How did they do it>? $350K house in Fair Lawn ... with salary 3 times less my. Lemon? (real estate, 2014)

[Pianist718]

I learned yesterday that my "relatives", or better yet, relatives of my uncle in law, that make probably 3 times less than I do (salary), easily bought a home in Fair Lawn, NJ for just $350K and from what I hear, it's a great looking home.

Is this possible or is there a high chance that they bought a lemon or something.

I always excluded NJ from my home search simply for 2 reasons .... 1) High prices (over 500K for decent home) and 2) Huge property taxes.

I am confused :-)

[GiantRutgersfan]

Prices have come down. you can buy a quality house in Fair Lawn and other similar towns for 350k nowadays.

[Pianist718]

Originally Posted by GiantRutgersfan

Prices have come down. you can buy a quality house in Fair Lawn and other similar towns for 350k nowadays.

but the taxes are horrific no?
for a 350K house that's no more than 2K Sqfeet, it is up to $700/mo,.....no?

[bigjake54]

Originally Posted by Pianist718

relatives of my uncle in law

So, not related to you. Why not simply state, "Someone"?

Originally Posted by Pianist718

that make probably 3 times less than I do (salary)

Do you mean to say "one-third of my salary"? Fact is, you don't know what they earn. Also, you don't mention whether they have a mortgage, or not.
Estimated median household income in 2011: $90,940 Fair Lawn
Read more: //www.city-data.com/city/Fair-L...#ixzz2sTLE22VL

Originally Posted by Pianist718

easily bought a home in Fair Lawn, NJ for just $350K

"easily"? Does that mean, that they bought it in a week? Or, that they were financially able to pay cash or qualify for a mortgage?
20% down would be $70K. A $280K mortgage will run $1,400 to $1,500. Add another grand for property taxes + escrow, & they're looking at $2,500 per month. They'd have to show an annual household income of more than $100K to qualify. Lenders are not handing out mortgages like they did in the bad old days, when every fool willing to falsify an application seemed to qualify for a "no money down, high interest rate" mortgage, that is currently in foreclosure.
NJ may soon lead nation in foreclosures | NJ.com

Originally Posted by Pianist718

Huge property taxes.

That's going to be a fact, pretty much anywhere in NJ.
//www.city-data.com/city/Fair-Lawn-New-Jersey.html
Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2011: $9,085

[Pianist718]

Originally Posted by bigjake54

So, not related to you. Why not simply state, "Someone"?

Do you mean to say "one-third of my salary"? Fact is, you don't know what they earn. Also, you don't mention whether they have a mortgage, or not.
Estimated median household income in 2011: $90,940 Fair Lawn
Read more: //www.city-data.com/city/Fair-L...#ixzz2sTLE22VL

"easily"? Does that mean, that they bought it in a week? Or, that they were financially able to pay cash or qualify for a mortgage?
20% down would be $70K. A $280K mortgage will run $1,400 to $1,500. Add another grand for property taxes + escrow, & they're looking at $2,500 per month. They'd have to show an annual household income of more than $100K to qualify. Lenders are not handing out mortgages like they did in the bad old days, when every fool willing to falsify an application seemed to qualify for a "no money down, high interest rate" mortgage, that is currently in foreclosure.
NJ may soon lead nation in foreclosures | NJ.com

That's going to be a fact, pretty much anywhere in NJ.
//www.city-data.com/city/Fair-Lawn-New-Jersey.html
Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2011: $9,085

Thanks for the info. If I ignore the sarcasm, this is a well written post.
Always wanted to live in NJ, but felt like property taxes were a big rip off.

[Pianist718]

weird .... a 400K home, Trullia showing only $471/mo in property taxes.
can this be right?

[rocknyc]

I recently purchased a house in Fair Lawn for $350k. My taxes are a little over $9k/year. The house is on the small side (~1600 sq ft) but the lot is big (100x100) which is why I liked it. My monthly PITI is a little over $2k which is what I was expecting.

You can probably get a bigger/nicer house in Fair Lawn for $350k but it could either be in a floodzone or an area that is zoned to a lower-rated elementary school.

[tahiti]

NJ Assessment Records Search

plug in the name or address, and voila.

[rocknyc]

If they purchased recently, that site probably won't show the new owners for at least 3-6 months from closing date.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Pianist718

weird .... a 400K home, Trullia showing only $471/mo in property taxes.
can this be right?

What town?

NJ towns and house sizes, density, prices, etc., vary greatly. The state is not just one big sameness.