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Bottom-line is that you will not find a deal that meets your minimal requirements in Jersey City or surrounding towns unless you change your constraint by raising your budget or lowering your expectations. Especially 2 acre part. Considering how precious land is in gold coast, finding any place with 2 acre for 200k would be killer bargain and very sound financial investment. Therefore price goes up automatically from the demand...
3 bed
1.5 bath
2 acre
200K price
There is no need to believe us since we are faceless posters in internet. However you can do your own search in njmls or trulia to see that we are providing sound evidence.
Lastly, I do hope you also take into account that property tax in places like JC may...probably will be a shocker for you. For example, I was looking at an apartment in Edgewater that's 900 sq ft with price tag of 349K but property tax was 6k a year...500 a month.
Also if you have children, Jersey City is not a great place to raise them. Generally due to education and certain areas being very urban aka ghetto.
Thank you all for your input...my husband and I have decided to visit the area surrounding Jersey City this weekend, although I think we have very different ideas of what we are lookng for. While privacy is definitely an issue for me, he was looking at Union Township near Essex/Union Counties. To me, that doesn't seem like a place that offers much in the way of land/privacy, but I don't have anything else to base that off of other than wikipedia and google maps. What do some Jersians (correct terminology?) think of Union? Can we find something there to meet our expectations? What other areas would you recommend we visit?
We also discussed the idea of renting a house for a year before we commit to buying something. This will hopefully give us the opportunity to see what the area is like and find someplace that we would be happy living in.
I am very interested to hear what people think (regardless of you being "faceless posters" ) as I am very apprehensive about this move (I've lived in WNY my whole life).
*Also, I am a teacher and would be looking for a job if we moved....it would be nice to know what some of the good schools are in the surrounding areas of Jersey City....I've taught in the city of Niagara Falls and it not an atmosphere I would like to teach in again if I can help it.
Union is decent but stay away from the part that borders Irvington and Elizabeth. Westfield and Cranford are also nice towns in that area although I am not familar with the price of the real estate there.
You could also look at Clifton, Lyndhurst, West Orange, South Orange, Bloomfield, Maplewood.
As the other posters said I doubt you will find 2 acres anywhere for a decent price unless its too far west or south. How active can your dog be, you can just bring it to the park. Anyway you will spend more then 200k...think about 6-10k per month in taxes & 300k. The only way you will pay less is if your husband is ok with a commute of over 1.5 hours to work each day.
Renting a house isn't a bad idea if you need some time to make a decision and want to explore more of nj.
Lastly, I do hope you also take into account that property tax in places like JC may...probably will be a shocker for you. For example, I was looking at an apartment in Edgewater that's 900 sq ft with price tag of 349K but property tax was 6k a year...500 a month.
Really, you can get a condo in Edgewater for 350k? Thats not bad, I don't mind paying the taxes as much as getting to live in a condo there.
The original poster is not looking to move to Jersey City. The JOB is located in Jersey City, and they PREFER a more rural area with several acres. Obviously, in Jersey City, one cannot find a rural area OR several acres.
Tiggerbell, check out White House Station. Without traffic, it'd be about an hour to Jersey City. Also check out Martinsville, which is even a little closer, although less rural. Also check out Bedminster. The idea is to stay close to I-78, as this will take you directly to Jersey City.
In one of those 3 towns, I think you will find exactly what you're looking for.
Hi everyone...I'm hoping some NJ experts can help me out. My husband's workplace recently offered him a promotion---but the position is in Jersey City. We currently live in a upscale rural/suburban community in WNY (Pendleton, if you care to wikipedia it!) and would like to find something outside the city comparable. We currently own a 5 bdrm/4 bath (2 are half baths) home on 2 1/2 acres. We got it for a steal, but I would imagine its accurate assessed worth is around $200,000.
Does anyone know of any area outside Jersey City (but within a reasonable commute distance) where we could look to live without "downgrading" our current comfort of living? I am not interested in living in the city-a little bit of land is definitely a priority.
I think it would help if you clearly defined 2 things:
A. Your budget: How much are you comfortable spending on your next house? You'll net, say, 200K less your current mortgage balance. How much of that can you put towards a down payment on a new house? What are you comfortable with re: monthly mortgage payments and property taxes?
B. Your "reasonable" commute: First what do you consider reasonable and second are you considering driving vs public transit? PT isn't out of the question from many areas, as you could take NJTransit to say Hoboken or Newark and then transfer to the PATH train.
Costanza~
Well, our budget would probably change depending on who you ask! My husband is looking for something around the amount of $250-$300, while I think we could afford up to $400,000. My husband's company will obviously be paying him more money for this move and we were crunching numbers to come up with what we think would make the move worth it. We are well aware that the cost of living is higher in NJ than WNY and do not want to make a move in which we would be sacrificing our current standard of living.
As far as what we think is a reasonable commute, we are guessing that an hour commute is a lot more common in that area than where we live because NJ has many other forms of transportation besides a car. It currently takes him about 30 minutes to get to work now.
I apologize that I can't be more specific, but there are lot of factors that will determine whether or not we will make this move that haven't been cleared up yet. We are going to be traveling to the area for this weekend to see what it's like.
Costanza~
Well, our budget would probably change depending on who you ask! My husband is looking for something around the amount of $250-$300, while I think we could afford up to $400,000. My husband's company will obviously be paying him more money for this move and we were crunching numbers to come up with what we think would make the move worth it. We are well aware that the cost of living is higher in NJ than WNY and do not want to make a move in which we would be sacrificing our current standard of living.
As far as what we think is a reasonable commute, we are guessing that an hour commute is a lot more common in that area than where we live because NJ has many other forms of transportation besides a car. It currently takes him about 30 minutes to get to work now.
I apologize that I can't be more specific, but there are lot of factors that will determine whether or not we will make this move that haven't been cleared up yet. We are going to be traveling to the area for this weekend to see what it's like.
Tiggerbell, in your visit, you should check out the 3 towns I mentioned above. I think they fit your criteria.
Really, you can get a condo in Edgewater for 350k? Thats not bad, I don't mind paying the taxes as much as getting to live in a condo there.
There are older condos built in '60-'80s are cheaper than 350K in Edgewater like Hudson Harbour, Carribean house, waterside condo, etc.
City Place has 1 bed units for 350K range so does The Promenade and The Parkhouse for 1 bed. I wouldn't recommend promenade or the Parkhouse. Promenade have structural problems and some litigations going on right now. Parkhouse isn't fully sold or occupied and most units are rented out by the developer. Plus the soundproofing is non-existent.
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) as I am very apprehensive about this move (I've lived in WNY my whole life).
