NJ real estate

[MissMinnie]

If any of you plan on moving to Florida, don't come to South Florida where I am. The average house in Palm Beach County is now $400,000. It was about $180,000 5 years ago. The average person here cannot afford to live here anymore. There is a mass exodus of teachers, police, firefighters, retail employees, service people out of the area. Now the talk is about "affordable housing" for the average person, but even affordable is too highly priced!! Of course the affordable housing discussion brings out the snobs who live in million dollar homes saying not in my backyard. They think affordable housing means slums complete with crime. Some of these people were quoted saying that in the newspapers. I am from Middletown, NJ and I know how expensive it is there now. I would love to move back to NJ, but can't afford that either! I was crying (literally) to my husband that we won't ever afford a house either. Just when we think we have enough $$$ and the time is right, we are priced out of the market again!! It is so frustrating.

 

[katerkat]

I've never understood all the complaints about car insurance in NJ - we used to be insured in NY and it was DOUBLE what we pay now.

We insure 2 cars (compact and SUV) for $300 less per year than what I paid for my one car (compact) in New Jersey.

My husband and I are saving for a down payment at our next deployed location. We joke that with what we have saved, if we get sent to Kansas, we can buy a mansion; if we get sent to Jersey, we can put a security deposit down on an apartment.

 

[Horseshoes]

In that part of NJ, real estate is out of control!! We live near Princeton and it's really not better here. As long as you're within commuting distance of NYC, everything is outrageous!!!!

I grew up in Lawrenceville, and drove thru about 4 years ago, and it has changed so much, with big huge houses built all over. I dont know of the prices but the houses sure looked nice.

 

[barbeml]

I grew up in Lawrenceville, and drove thru about 4 years ago, and it has changed so much, with big huge houses built all over. I dont know of the prices but the houses sure looked nice.

I can toss a rock out my window and have it land in Lawrenceville. Prices are just as insane as in Hopewell. They are building some Townhomes that are so close to the road there's no room for a lawn chair out back. They are going for around $500,000. Single family homes in my development have reached the $700,000 mark...all the houses are on small lots.

Of course, every time the stock market takes a dip the For Sale signs sprout like weeds. I suspect many of the folks around here are mortgaged to the hilt and maxed out on multiple credit cards.

 

[hentob]

Where do all of these people work? I take it there are not many SAHM's b/c I would imagine you would need two incomes to afford a $500k fixer upper.

Where do teachers live in NJ? Esp. the young ones that didn't buy before the prices jumped. How DO average people survive? What will happen if/when taxes go up even higher?

How do the ELDERLY survive? How do they pay their taxes on Social Security and small pensions.

I feel so sorry for you all I would have to move,

Hey, you can still BUILD a 4 bedroom/ 2+ bath on an acre for a little under $200,000K where I live

 

[jel0511]

Where do all of these people work? I take it there are not many SAHM's b/c I would imagine you would need two incomes to afford a $500k fixer upper.

Where do teachers live in NJ? Esp. the young ones that didn't buy before the prices jumped. How DO average people survive? What will happen if/when taxes go up even higher?

How do the ELDERLY survive? How do they pay their taxes on Social Security and small pensions.

I feel so sorry for you all I would have to move,

Hey, you can still BUILD a 4 bedroom/ 2+ bath on an acre for a little under $200,000K where I live

I am a stay at home mom and there are a lot here in my development. As I said, we live within commuting distance of NYC, and the salaries are higher when you work in NYC. DH commutes 1 1/2 hours each way on the train, he usually is home betweem7 and 7:30.

Sorry to answer one question, most teachers in NJ are two salary families to make ends meat. My brother and his wife both worked as teachers and were o.k. Most of the teachers in my district don't live here but about 30 minutes away in cheaper towns.

As for the elderly, I don't know. What I do know is that my taxes have gone up by about 50% since I moved here 6 years ago.

A $500k fixerupper, that's nothing around here. I've seen 1 MILLION fixxeruppers, and 750k "tear downs" as they are called here.

 

[dani0622]

How DO average people survive?

We rent!

 

[Cindy B]

I'm in Camden County and our house prices are really high as welll. Some of my more established neighbors were always snickering at us as we were the people who paid a lot for the house...

Now people are buying the same exact houses for 85-90K more! They are climbing upwards to over 100K more. Not a huge jump but still a jump, since we have only been here 2 years.

 

[LisaNJ25]

well, NJ's median income is about $56,000. We've been told and heard that if you make under $100,000 in NJ you are lower class. We make less than that but more than the median income. I had always thought we were middle class (okay lower middle class) but now people say under $100,000 is the new lower class in NJ. I can see why when in Northern and Central NJ you can't buy a decent home for under $300,000.

Well than I am the NJ Poor since my hubby works for the county. You know how that goes.. crappy pay but great benifits.

 

[dani0622]

Well than I am the NJ Poor since my hubby works for the county. You know how that goes.. crappy pay but great benifits.

I'm with ya!

 

[Sleeping~Beauty]

I am from Middletown, NJ and I know how expensive it is there now. I would love to move back to NJ, but can't afford that either! I was crying (literally) to my husband that we won't ever afford a house either.

