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My husband and I feel a little lost/confused - we know what we want for our family but not sure if it is out there... We both are from the South Jersey area - grew up there with good schools, close to the beach and close to Philly....Now - we live in Pa, about 40 minutes North of Philly. We have 3 kids and schools are important to us, cost of living, reasonable taxes.... We left NJ b/c of the high taxes and we do love our home, but our mortgage is too high and want to live a little more simple. Our taxes aren't too much lower than of South Jersey's.
We also have friends/family in the South Jersey area and my husband is a huge Philly sports fan. We want a charming town, good schools, reasonable taxes, a home where we don't have to put a lot of money into, nice neighbors/ a place where it's not clicky (like it is here)... I know of Moorestown is lesser in taxes than Haddonfield, but not by too much... We would like to live somewhat closer to the beach - about an hour away, close to a major city, but the only thing about the area that really bothers me are the winters. I hate them and every year seems to be getting worse!
Does anyone have any suggestions of where would be a good town? Or even a different state but not anything passed NC or any state not above NY. Help!
Farther south east, look into the Bayville area...close to the beach and about 1 hr. 20 min. drive from Moorestown. Sorry, I don't know anything about the schools.
What is your budget? Does the house need to be near your job?
You might want to post this in the South Jersey subforum as well to draw more replies from people there.
FWIW, it's hard to give recommendations without specifics. You mention Moorestown and Haddonfield, well they are the two most expensive communities in South Jersey. Are you coming from the perspective of a $500k+ house and $12k+ a year taxes as being reasonable? Or, are you thinking more like a $250k house and $6k a year taxes? I can list plenty of communities that seem to meet your needs, but without a budget there isn't much of a point.
Thank you... I am sorry I didn't give a budget... Right now - the house we bought in Pa was up to $400K but then the market started to sink and we caught it at the right time and bought the house for $347K and our taxes now are mid $6,000 range.
We aren't sure how much our house would sell for - in an ideal market it could easily sell for $400K, we've upgraded the house (kitchen and flooring on all of 1st floor). So, budget wise - we can look at homes from mid 200K range to mid 300K range, but you know with any asking price you most likely will get less than asking price! As for property taxes, we really don't want to go any higher than $6,000.
We do need 4bedrooms... and being no more than 1 - 1 1/2 hours from a beach would be great! It doesn't have to be in NJ either... My husband's job currently is in North Jersey (Hunterdon County) but he is open to looking else where for the right price of a house/area/schools. We were thinking maybe Point Pleasant (NJ) cause they have cute/bungalows, cottage style homes too.
I know DE has very low taxes but their public schools are not good and having to send our kids to private means more $$$$.
Anyone have any info on Pitman, NJ?? I know one person who lives there with her kid/ husband and loves it... very happy there... what about the schools?? We love the charming homes and towns.... I hope this helps!
It doesn't have to be in NJ either... My husband's job currently is in North Jersey (Hunterdon County) but he is open to looking else where for the right price of a house/area/schools. We were thinking maybe Point Pleasant (NJ) cause they have cute/bungalows, cottage style homes too. I know DE has very low taxes but their public schools are not good and having to send our kids to private means more $$$$.
So is it correct to assume that how close your husband lives to his job is irrelevant? North Carolina to Hunterdon County NJ would be one heck of a daily commute! Or is his job unimportant? Will he look for work elsewhere?
My husbands company is located in NJ, PA, NC, MA... so we can keep our options open as to where to live assuming he would stay with his current job just in a different state if need be.
He is keeping his eyes open outside of his current job, just to see what's out there... he's very good at what he does and has a great reputation within his company, been there for 9+ years.
Thank you... I am sorry I didn't give a budget... Right now - the house we bought in Pa was up to $400K but then the market started to sink and we caught it at the right time and bought the house for $347K and our taxes now are mid $6,000 range.
We aren't sure how much our house would sell for - in an ideal market it could easily sell for $400K, we've upgraded the house (kitchen and flooring on all of 1st floor). So, budget wise - we can look at homes from mid 200K range to mid 300K range, but you know with any asking price you most likely will get less than asking price! As for property taxes, we really don't want to go any higher than $6,000.
We do need 4bedrooms... and being no more than 1 - 1 1/2 hours from a beach would be great! It doesn't have to be in NJ either... My husband's job currently is in North Jersey (Hunterdon County) but he is open to looking else where for the right price of a house/area/schools. We were thinking maybe Point Pleasant (NJ) cause they have cute/bungalows, cottage style homes too.
I know DE has very low taxes but their public schools are not good and having to send our kids to private means more $$$$.
Anyone have any info on Pitman, NJ?? I know one person who lives there with her kid/ husband and loves it... very happy there... what about the schools?? We love the charming homes and towns.... I hope this helps!
Pitman is a nice area with decent schools. Neoghboring Harrison Twp. (aka Mullica Hill) is also nice, but may break the budget, especially on the taxes.
I would suggest looking in the Swedesboro area, particularly Logan and Woolwich Twp. Good schools, nice area, a variety of housing stock, though most is newer development style. A good bonus to Logan is that it has some of the cheapest property taxes in the state. Most 4 bedroom 2.5 bath houses in the 2,200 - 2,500 square foot range on a quarter acre have taxes under $6k a year and would fall within your price range. The taxes are so low as Logan has a massive industrial park that occupies one half of the township (separated from the developments by I-295) that supplement the tax base.
The area is a nice mix of suburban and rural with most of the normal suburban amenities you would expect (with the exception of large retail like Target or Best Buy), but surrounded by open land and active farms. There are literally a dozen local farmers markets and nurseries.
You also have easy access to both I-295 and the Turnpike. You are minutes from the Commodore Barry into PA where you can pick up 95 for Philadelphia or 476 for points west of the city. The area is also about 10 miles from the Delaware Memorial Bridge giving easy access to Wilmington and Northern Delaware. You can get to most southern NJ shore points in under an hour as well.
Hunterdon County is an exellent place to live, great schools, and the prices are reasonable too. Why put yourself through unnecessary torture, especially with gas prices the way they are? Narrow down the locations then find the home that makes sense for you. Good Luck.
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So is it correct to assume that how close your husband lives to his job is irrelevant? North Carolina to Hunterdon County NJ would be one heck of a daily commute! 
