relocation to NJ from BK (renting, taxis, property taxes)
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I have 0 experience with LI, but I live in a somewhat transient town (Hoboken) and I've had friends from here move to both Westchester and the NJ suburbs. My friends have moved to:
NJ: Summit, Chatham, Millburn, Maplewood, Montclair, Scotch Plains, Essex Fells, and Fair Haven. Fair Haven and Essex Fells people both got new jobs where they weren't working in NYC anymore, so commute wasn't a factor. With your budget, I would look in Summit and Millburn probably (best combination of commute + Downtown + taxes + schools + housing stock), although under 1 million it might be hard to find a "dream house" with 5 bedrooms. I have a friend that just bought in Chatham 2 months ago and paid around 1.25 for a renovated 5 bedroom. But you can't really go wrong with any that I listed.
Alternatively, if you want to look in Bergen County, I have had friends move to Ridgewood and Glen Rock. If you live close to the train station, you might *just* make it in 75 minutes. I believe there's one express train in the morning from Ridgewood (maybe one of the Glen Rock stations too--check the schedule). Ridgewood has a great downtown and good schools.
In Westchester, I've had friends move to Bronxville (great schools, great commute, high property prices and high taxes), New Rochelle (better property prices but schools are not as good, they are doing private schools), Larchmont (I know next to nothing about it). Bronxville is great, if you can afford it. In your budget, I don't think you'd ever find a 5 bedroom. Your money will go further in most NJ towns, but I always hear the commute it not quite as good.
Just want to correct this--there are a number of express trains from Ridgewood and Glen Rock, meaning that the trains don't hit all the towns in between. For example, it might stop at Glen Rock and Radburn after Ridgewood but then express the rest of the way in. It's one of the best train lines for service, but it ultimately goes to Hoboken so the transfer has to be made at Secaucus.
For working at the PABT, a bus would be best from the Ridgewood area, and then the GCT-area person could catch that shuttle if s/he doesn't want to walk. The bus ride on an express bus from Ridgewood to PABT is somewhere around an hour.
Hello All,
Please would gladly appreciate whatever feedback i can get. Just commencing the process to figure out what suburb to move to. Trying to decide between a NJ burb (doesn't really matter whether north, central or south Jersey), Long Island and Westchester. The key thing for my family is school district....have a 3 and 1 yr old and would like to move within the next 4-6 months. Would want a door-to-door commute of no-more than 75mins if possible. Below are my details:
Where are you coming from?: Brooklyn, NY
Why are you moving?: Better school district
Where will you be working ? If NYC, what part of NYC? : Mid-town west (port authority area) and mid-town east Grand central area for my spouse
Will you buy or rent?: Buy
What is your budget ? $750k-$1M, don’t want to pay prop taxes more than 30K, would rather half of that or so
What kind of place are you looking for ?:4/5bd, 3.5/4 bathroom with a decent yard for kids to run around in and garage
Will anyone (spouse, children, pets) be moving with you ?: Yes, spouse and 2 kids
Do you need/want good public schools?: Yes
Briefly describe the kind of neighborhood you'd like to live in
Family with young children, diverse, safe but lively, good restaurants and activities to do with the kids
List three things that are important to you in order of importance: school district Family oriented, short commute/proximity to train station, downtown area, diversity
Thanks so much and look forward to the feedback!!
P.S I would welcome any pros and cons pple are aware of in deciding btw NJ, LI and Westchester based on knowledge and/or experience
Just in my experience and opinion, New Jersey is the best.
Better diversity than the other places.
Westchester is more 'upper-crust' than NJ, but for some people that might be a positive.
Long Island is landlocked by NYC which is a huge disadvantage.
Bronxville and Larchmont is likely out of the range. A 3000 SF 4/5 bedroom in decent condition is 1.5-2mm with 40k plus in taxes...on a quarter acre
You could probably find what you’re looking for in Pelham for 1mm. However housing prices are lower due to a higher tax rate of 3%. So that 1mm will have 30k in taxes
LI garden city has lower taxes around 20k for 1mm. But small plots and it will be a 2000 SF 4 bdrm
NJ you have Chatham/summit/millburn. Which will be 75 min door to door if no delays. But likely 80 min to 85 min with NJ Transit nonsense. Tax rate is lower but houses are more. So 1mm will be 2000 SF with taxes in the low to mid 20k. Then you have montclair/Glen Ridge. Which is similar to Pelham in Westchester. Lower property prices but 3.0% effective tax. Just like Pelham it is the closest you could get to NYC but you’re surrounded by gritty neighboring towns Montclair Glen Ridge you could get a 5 bdrm 2500 - 3000 SF for 900k to 1mm but taxes will be in the high 20s.
The reality of the situation is if you want great schools and a 40 min or less direct train, 750k- 1mm will be more akin to a starter house. Definitely the case in in Westchester and most likely the case in NJ (summit and millburn etc). There are some exceptions such as Pelham, montclair, Glen Ridge where houses are less, and a full size house fits your budget, but only because the effective tax rate is 3.0% not 2.0%. By effective i mean the actual tax bill divided by market value. Ie 3.7% tax rate x 84% average assessment. Is effectively 3.0%
We shopped all these towns and bought in Glen Ridge. Love it here. But the taxes are pretty brutal. All these train towns apprepreciate fairly well, regardless of County/State so taxes do go up 2.5-3.0% every year. Keep that in mind if you choose a higher tax town. The bigger the tax number the more it will grow over the years obviously. Our taxes are 28k and by the time we get our kids through the schools our taxes could likely be WELL into the 40s in 18 years. Sounds crazy but towns where taxes are 30k today we’re likely 15k 20 years ago. Most sell when they get through the school years. So while that 1mm house may be 2mm in 20 years you’re going to be paying 750k in property taxes during ownership. Just throwing around rough numbers to convey the idea...
