Resort-style living between NYC and Philly in excellent school district - is that possible? (Princeton: real estate market, rentals)
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We are a family of 4 (mom, dad, 7 year old boy, 4 year old girl) and our criteria are:
a) excellent school district
b) within 75 minutes by car to Philly AND NYC
c) close proximity to NJ Turnpike
d) 3BR+, 2 BA condo, townhome or single family home (preferably rental)
e) olympic size pool, ideally separate kids pool
f) large gym (not just treadmills and a set of free weights)
g) ideally clubhouse, basketball courts and fields for soccer, volleyball, basketball, maybe some paved paths or a park so that the kids can ride scooters, bikes, and segways
We are obviously asking for a lot and our criteria are very specific. Your help would be much appreciated since we are not familiar with NJ.
We have located two rental developments in West Windsor by Avalon and Toll that meet all these criteria but we would prefer something closer to NJ Turnpike and have read unfavorable reviews about these developments.
We would prefer a condo- or townhome rental in a gated community a) because we hope that the proximity to other families would help us make friends and b) because we expect the economy and the real estate market to cool off within the next 6 to 36 months.
Since we are moving from NYC, price is not so much of a concern.
Sorry for being so specific but it would be great if you could share your ideas with us.
Thank you very much!
Look in Plainsboro, NJ. Shares the school district with West Windsor and might be a tiny bit closer to the Turnpike. There are two nice townhouse developments The Brittany and The Ashford, you would be renting from the owners. They both have pools and tennis courts and Plainsboro has a few parks.
There is also nearby Mercer Co. Park that has tons of activities, ball fields, ice rink, 2 golf courses a lake etc.
You can look a little closer to the Turnpike in Cranbury, NJ, good local elementary schools and kids go to Princeton HS.
Rentals are scarce and don't be fooled by neighborhoods that share Cranburys' zip code (like parts of East Windsor).
Many thanks for the excellent ideas and suggestions!
Yes, Plainsboro, Cranbury (Thank you JerseyJ) and Freehold (Thank you Danny Hopkins) fit the criteria very well!
We are mainly using Zillow to look for rentals, check photos and the quality of school districts. The biggest problem seems to be the scarcity of rentals and the scarcity of condo/townhome developments with amenities. This is quite a cultural change from NYC where the development of amenity-rich rentals has exploded in the last 10-15 years: swimming pools, large gyms, screening rooms, business centers, etc., etc.
We are wondering whether rentals are really as scarce as they appear on Zillow? Is it possible that not all rentals are listed on Zillow and if so, how else could one get access to these listings?
Thank you "Retriever" for asking about a "walkable downtown!" Yes, that would be a dream but this is one item on our wish list we are willing to compromise about.
It seems that right now the biggest problem is the scarcity of rentals. We really don't want to buy 7-8 years into an economic recovery
I don't know about in that area, but I think many people are members of high end gyms for criteria e, f, and g. I think you'd be more likely to find a nice gym with all of those amenities near a rental property.
I don't know about in that area, but I think many people are members of high end gyms for criteria e, f, and g. I think you'd be more likely to find a nice gym with all of those amenities near a rental property.
Nah, Jersey high end gyms are not high enough for NYC folks
JerseyStrong1,
thanks for the suggestion. Maybe we are a little spoiled: currently we have a decent, mid-sized gym in the condo building we live in in NYC. In the Winter it really makes a difference whether you have a gym in the building or development or whether you have to get into the car and drive somewhere (I get up at 5am). That's the reason why we are looking for a rental development (or a condo development where individual units can be rented) where you basically have a resort lifestyle: large gym, some parks with paths, some sports fields for basketball and soccer, etc.
A LARGE pool is also high on our wish list. too bad that all of this can be found without any problems in the "active adult"/55+ communities. But we have two small kids and need it for a family of four.
It's weird that you have this abundance of resort style developments for the 55+ crowd but not for young families with small kids
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Younger people probably won't get it.
