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who was not advocating the OP get hammered, (or remain hammered throughout the pregnancy) just recommending 1 stiff drink.
that's all well in good, but you're tax on a 1200 sq foot condo in hoboken that cost you $700,000 is gonna be similar to a tax on a house in montclair that costs $400,000 - which is difficult, but doable. yeah, your tax rate is higher because you actually have some land and other things. when you've got 50,000 people splitting up the taxes of 1 sq mile of land...it ain't too bad. hoboken could do a lot to lower their taxes once they address all of their infrastructure issues.
I stand by my point that a $500,000 house in Maplewood will on average be larger and nicer than a $500,000 house in Madison. That's primarily a function of (1) the fact that the house in Maplewood is actually more expensive because of the taxes and (2) the schools in Madison are more highly regarded. Just look at some listings on Zillow at the same price point in both towns and it's obvious.
i agree with you on this point, on average. when i was house hunting i found that as i compared the houses i liked in verona to the houses i liked in west orange, you could almost see the price difference in houses tied to the taxes. so, i got a lot more house for my money in west orange because I'm paying higher taxes. for the same total mortgage payment, i'm getting more house in west orange than i would have gotten in verona. the downside of this is when your mortgage is paid off, you're paying more to continue to live in that town.
of course, there are always exceptions, but that was my experience when i was house hunting.
Wow you guys! Thanks for all the input and information! Our actual budget is a little higher, 550,000 is just our sweet spot. The walk ability and vibrancy of the downtown is by far our number one consideration. As long as a house was 2 bed 2 bath with a little yard for our active doggie, we would be happy. The hubs was perfectly happy with a 45 min commute to work when we were looking in hoboken, and was, in general, more worried about being so far away from the city that we would never go there. Considering we'd have to pay condo fees on top of taxes in hoboken, the taxes in the burbs don't seem bad at all, but I certainly appreciate the lesson in taxation- as I am a novice.
Again, thank you all for sharing!!!
i'm not sure most days would be a 45 minute commute to park ridge from hoboken. it's a 40 minute drive to park ridge with NO TRAFFIC. I lived in downtown hoboken for 5 years, and had a few clients in the area of park ridge. Just to drive up town and get onto 495 would take 15-20 minutes, depending on the time of day you leave your building. 495 is basically bumper to bumper traffic all the way to where it meets 95/3. i'd bank on at least a 60 minute commute. hoboken would be awesome for you if your husband doesn't mind the commute. maybe also consider some of the towns further north like fort lee?
Wow you guys! Thanks for all the input and information! Our actual budget is a little higher, 550,000 is just our sweet spot. The walk ability and vibrancy of the downtown is by far our number one consideration. As long as a house was 2 bed 2 bath with a little yard for our active doggie, we would be happy. The hubs was perfectly happy with a 45 min commute to work when we were looking in hoboken, and was, in general, more worried about being so far away from the city that we would never go there. Considering we'd have to pay condo fees on top of taxes in hoboken, the taxes in the burbs don't seem bad at all, but I certainly appreciate the lesson in taxation- as I am a novice.
Again, thank you all for sharing!!!
you should really look in newport, jersey city 07302 (just google map it).
that's your best option based on the requirement provided, it has all supermarkets/mall/targets etc..within easy walking distance, along with path train 10min to nyc and also to newark penn station for work.
for 550k-650k you can get a decent size 2br2ba condo, but no private yard.
I know this really isn't answering the OP's question, but IMO purchasing a home with the intent to sell/move within 5 years is generally a bad idea from a financial standpoint. I think if you rent until you're ready for the next home you'll likely be in better shape, and it could give you an opportunity to try out 2-3 different towns/areas.
Fair Lawn lands on a lot of best places to live lists....can anyone comment on it's walkability?
It depends upon where you live in Fair Lawn. It's a good-sized town. I lived there years ago and was without a car for a while, and I lived near, but not in, Radburn. I could walk to the supermarket and the bar and the drugstore and the other stores in the Radburn area. If you live near Broadway/Route 4 you also have walking access to a lot of places. However, I had friends who lived off of Maple Avenue near the Hawthorne and Paterson borders. There was a ratty Pathmark near them, but not much else. Other than the Radburn section, Fair Lawn doesn't really have a central downtown type of area like Glen Rock and Ridgewood or even Hawthorne.
Me: Working from home, 35, don't like to drive on a daily basis
Husband: Working in Park Ridge, 45, doesn't like to drive except for commuting to work and errands where it can't be avoided.
Baby: Coming August 2014
Looking for: Need a home for around 550,000 (or less) in a walkable town
We are relocating from Germany (but we are Americans). We are looking in Hoboken despite the commute time because we love the city feel- but we feel priced out. We are begrudgingly looking into other burbs.
We visited Montclair today, it was nice, but most of the houses we liked weren't really walkable to downtown, but it seemed to have everything one would need.
Looking on these boards, Ridgewood seems to be a popular choice when people ask similar questions- we will check it out tomorrow.
Anyone care to weigh in on this? Any other suggestions? We kinda see this house purchase as a starter home, so schools aren't really a huge concern for us right now.
Thanks!
1) You do not want to buy at 550k in Ridgewood unless buying a condo. There is just no value whatsoever at that price point in Ridgewood. You will have to substantially trade down the quality of house that you can potentially get at that price. Not to mention, there will be significant maintenance costs.
2) Your kid is at least 5 years from getting into school. You will pay steep property taxes for those 5 years and get little in return. The same applies to Short Hills, Summit, Chatham, Glen Rock, Madison etc etc etc.
If I were you, I would try to make my money go further by staying away from the usual 'top' towns discussed on these forum. Nothing wrong with those towns, but they only make sense if you have school age kids.
Look for towns that have mid-ranking schools districts and hence (mostly) much lower property taxes and simultaneously more house for your money. Look at Ridgewood in 5 years time when you kid is ready to go to school.
Background - we also bought our house in Ridgewood when expecting our first child. We glossed over the taxes then but it has been driving us crazy ever since.
Be prepared to pay well over asking price and wave appraisal contingencies for any decent home in Ridgewood or any other decent town in North Bergen.
I've been looking for a house in North Bergen county for a budget of 800,000, we have been unsuccessful because of the above. Any decent house with walk ability will go in multiple offers , most likely winning out to an all cash buyer
Have you looked at Westwood? Its about 10 minutes away and has a robust downtown.
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