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Hi all - I'm currently working in Toronto and my job will soon be relocating to New York (downtown specifically). I'm looking for a neighbourhood for our East Asian family of 3, with a child entering elementary school.
We're looking to buy, as it is important for us to be able to renovate to our tastes and make it feel like home, and my budget is up to $1MM, though preferably in the $700k-$800k range. Preferably a detached home, but a large condo or townhouse would be good too. We're currently in a 2BR 1400 sqft condo and it's getting a bit cramped, so it would ideally be at least that size, or larger.
Our primary desires are (no particular order): 1) good public schooling, 2) plenty of children's activities (i.e. extracurricular academics, sport programs, etc.) 3) safe neighbourhood and parks, and 4) convenient access to Asian groceries and restaurants, but also good Western supermarkets like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc. If any of you are fellow Canadians, I'm thinking of a neighbourhood like the Yonge/Finch area in Toronto, which is a dense, urban commercial area (Yonge St) surrounded by some moderately dense residential areas with a strong East Asian vibe (lots of Koreans there) and has everything I listed.
I'm ideally looking for a detached home, but the housing stock seems pretty old and I'm worried about potential major repairs being required, or running into issues like flooded basements, which is a common problem in older neighbourhoods in Toronto. If these are indeed common problems, I'd rather forego the detached home in favor of a condo apartment/townhouse that is a newer build. From what I've seen, there is a development at 1600 Kaufers Ln that looks quite appealing, and also one at 1000 Old Palisades, but that one seems a bit shoddier and online commentary isn't flattering. However, condos seem to have extremely expensive monthly fees in the US; not sure if the real estate listings are accurate, but I'm used to paying $0.50/sqft in Canada. Lastly, I see some really nice newly built semis and townhouses, but they always seem to pop up in the shoddier parts of the neighbourhood. Any thoughts on that?
As for Edgewater, we really like the newer condos in Edgewater, but the public schools don't seem as good as Fort Lee. If we were in Edgewater, is it possible to apply to attend a Fort Lee school (i.e. Fort Lee School No 1)?
If I do live in Fort Lee, how do I know which of the 2-3 schools would be the school our child attends? From what I see in rankings, I'd want to make sure we attend School No 1.
Related to the commute, I see my commute options are to cross the GWB and take the A-train. Conversely, a coworker told me the best commute is the ferry, but it seems I'd have to drive down to Weehawken, which seems do-able and enjoyable (if not costly). Are there any other alternatives? Is it feasible to drive to the closest PATH station? From what I see, that's Hoboken, which doesn't seem to have any parking, and it seems pretty far. For the weekends, if we choose to head into Manhattan, what's the best way to get there as a family?
Sorry my questions are all over the map, and thank you for any advice. I'd also appreciate any suggestions for neighbourhoods other than Edgewater/Fort Lee, as I've got my eyes on Forest Hills as well but figure that's not appropriate for this subforum.
As for Edgewater, we really like the newer condos in Edgewater, but the public schools don't seem as good as Fort Lee. If we were in Edgewater, is it possible to apply to attend a Fort Lee school (i.e. Fort Lee School No 1)?
If I do live in Fort Lee, how do I know which of the 2-3 schools would be the school our child attends? From what I see in rankings, I'd want to make sure we attend School No 1.
The school that your child would attend would be based on your address. Thus, living in one town and attending a school in a different town is not possible unless you pay tuition--and that tuition fee can be surprisingly high.
Even within a particular municipality, each school has a "catchment" area, and your address would have to be within the catchment area of School No. 1 in order for your child to attend that school. A good realtor should know which neighborhoods send their children to a particular school, but as soon as you develop an interest in a particular house, at that point you should phone the Fort Lee Board of Education, give them the address of the prospective house, and ask which school your child would attend if you were to live at that address.
Realtors have been known to make mistakes on this type of information, so double-checking with the folks at the Board of Ed is something that you really need to do prior to going to the contract stage of home-buying.
Edgewater has Mitsuwa (Japanese supermarket, which I LOVE), Whole Foods and Trader Joe. I think there is a ferry terminal in Edgewater too.
