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Trying out towns that could stretch into full size (2,500+ SF) for almost that level, but that factors in either turn-key purchase, or lower price plus reno work. This is a long play - good size house, good schools through HS. The towns you listed either the house is too small, or the schools trail off after elementary. That said, Verona and GR kind of fit the bill. I am actually close to priced out of Montclair, and its a freaking lottery...and taxes are undergoing a town wide re-val in 2018, which is scary stuff.
Port Authority is actually a good option for me too; better than Penn, so im exploring bus/trains quite a bit. I could walk from Port, but need to subway it from Penn (midtown west locale). Granny/Nanny is is on the border of Little Falls/Clifton, so I need to be inside of a 15 minute drive from there. Wife needs to get downtown, so she may drive to Harrison, park, and take the PATH. I have flexibility of either being dropped off at a train station, or walk myself to the bus.
DeCamp is showing a #33 Express bus for only 45 mins to Port Authority. (7:50am departure). Is this accurate?
And are there any stops south of Lakeside and Bloomfield. Like Sunset and Bloomfield? I know Decamp stops frequently, but curious about the express in particular.
Generally not a bidding war town, but there was a house last month in the low $500's that got 3 offers.
Wondering if that's the same one I noticed go up for low 500s that seemed priced suspiciously low (as in must have been to drive a bidding war) w a very large and new neighbor...
Anyway, Verona is a good town w a good school system. But if I had a 950k budget and two people who worked in NY, I'd be focusing on towns w better transportation options like Summit, Rutherford, Glen Ridge, Montclair, Maplewood, South Orange, or Ridgewood. But my budget is much smaller and therefore my home expectations are probably not as big as someone whose budget is higher.
If you have family by Clifton you could always drop your child off there and then park in the Clifton lot which is free. Probably a 15-20 min drive depending on where in Verona and where in Clifton.
True. I initially thought the same. But these towns are crazy. Finding a house we like in Glen Ridge happens only once every other month...and less than half of them are walking distance to the train...and there is no guarantee you could obtain said house given the sealed bid process. That's super frustrating. Plus, two thirds of GR requires a jitney to the train; or driving to bay st. Why not just live in Verona at that point? You still drive to Bay St, and you have come control over what house you could transparently bid on. Plus you have the express bus as a backup; or a go-to if the trains are down.
What I am trying to really say is that the towns with sealed bids are on severe back order by a huge bidding pool. Money cant really get you whatever you want (unless you want to bid like 25%+ over the ask and never recoup it). It's not simple. You need to win a freaking lottery. If you went through what I just went through in Montclair, you would understand.
DeCamp is showing a #33 Express bus for only 45 mins to Port Authority. (7:50am departure). Is this accurate?
And are there any stops south of Lakeside and Bloomfield. Like Sunset and Bloomfield? I know Decamp stops frequently, but curious about the express in particular.
Wondering if that's the same one I noticed go up for low 500s that seemed priced suspiciously low (as in must have been to drive a bidding war) w a very large and new neighbor...
That's the one. I thought it was a fair price, maybe a tad low, but it was tired inside.
From someone who actually rides the 33 bus from caldwell the 45 mins from Verona sounds right. The bus is usually a little bit late everyday but you plan that in. So figure 5 mins late.
What's great is if you life near Bloomfield avenue is walking to the bus stop versus driving to some park and ride. You could also ride the 29 bus down to the glen ridge train station that runs through caldwell, verona, montclair and glen ridge.
The train isn't really that much faster than the bus and the bus is much more frequent. Plus you don't have to pay montclairs insane taxes if you live in caldwell or verona.
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