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jab
Citizen
Username: Jab
Post Number: 545
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 9:54 am: | 
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I am half thinking about selling my house due to the trend of significant tax increases every year. While I love Maplewood, I am worried that we are close to the point where nobody will buy our house due to how much the taxes are. Any thoughts on this? Will it be impossible to sell houses in Maplewood soon? |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4642
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 9:58 am: |
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I suppose if there were a lot of places where property taxes went down every year ... which there aren't... |
jab
Citizen
Username: Jab
Post Number: 546
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 10:03 am: |
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I'm not talking about taxes going down, but staying more level or at least not jumping more than a $1000 every year. I grew up in NJ and in my entire childhood (i.e, through the early to mid 90s) my parents only had one significant increase in their real property taxes. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7080
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 10:10 am: |
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I've been thinking that for a few years. But, it is still cheaper to pay ~$800k for a house with $20k taxes (and easier to find) than an apartment in the city, with fewer rooms, no yard, etc. I think that may be why we are seeing so many families from NY buying here.
That said, I think that people will be much pickier about plunking down that kind of money. The market is not what it used to be. For these prices, your house had better be pretty spectacular, in the world's greatest location and definitely not a fixer-upper.
The question is, where are you going to go? I think that when we sell, it's bye-bye NJ. Development is rampant in western and southern NJ, there are no towns with "community feel" and I have a coworker who lives in Lawrenceville and still felt she had to send her kid to private school. |
kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 1106
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 10:12 am: |
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As long as maintenance fees in NYC apartment buildings remain higher that our taxes you will ALWAYS find a buyer.
Many folks looking to buy here still view the taxes as a bargain. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 13262
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 10:20 am: |
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The population is increasing more quickly than the number of available homes in the area. The desire to move into the area is constant over all upturns and downturns. Housing prices may regulate that desire, but they don't wipe it out.
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IShep
Citizen
Username: Twinsmom
Post Number: 165
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 11:03 am: |
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We sold and moved (2 hours away) because of this--but we didn't need to be near Manhattan anymore. I think as long as you have to/want to live near Manhattan, there is no better bet than staying in MA/SO. We certainly loved many things about MA/SO, but couldn't afford to live there anymore since we wanted to become a single-income household. Also, we felt that it was a good time to move because our home had appreciated so much and we took advantage of that and ended up with an incredibly low mortgage in a great house with great schools! Actually, we are paying less per month than we did on our first apartment in Park Slope in '95! I also think that the proximity and transportation to NYC and the low housing inventory in MA/SO will most likely mean that selling will not be too difficult, even when the so-called real estate bubble bursts or deflates. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7083
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 11:34 am: |
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I agree, as long as people are realistic and don't get greedy. I know of two houses with insane prices that have been sitting for almost a year. One hasn't been touched (except for paint and carpet) since the 1950s. It's near the pool and was originally listed at $595k, went down to $569k and I don't know what's up with it now. But, it's still on the market. It needs a new kitchen and two new bathrooms, so you add a conservative $100k. |
Bettina
Citizen
Username: Bettina
Post Number: 136
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 1:56 pm: |
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I'm curious where you moved to Ishep, if you don't mind saying. Sounds like you're happy. |
hch
Citizen
Username: Hch
Post Number: 235
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 2:28 pm: |
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Market dynamics force buyers/sellers to build the cost of taxes into the price of the house. Maplewood's home values would probably be higher if our tax rate was not as high.
Towns like Millburn, Summit, & Chatham have lower tax rates but much higher home prices for comparable houses.
It's all trade off. |
Josh Holtz
Citizen
Username: Jholtz
Post Number: 359
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 2:43 pm: |
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Taxes will not deter prospective buyers from moving to M/SO. IMO both towns still have some of the best home values in all of Essex County and those towns along the rail. |
IShep
Citizen
Username: Twinsmom
Post Number: 166
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 2:49 pm: |
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Bettina,
We moved to Chadds Ford, PA, in the Brandywine Valley. It's about a half hour from Philly and on the Delaware border. It's beautiful here (many old farms, stone houses, etc.)...and to us, coming from NY/NJ, it feels like the country, though there is a lot to do here. Plus, I have a Trader Joes 2 miles away!
It's a great place to just visit too--and we're only 2 hours from NYC so we still make it up there about once per month or so.
We sort of just happened upon this area, starting our search around Philly (we like being near a city and we prefer the northeast) and its surrounding areas. It's also less diverse than MA/SO--at least it seems so on the surface. At my kids school there is no AA population to speak of, though we do have quite a few kids from India, Pakistan, China, Macedonia, and Spain.
So, though there are things we simply won't have here and will always miss (as compared to MA/SO), these get trumped by the fact that I can continue to work from home and my husband can be a SAHD, at least for the next few years (we plan to switch off at some point), and also because we dramatically lowered our living expenses.
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Cynicalgirl
Citizen
Username: Cynicalgirl
Post Number: 2554
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 3:43 pm: |
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I love the Chadds Ford area. I'm a former Delawarean, and one of my coworkers lives there, and commutes to our JC NJ office twice a month. Another guy is from Wilmington DE and we're all still homesick. Really beautfiful and close to Philly and stuff. *sigh* have cheesesteak for me, or some good stuffed mushrooms... |
IShep
Citizen
Username: Twinsmom
Post Number: 167
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 4:00 pm: |
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I will Cynicalgirl--it's funny, I had to develop a taste for them, but I have! The hardest part has been finding a decent bagel store. We all miss Sonny's (especially the kids). All our NY/NJ friends thought we were insane to move out here...until they visited. |
cppkqp
Citizen
Username: Cppkqp
Post Number: 111
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 4:50 pm: |
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Before we bought our home, my husband and I thought a lot about what the long-term value of real estate in MA/SO might be. The proximity to NYC clearly provides a certain amount of insurance against a down market, barring something major and out of our control. We think Maplewood will fare well, just as Great Neck, on Long Island has: similar commute, high taxes, good schools, etc. Great Neck's property values have risen, last I checked, and there's plenty of demand thanks to the combination of a decent commute and a nice community despite the taxes. |
Natb
Citizen
Username: Natb
Post Number: 114
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 8:59 pm: |
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IShep
As I'm reading your post I feel like I'm looking in the mirror. My husband and I are meeting with realtors this week about selling our Maplewood home and moving to Avondale, PA. We would like a bigger home with more property and my husband is from Wilmington, DE so it seemed like a natural fit. My husband is also trying to do the working from home thing and coming up to Jersey once a week or so. |
Joe R.
Citizen
Username: Ragnatela
Post Number: 358
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 10:21 pm: |
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Jab-The increases are painful, but if your taxes went up $1,000 last year, they must have been 20K to begin with. Maplewood has had 5% annual increases for the past three years on average. Five Pct is not good, but I think 3-5% is pretty average just about anywhere around here. |
IShep
Citizen
Username: Twinsmom
Post Number: 168
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 11:13 pm: |
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Natb...sure, I know where Avondale is. It isn't too far from us. We saw some homes close to Avondale in Kennett Square that were really nice, but I needed to be closer to the airport.
Good luck in making the decision. It isn't always easy! My attitude was that if it didn't work out we could do something else. If you end up deciding to make the move I'm sure you won't have a hard time selling in Maplewood or finding what you're looking for out here. We bought a home with a couple of acres of land--and it does feel perfect to us.
Also, I know this is really insane, but one of our neighbors drives up to NYC on Tues. and comes home on Thurs. or Fri. depending on his work week. He has been doing this for 8 years! Yikes! |
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