Thank you so much JaRuss01 for such a detailed and helpful response! Do you or any members of your family previously or currently work in NYC If yes, what parts please-midtown, downtown, and if so, how has the commute being. I am really concerned about getting a realistic picture of the commute.
Glen Ridge has a jitney synced up to trains. The trains are generally 5 min longer than what the time table says. And are 20 min delayed 2x a month and randomly cancelled 2x a month. That’s nj Transit for you. But it’s not terrible. There’s also a bus that could be 40 min in the am if you get it by 7am otherwise 55 min during peak hours. The bus is the same coming home and becomes as short as 30 minutes after 8 pm. The bus is faster than the train if you take it during non peak hours
I work in midtown west. Take the jitney to the train to the 1 to 50th. It’s 70-80 min door to door. But I leave 15 min before the train leaves via jitney. If you could walk to the train it will shave off 10 min. Coming home I take the bus at departing between 730-830pm. My door to door at night is 50-55 minutes. Honestly it’s like living in BK. But that’s only because I work late. If I left normal hours I would take the train to the jitney and it would be 70 min
My wife works by WTC. She drives 20-30 min to the furthest PATH station in Harrison. To a 25 min train that runs very often. Her door to door is 60-75 min depending on traffic. This is the fastest way to downtown west since you don’t need to go through midtown.
We are literally 12 miles due west of midtown. So buses, Uber’s etc do work to your benefit if you are traveling during non peak hours. This is very different than living 2x the distance with an express train that bridges the gap. The proximity is helpful. But we are on the brink of some not so nice areas. Ie we typically drive westward only when we do our shopping.
...to my earlier post above, I am only citing direct train towns, with 30-40/45 min trains and good-great schools
As you will see with these nj towns with those parameters, it is kind of a balancing act of effective taxes and house prices. The playing field is pretty even. Either the 5 bdrm House is say 1.25mm with taxes in the low 20s, or 1mm with taxes in the high 20s. Either way you slice it you’ll be paying for it over ownership....but it is good to know that if you do want to skip the starter house and get a 5 bdrm in your price range, you do have options such as Montclair and Glen Ridge. But you will be paying more in taxes. That was the route we chose.
...and Westchester is generally at a premium to the top nj towns because of the reliability of the transit system and a commute through grand central vs penn. It’s kind of on a different level.
So in other words... You want to live in Secaucus. (Direct train)
I was gonna advocate Bayonne, Jersey City.. Union City.. Somewhere along 440. (The Bayonne Bridge goes right to Staten Island)
i would love me some good views. id pay plenty to get on the water but im not willing to add to the commute. especially with how my trip to work has been the last few weeks. im thinking about buying my own boat to ride out to brooklyn on.
anyone know anything about this? can i buy a boat to ride from keyport or keansburg up to sheepshead bay? maybe it is ridiculous, ive never considered getting a boat before. would be nice if there is some service that does that.
Of course you can. I mean, you can buy a car to do the same thing you just have to pay for tolls and parking and the like.
So you'd have to pay for docking fees on both ends and probably storage fees in the winter when harbors ice up, but the only thing stopping you is money and weather.
Of course you can. I mean, you can buy a car to do the same thing you just have to pay for tolls and parking and the like.
So you'd have to pay for docking fees on both ends and probably storage fees in the winter when harbors ice up, but the only thing stopping you is money and weather.
i guess im looking for a bit more than "yes you can." like how long it would take to do the ride and what are potential risks (like weather). i dont know anything so an answer like "depends on the boat" would be less useful than "an x boat will travel at x speed and get you there in x minutes."
It always depends on the boat. The motor size, the streamlining of the boat, and mostly the conditions. Calm seas mean you're going to go faster than a current that's working against you. And, because the harbor is an estuary, the time of tides are going to change daily, you can't leave every morning at 8 AM and expect the cruise to be the same, might have a headwind coming around a corner or a tailwind combined with an outgoing tide. Every day is going to be different, and all of that is going to contribute to fuel efficiency, and thus, your costs.
But estimate 20 MPH for your average motor boat that would be considered affordable*. Where you're going and how long it will take I leave as an exercise for the reader.
* Boats are humorously regarded as "holes in the water that you throw money," so be aware that affordability is going to vary.
It always depends on the boat. The motor size, the streamlining of the boat, and mostly the conditions. Calm seas mean you're going to go faster than a current that's working against you. And, because the harbor is an estuary, the time of tides are going to change daily, you can't leave every morning at 8 AM and expect the cruise to be the same, might have a headwind coming around a corner or a tailwind combined with an outgoing tide. Every day is going to be different, and all of that is going to contribute to fuel efficiency, and thus, your costs.
But estimate 20 MPH for your average motor boat that would be considered affordable*. Where you're going and how long it will take I leave as an exercise for the reader.
* Boats are humorously regarded as "holes in the water that you throw money," so be aware that affordability is going to vary.
its really more about whether or not it is a convenient option than price. i work with my brother so we could split the costs.
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