New Jersey middle class being forced out! (Newark, Ridgewood: apartment, mortgages)
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borat s - Your situation mirrors many young people in NJ. Even with you and your wife's income, buying a home in NJ is almost impossible in the current economic conditions. I lived in Paterson for 53 years with my parents and constantly saved money my entire working career. I never made over 50K and when I retired from the P.O. decided to look elsewhere for a place to retire. I had property in PA that I purchased in 1986, with the thought of building a house on it in the early 90's. My parents both died in the early 90's and I stayed in the home I inherited. But living on 25K in retirement and with the increased taxes in PA, I decided to sell the PA property in 2005 and use the money for a downpayment on a new house in NC. It has worked out very well. I still have the NJ house and suspect it will be some time before it gets sold.
My niece is in a similar situation. She graduated with a doctorate in Physical Therapy from UMDNJ and is planning to move to Colorado. If you don't have parents who can provide you with a substantial down payment for a house or you haven't saved up a large sum of money, you're in essense, locked out of the NJ market with the prevailing financial shape of the lending market. Even if you have a combined income of 100K, that not going to get you much in the NJ market. I suspect that down the road, even many of the children who lived in areas like Ridgewood, Colts Neck and Bernardsville are going to end up leaving the state as they find it impossible to even attempt to duplicate on a much more modest scale, the lifestyle that they enjoyed growing up in these areas. It is much more attainable in many other states, to have a decent home, good schools and a better QOL than NJ can currently offer to young families. One would be led to think after reading so many posts on the NJ Forum that there are only about 10 towns in the entire state worth living in and the rest of the population just has to "settle" for something less than ideal.
If you think I'm a NJ basher though, you'd be wrong! NJ is a great place to live - if you can afford it. I'll move back from NC, just as soon as I can get a new 3000 sq ft house on a quarter acre for $200,000 with $2200 in property taxes - Holmdel would be nice! Let me know when the prices drop down to this level - then I'll be back!
just curious em....how do you know how much the OP makes? he didn't say.
just curious em....how do you know how much the OP makes? he didn't say.
tahiti - I just made a wild guess assuming a college degree and a couple of years of work and a similar situation for the wife. People who have a combined income of 40K probably wouldn't entertain the thought of a home purchase!
I do not disagree at all that we are being forced out but I do think that a lot of people need to look at where they are spending money and prioritize.
Everyone I know has expensive cars, hobbies, clothes, $150 a month cable bill, CC debt and complains they are broke.
I did a REALISTIC cost analysis and came up with something like $45k for a single individual to rent and live like a semi normal New Jersey human. This is off the top of my head but think it was something very close to that. Of course this does not include going to the bar every Friday and Saturday night and blowing 100 bucks haha. For a couple that amount does not double to be able to live the same way because you share resources. Now add in a few kids and I am sure life gets a lot more complicated...
As a whole though this generation is doing worse then our parents. It used to be the following generation did better then their parents as the standard, so this new cycle is very troubling. I know my parents don't have nearly the education that I do (neither are college grads) and they are, for lack of better phrasing, very well off. They have also stated on numerous occasions that achieving what they did would be much less possible in this day and age. I am in my mid 30s and way behind on their accomplishments as is my highly educated sibling. We will both probably wind up having to take money from them to buy homes, which is normal amongst most of my peers (some of whom are even lawyers, doctors etc) but still depresses me personally.
I do not disagree at all that we are being forced out but I do think that a lot of people need to look at where they are spending money and prioritize.
Everyone I know has expensive cars, hobbies, clothes, $150 a month cable bill, CC debt and complains they are broke.
I did a REALISTIC cost analysis and came up with something like $45k for a single individual to rent and live like a semi normal New Jersey human. This is off the top of my head but think it was something very close to that. Of course this does not include going to the bar every Friday and Saturday night and blowing 100 bucks haha. For a couple that amount does not double to be able to live the same way because you share resources. Now add in a few kids and I am sure life gets a lot more complicated...
It is so easy when you are young 20 somethings to piddle away money. Eating out can eat up a lot of money. Bar hopping is even worse! In my case, I never got married - came close a few times, but kept living at home and saving. The next big trend in NJ for single kids will be to live at home "forever". My cousin who lives down the street from my old house is a perpetual "20 something" even though he's 54 and his mother is 84. He goes out almost every night and even with a good job has probably next to nothing in the bank. I wonder what is going to become of him when my aunt dies and the house needs to be sold to pay off his siblings.
The large state debt combined with the unfunded pension liability will make any property tax decreases as rare as sightings of passenger pigeons for NJ residents. I pity young families that are planning to have kids. They are the ones most likely to suffer when they go from 2 income to 1 income families during the childbearing years. Unless you're a doctor, lawyer in a big firm or have one of those "great" Wall St jobs, living in NJ will not exactly be a "bed of roses" for a young couple!
i want to know how it got this bad?? my parents bought their first home in 1981 for $14k!!!! i had to leave the state! and i am more educated than they are also. their COL was so much better than it is now. trust me i tried to stay, bought a home within my means, did not live a lavish life by any stretch.
i will never be able to accomplish in NJ what my parents did.
i want to know how it got this bad?? my parents bought their first home in 1981 for $14k!!!! i had to leave the state! and i am more educated than they are also. their COL was so much better than it is now. trust me i tried to stay, bought a home within my means, did not live a lavish life by any stretch.
i will never be able to accomplish in NJ what my parents did.
findinghope - There are probably about a million NJ residents in your shoes. My father bought the house we lived in for $8000 and a new car all in the same day in 1950. He then went home and got yelled at by my grandfather for being so fiscally irresponsible!LOL. My father bought his first house at 28. I bought my first house at 53. His first year tax bill was $144. This was in Paterson when it was still a desirable place to live. My, how things have changed! His salary at that time was about $2000. If I was still working, I'd be making about 50K and using the same debt to earnings ratio he had, I couldn't have afforded the little Cape Cod I lived in all my life. "NJ & You - Not So Perfect Together" if you're not loaded! That's why "In My Mind (and body) I've Gone to Carolina"! Yes, "Baby - We were Born To Run"
findinghope - There are probably about a million NJ residents in your shoes. My father bought the house we lived in for $8000 and a new car all in the same day in 1950. He then went home and got yelled at by my grandfather for being so fiscally irresponsible!LOL. My father bought his first house at 28. I bought my first house at 53. His first year tax bill was $144. This was in Paterson when it was still a desirable place to live. My, how things have changed! His salary at that time was about $2000. If I was still working, I'd be making about 50K and using the same debt to earnings ratio he had, I couldn't have afforded the little Cape Cod I lived in all my life. "NJ & You - Not So Perfect Together" if you're not loaded! That's why "In My Mind (and body) I've Gone to Carolina"!
Is that James Taylor I hear. One of my all times favs.
Is that James Taylor I hear. One of my all times favs.
Okay JerseyMan...sounds like we can agree on something here...I love JT
"The Secret To Life Is Enjoying The passage Of Time"...is what I put in my senior yearbook. I like everything he sings...
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Let me know when the prices drop down to this level - then I'll be back!
His salary at that time was about $2000. If I was still working, I'd be making about 50K and using the same debt to earnings ratio he had, I couldn't have afforded the little Cape Cod I lived in all my life. "NJ & You - Not So Perfect Together" if you're not loaded! That's why "In My Mind (and body) I've Gone to Carolina"! Yes, "Baby - We were Born To Run"
One of my all times favs.
