suggestions on where to move in north jersey please (Union City: condos, house)
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well we have lived in jersey city for 7 years now and are looking to move and possibly buy.
some suggestions for areas or town in nyc metro area would be great. i am not too familiar with areas outside of jersey city hoboken edgewater weehawken...
homes in low 200's- i know its possible now with the market the way it is....
family friendly
good schools.. we have a 2 yr old
reasonable commute to the city up to 45 min to hour
not too suburby
we like diversity.. i am white husband is Indian
something with some character
anyway we are open to all possibilities
thanks for your input!
It's not impossible to find what you're looking for, but your best bet would be to start your research now, in terms of getting to know the different towns in the area, while continuing to save up your down payment (ideally, you are going to want to save 20% of the purchase price for your down payment). The great thing for someone in your shoes is that home prices in most of Northern NJ are predicted to fall 25% by this time next year, so it's actually a great time to get to know the area. We had a thread discussion about the expected fall in home prices recently, here:
By this time next year, many areas that may seem out of reach today will be more affordable, which is a good thing. You definitely do not want to overstretch your budget to buy a house that will be sinking in value!
I would suggest that you prepare yourself for a 1 hour to 1.5 hour commute (door-to-door) to NYC, depending on exactly where in NYC you will be working.
A great place to start getting an idea of towns to look at is the NJ Transit website, where you can see the map of the NJ Transit train system and get an idea of what towns are in your geographic range in terms of proximity to your job.
You'll want to look at towns where the station-to-station train trip to NYC is around 45 minutes (so that when you add in all the other parts of the commute you can stay under 1.5 hours). You can also check buses that NJ Transit runs into Manhattan, but I don't know much about them.
In terms of towns to check out for now, I'd take a look at Rahway, Woodbridge, South Orange, Maplewood, Fanwood, Lyndhurst, Union Township, but there are many others - I'm sure people will have other suggestions. Maybe visit one town each Saturday afternoon over the next few months, walk around, drive around, try to get a feel for the area.
Remember -- some of these places may seem out of reach for now, but prices are falling around here, so don't get discouraged. Keep saving, keep getting to know the area, and I think you will find something that works for you by this time next year.
Check out Weehawken. Probably one of few areas in North Jersey that comes close to matching your requirements.
1. Low 200s – 2 bedroom condos in older buildings and occasionally a house in the Shades are available in this range. Nothing fancy available at these prices though.
2. Family friendly – Above average library and decent town recreation programs, but fewer young moms around town compared to other waterfront neighborhoods in Hudson County.
3. Good schools – Public school test scores are in line with or slightly better than state average. High school ranks 119 out of 316 public high schools in New Jersey says NJ Monthly magazine. A lot better than surrounding school districts (Hoboken, West New York, Union City) but definitely not one of the state’s top districts.
4. Reasonable commute to city up to 45 min to hour – Door-to-door commute to and from midtown in 30-50 minutes. Probably takes around 1 hour to get to most downtown locations.
5. Not too suburby – Some old, well-kept suburban enclaves (Kings Bluff) surrounded by dense urban neighborhoods.
6. Diversity – Large Hispanic minority and growing Asian population. Lots of Italians and Cubans who have lived in town for decades.
7. Character – Is old school town with gentler feel than most parts of Hudson County, but lacks fancy architecture and has Lincoln Tunnel entrance. Not sure if that is having character or not.
"There is another region where the worst may be to come: New York City-area metros. Housing values in [Essex County, Hunterdon County, Morris County, Sussex County, and Union County] could fall 26%. Likewise, [Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Ocean County, and Somerset County] is also among the mid-sized metro areas expected to see the steepest drops this year."
Oh, no doubt. And nearly all of the things that could happen are drastically worse than a 25% fall in housing prices in NJ. We'll be lucky if that's as bad as it gets.
Ho-hum, another day, another announcement of hundreds of billions of dollars to be flushed down the toilet by the govt, another 5% drop in the stock market.
Un-friggin'-precedented -- that's the territory we are in now.
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