 45 minute commute and only asking for places that fit that criteria. In a subsequent post, she amends that to say she's just wondering how far you have to go to find a 3 bedroom/2 bath for under 300K.
Two different questions. So the confusion lies in someone answering one question and another member thinking they are answering the other one.
I have to say I'm confused myself, but I don't have enough knowledge to suggest areas outside of NYC anyway, so I'm safe.
Well, if her household income is $200,000, it seems as though she could afford more than $300,000 for a home. If she spent 30% of her income on housing, that would be $66,000 a year, or $5,500 a month. If she found a $500,000 home (which is realistically what she'd expect to pay to find something that fits her standards), she'd have it paid off in less than 10 years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jojoboulette
Yeah, I get what you're saying about the math. What about Hoboken? I'm hearing it's 'minutes from NYC...' BS?
My husband may have the option of working from home a lot of the time, and only commuting for client visits. He'd have a lot of those, but they may not all be in Manhattan either.
Thanks for your input!
Technically, the trip from the Hoboken station to the Christopher Street station is about 5 minutes (Christopher Street is the first stop in NYC). However, you have to walk to the station and wait for the train (they might say that it's in Hoboken and trick you into thinking you're right next to the train when you're a mile away) and then get from the station to your job.
Realistically, you're talking at least a 40 minute commute. Say, a 10 minute walk to the PATH, 5 minutes waiting for the train, 15 minutes on the train, and 10 minutes walking to work (plus, the PATH only serves a few areas of Manhattan. For the rest, you have to transfer to the subway)
As far as recommendations go, you can try many areas of Staten Island. Right near the Verrazanno-Narrows Bridge, there are a bunch of express buses that cost $50 a week and bring you right to Manhattan.
Outside of rush hour, they don't run too frequently (though ridership is growing, so they are increasing the service), but they are comofortable and the travel time to Lower Manhattan is 20 minutes on a good day (Note that this is from the last stop in SI to the first stop in Lower Manhattan, on a good day, and this is only the in-vehicle time).
Realistically, when you add in walking to the bus and waiting for it, you're at about 35 minutes to Lower Manhattan and 55 minutes to Midtown.
Of course, SI isn't the only option, but since I live there, I know a lot about transportation and neighborhoods in the borough.
Why not just do Jersey City, if his clients will be in Jersey City? Newport. Exchange Place. All are very nice, and you should be able to find something. It's just NOT going to be something that will match anything like you'd have in the MidWest.
Yeah, I'm getting that > not matching MidWest standard of living in the NY metro area. And we're okay with it, short term.
We're considering it (JC) but to be frank, I've checked some online vids and I'm not impressed. The brownstones look great, but the rest of it looks kinda gray and trashy. Not sure to what to think without having visited the area.
"If it's working from home, I do believe that living in NJ will have some serious tax advantage." Not 100%. Does it have to be 100% to get the tax savings? And what are you talking about other than typical deductions for working from one's home? Is this specific to NJ?
Anything under 300K is not going to be in a nice section of White Plains. Going to be hard to find a good school there, as well.
As I said, it was an initial search. I know nothing about good schools in the suburbs of NYC, but it was suggested to us as an area to check out. And from what I found, there ARE in fact short sales and foreclosures in nice areas there. And elsewhere east/north/south of NYC.
You now mention that you are willing to go further out.
Actually, I mentioned that several posts back.
Here, when figuring out affordability, one must consider the taxes as that will have major bearing on your monthly mortgage payments.
Property tax is an issue anywhere that is a decent place to live, from my experience.
When I've had to describe how I had to buy/sell a house here using lawyers for the contract, the closing, getting the title search done, the NYS transfer tax, making sure there was a CO...
It's all paperwork to me. And it doesn't phase me in the slightest. As I said earlier, it's not for everyone, whether you're buying at or below market price.
Regarding competition and buying below market, there's a lot of fear and misconception around buying foreclosures and short sales. RE agents and salespeople like to frighten people away from them, stating many of the same 'facts' you mentioned... but the bottom line is that there are amazing deals out there if you have the time and patience to look for them. Which we do, as I said.
Anyway, we don't have to agree on this, by any means, as we clearly don't. Thanks for your input all the same, much appreciated!
Maybe it would be best to wait until you have more information as to exactly where in Jersey and NYC he would have to work. Meanwhile, pull out a map (or look one up on line) and get a feel for the layout of the geography. Living too far north in Jersey might be a PITA for him if he has to make long drives to other parts of Jersey. Basically, remember this--most of NYC is directly EAST of NJ, while the rest of NY State is north. Here's an example--I commuted to Manhattan for years from a town called Ridgewood, which is about 30 miles NW of downtown Manhattan, where I worked. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get to work. My daughter took horseback riding lessons in Pearl River, NY (Rockland County), which was directly north, and it took only 20 minutes to drive there. Then I moved to Monmouth County, NJ, which is 60 miles south from where I used to live. It takes me an hour and 50 minutes to get to work now in the Flatiron section of Manhattan (23rd Street). But from down here I can also drive 15 minutes to the beach, look across the water at Staten Island (part of NYC), see the Empire State Building in the distance, and see planes taking off from JFKIA in Queens, and I can be in Staten Island in 25 minutes by car.
So, you might need something sort of centrally located, with access to the city but also near the major highways to reach his NJ clients.
Yes, we are slightly jumping the gun as we don't technically have the offer, but we need to understand what exactly relocating means as he goes to negotiate the offer, hence my questions here.
My guess is we will end up with something central. Just not sure where that will be. I'll probably have more questions once the offer is in and we have a clearer idea of what his territory will cover.
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