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We're on Long Island and considering a move to South Jersey, North Carolina, Austin, or Colorado. I work in IT and would need to find a job first, and the job would determine the final destination, but I've been told by some acquaintences in Jersey that finding work would be relatively easy given my skillset. We would prefer to be "close" to family on the east coast (NY, NJ, and even Florida), so South Jersey would be our first choice.
I've been told that the Cherry Hill area would be suitable, though I'd actually prefer slightly more rural (my other half is fine with the burbs). We're a family of 5 (kids are 5 and under), so i was looking for feedback regarding schools and housing costs relative to sizes. We are also looking for an area where there are plenty of activities for the kids (e.g. gymnastics, dance, karate, soccer, etc). We're currently in a 6br house (though no basement) about 2500 sq ft with on a 6k sq foot lot. The house is valued at around 450-500k. We'd be looking for a similar sized house with a slightly larger property, though 5br would likely be suitable if there were a basement. I'd actually prefer to spend less on the house, itself, so the range would be around $300k. Our property and school taxes are around 13k. As to schools, I've been told Haddon Heights and Haddonfield would be the best in the area, but obviously i might not find real estate with the specifications I'm looking for and in the desired price range given the school systems. It would be helpful if people could provide feedback on areas other than Haddonfield and Haddon Heights.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by readygo
Hi folks,
We're on Long Island and considering a move to South Jersey, North Carolina, Austin, or Colorado. I work in IT and would need to find a job first, and the job would determine the final destination, but I've been told by some acquaintences in Jersey that finding work would be relatively easy given my skillset. We would prefer to be "close" to family on the east coast (NY, NJ, and even Florida), so South Jersey would be our first choice.
I've been told that the Cherry Hill area would be suitable, though I'd actually prefer slightly more rural (my other half is fine with the burbs). We're a family of 5 (kids are 5 and under), so i was looking for feedback regarding schools and housing costs relative to sizes. We are also looking for an area where there are plenty of activities for the kids (e.g. gymnastics, dance, karate, soccer, etc). We're currently in a 6br house (though no basement) about 2500 sq ft with on a 6k sq foot lot. The house is valued at around 450-500k. We'd be looking for a similar sized house with a slightly larger property, though 5br would likely be suitable if there were a basement. I'd actually prefer to spend less on the house, itself, so the range would be around $300k. Our property and school taxes are around 13k. As to schools, I've been told Haddon Heights and Haddonfield would be the best in the area, but obviously i might not find real estate with the specifications I'm looking for and in the desired price range given the school systems. It would be helpful if people could provide feedback on areas other than Haddonfield and Haddon Heights.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Haddon Heights has a large stock of big old late Victorian houses.
Most of the housing stock in Cherry Hill dates to the 60s & 70s.
If you're looking for newer housing on larger lots you may want to do more searching in Raleigh & Charlotte. However the newest homes nearest to those cities have tiny lots.
Cherry Hill & the NC sites will get you few opportunities to get basements.
Haddonfield and Haddon Heights have good schools but everything is very built up. Land is at a premium. So for 300K you can get a 5 bedroom but you will only have 10-15 feet between you and the neighbor and the yard will be pretty small. Cherry Hill has ok schools too and you can find larger lots. If you go farther out stay away from the Winslow Twp school district. It is one of the worst in the area.
Southbound is right. You're not going to find a lot of properties in Southern New Jersey with a basement. I lived in two homes which had a nice, big, dry basement. You're much more likely to find--a little further out--a two car garage. There's room for one car and cubic yards of... stuff.
When my husband and I moved to NJ, we briefly lived in Medford before moving to Marlton, Evesham Township. I really, really liked living there. It's suburban and there's quite a bit of traffic, but, there are plenty of woodsy communities--some with small lakes. It's much easier to get to the state parks, forests and the beach from that area rather than Cherry Hill.
There are always a lot of 3 or 4 bedroom places on the market. I think you might have a problem finding 5-6.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,684,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerania
Southbound is right. You're not going to find a lot of properties in Southern New Jersey with a basement. I lived in two homes which had a nice, big, dry basement. You're much more likely to find--a little further out--a two car garage. There's room for one car and cubic yards of... stuff.
When my husband and I moved to NJ, we briefly lived in Medford before moving to Marlton, Evesham Township. I really, really liked living there. It's suburban and there's quite a bit of traffic, but, there are plenty of woodsy communities--some with small lakes. It's much easier to get to the state parks, forests and the beach from that area rather than Cherry Hill.
There are always a lot of 3 or 4 bedroom places on the market. I think you might have a problem finding 5-6.
