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We are looking to move to Westfield NJ. Our goal is to stay in this house for 3-5 years and then move to a bigger house further out in the suburbs. Because we do not plan to be in this house for a long time, we are looking for a home that is desirable and will ideally be easy to sell. So we decided on Westfield because of the great location and town. Is there a big difference between the North and South side - is the North really more desirable than the South? If so why? Are houses on the South side that are close to the Clark border less desirable?
with such a short timeframe already planned, why not just rent? then you can move when you want to and you dont have to worry about finding someone to buy your place. you dont have to worry about the value dropping, maintenance, realtor commission, etc.
We are looking to move to Westfield NJ. Our goal is to stay in this house for 3-5 years and then move to a bigger house further out in the suburbs. Because we do not plan to be in this house for a long time, we are looking for a home that is desirable and will ideally be easy to sell. So we decided on Westfield because of the great location and town. Is there a big difference between the North and South side - is the North really more desirable than the South? If so why? Are houses on the South side that are close to the Clark border less desirable?
A realtor gave me an interesting anecdote about this -- according to him, historically the less desirable area would be on the south, because that was where all the soot from the railway line went.
I agree with the captain's comment -- if you have a 3-5 year time horizon, the case for buying is weak. You may be better off renting, or buying your second house now, and skipping the "starter". Run the numbers and you'll see that your transaction costs would make it cheaper to rent even under normal circumstances -- but todays are not normal circumstances. Money is cheap now (<5% rates). Rate increases could push prices down further, at best prices will stagnate as the cost of borrowing increases.
I have an anecdote that is somewhat relevant -- I know of a place that went under contract for about 10% less than purchase price in 2006. The owner will need to bring cash to closing -- not only to cover the loss of their down payment, but to cover some substantial termite damage repair issues that their inspector missed (must have missed, because most of the damage was done well before 2006) but the buyers inspector found. So they stayed in this place for 3 years, and are sitting on a place that is worth 40k less than when they bought it, and they are sitting on what looks like 15k-30k of repairs they weren't aware of when they purchased. And don't forget that they need to pay around 20k or more in realtor commissions, plus some more in attorney fees, etc. So they either negotiate with the bank, or they're out of pocket by about 75-90k over 3 years (and we haven't even started to count their borrowing costs and property taxes -- probably another 100k or so)
i'm looking in westfield now. i think it really depends on your price range. there's nothing wrong with the south side, it's just generally that the homes are smaller and closer together.
my guess would be that the homes near the clark border would be considered less desirable relative to other parts of westfield.
Is there a big difference between the North and South side - is the North really more desirable than the South? If so why? Are houses on the South side that are close to the Clark border less desirable?
There are many large and nice house on the South side close to Clark. One of the issues affecting this area is that if you are in the Southeast corner of town borded by Clark and Cranford, kids must cross Central Avenue to attend any of the schools. A traffic light is being installed, but if a child has an afterschool activity, it may be a little more difficult getting home especially in the dark when the crossing guards are not around. It's also at least 1.5 miles to the high school from this area. Overall, it is a very nice area. I used to live in that area for 10 years.
One more question - is there a big difference in resale value in Westfield of 3 bedrooms vs. 4 bedrooms? Is there a limit on how much a person would spend on a 3 bedroom - regardless of the upgrades? Thank you for your replies. Definitely gave me some food for thought. I guess I'm just so used to the real estate market being a safe place - need to think differently now.
A realtor gave me an interesting anecdote about this -- according to him, historically the less desirable area would be on the south, because that was where all the soot from the railway line went.
I agree with the captain's comment -- if you have a 3-5 year time horizon, the case for buying is weak. You may be better off renting, or buying your second house now, and skipping the "starter". Run the numbers and you'll see that your transaction costs would make it cheaper to rent even under normal circumstances -- but todays are not normal circumstances. Money is cheap now (<5% rates). Rate increases could push prices down further, at best prices will stagnate as the cost of borrowing increases.
I have an anecdote that is somewhat relevant -- I know of a place that went under contract for about 10% less than purchase price in 2006. The owner will need to bring cash to closing -- not only to cover the loss of their down payment, but to cover some substantial termite damage repair issues that their inspector missed (must have missed, because most of the damage was done well before 2006) but the buyers inspector found. So they stayed in this place for 3 years, and are sitting on a place that is worth 40k less than when they bought it, and they are sitting on what looks like 15k-30k of repairs they weren't aware of when they purchased. And don't forget that they need to pay around 20k or more in realtor commissions, plus some more in attorney fees, etc. So they either negotiate with the bank, or they're out of pocket by about 75-90k over 3 years (and we haven't even started to count their borrowing costs and property taxes -- probably another 100k or so)
This is amazing. I am looking in Westfield and it seems that owners are delusional. They overprice their homes beyond belief, even with existing, sometimes, major problems. Its a lovely town, and some homes are great, but the prices are insane, especially given the fact that home sales are down again significantly.
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