Advice on towns between Hackensack & Middletown NY (New York, Monroe: apartments, rental)

[pooky]

My husband, baby and I are relocating for his job which will be in Hackensack NJ. I have a job possibility around the Middletown NY area. We were hoping to find a rental property, preferably a house, somewhere in the middle. We would more likely need to stay closer to his job. We were expecting to pay approx $1,200 - $1,400 per month. Any good suggestions?

[Jason_Els]

Your commute corridor would then be anything along Route 17. 17 is a weird highway. In NJ it's 6 lanes then, when it crosses into New York it becomes 4 very narrow undivided lanes until you reach Central Valley where it becomes a 4 to 6 lane divided highway. To get around the dangerous and slow undivided part, people hop on the NY State Thruway. Both of you will commute on 17 though you husband would have the option to take the Garden State Parkway which is also accessible from the Thruway.

The issue you'd have is the price. Those prices are more along the lines of basic 2-3 bedroom apartments. Most houses start at $1600 a month in the Central Valley/Highland Mills area which would you put you nearly exactly in between both jobs and in a decent school district. The only place a house rental would be within your budget would be in Middletown itself which is not a pleasant place to live though the areas around it are.

Sorry to say but salaries in Orange county have not kept pace with the cost of living. Because it's now a bedroom county for New York city workers, the costs have gone up and people who work locally in Orange have a hard time staying here. People earning Orange salaries are competing with people earning NYC salaries and guess who can afford to pay more? While Orange has seen an influx of employers, nearly all the jobs are low-paying retail or labor. Those few employers who are hiring skilled college grads don't have to pay more because so many people in Orange have a spouse who works in the city and can afford to be paid less than what it costs to live here. For those people, the spouse with the job in Orange is a second income and the proximity to home is worth the cut in pay.

[pooky]

In looking at mapquest...the areas you suggest (Central Valley & Highland Mills) would be a lot closer for me and my job possibility than my husbands job. He needs to be a little closer to his job. We were pointed in the area of Suffern NY area, which seems better geographically for both of us.
Any advice on that?

[Jason_Els]

Suffern is very nice. Great little downtown area and a lot of good restaurants. There's a wonderful old movie palace that shows first-run movies for most of the year but also has a classics series in the summer. It even has a working Wurlitzer! Suffern has gone from being a sad, forgotten town to someplace nice. It's ringed by highways and there's always highway noise, but it is convenient. I like Suffern very much. It's a community that takes pride in itself and has completely rehabilitated itself since it crashed in the early 80s when the Ford plant next door closed. Schools are good too.

My biggest concern with Suffern is that it's immediately down river from a Superfund site. The site has been capped but, to me, it's a concern.

The rental prices though, are way above your cap. Houses start at $2,250 though you might find a condo or townhouse for a little less. Keep in mind you'll be paying New Jersey and New York income tax so that will take a bite out of your paychecks.

Again, it's a situation of most people in Suffern working in NYC and earning NYC salaries competing against people who work locally. The locals lose.

You might do better just up the road a bit in Sloatsburg but it's a fairly small town. Further up is Tuxedo and that would also be closer to what you want, but again, it's not a large town in terms of population. There may be gems to be found in both towns though so look closely. Neither of those towns are as pretty or have downtowns like Suffern does. Both are pretty ugly and have Route 17 as their main street. As a pedestrian you'd be lucky to cross it alive during rush hour.

Don't let median or average house values in Tuxedo throw you. Outside of the gated village of Tuxedo Park, the town is pretty dismal and doesn't even have a supermarket but the public school isn't bad. If you can afford it, the private school in the village of Tuxedo park is the best in the county. Inside Tuxedo Park the houses are an entirely different story, some of them are the most beautiful and architecturally significant houses built during the Gilded Age and are accordingly priced. One house I know couldn't find a boiler big enough to heat it so the owners bought one from a steamship yard. We're not talking your average gated community here. These houses are designed to be run with an army of servants and have been home to some of the richest people in the country. The police force is a real police department as Tuxedo Park is incorporated as its own village, and you have to have to be invited just to enter the village itself. It is the first and, arguably, the most beautiful gated community in the country.

And yes, the gentlemen's semi-formal evening suit known as the tuxedo was named for Tuxedo Park.

[Jason_Els]

Just thinking... you may want to look into Greenwood Lake. There are a lot of small houses there that most people keep as a summer place. Though on tiny lots, the rental prices are in your range. The trade-off is that you have to drive over Tuxedo Mountain, but it's not a bad community. Do you have an AWD car? Your husband would appreciate one to go over the mountain in winter. Take a look, I think it would be the best bet for something in your price range.

[Cathryn A]

There are lots of great places in Orange County that are very affordable. Since your husband works in Jersey and you have a possible opportunity in Middletown, your best bet would be to look for something in between both areas. Orange County is funny. There are small towns and villages. Check out Monroe, Woodbury, Highland Mills, Harriman. These areas are close to the quickway, aka Route 17 which will take you directly to Middletown, and the Thruway which will take you back to Jersey. I am a local realtor and would be more than happy to answer any of your questions.

[Jason_Els]

I love it when people who reply don't bother to read the thread.

[mom2gurls]

Originally Posted by Jason_Els

I love it when people who reply don't bother to read the thread.

LOL..everyone wants plug dont they!

[pooky]

If my husband were working in NJ, and me in NY, does where you live up there make a big difference in taxes? would it matter that much if we lived in NY vs. NJ since at the moment, we are planning on working in different states anyway? Thanks.....

[joeymarine]

Originally Posted by pooky

If my husband were working in NJ, and me in NY, does where you live up there make a big difference in taxes? would it matter that much if we lived in NY vs. NJ since at the moment, we are planning on working in different states anyway? Thanks.....

Normally, if you work in 1 state and live in another you have to pay both state's income taxes, but you get a refund from the other when you file your taxes. I had to do it, but don't remember exactly how it worked out.