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We may be making a move back to NJ in the next year, and are targeting the West Orange and surrounding areas. My son is a quadriplegic and did his rehab at Kessler in WO, and we'd like to be close so he can benefit from the outpatient programs they offer.
We'll be buying, top budget around $550 (depending on what our house in SC sells for). Would love 4+ bedrooms.
Our biggest 'need' for a house is that it either be handicap accessible, have a first floor bedroom/bath that we can convert, or a walkout finished basement with bath that we could convert. We would also love to have suggestions for contractors who could pretty much work without us being on site, as the reno will have to be finished before we can make a move.
We don't know much about WO other than Kessler, as we lived in Bridgewater when we were jersey residents before. Hubbie will be commuting to NYC, either by train or car.
Would love to hear about the area of WO, as well as any other surrounding towns.
There's Kessler centers all over NJ. I don't know if they all offer the services you need, but it may be worth researching before limiting your home search to West Orange.
West Orange is a fine town, though. You get more house for your money there but that's due in part to their high taxes.
I live in West Orange and like it. You can definitely find something in your budget. Be prepared for taxes around 10-12K in that budget. Your housing requirements are very specific, so I'm thinking you may need to talk to a realtor who can find something to meet those needs. West Orange does not have a train station, so if you're commuting to NYC by train, you would need to drive to Montclair or South Orange train stations. West Orange does have bus service to NYC. Another option would be to drive to Harrison and take the Path train, which many people here do.
Nice area, beautiful housing stock......If your top budget if $550K that probably means you'll need to be under for any modifications you'll need to do for your son. I don't see an issue in terms of cost.
I would caution you to look very closely at the property taxes. My $550K home property taxes topped $18K before I said uncle and moved to another town. In the 7 years there we averaged about a $1,000 per year increase. It has calmed down a bit with the cap.....but pay very close attention to that in West Orange. Looking at the budgets and if/when the cap is removed, they could be looking at another big spike.
Best of luck. Outside of the property taxes we really loved WO and the people. We just couldn't justify it any longer.
I live in South Orange, the next town over. I don't know West Orange that well, but I have the impression that most of the housing stock is pretty old (pre-WWII), which often means small, separated rooms, narrow hallways, and multiple floors, often without a bathroom on the first floor -- in other words, tough to negotiate in a wheelchair. You might have better luck in Livingston, where the housing is more modern and there are a lot of ranch-style houses that would require less modification and allow your son to access more of the house.
The towns that adjoin West Orange -- South Orange, Maplewood, and Montclair -- also have mostly older houses. Maybe look at the Caldwells? Again, I'm trying to think of areas with more modern houses, which will be to the west.
Accessibility is a big deal in our charming old houses. A lot of seniors have to move because they can no longer deal with the stairs.
That was one of the big things we noticed when buying a home in this area. Many of these older homes have a bathroom upstairs next to the bedrooms, and another in the basement (go figure). Most only have a bathroom on the first floor if it was added at a later date during renovation. My house has a bathroom on the first floor that was converted from an old porch.
We're well aware of reno costs and headaches - been there, done that!
A master bedroom w/bath on the first floor would work, as would a finished room in the basement with bathroom - like a walkout? I've seen a few with MIL or nanny suites that might work. I know we'll have to ramp whatever we buy, so lots of stairs are out, which leaves out a lot of the split levels!
Why are taxes in WO so high? Yikes!
Thanks for all the help so far - this has been great!
Note to add: We've done 2 handicap rentals - one in Bridgewater, NJ, in an 1860 house, and the other here in SC in a 1960's ranch. Both had their unique problems, but we feel we're pretty experienced now, and know what to look for!
I live in South Orange, the next town over. I don't know West Orange that well, but I have the impression that most of the housing stock is pretty old (pre-WWII), which often means small, separated rooms, narrow hallways, and multiple floors, often without a bathroom on the first floor -- in other words, tough to negotiate in a wheelchair. You might have better luck in Livingston, where the housing is more modern and there are a lot of ranch-style houses that would require less modification and allow your son to access more of the house.
The towns that adjoin West Orange -- South Orange, Maplewood, and Montclair -- also have mostly older houses. Maybe look at the Caldwells? Again, I'm trying to think of areas with more modern houses, which will be to the west.
Accessibility is a big deal in our charming old houses. A lot of seniors have to move because they can no longer deal with the stairs.
Gregory which is by South Orange is mostly Pre-War. Much of West Orange probably about half is all post war housing stock.
The OP should be able to find what there looking for in WO.
Housing stock in West Orange is very varied; it tends to be newer as you go west though there's a lot of exceptions. There's a ton of 1950s-1960s ranches and Cape Cods on the west side, and $550,000 will get you most of them. More likely 3br than 4. There might be an issue of getting in and out of the house, but that's a matter of building a ramp and I've seen several houses in my area (St Cloud, very near the main Kessler facility) where people have done that.
Driving into NYC from West Orange is easy, I've gotten there in 25 minutes. On a Saturday morning. During normal commute hours you can of course forget about it. There's a jitney to the South Orange train station from some parts (which I found to be slow and unreliable, but I've heard they've improved); if you're able to drop off and pick up, both Orange and South Orange stations are good but the parking waiting lists are long. Unfortunately the only places walkable to a train station are on the east side where the housing tends to be older.
you could consider Rutherford too. Easy access to NYC
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Nice area
