NJ - low taxes, great schools - is this possible? (Livingston: homes, new construction)
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NJ and low taxes don't go hand-in-hand. This is exactly why NJ politicians should not be given a north Jersey casino. They will squander the tax revenue and make YOU pay for short falls.
I lived in Paramus, Morristown and now Jersey City. They all had high property taxes. I was paying $18k in Motown. Maybe Florham Park, Parsippany, or East Hanover. Ridgewood has very high property taxes and I don't think Morristown is that cheap. Not to mention Morristown schools not great for what you would paying in RET.
Morris Township has substantially lower taxes than Morristown proper.
Our current home is well over that. We are looking to lower our mortgage AND taxes, preferably. If we can't get the taxes low enough, we'll buy a less expensive home (800-900k). Sorry I wasnt clear. We are in Closter and Alpine is about a block or two away.
Alpines tax rate is literally 1/3 that of Closter, assuming same value, the house with 30k taxes in Closter will have a 10k tax bill in Alpine. Of course, Alpine is much pricier than Closter and your money won't buy as much a house for X price. The other low tax town in Bergen is Saddle River, also very pricey like Alpine and also has great schools. Upscale low tax towns in Northern NJ are a bit like Harvard, the hardest part is getting in.
I would start your search with lower end (relatively speaking) homes in towns like this.
Yes, my husband was looking at Randolph. I know nothing about it. So we need to take a ride there.
Thank you.
If your husband has to commute to NYC, then I think Randolph is too far away. I think even all of western county would be too far (disclaimer: I've lived in Roxbury, Mt. Arlington, then Parsippany, and now Rockaway. I work in NJ but within eye-sight of the ESB). When I lived in Parsippany, I had to commute to NYC for two weeks for a project. I took the train from the Boonton station, and it took 1 1/2 hours every morning.
The roads are no better. Depending on location, you have two ways in from western morris county, route 80 to the GWB, or route 80/23/46/3 to the lincoln tunnel. You mentioned Princeton, but that it might be too far. But I believe that town has a direct line to the city from a train. So you might be better off even though you would be even further west.
Alpines tax rate is literally 1/3 that of Closter, assuming same value, the house with 30k taxes in Closter will have a 10k tax bill in Alpine. Of course, Alpine is much pricier than Closter and your money won't buy as much a house for X price. The other low tax town in Bergen is Saddle River, also very pricey like Alpine and also has great schools. Upscale low tax towns in Northern NJ are a bit like Harvard, the hardest part is getting in.
I would start your search with lower end (relatively speaking) homes in towns like this.
I know taxes are low in Alpine, but I thought that was because they don't a school system? Or am I crazy
Towns like Alpine and Harding have limited to no town services. That's what helps keep the taxes low.
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