But to get to NYC downtown, you may be better off in Hoboken or Downtown Jersey City, particularly: Paulus Hook, Exchange Place and Van Vorst Park
If you are going uptown, I would choose Edgewater or Fort Lee, but you are going to downtown (World Trade Center area particularly), taking PATH from Jersey City is the quickest:
Grove Street-->3minutes-->Exchange Place-->4minutes-->World Trade Center
hoboken and jersey city have bad schools. Edgewater actually has very good schools. Don't over-analyze the rankings, there is really not much of a difference. But due to costs, you are better off looking in fort lee since edgewater will be more expensive. Leonia is also another good town with a fast bus and lots of koreans.
The school that your child would attend would be based on your address. Thus, living in one town and attending a school in a different town is not possible unless you pay tuition--and that tuition fee can be surprisingly high.
Even within a particular municipality, each school has a "catchment" area, and your address would have to be within the catchment area of School No. 1 in order for your child to attend that school. A good realtor should know which neighborhoods send their children to a particular school, but as soon as you develop an interest in a particular house, at that point you should phone the Fort Lee Board of Education, give them the address of the prospective house, and ask which school your child would attend if you were to live at that address.
Realtors have been known to make mistakes on this type of information, so double-checking with the folks at the Board of Ed is something that you really need to do prior to going to the contract stage of home-buying.
That's wild. You can pay tuition to send your kid to a school in a town you don't live in?
Hi all - I'm currently working in Toronto and my job will soon be relocating to New York (downtown specifically). I'm looking for a neighbourhood for our East Asian family of 3, with a child entering elementary school.
We're looking to buy, as it is important for us to be able to renovate to our tastes and make it feel like home, and my budget is up to $1MM, though preferably in the $700k-$800k range. Preferably a detached home, but a large condo or townhouse would be good too. We're currently in a 2BR 1400 sqft condo and it's getting a bit cramped, so it would ideally be at least that size, or larger.
Our primary desires are (no particular order): 1) good public schooling, 2) plenty of children's activities (i.e. extracurricular academics, sport programs, etc.) 3) safe neighbourhood and parks, and 4) convenient access to Asian groceries and restaurants, but also good Western supermarkets like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc. If any of you are fellow Canadians, I'm thinking of a neighbourhood like the Yonge/Finch area in Toronto, which is a dense, urban commercial area (Yonge St) surrounded by some moderately dense residential areas with a strong East Asian vibe (lots of Koreans there) and has everything I listed.
I'm ideally looking for a detached home, but the housing stock seems pretty old and I'm worried about potential major repairs being required, or running into issues like flooded basements, which is a common problem in older neighbourhoods in Toronto. If these are indeed common problems, I'd rather forego the detached home in favor of a condo apartment/townhouse that is a newer build. From what I've seen, there is a development at 1600 Kaufers Ln that looks quite appealing, and also one at 1000 Old Palisades, but that one seems a bit shoddier and online commentary isn't flattering. However, condos seem to have extremely expensive monthly fees in the US; not sure if the real estate listings are accurate, but I'm used to paying $0.50/sqft in Canada. Lastly, I see some really nice newly built semis and townhouses, but they always seem to pop up in the shoddier parts of the neighbourhood. Any thoughts on that?
As for Edgewater, we really like the newer condos in Edgewater, but the public schools don't seem as good as Fort Lee. If we were in Edgewater, is it possible to apply to attend a Fort Lee school (i.e. Fort Lee School No 1)?
If I do live in Fort Lee, how do I know which of the 2-3 schools would be the school our child attends? From what I see in rankings, I'd want to make sure we attend School No 1.
Related to the commute, I see my commute options are to cross the GWB and take the A-train. Conversely, a coworker told me the best commute is the ferry, but it seems I'd have to drive down to Weehawken, which seems do-able and enjoyable (if not costly). Are there any other alternatives? Is it feasible to drive to the closest PATH station? From what I see, that's Hoboken, which doesn't seem to have any parking, and it seems pretty far. For the weekends, if we choose to head into Manhattan, what's the best way to get there as a family?
Sorry my questions are all over the map, and thank you for any advice. I'd also appreciate any suggestions for neighbourhoods other than Edgewater/Fort Lee, as I've got my eyes on Forest Hills as well but figure that's not appropriate for this subforum.
