Totally Frustrating...

I just need to vent... DH and I went neighborhood shopping today. We haven't even GOT to the part about finding a home because we simply cannot agree on where to live. We both feel like we are settling because we can't afford to spend $500k on a house... the areas we can afford are OK but it's still a little of a let down. I guess we knew we'd have to compromise on what we wanted and what was important to us, but I guess we didn't realize we'd have to compromise so much...

At this point, I'd rather just continue to rent in an area I'm happy with than have to move to an area that is so far and out of the way just so we can have 'equity'... I mean, is it really worth it to have to move so far away from all our friends and family b/c we can't afford where we want to be?

The whole this is just so frustrating. On top of it all, I'm writing my business plan so I can start it up once I graduate and get my MBA- and it's just a lot to have on your plate at one time.. school, planning a business and future (and having kids) and then trying to find a house... ugh....

Just had to vent.

We had a similar problem. We couldn't afford what we wanted in the area we wanted to live. So we decided to buy a 2 bedroom co-op in an area we loved, build some equity, live here for 5 years, and then buy the house in the area we love when we know we will be able to afford it.

It is so hard...I truly understand your frustration. Is maybe buying smaller home or condo type home at first in one of your top area choices an option.? There are just so many benefits of owning property if you can.

Good luck

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Posted by Chloegirl

We had a similar problem. We couldn't afford what we wanted in the area we wanted to live. So we decided to buy a 2 bedroom co-op in an area we loved, build some equity, live here for 5 years, and then buy the house in the area we love when we know we will be able to afford it.

It is so hard...I truly understand your frustration. Is maybe buying smaller home or condo type home at first in one of your top area choices an option.? There are just so many benefits of owning property if you can.

Good luck

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I totally agree! You can't go wrong with buying a home, even if it's not in your ideal location...live there for a few years, like Chloegirl said, maybe 5, and then upgrade to your ideal location.
It seems like that's how so many people end up in these beautiful homes in fantastic locations, it's their second, or third home.

we are about to throw in the towel and rent one more year...we may not have a choice if nothing comes up in the areas we finally decided on...

it's crazy, 500K for a shack 1+ hours from the city. Over time we have sorta figured out where we will compromise as there is no way we will get what we would want.

our plan is to keep looking and looking until we find something. come fall if nothing has materialized we will switch gears and come up with another plan.

I don't know. I know it's good to own, but if our quality of life goes down because of it, is it really worth it? The condo/co-op thing is an option. We are going to start making contacts with realtors and putting our names out there in certain areas. Montclair, NJ is interesting... but we found out it has the highest per-capita taxes in the country.. we saw a $250k condo with $7k/year taxes. Unbelievable. The town does have everything I want.. a 'real' town center- not just strip malls and convenient access to NYC.

My only problem with getting a condo (that would have to be 2 bedrooms) is I don't trust the market. If we bought a home we can be in for 10 years fine- we can wait out any potential cycle in the market. However, if we get something small- like a 2 bedroom condo, then we may be making a risky investment- if we go to move and suddenly the market shifts, we could have a problem... Of course, if we bought a condo this would probably happen because this is the type of luck we have...

We'll see- we both don't want to live too far out from the city. All our friends are all over the place, so at this point it's just staying as close as we can to family without living in the same state (DH REFUSES to move to LI)...

ugh.

I don't know.
DH works in NJ so we have to stay close enough for him to get to work and me to get to the city..

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Posted by Sassyz75

I don't know. I know it's good to own, but if our quality of life goes down because of it, is it really worth it? The condo/co-op thing is an option. We are going to start making contacts with realtors and putting our names out there in certain areas. Montclair, NJ is interesting... but we found out it has the highest per-capita taxes in the country.. we saw a $250k condo with $7k/year taxes. Unbelievable. The town does have everything I want.. a 'real' town center- not just strip malls and convenient access to NYC.

My only problem with getting a condo (that would have to be 2 bedrooms) is I don't trust the market. If we bought a home we can be in for 10 years fine- we can wait out any potential cycle in the market. However, if we get something small- like a 2 bedroom condo, then we may be making a risky investment- if we go to move and suddenly the market shifts, we could have a problem... Of course, if we bought a condo this would probably happen because this is the type of luck we have...

We'll see- we both don't want to live too far out from the city. All our friends are all over the place, so at this point it's just staying as close as we can to family without living in the same state (DH REFUSES to move to LI)...

ugh.

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we are in the same boat as you...i feel your pain!

we wanted the same town center, but realize we may have to make that compromise for our first place. we are looking in new providence and berkeley heights because we are priced out of summit (where we would want to be). summit is just a quick hop in the car though...

we liked westfield also because of the town center and everything is supposedly aimed to be walkable distance, however the commute to the city leaves much to be desired for us.

i think montclair is cool, taxes are way out of control. our friend who lives in glen ridge says his taxes are higher than his mortgage at this point , he bought the place over 10 years ago (lucky ******* )

we found a 3 bedroom condo/townhouse in madison that we could ride out a wave if the market turns to ****. the seller wouldn't take our offer though, as far as i know he hasn't taken any other offers either...

you are not alone!

