Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
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
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.
That’s a big house, most towns with short commute are older and have smaller houses on smaller lots. The towns with the big houses, or the few big houses in the older towns will be much more money. Tenafly, short hills, fort lee, maybe Ridgewood, fits your requirements but a large house not on a Main Street would start at 1.5. Wayne, oradell or Paramus for a little longer commute with larger on average homes
Briefly there are many towns and local neighborhoods were you are not expected to shell out a million. Yikes I haven't bought real estate since 1.25 acres and a nice house with breathtaking views was $75k,,, I know, that was 1980's but now its 3 to 4 times that.
Briefly there are many towns and local neighborhoods were you are not expected to shell out a million. Yikes I haven't bought real estate since 1.25 acres and a nice house with breathtaking views was $75k,,, I know, that was 1980's but now its 3 to 4 times that.
So where can I buy a nice house on 1.25 acres with great views, good schools and a 75 minute commute to my office in midtown for 600k? Would love to hear your specific town recommendations. Are you selling?
So where can I buy a nice house on 1.25 acres with great views, good schools and a 75 minute commute to my office in midtown for 600k? Would love to hear your specific town recommendations. Are you selling?
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.
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...
So where can I buy a nice house on 1.25 acres with great views, good schools and a 75 minute commute to my office in midtown for 600k? Would love to hear your specific town recommendations. Are you selling?
First thing that comes to mind is Avenue A, near downtown in Bayonne, NJ. Right on the river. I could be wrong.
OP, I think somewhere in Hudson County would do almost perfect for you. Maybe around Palisade Ave in Jersey City, bordering Union City ?
...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.
Last edited by JaRuss01; 09-30-2018 at 09:55 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