If I'm thinking correctly I know what you want, a better option is probably Palisades Park.
Edgewater is new construction and expensive and not walkable, and Fort Lee is old construction and not all that walkable (though better).
Palisades Park is what I consider the epicenter of Korean culture in NJ and the homes will also be a little cheaper and has more of a mix of homes more likely to be detached style.
Keep in mind that traffic and parking in that area (even at strip malls) is absolutely horrendous, so being able to walk to some things will have a major advantage.
OTOH, if you're willing to give up a little more 'urbanity' then Edison has plenty enough Korean culture, homes would be much bigger for your $, but you'd have to drive everywhere, but the traffic is much, much better. Commute to the city would be an hour. But depending on where you're going from Bergen County, it'd be the same.
Thanks everyone, all very useful information. Commute is a concern, but as long as I can get to work and it's a reasonably straightforward commute, I'm not too fussed as my existing commute is about 70-80 minutes.
Good to know about catchment areas; I figure that must be the case, but couldn't find any official school board website that lets you search the catchment area by address, though I did find some 3rd party sites like greatschools. I agree the rankings are not all that important, but the No 1 and No 4 Schools in Fort Lee seem good, though the Edgewater school (Eleanor Van Gelden) seems to have some pretty iffy test scores. That looks like the only Edgewater elementary school but I may be wrong?
Can anyone shed some light on why condos are priced similarly, or sometimes even more expensive, than a detached home? I see condos/apartments cost as much upfront as a house, plus the monthly HOA fees. Is it because detached homes have a lot of ancillary costs (i.e. do old homes age poorly)? Or is it related to crime (i.e. better to live with a doorman)? Or simply an equal preference for apartments? i.e. I learned about co-ops and all the restrictions that cause their price to be much lower than a condo/house, but I figure a house should be priced significantly more than a condo but I don't always see that being the case.
That's wild. You can pay tuition to send your kid to a school in a town you don't live in? I never knew you could do that. Cool.
The cost is almost always amazingly high. When I would field phone calls from parents in another town, asking about the tuition at our high school, their reaction when I quoted the outrageously high tuition fee was almost always, "It's not worth that much!", and I had to agree with them.
Hi all - I'm currently working in Toronto and my job will soon be relocating to New York (downtown specifically). I'm looking for a neighbourhood for our East Asian family of 3, with a child entering elementary school.
We're looking to buy, as it is important for us to be able to renovate to our tastes and make it feel like home, and my budget is up to $1MM, though preferably in the $700k-$800k range. Preferably a detached home, but a large condo or townhouse would be good too. We're currently in a 2BR 1400 sqft condo and it's getting a bit cramped, so it would ideally be at least that size, or larger.
Our primary desires are (no particular order): 1) good public schooling, 2) plenty of children's activities (i.e. extracurricular academics, sport programs, etc.) 3) safe neighbourhood and parks, and 4) convenient access to Asian groceries and restaurants, but also good Western supermarkets like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc. If any of you are fellow Canadians, I'm thinking of a neighbourhood like the Yonge/Finch area in Toronto, which is a dense, urban commercial area (Yonge St) surrounded by some moderately dense residential areas with a strong East Asian vibe (lots of Koreans there) and has everything I listed.
I'm ideally looking for a detached home, but the housing stock seems pretty old and I'm worried about potential major repairs being required, or running into issues like flooded basements, which is a common problem in older neighbourhoods in Toronto. If these are indeed common problems, I'd rather forego the detached home in favor of a condo apartment/townhouse that is a newer build. From what I've seen, there is a development at 1600 Kaufers Ln that looks quite appealing, and also one at 1000 Old Palisades, but that one seems a bit shoddier and online commentary isn't flattering. However, condos seem to have extremely expensive monthly fees in the US; not sure if the real estate listings are accurate, but I'm used to paying $0.50/sqft in Canada. Lastly, I see some really nice newly built semis and townhouses, but they always seem to pop up in the shoddier parts of the neighbourhood. Any thoughts on that?