Your not missing anything, really. It's just more congested. In Middletown they are having battles over whether to make a town center. It's in the Independent every week. We are hoping to move by the end of next year.

Where do all of these people work? I take it there are not many SAHM's b/c I would imagine you would need two incomes to afford a $500k fixer upper.

Where do teachers live in NJ? Esp. the young ones that didn't buy before the prices jumped. How DO average people survive? What will happen if/when taxes go up even higher?

I'm a SAHM, and before that I was a teacher. Hee. It's very hard. How do we survive? Good question. I think NJ is a highly stressed state.

 

[hentob]

I'm a SAHM, and before that I was a teacher. Hee. It's very hard. How do we survive? Good question. I think NJ is a highly stressed state.

Not to get too personal, but if you live in an area where the houses are close to a million dollars and you are a SAHM, what the heck do all these husbands do for a living

 

[hentob]

As for the elderly, I don't know. What I do know is that my taxes have gone up by about 50% since I moved here 6 years ago.

A $500k fixerupper, that's nothing around here. I've seen 1 MILLION fixxeruppers, and 750k "tear downs" as they are called here.

OMG--What you have shared is scary. 50%!! How does one even budget for that?

And a $1Million fixer-upper?!?!?!?!?

You Jersey people are tough cookies. That's all I'm going to say. I would have cracked by now

 

[Sleeping~Beauty]

I don't live in a million dollar home. I wish.

 

[SamRoc]

I hate what they did to colts neck nj, i mean its great if you do live in one of those million dollar homes, but it really used to be beautful horse country years ago. My brother in law moved there 12 years ago and got an older house in one of the neighborhoods, his property tax is now over $7000 a year and he said alot of people in his area pay over $12,000 taxes for the newer homes. My Aunt lives on a lake in northern new jersey and pays $12,000 taxes for lakefront property. I really dont know where it will end. Our taxes in Ocean County arent that bad, but I have a really small house there.

 

[Want2liveatWDW]

I hate what they did to colts neck nj, i mean its great if you do live in one of those million dollar homes, but it really used to be beautful horse country years ago. My brother in law moved there 12 years ago and got an older house in one of the neighborhoods, his property tax is now over $7000 a year and he said alot of people in his area pay over $12,000 taxes for the newer homes. My Aunt lives on a lake in northern new jersey and pays $12,000 taxes for lakefront property. I really dont know where it will end. Our taxes in Ocean County arent that bad, but I have a really small house there.

I know what you mean by Colts Neck. My mom and dad sold their house there back in the early 90's because the property taxes then were over $7000.
I recently sold my teeny-tiny house in Monmouth County (Highlands) where my taxes were $4000, and move to Ocean County (Bayville) where my taxes are $2700 and my house is bigger.
If I didn't have the equity in the one I sold though I never would have been able to do it.

 

[Buckalew11]

Well, reading this makes me think two things:

1) I wish my folks still had their house on LBI so we could sell it!
and 2) ya'll wouldn't like TN, nah...

 

[JVL1018]

Where do all of these people work? I take it there are not many SAHM's b/c I would imagine you would need two incomes to afford a $500k fixer upper.

Where do teachers live in NJ? Esp. the young ones that didn't buy before the prices jumped. How DO average people survive? What will happen if/when taxes go up even higher?

How do the ELDERLY survive? How do they pay their taxes on Social Security and small pensions.

I feel so sorry for you all I would have to move,

Hey, you can still BUILD a 4 bedroom/ 2+ bath on an acre for a little under $200,000K where I live

I am one of the few stay at home Moms I know..and that has nothing to do with my husbands salary, as he doesn't make a ton of money, but that my FIL was generous enough to basically give us our home.
But no, many many people cannot afford to live on one salary..and it's not that the one salary is bad, it's that houses are way too expensive.
If you bought your house 5 plus years ago you were fine, but now, forget about teachers, I know plenty of office professional types who cannot afford houses.
As for how do people survive? 2 jobs for many of them.
Elderly people are in quite a quandry. We have a friend who sold her house and moved into an apartment because the taxes were too much.

 

[dg39]

My primary residence is in Colts Neck, and I have to agree our taxes are outrageous...

 

[Tracey1974]

This is why we had to build a house in PA- we couldn't stay in NJ if we wanted to. We built a medium 3BR 2.5BA (smaller than what they are building now) home in 2002 for 154,000 and it is worth 300K. We can't really go anywhere now because the houses are getting built now for more than that. We are NJ transplants and now everyone is doing it. The traffic on Rt 78 is beyond out of control. Hubby and I both work in Piscataway (my hometown) and it takes up upwards of almost 90 minutes to get to work in the morning. It is completely ridiculous but we wouldn't have been able to buy a house in NJ- we would never be able to move back there. I feel so bad for my 23 year old brother who is trying to move out and can't go anyhere but PA.

My sister and BIL bought a tiny house (no attic or basement) in Bridgewater in 2000 for 130K and sold it on the first day it listed for 329K! Ridiculous!! They just built a house 3 times the size for 230K and now have a very low mortgage. Pretty good deal for them!