Need help! whats the right town for us in Bergen County??

[ControlJohnsons]

Originally Posted by Ivan Putski

I don't do this much and hate to be the guy that advocates his own town but I would recommend Wyckoff. You'll get a 3000 sq ft home in that range and the taxes will be around $14k. Homes in my neighborhood are going for low $700k and the taxes are $12-13k, all with about .75 acre. Wyckoff has great schools, athletic programs and a private town pool at the YMCA called spring lake.

Ramapo high school is always in the hunt for county and state titles in various sports: soccer, football, tennis. etc.

As for the demographic, most are upper middle class to affluent but the snob factor is more subdued. At least that's how it feels like to me having interacted with a lot of people in town in the past few years.

Quite frankly, Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes schools are not good and I'll just be honest with you about some things that RE brokers don't ever talk about. If you do move here, consider private school. Ramapo High School is one of the most troubled upper middle class suburb highschools in NJ for past 20 years, with storied history of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, segregation and "leftist" curriculum. It's state academic rankings are skewed upwards by a 5-10% East Asian student body which occupies 50% of the AP courses. If you understand statistics, it's not representative of the majority of the school. On the balance, their other top college acceptances have alot to do with sports which also gives a false sense of the high school's academic program. That may or may not be favorable to your children depending on their goals. On the margin, students generally underachieve at Ramapo HS.

Most importantly, the OP should be asking himself if he is conservative or liberal. That should be the starting point of finding the right town. No amount of tax savings will help you going forward if you end up in a town with a completely different political view than yours. ie Ridgewood or Morristown is completely different than Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes though their home prices may be similar and look the same on the surface. Politics vary significantly from town to town in NJ. just my 2 cents.

[kmoore8]

Originally Posted by ControlJohnsons

Quite frankly, Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes schools are not good and I'll just be honest with you about some things that RE brokers don't ever talk about. If you do move here, consider private school. Ramapo High School is one of the most troubled upper middle class suburb highschools in NJ for past 20 years, with storied history of violence, drug and alcohol abuse, segregation and "leftist" curriculum. It's state academic rankings are skewed upwards by a 5-10% East Asian student body which occupies 50% of the AP courses. If you understand statistics, it's not representative of the majority of the school. On the balance, their other top college acceptances have alot to do with sports which also gives a false sense of the high school's academic program. That may or may not be favorable to your children depending on their goals. On the margin, students generally underachieve at Ramapo HS.

Most importantly, the OP should be asking himself if he is conservative or liberal. That should be the starting point of finding the right town. No amount of tax savings will help you going forward if you end up in a town with a completely different political view than yours. ie Ridgewood or Morristown is completely different than Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes though their home prices may be similar and look the same on the surface. Politics vary significantly from town to town in NJ. just my 2 cents.

Care to expand on this? What are the "liberal" towns vs. the "conservative" towns?

The "leftist" curriculum comment cracked me up.

[openheads]

Originally Posted by kmoore8

Care to expand on this? What are the "liberal" towns vs. the "conservative" towns?

The "leftist" curriculum comment cracked me up.

Def came off as trying to wedge his agenda into the coversation.