There are some 5 bedroom houses in Cherry Hill but the 5th bedrooms are additions. Haddon Heights is much more likely to have a 5th bedroom because of the age of the houses. Families were bigger back then.
Job-wise I would think that the RTP would be number one. There are also data centers scattered around NC. Several are near to somewhat near to Charlotte.
The OP should make trips to check out the areas. Haddonfield & Haddon Heights have narrow deep lots. Cherry Hill lots vary by development.
Thanks everyone. We were thinking about visiting south jersey during presidents week bc the kids are out of school, but i'm not sure whether there's anything in the area to occupy little kids a few hours each day. Any suggestions are appreciated. We were also thinking about visiting NC but same issue.
As to housing, we only need 4br but i have a 5th as an office. Honestly a large closet-sized space is fine for an office (doesnt need to be a full bedroom), but i would need to be able to close the door. We don't need a basement (not a requirement.. never had one) but we do need enough space so we're not cramped and we have storage. I've read that south jersey has some radon issues too, which can be mitigated but might be another reason for no basements. Dont know how true that is or not.
I have read a lot of nightmare stories about people from the northeast moving down to NC and having a hard time adjusting or finding work, but i cannot imagine it being any worse than LI/NY, which has become unbearable.
The Garden State Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill or Sierra Sam's Oasis indoor water park on Rt. 73 will keep the children occupied for a few hours.
Radon? Yeah, there are some problem properties. It doesn't cost much to mitigate-as long as someone isn't sponging up your cash because you're from NY and look like you have too much money to spend. Shop around. Hey, I grew up in NEPA--radon central--and it wasn't a problem because we all lived in drafty, old houses. Grandmother-in-law made it to 99.
North Carolina isn't bad. I lived there for ten years. Well, I lived there for a little less than a year, I was out for two years, then moved back for nine. It's a little different. It's not NY and it's not the NE. I couldn't find a decent bagel. I did find some good, very good, Italian food and pizza at a small independently owned restaurant. Not sure why, but two guys from NY had moved south. There's probably a lot more of that going on now since I moved from the area.
You could also consider Gloucester County. It's a little further away from Philly, but also because of that it's more rural. If you want newer homes, places like Mantua Twp., Washington Twp., Mullica Hill, West Deptford, Logan Twp. would be good. Homes are not very expensive, and I think Logan Twp. has some of the lowest taxes in the county. Mantua and Mullica Hill have good school districts. If you want older homes and more established towns, places like Wenonah and Pitman would also be pretty affordable, although Pitman's overall school district is much better than Wenonah's. Property sizes in older towns like Wenonah and Pitman will be smaller than that of Mantua and Mullica Hill. Overall, Gloucester County is much cheaper than Camden County and you would have no problem finding a house in your price range.
Southbound is right. You're not going to find a lot of properties in Southern New Jersey with a basement. I lived in two homes which had a nice, big, dry basement. You're much more likely to find--a little further out--a two car garage. There's room for one car and cubic yards of... stuff.
When my husband and I moved to NJ, we briefly lived in Medford before moving to Marlton, Evesham Township. I really, really liked living there. It's suburban and there's quite a bit of traffic, but, there are plenty of woodsy communities--some with small lakes. It's much easier to get to the state parks, forests and the beach from that area rather than Cherry Hill.
There are always a lot of 3 or 4 bedroom places on the market. I think you might have a problem finding 5-6.
Mount Laurel (five minutes from Cherry Hill) easily have basements - I know I live there. Five bedroom homes? No problem. That sounds like Old Ramblewood Section of Ramblewood country Club area.....You are three minutes from NJ turnpike or 295; 25 minutes by car to Philadelphia which will really expand your IT job prospects....
Last edited by missynancy; 01-30-2015 at 05:54 PM..
Reason: PS - plus the area has incredibly high rates schools
Mount Laurel (five minutes from Cherry Hill) easily have basements - I know I live there. Five bedroom homes? No problem. That sounds like Old Ramblewood Section of Ramblewood country Club area.....You are three minutes from NJ turnpike or 295; 25 minutes by car to Philadelphia which will really expand your IT job prospects....
Oh, yes, you can find basements, five bedrooms and a two car attached garage in Southern New Jersey, but you can't always find all of those things on one property.
We ended up with a 3 bedroom with a third story loft room (which we used as a home office), a 1 1/2 garage which had enough room for a work bench and shop tools and a waterproofed crawl space with a concrete floor in which we were able to store some things. It wasn't what we were looking for, but it worked well enough.
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