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I am looking for my first home for about a year from now and I have to say...NJ is insanely expensive. I just don't know how people do it. My wife and I will be making close to 100k and want a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath within 45 minutes of Jersey City. I can barely find anything decent for 350k and then throw in at least 8-9k in property taxes on top of your mortgage payment and it is nuts! I just don't know how 20 somethings will continue to make it in this state unless they live in a very very middle class town or work for a Union. It doesn't help that the Mrs. doesn't want to look South of 287, so I am basically stuck looking along Rt 78 and 80, everything else is a fortune!
Maybe I am being too picky but I feel like I can move out of state and get a huge house for 350k along with cheaper property taxes and a more free state.
Ranting....
I have a house to sell you for $800K in northern Bergen. You know the schools are good. Or how about renting it for $5000/month?
I am just kidding.
But seriously a $350K house in NJ means you wont be in the best school districts. But I guess you could always send your kids to catholic school.
[quote=NJ Brazen_3133;28897746]I have a house to sell you for $800K in northern Bergen. You know the schools are good. Or how about renting it for $5000/month?
I am just kidding.
But seriously a $350K house in NJ means you wont be in the best school districts. But I guess you could always send your kids to catholic school.[/QUOTE]
First the North South Cranford argument and now this? Schools dont make a kid. Parents and inner drive do. You can send you kid to any school in NJ and if you parent well enough get a little lucky your kid will be fine and have every chance to succeed. I am sick of people saying that because its not a a "top" district the kid cant do well in life. Stop making excuses for bad parenting. Schools all over NJ have great teachers problem is not all schools have parents and kids who are willing to work. Actually I dont want to move to one of those top towns because most of those kids are what we considered as Jerk***S when I was a kid in Hudson County. All of my friends in the "hood" that had great parents turned out fine and the ones with idiots for parents are in trouble. We all went to the same "failing" schools.
I actually tend to agree with you. I went to a top public school, and have been to not so top public schools, and I did not notice much difference. Yet the prevailing attitude on this forum is the school ranking makes the kid.
I have a house to sell you for $800K in northern Bergen. You know the schools are good. Or how about renting it for $5000/month?
I am just kidding.
But seriously a $350K house in NJ means you wont be in the best school districts. But I guess you could always send your kids to catholic school.[/QUOTE]
First the North South Cranford argument and now this? Schools dont make a kid. Parents and inner drive do. You can send you kid to any school in NJ and if you parent well enough get a little lucky your kid will be fine and have every chance to succeed. I am sick of people saying that because its not a a "top" district the kid cant do well in life. Stop making excuses for bad parenting. Schools all over NJ have great teachers problem is not all schools have parents and kids who are willing to work. Actually I dont want to move to one of those top towns because most of those kids are what we considered as Jerk***S when I was a kid in Hudson County. All of my friends in the "hood" that had great parents turned out fine and the ones with idiots for parents are in trouble. We all went to the same "failing" schools.
The poster never said a child going to a not-top-ranked public school in NJ can't succeed in life. He/she merely stated a fact that, for 350k, you will not be in one of the top-ranked school districts. Whether or not you consider that an important factor is up to you.
The poster never said a child going to a not-top-ranked public school in NJ can't succeed in life. He/she merely stated a fact that, for 350k, you will not be in one of the top-ranked school districts. Whether or not you consider that an important factor is up to you.
The idea of a "top ranked" schools is the exact problem. The top ranked school exist in your home. You decide for the most part what your kid will be. No school will do that for you "top ranked" or not.
$350K is not a bad budget for a starter home. 3 things sell your home, location, price, and condition. Sometimes you may have to compromise on one or another to gain what you want. $350 is Madison won't get you much but $350 in Plainfield, NJ will. You first have to figure out what you value first whether it be commuting time, home condition, price, distance to areas, school system (if you have kids or plan to), age of home, style (colonial, bilevel, raised ranch, cape), etc. and then adjust your search accordingly. I used to live in North Brunswick and loved the area. My commute to Northern NJ was a killer in the morning, used to take like 2 hours in morning traffic. That's drove me insane everyday so I had to move. Plus I needed a bigger place cause my kid was starting to walk and a condo wasn't enough room. Hope this helps.
We're actually comparing different schools in different parts of Cranford? Seriously? As if schools on one side of town are going to be Camden-esque? It's still Cranford!
Here are some homes in the East Hanover/Florham Park/Whippany areas. I don't know about the taxes, but they are usually fairly low (by NJ standards!) in Morris County.
I'm not sure that you will get the 45-minute commute timeframe, though. Judging from the listings, condos seem to be the way to go.
I am looking for my first home for about a year from now and I have to say...NJ is insanely expensive. I just don't know how people do it. My wife and I will be making close to 100k and want a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath within 45 minutes of Jersey City. I can barely find anything decent for 350k and then throw in at least 8-9k in property taxes on top of your mortgage payment and it is nuts! I just don't know how 20 somethings will continue to make it in this state unless they live in a very very middle class town or work for a Union. It doesn't help that the Mrs. doesn't want to look South of 287, so I am basically stuck looking along Rt 78 and 80, everything else is a fortune!
Maybe I am being too picky but I feel like I can move out of state and get a huge house for 350k along with cheaper property taxes and a more free state.
Ranting....
you can...along with lower salaries, crappier schools, less police, etc. "more free" is subjective. not to say we couldn't afford to spend less in many towns, but feel free to move to another state and enjoy your "cheap" taxes and "freedom".
on the other hand, if you want to stay, you can see a lot of nice houses within 45 minutes of jersey city for that price. My neighbors just sold their beautiful 4 bedroom house in west orange for i believe about $355,000 7 Elliott Place, West Orange NJ - Trulia
We're actually comparing different schools in different parts of Cranford? Seriously? As if schools on one side of town are going to be Camden-esque? It's still Cranford!
Wow, didn't realize this was such a hot button topic. Since I feel the need to defend myself, I live right next door in Westfield and know plenty of people in Cranford. That being said, if you don't think there's a North/South stigma, then you're fooling yourself. And, yes, Hillside Ave. school is not as well regarded as Orange Ave. school. And, yes, the one bad part of Cranford is on the south side. And, yes, the North side does have higher resale value than the South side. Do I peronally think it's exagerrated? Yes. Do people outside of Cranford care? No. But should the OP be made aware of this if he/she plans to buy in Cranford? Absolutely. That's why I mentioned it.
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