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I've been checking out homes in W. Orange, and noticed that several in the southwest tip, bordering Milburn/Livingston are quite inexpensive. I would think that proximity to: green space, nicer towns would be a premium.
Property taxes are still quite high, but there are some seemingly nice homes in this area for cheap. What gives?
Probably because the property taxes there have gotten so high that they deflated property values. Any "West Essex" suburban town has astronomical taxes because it takes care of everyone on welfare in Newark, which is the county seat.
I know sometime ago many of the WE towns (WO included) were forming a committee to secede from Essex County and form their own new county so the taxes drop, but do not hold your breath on that. I have heard nothing about it in at least five years.
Probably because the property taxes there have gotten so high that they deflated property values. Any "West Essex" suburban town has astronomical taxes because it takes care of everyone on welfare in Newark, which is the county seat.
I know sometime ago many of the WE towns (WO included) were forming a committee to secede from Essex County and form their own new county so the taxes drop, but do not hold your breath on that. I have heard nothing about it in at least five years.
Actually, the breakdown for property taxes is something like:
60% goes to the town's schools
20% to the town in general
20% to the county
So from my understanding, West Orange's taxes have little to do with Newark. It all happens on a municipal level. Cedar Grove is in Essex County and has very low taxes. Bergen County, largely all affluent, has the highest average property taxes in the state.
Actually, the breakdown for property taxes is something like:
60% goes to the town's schools
20% to the town in general
20% to the county
So from my understanding, West Orange's taxes have little to do with Newark. It all happens on a municipal level. Cedar Grove is in Essex County and has very low taxes. Bergen County, largely all affluent, has the highest average property taxes in the state.
Like I said it has been over five years since I have heard anything about this situation. So maybe it has changed since then.
Like I said it has been over five years since I have heard anything about this situation. So maybe it has changed since then.
The idea that most of Essex county's property taxes go to supporting Newark is, and always has been, nothing more than false information that gets tossed around on this forum.
Cedar Grove is in Essex County and has very low taxes. Bergen County, largely all affluent, has the highest average property taxes in the state.
I looked at houses in Cedar Grove just a few years ago, and I certainly would not describe their taxes as "very low". Anyway, you can't really compare a town like Cedar Grove to West Orange. Cedar Grove is very small. West Orange has about 3x the population of CG. Therefore WO needs to support a lot more services like more schools. There are about 25 members of the CG police dept. while WO has close to 100. CG has a volunteer fire dept. while WO has a fully paid fire dept.
Part of the reason WO house prices are lower is indeed due to the higher property taxes. It's also due to the town's fairly old housing stock. Also due to the large size of the town, there are more properties for sale at any given time than other nearby towns, so with more competition you'll see lower prices.
I bought a house not far from there about 2.5 years ago. I actually looked at a house on Korwell and one on Woods End, right across Northfield. The basic problem with that house is it's a tiny house with four tiny bedrooms (though I think only 3 are pictured). It has no garage. It has only one full bath and one half bath; the half bath is in the master. There's some odd stains on the roof, although they might mean nothing. It might be near enough to get Northfield traffic noise. And of course there's the West Orange property tax and school issues, and the fact that West Orange doesn't have much of a downtown and is not a train town (although the current NJ transit schedules favor Orange station, which is closer and doesn't have so long a wait for a parking permit as South Orange)
All that said, feel free to point this listing out to the next person demanding a < 1hr commute to NYC (by the #77 bus to Port Authority) in a safe neighborhood for <$300k. It fits the criteria.
Stop blaming Newark for high property taxes. Is Bergen County blaming Hackensack for high property taxes? Is Passaic County blaming Patterson?
Bergen county isn't blaming Hackensack for high property taxes because if the numbers above for Essex are accurate, Bergen county county-level taxes are half as much if that and don't get swallowed by any one municipality/group of municipalities.
People are much more content with their taxes when they are lower and those taxes provide a decent value proposition in terms of services.
I bought a house not far from there about 2.5 years ago. I actually looked at a house on Korwell and one on Woods End, right across Northfield. The basic problem with that house is it's a tiny house with four tiny bedrooms (though I think only 3 are pictured). It has no garage. It has only one full bath and one half bath; the half bath is in the master. There's some odd stains on the roof, although they might mean nothing. It might be near enough to get Northfield traffic noise. And of course there's the West Orange property tax and school issues, and the fact that West Orange doesn't have much of a downtown and is not a train town (although the current NJ transit schedules favor Orange station, which is closer and doesn't have so long a wait for a parking permit as South Orange)
All that said, feel free to point this listing out to the next person demanding a < 1hr commute to NYC (by the #77 bus to Port Authority) in a safe neighborhood for <$300k. It fits the criteria.
Thanks for the informed reply!
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