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From the above which area is better for a couple who will soon have kids. Husband works in Princeton ( But in few years this may change to anywhere in jersey/nyc depending on where his company gets projects). Our budget is only $320000 as I am planning to stay at home/work part time until both kids reach kindergarten. ( 7 years from now!)
Are any of these town changing for the worse/better?
We liked 4 town homes in each area.
Which option is better for our situation:
1) Buy Townhouse for $275,000 in EB; Save money and buy a bigger home after 7 years in the best area then.
Positives: Less commute time to NYC in future, save money, better hospital than Bridgewater.
Negatives: More commute time currently, more taxes.
2) $300,000 in Montgomery, stay there for 10 years, then buy bigger home...
+: Better Schools, Less Commute currently
-: HOA doesn't take good care of properties hence they look beat up, more Taxes.
2) $310,000 in Bridgewater, stay there for 10 years..bigger home in future..
+: Better schools, Less Taxes, median commute time for future
-: More commute time currently
3) $328,000 in South Brunswick, whose amenities and interior we liked best and not worry about future!!
+: less commute currently, pride of ownership.
-: more commute in future, money loss!
If your husband has any chance of being transferred to JC/NYC then he will be in hell if you live in Montgomery, or Bridgewater. Montgomery is no mans land as far as commute to NYC. The school Nazi's on this board will try to justify that it's "not bad". As a 10 year NJTransit commuter, I can tell you they are lying.
Bridgewater isnt so bad, but again, the raritan valley train line also blows. A commute to NYC will be awful.
As a buyer who bought less than two years ago (in this same area up and down NEC), with a higher budget, I will tell you you wont find anything in South Brunswick or East Brunswick worth buying for that much money that wont need another 50k-100k to bring to this decade.
Honestly, you need to be looking at North Brunswick.
Option 5: North Brunswick: 3/2.5 newly updated SINGLE FAMILY home within 20 min of princeton, within 4 miles of one NJT station to NYC and soon to be one NJT station IN town to NYC.
Last edited by TonyStarksNJ; 07-20-2013 at 06:35 AM..
If your husband has any chance of being transferred to JC/NYC then he will be in hell if you live in Montgomery, or Bridgewater. Montgomery is no mans land as far as commute to NYC. The school Nazi's on this board will try to justify that it's "not bad". As a 10 year NJTransit commuter, I can tell you they are lying.
Bridgewater isnt so bad, but again, the raritan valley train line also blows. A commute to NYC will be awful.
As a buyer who bought less than two years ago (in this same area up and down NEC), with a higher budget, I will tell you you wont find anything in South Brunswick or East Brunswick worth buying for that much money that wont need another 50k-100k to bring to this decade.
Honestly, you need to be looking at North Brunswick.
Option 5: North Brunswick: 3/2.5 newly updated SINGLE FAMILY home within 20 min of princeton, within 4 miles of one NJT station to NYC and soon to be one NJT station IN town to NYC.
Schools in NB are just average. If that's important to you down the line, look in EB or Bridgewater.
I agree with Tony. East Brunswick is only marginally better. Anyone that thinks kids will succeed in East Brunswick and fail in North Brunswick seriously needs a reality check.
Look at North Brunswick, dollar for dollar it is the best bet, although I wouldn't totally scratch South Brunswick off the list as it is closer to Princeton, but the OP is worried that may change in a few years.
As for the Transit Village in the works, it would serve better for a commute to the city, but I seriously hope they do something with Rt 1 because traffic getting to that station will be a nightmare.
Last edited by HubCityMadMan; 07-20-2013 at 10:37 AM..
Lets be honest here, when the school nazis say "better schools" what they really mean is LESS brown/black people. The only thing East Brunswick buys you is a community with more East/South Asians. A section of North Brunswick borders New Brunswick and some socio economic diversity. I know "East" likes to turn their nose at North but there isn't anything in East Brunswick that is compelling enough to spend an extra 50k-75k on the same exact house in North Brunswick.
Lets be honest here, when the school nazis say "better schools" what they really mean is LESS brown/black people. The only thing East Brunswick buys you is a community with more East/South Asians. A section of North Brunswick borders New Brunswick and some socio economic diversity. I know "East" likes to turn their nose at North but there isn't anything in East Brunswick that is compelling enough to spend an extra 50k-75k on the same exact house in North Brunswick.
Actually I just looked it up. North Brunswick has a slightly larger percentage of Asians than East Brunswick. Yes there are some more blacks and Hispanics here, but not that much of a difference. The other towns aren't completely devoid of blacks and browns either. And I agree too EB does not have anything compelling enough to throw more weight around over.
I have lived in this area my entire life. And based on my perspective of things, North, South, East Brunswick, Monroe etc. all pretty much the same. Same demographic, same group of people, upper middle class, tinged with a bit of diversity in all aspects. And there is nothing wrong with that. And you can probably throw Edison and Woodbridge into this bucket too even if they are bigger and more congested. What I always liked about this general area is the fact that it does not suffer from the closed-mindedness that afflicts more insular towns especially southeast of here.
Last edited by HubCityMadMan; 07-20-2013 at 11:45 AM..
@ TonyStarksNJ, thanks for your recommendation on NB. What is interesting is that we started looking in NB, but we would rather live in a smaller townhome than a beat up community. Infact Governers Pointe was in our priority when we looked at it online, but when we drove there it was a different story; crazy teenagers in the pool, on the streets. Then we looked at all 3 communities near Renaissance blvd; which was like 90% South Asians..all were outside with their kids at around 7 pm. Don't get me wrong, I think they are the best immigrants, family oriented people. But all of them South Asians!! how did that happen??? My best friend is south asian, so don't attack me for being racist please. She said she would find it weird living in that area as well!!Also, Valedictorian's of all schools go to top Universities so lets talk about average people here.
We also did not find any updated home for 320,000 in the good areas of NB. All homes we found were bordering New Brunswick. So NB is out of question.
@amazin09 , ebwick and HubCityMadMan. Thanks for your honest, 'not promoting the town I live in' response.
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