As for Edgewater, we really like the newer condos in Edgewater, but the public schools don't seem as good as Fort Lee. If we were in Edgewater, is it possible to apply to attend a Fort Lee school (i.e. Fort Lee School No 1)?
If I do live in Fort Lee, how do I know which of the 2-3 schools would be the school our child attends? From what I see in rankings, I'd want to make sure we attend School No 1.
Related to the commute, I see my commute options are to cross the GWB and take the A-train. Conversely, a coworker told me the best commute is the ferry, but it seems I'd have to drive down to Weehawken, which seems do-able and enjoyable (if not costly). Are there any other alternatives? Is it feasible to drive to the closest PATH station? From what I see, that's Hoboken, which doesn't seem to have any parking, and it seems pretty far. For the weekends, if we choose to head into Manhattan, what's the best way to get there as a family?
Sorry my questions are all over the map, and thank you for any advice. I'd also appreciate any suggestions for neighbourhoods other than Edgewater/Fort Lee, as I've got my eyes on Forest Hills as well but figure that's not appropriate for this subforum.
Few hits about the whole area
Overall
As long as you can bear with a long commute or expensive commute. Edgewater has all that you seek so does Fort Lee. You are going to get good schools, very safe area, water front access, great access to both Asian and Western groceries. Edgewater has Whole + TJ, Palisades park and Fort Lee are very close and heavy in East Asian ethnicity. There is also Japanese supermarket in Edgewater.
Biggest difference will be the type of housing available and commute choices. Fort Lee is just bus. No ferry unless you want to take bus from Fort Lee to Edgewater then get on Ferry. Edgewater has ferry service.
Homes. there are not that many new constructions in Fort Lee compared to Edgewater. It is happening with that big constructions started/going by GW / town area but Edgewater has more still. You also cannot get waterfront home in Fort Lee as Fort Lee is up on the cliff and Edgewater is below the cliff. Fort Lee has many coops with city view (low buy price, high maint), Edgwater has I think 1 coop. Edgewater does not have that many houses under $1m price because land is used to build condo complex.
Fort Lee however has much more single family homes or townhouses than Edgewater.
Commute
- Commute overall from Edgewater and Fort Lee to Manhattan are both poor unless you work right across GW.
- Driving to Path? Sure if you don't mind 2hour commute (each way) + paying about $300 for parking. There is no free parking space near Path in Hoboken, Jersey City (JC), or Newark. Drive itself will be miserable because to get to those towns, you have to drive with all of rush hour traffic. Holland and Lincoln tunnel are by JC and Hoboken respectively.
- Commute choices : bus or ferry. Ferry service is avail in Edgewater to Manhattan, it is most expensive but shortest across water. Limited service windows. bus service is cheapest but is longest and most unreliable due to weather conditions. River Road which is the primary road that cuts across multiple towns in Bergen county in the gold coast gets very congested during rush hour. Can go over GW via bus (usually gypsy bus) or bike (foldable bike because you can't bring full size bike into any mass transit system during rush hour in NYC) and take MTA.
School System - Edgewater has its own public elementary school but from 7-12th grade is Leonia. So if you plan to stay for a while. Check both school ranking. I believe Leonia school ranking is as good if not slightly better than Fort Lee (Palisades Park schools aren't that great, definitely poorer than Edgewater, Leonia, or Fort Lee)
Closing thoughts If you are absolutely keen on buying a house up to $1m, Edgewater will not that many inventory for that range. Which are why you don't see 'good stuff'. If you go over a million, you will see a lot of single family houses or townhouses available. Fort Lee has a lot more homes under a $1m.
Edgewater still has small town-ish feel compared to Fort Lee. Edgewater feels little more niche as well. But reality is, you'll be visiting Pal Park, Fort Lee, and Edgewater a ton by living in this area because all 3 offer something slightly different. I mean its 15m away from each other...
Biggest thing for you to keep in mind is property tax implications which adds a lot into carry costs. General rule of thumb for property tax rate in NJ is roughly 2.2% and with latest SALT changes by fed gov't (state an local tax deductions), you can only deduct up to 10k which sucks.
e.g. House is 1mil? Ballpark 22k property taxes and out of that you can only deduct 10k of it. Previously you could deduct all 22k.
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