I have been looking for 8 months. (Edison, Union: rentals, buying a house, buying)

[RJFani]

Hi, I been a reader of this forum and have valued certain contributions some of you have made in threads. I have been looking for a home in central new jersey for 8 months and have found 3 that I loved but went for higher than my bid.

I was hoping you can help me broaden my search or assure my initial instincts reflect what I am after.

My price range: After all renovations (if any are needed) $420k

Areas of Interest: Sayreville, Old Bridge, Woodbridge, Fords, Monroe, Marlboro, Matawan, Nutley, Montclair or anywhere which has a 45 minute commute to manhattan.

Structure: I would like 1980 or newer if a home, or 2000 or newer if a townhouse. 3br 2.5 bth Garage. Basement a plus. 1900sg ft or more AND TAXES BETWEEN $7000-$8600. Master suite a must


Objective: Nice home for a 26 year old like myself for 5 years with good resale value


Any ideas if there is somewhere else I can look that would suite my needs?

I have liked Heritage Woods (Amber Model), BridgePointe (Eaton Model), The Landings (End Unit), and Cedar Ridge homes (Matawan)

[MoorestownResident]

You can find what you are looking for in Edison and Piscataway. And look in Bridgewater.

[RJFani]

What sort of Mass Transit is provided for a commute to manhattan for work? I ruled out Bridgewater for that reason. Edison is out of my pricerange compared to other homes in areas that I've listed. But I would liek Bridgewater if commuting wasn't bad.

[Just1Lion]

Originally Posted by RJFani

What sort of Mass Transit is provided for a commute to manhattan for work? I ruled out Bridgewater for that reason. Edison is out of my pricerange compared to other homes in areas that I've listed. But I would liek Bridgewater if commuting wasn't bad.

edison is not really desirable anyways, other than the access to trains. kind of dingy, lots of rentals. not the whole town, but enough.

[Newarkbomb]

Good for you
Young and owing with a great budget.

From looking at your towns, Montclair and Nutley are more North Jersey but are overall nice towns. But the two towns are murderous when it comes to property taxes... Montclair for you is great because it's great for young people who are usually out and about.
From my experiences in Marlboro it is a very family oriented town, it's very quiet and they usually have something going on for families durng all sorts of holidays... Nice Town

More Suggestion I'd recomend is Springfield, Kenilworth, Colonia, Scotch Plains and Fanwood.
Good luck!

[Lusitan]

Montclair is cool. Try Maplewood and South Orange too (again, property taxes are an issue, but that's most of NJ).

Prices are going down, so keep that in mind -- we'll probably see price declines through 2011.

[JG183]

pay no mind to Loosey, the bottom was reached in Nov. 2008

[Jillian Mason]

Before reaching the end of your post, I'd have said Heritage Woods. You can also try Aspen Woods in Matawan.

[AnthonyB]

How on earth is the commute to Manhattan from Marlboro or Matawan anywhere near 45 minutes? Are we discounting actual door to door stuff?

For the OP's age range, I agree, Montclair would have more to offer. Taxes are a killer there though. As someone mentioned - Union County shouldn't be discounted. Maybe Cranford although that is still a bit more family oriented.

[RobRiguez]

Why do you say only for 5 years? If your on such a timeline why buy at all? IMO Prices are not going to go up enough to make it worthwhile. Buying a house should be a long term plan.