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GiantsFan,
Sorry i did not reply sooner, Westfield is a nice town. there are many good aspects to our town just like many towns in NJ. It really depends on what you are looking for. As far as raising kids it seems like our town is very kid friendly. you especially see it on the weekends and it you look at the local paper there seems like there are things going on or around the town most weekends during the spring and summer
I think you would do yourself a disservice not to explore around the town during the weekend and look at all the town has to offer. you should also look at other towns as well with the same standard.
Good luck with your house hunting
thank you for your contribution greys - i'm still looking to buy before sept.
Good luck. I think at this point we are giving up on Westfield. The town is truly lovely, but we are just not in the right price range. We are either at the losing bid of a bidding war, or we do not like the houses in our price range. I do think that the folks in this Forum who discuss WF and have given us advice are wonderful. Always willing to share information and give good tips. I thank you all, but I am sad to realize that we probably wont be neighbors(:
Good luck. I think at this point we are giving up on Westfield. The town is truly lovely, but we are just not in the right price range. We are either at the losing bid of a bidding war, or we do not like the houses in our price range. I do think that the folks in this Forum who discuss WF and have given us advice are wonderful. Always willing to share information and give good tips. I thank you all, but I am sad to realize that we probably wont be neighbors(:
Sillymama - I said I'm gonna buy before sept. but I didn't say it's definitely wf. there is a larger supply of homes in the 450-600,000 range now than 2 months ago, but I share some of your concerns. I don't want to go to some of the non-name brand towns morris or somerset because of the commute but the taxes are better than union. Essex is way overpriced in home cost + taxes, but i'm gonna hit some homes in clark the next couple of weeks to compare to wf. I looked up some of your old posts today and some of the inspiration for my original post came from this one by tanisdrew. I forgot about the post but now remember seeing this last year and I remember saying wow there are some serious opinions on wf. we don't need a big home to reap all the town benefits so if you feel the same way sillymama we might be neighbors after all.
Westfield: Why does it seem like there is nothing decent in the $550 price range!!
Westfield: Why does it seem like there is nothing decent in the $550 price range!!
If there are no "decent" houses in the $550k range, there are two likely possibilities:
1) The market clearing price for "decent" houses in Westfield is greater than that.
2) The market is illiquid with sellers of "decent" houses refusing to go down to the $550k range despite a lack of demand.
If it's 2), you can make a lower offer for a more expensive house and hope the seller sees that the higher price is not going to happen. If it's 1), you can raise the price at which you are willing to buy, settle for a less "decent" house, or look elsewhere.
Move to Westfield if you can afford it. If your kids start to develop a sense of entitlement, provide them with some humbling experiences and they will be fine, and get into a great college to boot.
Westfield is a lovely town, and I think what sets it apart from the Summits of the world is a walkable and vibrant downtown area where people actually spend their day. Summit would probably be second banana in that category. Still, Summit's streets do not have the energy Westfield has, even in summer. Summit has a lot of boarded up storefronts along Springfield Ave. Summit does have good Sushi (Monster), that weird little jazz guitar nook, the Steak House that was the Bank Vault and a movie theater that unfortunately only plays kids stuff. Westfield has Trader Joes, a BETTER movie Theater that plays art, great places to dine, upscale clothing stores. It simply has a better mix of mom'npops and recognizable chains to make the mix more attractive to consumers. The main difference is the energy. Westfield has much more of it.
Haha, a Westfielder looking down on Summit. All these towns seem sorta the same. Total Norman Rockwell paintings with great schools, great downtowns, and great train service. Just like Madison, Fanwood, Ridgewood, Westwood, Upper Montclair, Maplewood, Morris Plains, and countless others. Places like Westfield exist in Westchester, Fairfield, Nassau, Chicagoland, San Francisco Peninsula, and Main Line Philly. All are pre war railroad suburbs that are now extremely wealthy with great commuter rail service to Great downtowns.
Haha, a Westfielder looking down on Summit. All these towns seem sorta the same. Total Norman Rockwell paintings with great schools, great downtowns, and great train service. Just like Madison, Fanwood, Ridgewood, Westwood, Upper Montclair, Maplewood, Morris Plains, and countless others. Places like Westfield exist in Westchester, Fairfield, Nassau, Chicagoland, San Francisco Peninsula, and Main Line Philly. All are pre war railroad suburbs that are now extremely wealthy with great commuter rail service to Great downtowns.
Weird because I always thought Westfield was closer to the 'hood than Summit!
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I hope you find something!
