New Jersey Move (Newark, Gibbstown, Woodstown: rent, mortgage, townhome)

[Ad11]

Hello everyone!
I am trying to buy a home in Woolwich Township, I love the new home, I work in Wilmington Delaware, I only go to the office twice a week. Friends are discouraging me from moving to south Jersey because of the property taxes and paying two taxes on my paycheck. I will be having a friend live with me that will be paying rent thereby reducing my monthly mortgage payment, everyone says it is a bad idea to move to south jersey. All the houses I like in Delaware are located in the border of Maryland or middle town which is too far. The few houses I was interested in are located in Chester County PA, but way above my budget. I will appreciate if I can read your opinions on this. Thank you

[Leps12]

If you are going to the office only twice a week, then the DE houses near the MD border aren’t much worse than commuting from Woolwich. Are you talking about around Newark? Understand that 2/3’s of your property taxes go to the public school district, so if you are not using the schools, you must come to grips with wasting that money. As long as you are okay with that, like the house, and can afford it, then by all means, go for it.

[square85]

Originally Posted by Ad11

Hello everyone!
I am trying to buy a home in Woolwich Township, I love the new home, I work in Wilmington Delaware, I only go to the office twice a week. Friends are discouraging me from moving to south Jersey because of the property taxes and paying two taxes on my paycheck. I will be having a friend live with me that will be paying rent thereby reducing my monthly mortgage payment, everyone says it is a bad idea to move to south jersey. All the houses I like in Delaware are located in the border of Maryland or middle town which is too far. The few houses I was interested in are located in Chester County PA, but way above my budget. I will appreciate if I can read your opinions on this. Thank you

I currently live in Woolwich and will do my best to give some insight. My family and I also did new construction and have been living here 1.5 years so far.

As you know, Wilmington is quite close and only a short drive. It is possible to get to the Delaware bridge without taking the highway as you can take the county roads pretty much to the foot of the bridge and avoid 295. Same thing coming back into Jersey; you can avoid 295 to get back into Woolwich. Without traffic I can be at the Christiana Mall in 25 minutes and Newark in about 30-35 minutes to give you an idea on time.

Yes, property taxes are quite high and yes, Woolwich has the highest property taxes in Gloucester County. We currently pay $9k on an end unit townhome but what can you do; we knew this when deciding to move to NJ. That’s a decision you need to decide if you can pay the taxes. Of the $9k in taxes, I believe almost $4k goes towards the schools and I believe the Swedesboro/Woolwich school district spends $23k/student every school year. We don’t mind this so much because our older daughter is in the school district and so far it’s been excellent compared to NYC. As far as I know there is no reciprocity between NJ and DE for taxes. I currently work in Philly and get “my PA taxes back” when I file with our accountant.

Being in this part of SJ is very different from being in DE or Philly. The area is still quite rural once you leave the main drag and is something you would have to get used to if you haven’t driven on these types of roads before. We came from Brooklyn and it was quite an adjustment.

Our closest good supermarket is ShopRite in West Deptford or Mullica Hill but a brand new ShopRite is being built right in Woolwich and will be replacing the Gibbstown ShopRite. There is an Acme right down the road and another Acme in Woodstown/Pilesgrove but I find Acme expensive.

This area is still developing and there is a plan to continue to build out the area with more residential. Some things we have noticed since living here:

-there is more truck traffic then we were expecting
-the number of warehouses getting built is a little ridiculous
-Kings Highway can become quite congested when driving through Swedesboro at certain times
-water is quite expensive; we currently pay about $105-$110/month for a family of 4 but at least the water is fluoridated, thankfully our other utilities are quite affordable
-the area is very quiet for the most part and you can often smell the farms when we walk out of the house
-area is convenient to get to Philly, DE or NYC
-home prices have shot up significantly since we originally signed with the builder and moved to the area
-we do enjoy living here

Hope I helped give some info on thoughts about the area. Let me know if you want to know anything else.

[pleg1]

Originally Posted by Ad11

Hello everyone!
I am trying to buy a home in Woolwich Township, I love the new home, I work in Wilmington Delaware, I only go to the office twice a week. Friends are discouraging me from moving to south Jersey because of the property taxes and paying two taxes on my paycheck. I will be having a friend live with me that will be paying rent thereby reducing my monthly mortgage payment, everyone says it is a bad idea to move to south jersey. All the houses I like in Delaware are located in the border of Maryland or middle town which is too far. The few houses I was interested in are located in Chester County PA, but way above my budget. I will appreciate if I can read your opinions on this. Thank you

My take on the situation is that it all comes out in the wash.

Where taxes are higher, earnings are higher. You move down south, you pay lower taxes, you make a lot less money. At the end of the day you probably have more discretionary income in NJ. Where things equalize is with a lower-pressure retirement in a lower-tax state, but it's still a game or pros and cons without a clear answer.

Also as high as NJ taxes are, they seem to be slowing ever so much, while other states, though they're much lower, are rapidly moving up. PA home prices are higher than South Jersey for what you get, so again, things wash out, especially with higher mortgage rates.

No offense to the residents, but I don't like Delaware too much and would gladly pay NJ taxes to live in NJ, as much as I dislike the NJ government and political situation. Wilmington's pretty/really lame and there aren't any other cities of note, lot of trailer parks/prefab communities, strip malls; I just don't think it's that nice. If I had to live in Delaware I would live north or northwest of Wilmington. The area of Maryland near Delaware is also kind of remote. I personally would be happier living in PA or NJ near Philly. Swedesboro/Mullica Hill is a pretty nice area. The traffic to and from Delaware is nil and you're in Philly or on 42 to the shore in 15 minutes.

If you have a spare unit/are willing to take a roommate long-term, rents are higher in NJ, which could help wash out any tax difference. You really can't get any living situation for less than $950/month even a tiny studio, 1-bedroom averaging $1350-1550 currently. Boarding houses are usually $700-800/month and roommate situations $700-1000. Even trailer parks are $750-800/month plus utilities just to park a trailer.

I'd just base it on where you like the best / feel the best.

[Ad11]

Hi everyone,
I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I truly appreciate everyone and the feedback I got; I was able to make an informed decision. Thank you and have a great week ahead