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Posted by september2004

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Posted by Sassyz75

I don't know. I know it's good to own, but if our quality of life goes down because of it, is it really worth it? The condo/co-op thing is an option. We are going to start making contacts with realtors and putting our names out there in certain areas. Montclair, NJ is interesting... but we found out it has the highest per-capita taxes in the country.. we saw a $250k condo with $7k/year taxes. Unbelievable. The town does have everything I want.. a 'real' town center- not just strip malls and convenient access to NYC.

My only problem with getting a condo (that would have to be 2 bedrooms) is I don't trust the market. If we bought a home we can be in for 10 years fine- we can wait out any potential cycle in the market. However, if we get something small- like a 2 bedroom condo, then we may be making a risky investment- if we go to move and suddenly the market shifts, we could have a problem... Of course, if we bought a condo this would probably happen because this is the type of luck we have...

We'll see- we both don't want to live too far out from the city. All our friends are all over the place, so at this point it's just staying as close as we can to family without living in the same state (DH REFUSES to move to LI)...

ugh.

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we are in the same boat as you...i feel your pain!

we wanted the same town center, but realize we may have to make that compromise for our first place. we are looking in new providence and berkeley heights because we are priced out of summit (where we would want to be). summit is just a quick hop in the car though...

we liked westfield also because of the town center and everything is supposedly aimed to be walkable distance, however the commute to the city leaves much to be desired for us.

i think montclair is cool, taxes are way out of control. our friend who lives in glen ridge says his taxes are higher than his mortgage at this point , he bought the place over 10 years ago (lucky ******* )

we found a 3 bedroom condo/townhouse in madison that we could ride out a wave if the market turns to ****. the seller wouldn't take our offer though, as far as i know he hasn't taken any other offers either...

you are not alone!

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thanks for understanding.. it makes me feel a little better to know that me and DH aren't alone....

Hopefully we'll find something eventually... because my DH is from Florida he finds it SO hard to believe how IMPOSSIBLE IT IS to buy something for $250k!

Dina, you know where I am ... i won't even suggest it

But what about Ramsey? Is that what you would consider too far? I believe there are two Metro North stations there now off Route 17, to Hoboken and of course now the transfer in Secaucus to Penn.

Ramsey, NJ

Thanks for the suggestion Kate but Ramsey is WAY out of our price range.. I did a search on Realtor.com for houses under $300k and the only thing that came up was rentals and a co-op studio!

Back to the drawing board.

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Posted by september2004

we are about to throw in the towel and rent one more year...we may not have a choice if nothing comes up in the areas we finally decided on...

it's crazy, 500K for a shack 1+ hours from the city. Over time we have sorta figured out where we will compromise as there is no way we will get what we would want.

our plan is to keep looking and looking until we find something. come fall if nothing has materialized we will switch gears and come up with another plan.

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The house around the corner from me (directly behnind us) is for sale....you could come be my neighbor

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Posted by Sassyz75

My only problem with getting a condo (that would have to be 2 bedrooms) is I don't trust the market. If we bought a home we can be in for 10 years fine- we can wait out any potential cycle in the market. However, if we get something small- like a 2 bedroom condo, then we may be making a risky investment- if we go to move and suddenly the market shifts, we could have a problem... Of course, if we bought a condo this would probably happen because this is the type of luck we have...

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We are grappling with that issue right now too. We're looking in Putnam County now- we've seen some gorgeous, spacious condos but we haven't ruled out houses. There's a decent amount of inventory in our price range, but our realtor makes it sound like they will need work. So we may end up in a condo, which would not be terrible, but I too worry about resale value when the time comes, whether it be 5 years, or if we stay there for good

Montclair, Madison, Summit and Westfield are all great towns (also Chatham, Maplewood)...some of the best in NJ due to their convenience to NYC and nice town centers. (I just bought a CH colonial in Montclair...but I had owned a place in Hoboken and DH had owned a place in NYC, so we had a lot of equity/growth to find a nice place.)

I think, however, any town with such convenience/charm is going to cost you. I recommend branching out and moving to a town close to one of these towns. For example, for easy proximity to Montclair, check out Verona, Glen Ridge, Cedar Grove, the Caldwells. These are all just a 5-10 minute car ride to the Montclair town center but with lower property values and taxes.

we plan on doing the same... we found a great house in a decent area. its our starter home.... we will stay serveral years, while the kid(s) (hoping) are still little. by time its time to go to school, we would be in our ideal location. so that leaves us 5 to 6 years of time to build equity. remember, your house will only go up in value. make some minor improvements and if you were to sell it, you will benefit from it... or, you turn it around and rent it out.

we have to look some more...
and put our names out there with realtors...
While I realize that houses do increase in value, it's not a 100% certainty that they will.. the market is cyclical and there has been a lot of talk about housing costs outpacing salaries and how taxes and the AMT tax affecting areas in NY/NJ (this was just in the Times) and how this could effect prices as well.. it's complicated.