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I'm hoping someone can fill me in on flooding in Hopatcong. Does the area around Elba Ave and River Styx Rd flood? If so, does it flood a lot or only when there is pretty bad storms?
How would you break down Hopatcong in terms of locales? For example, I know Lake Hopatcong has the hills.
I hope someone can answer this question simply and quickly. My husband and I are thinking about buying a house in this area, and I don't want to buy a home in an area that floods a lot.
We want to buy a home on Lake Hopatcong too. Maybe we can help each other by sharing information. Perhaps we can even become friends. Wouldn't it be nice if we both bought homes on the Lake. Will this be your primary home or a week-end/summer home? This will be a second home for use that may become our primary home in the future.
The prices, homes and areas are all so very different. Are you working with a realtor? We were at the Lake over president's week-end (last week-end). We have a realtor helping us. We have the same questions you have. We drove by some houses that were for sale but did not see anything we really liked. Most of the houses we saw were very close together, on blocks where the houses were not well taken care of. Also, some of the roads don't seem well maintained for an area where the taxes are so high. We had questions about flooding too. I guess maybe we will have to go there when it is down pouring to see the truth for ourselves.
You won't learn much about flooding by waiting for a rain visit, as Lake Hopatcong only rarely floods. But when it does, the flooding can be dramatic, as it was about 10 years ago when it came up beautifully. I would not buy a home that is flush with the lake. You want a little elevation to protect you. The smaller homes that are right on the lake where it's a few steps to your dock are sitting ducks, and I would not entertain purchasing one of them.
Sometimes homes on that side of the lake do experience flooded basements, but only in exceptional cases like the hurricane we had last summer. On the "North Shore" side you have mountains where we never see even a drop of moisture, everything rolls off into the lake
I don't live RIGHT on the lake, but drive in that area all the time. The worst part about it is when it snows or the roads are icy. The streets are so tight and curve and change elevation so often, that I completely avoid them and would rather go around via Rt. 80. That said, If you get a water front house it's worth the trouble, in my opinion - but if you don't, you might as well pick a better location. I find it very convenient to be closer to Rt. 15.
Good luck, if you do move you'll like the area. Except in the winter.
We finally found a house we like but the taxes are very different between a 3 bedroom 2 bath home on the lake in Jefferson Twp and a similar home in Hopatcong Twp. Is one area nicer than the other? The difference is about $1,000. a year. The tax rate in Hopatcong is lower than Jefferson Twp. but the houses seem to be assessed higher in Hopatcong. We don't have children are the schools better in the Andover area? Not that it really matters but this could explain the difference in taxes.
I thought there would be more houses for sale on the lake but there aren't. The ones that are available are too big and over $450,000. or they are crap that needs updating going for over $400,000. with not very good views.
Thanks in advance for getting back to me. I really appreciate an unbiased opinion from people who actually live in the area.
We finally found a house we like but the taxes are very different between a 3 bedroom 2 bath home on the lake in Jefferson Twp and a similar home in Hopatcong Twp. Is one area nicer than the other? The difference is about $1,000. a year. The tax rate in Hopatcong is lower than Jefferson Twp. but the houses seem to be assessed higher in Hopatcong. We don't have children are the schools better in the Andover area? Not that it really matters but this could explain the difference in taxes.
I thought there would be more houses for sale on the lake but there aren't. The ones that are available are too big and over $450,000. or they are crap that needs updating going for over $400,000. with not very good views.
Thanks in advance for getting back to me. I really appreciate an unbiased opinion from people who actually live in the area.
4sunflowers
Hi 4sunflowers, did you eventually settle on a home? How is it there? We are looking to move to NJ (as renters though) and looking at various areas including Hopatcong and Mt. Arlington.
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