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Needed Quick Suggestion. 750k 30 yr old house in West Windsor NJ or 730k Brand new house in Monroe,NJ? (With same Sq Ft).
Very confused . Any input will be helpful . Schools are important to us and the talk is Monroe schools will shoot up very soon.
Appreciate if you can share your views.
Needed Quick Suggestion. 750k 30 yr old house in West Windsor NJ or 730k Brand new house in Monroe,NJ? (With same Sq Ft).
Very confused . Any input will be helpful . Schools are important to us and the talk is Monroe schools will shoot up very soon.
Appreciate if you can share your views.
Provided you have a thorough inspection that shows the house in WW is in good shape, it's your best bet. The schools in WW have consistently been rated quite high and show no signs of slipping what so ever. While Monroe's schools are not bad, all you have is hearsay that supposedly they will be getting better, no guarantees, and likely just hot air. (likely from realtors and town residents who are currently or will shortly be wanting to sell their home) The added plus of the train station with express trains into NYC, you know the home in WW is going to maintain (or increase) in value. With Monroe yes, you are getting a new house, but you have no guarantee on schools getting better. New homes can also come with all sorts of headaches. IMHO WW is the clear winner, providing the complete and thorough home inspection shows no issues, or only minor, inexpensive, easily repaired ones. If the inspection shows major systems need repairing, then negotiate repairs/selling price with the seller.
I have friends who moved out of Somerset and to WW for a larger house than they could afford in Somerset.
They heard such great things about the public WW schools and that's what enticed them to move. Larger house for the same or less $$, great public schools. Wouldn't have to spend money on private schooling any longer.
Long story short? After two years of WW public schools all 3 of their kids are back in to private.
I have friends who moved out of Somerset and to WW for a larger house than they could afford in Somerset.
They heard such great things about the public WW schools and that's what enticed them to move. Larger house for the same or less $$, great public schools. Wouldn't have to spend money on private schooling any longer.
Long story short? After two years of WW public schools all 3 of their kids are back in to private.
Older two at Notre Dame, little one at PDS.
I am not sure I got that right. Are you suggesting that they were happy with Somerset schools but not with WW schools? And they were getting a bigger house in WW for the same $$ as Somerset?
There is no comparison between both the towns. Really. Both are in different leagues. WW being in a far better league.
If I had to guess, I would say you have not seen any of these houses, you are doing initial research. This is an apples to oranges comparison. The 'house' (physical house) in Monroe will be much better than the house in West Windsor, these house are not even close in terms of their design, layout and features.
West Windsor (WW) has highly rated schools, the house in WW will hold its value much better than the house in Monroe. In terms of commute from NYC, WW has a train station, but parking at the station is hard to find. Access to NJTP is not that great, but access to Rt 1 is OK. Shopping is not that great in WW and most of the time you will be driving to East Windsor or Lawrenceville area (10 to 15 min drive) for your shopping.
Monroe schools are good, but not as highly rated as WW schools. Commute to NYC and other areas is better than WW as it is close to NJTP and 8A Park and Ride which as adequate parking. Shopping is about the same as WW (or maybe a tad worse), you will have to drive 15-20min to East Windsor or East Brunswick (Rt18) or Rt9 for most of your shopping. There are a lots of mom and pop local restaurants though.
I would not count on Monroe schools getting much better (in terms of rankings) anytime soon. Why? IMHO, the school ranking seems to be weigh more towards under-performing students rather than over-performing students. So, the average scores might climb up slightly due to the explosion of immigrants in Monroe, high school ranking will remain largely the same. Monroe shares its high school with Jamesburg, which is a older, mixed (financially) and static (racially) community. This is why Monroe elementary and middle schools are rated very high but high school is just rated good/avg.
But you have to ask yourself how much do you really believe in school rankings? How much difference will it make in your child's future if s/he goes to top 5 school in NJ (WW Avg SAT score 1850-ish) Vs a top 100 school in NJ (Monroe Avg SAT score 1580-ish), I don't think it will matter very much. Your child will face very stiff competition at WW school, which maybe a good or bad thing, depending on your child. On the other hand, you will get a new house in Monroe for the same amount on money which will have open floor plan, higher ceilings and low maintenance overall for the first 10-15 years. The house will be in a planned development, so it will have a cookie cutter feel to it, which is a turn off for some people.
So, I guess it comes down to your priorities, but you can't go wrong with either of the two choices you mentioned in your post.
PS: I was faced with the same decision a couple of years ago, I decided to go with Monroe.
EDIT: Forgot to add before, WW is in Mercer County, Monroe is in Middlesex county. In Middlesex county, $625K is the starting point for high value mortgages, in Mercer county, I think the starting point is $450-ish. High value mortgages generally attract a bit higher rate (say 1/8th point). Also, taxes are higher in WW, so will be the auto insurance etc.
Last edited by 4NJseasons; 06-20-2014 at 10:17 AM..
Reason: Added some content
I am not sure I got that right. Are you suggesting that they were happy with Somerset schools but not with WW schools? And they were getting a bigger house in WW for the same $$ as Somerset?
There is no comparison between both the towns. Really. Both are in different leagues. WW being in a far better league.
Their kids were in private school in Somerset. This is why they have issues with WW public schools.
They moved to WW under the illusion that WW public schools were top notch and they could save $$ by utilizing the public school system in WW. When it came to cost of housing, they could get a much larger house for a lot less $$ than in Somerset.
They ended up with a much larger house for a lot less $$ than they could upgrade to in Somerset, but they are not happy with the WW public school system. It wasn't what they were led to believe it is.
I don't know about WW being in a far better league of any other town in NJ. You've got East Windsor right there....
Last edited by Informed Info; 06-21-2014 at 01:03 AM..
I think 4NJ SEASONS answer is really a good one.
It's not black and white.
I know when we were looking for houses (almost pre-internet availability of data so quite a long long time ago).... we used to joke that every town boasted their schools were one of the best in NJ.
Now the data is out there and while there are always questions about the relevance and how it is determined.
Whether WW schools are in the top 5 or top 30, it is overwhelmingly perceived that WW schools are excellent.
I think that is a key point as it will certainly factor through in holding value...
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