Frustrated about the cost of living in NJ ...small vent

Soon_2B_MrsM · April 2010

Ok so I live in NJ (Southern) and yesterday i was helping a friend of mine find a new house in the suburbs outside of Atlanta GA....(online)

The houses that normally sell in NJ for $300,000 Were literally half price (brand new construction!) WTF?

I am so annoyed because here my DH and I are struggling to find a nice house (we currently live in a apt paying 900 per month!) SO we really want to buy as soon as this lease is up, however getting approved for a decent mortgage is hard because I am on unemployment right now (laid off from my Marketing position at BRU) So we are only using my DH's info mind you he has perfect credit and a pretty good salary, but they are counting his student loans against him along with the car payments....grrrr If we could move to GA we could get a gorgeous house with the mortgages that we get approved for...I really want a nice place for our LO...sigh Confused

lolc · April 2010

What's stopping you from moving to GA? Could DH get a job there?

I know how you feel! I'm from NJ - born and raised. I left for college in FL at 18 and didn't look back (but I admit I MISS NJ, mostly for the seasons!) I grew up in Ocean County. I know how crazy house prices are!! And TAXES.... O.M.G. Insane! That's what gets most of my friends who still live up there.

Southern NJ is expensive but not nearly as expensive as northern or even central NJ. It is crazy though.... when you compare what you can get in location A versus location B for the same price! It's depressing!! Even living in FL.... I look to the even lower COL living places like certain areas of the Carolinas, and I'm like O.M.G - I can get double the square footage for what I have here! AGGGHHH!

shellyxo · April 2010

Awww I am so sorry.

My husband was quiet surprise by the cost of living in the Midwest compared to California. We bought a really nice ranch house for only $160,000. If we bought a similar house in California, it would be twice or maybe even triple that price. (depending on area)

mcdmaw · April 2010

I know an even cheaper place-- Missouri! My three bedroom, 2 bath was $30,000 as a foreclosure. Median housing price in my town is maybe $50,000. We are looking to probably move to NC and I am a little shocked at how much houses in town are!!!

618mom22boys · April 2010

I could never live there! Your rent is more than our house payment.

LadyDelilah · April 2010

I feel your pain when DH and I were renting a 2be2ba it was 1800$ a month. when we bought we bought new for 5k and have lost half of that value in the time we have been here...

girlintheworld · April 2010

Tell me about it! Living in NJ is not easy to do financially at all. Our taxes are astronomical and house prices are just insane. Good luck in your search...be sure to look at Cherry Hill. There are some great houses in that area and the taxes weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. The public schools are some of the best in the country!

KathrynBurkart · April 2010

We feel your pain. We're not too far from you but in PA. A single family house in our area goes for $400K. We own a townhouse but there are times I wished we lived in a less expensive area so we could have a single family home.

KatieC06 · April 2010

I live in SJ too. Gloucester county as well. I understand your frustration. It's drastically different even right over the bridge in PA.

Laura_Lee · April 2010

I feel your pain. I moved to Jersey from Iowa 3 years ago, and if I hadn't met and married my husband here I would have gotten out of this state right away! I can't believe how expensive everything is. Not just housing, but car insurance is insane here too! I had full coverage on my car in Iowa for $45 a month. Here it's $150 just for liability!

Once our "house fund" is complete, we're headed to Delaware. Still close to family, but lower property taxes, cheaper insurance, etc... It just doesn't make sense to live in New Jersey anymore. The crime problem is ridiculous, traffic is insane, and we pay tons of money every year to live in a tiny run down apartment in a not-so-great neighborhood. Frankly, I can't wait to get out of here!

haileysmommy0915 · April 2010

I know your pain thankfully we do own a home in south jersey.Yes are house prices are high but did you know we have the highest property taxes too.I always tell dh we should move to florida but its really just talk all our family lives here so it would be hard. To be honest its cheaper to rent in Jersey my mortagage is three times that.Good luck and try looking at foreclosures.

delg23 · April 2010

heck yea! I'm frustrated by it too. I lived in NJ for 5 years. Now I live in NYC. but in one year I'm moving back to Florida where I'm from. We considered moving to NJ from NYC but its still so expensive and our commute would be yucky!

Yules · April 2010

Our rent in the downtown section of Jersey City was $1200 for a 1br. The reason we pay a lot more then other states is solely for proximity to NYC. If you live in south jersey, you might as well move over the border to PA. You'll be able to get more for your money. Also, once you get past New Paltz in Upstate NY prices decline too.

JMCAVC · April 2010

I completely understand. I've lived in NJ all my life and when DH and I purchased our home in 2002 we "stole" it because of how the market tanked after 9/11. We put 40% down and have a reasonable mortgage including taxes. What also helps is that DH and I have no real debt (except for my small student loan which is almost paid off) so we can save for "emergencies." After some renovations, we have excellent equity which can only help us sometime in the future if we ever decide to sell. We are in a lake community and have a beautiful lake view which it seems we pay extra taxes for and, of course, lake dues which creep up every year. However, I'd never leave this state. My parents and my sister live across the lake from me and all my relatives and closest friends are all within 1/2 hour or so drive. Yes, it's expensive and taxes, insurance, cost of living, etc. are high, but it's the price we pay to live in a beautiful and safe area. I love the seasons and the school system in my town is wonderful (I went through it when I was a kid). If there is nothing keeping you here and you really loved GA, what's stopping you from looking in that area? Just make sure you find a reputable realtor.

Good luck!

Mrs.Ortega81409 · April 2010

like a few other people said, it's even worse up here in North Jersey. $900 wouldn't get you a decent apartment up here and the prices for houses are pretty crazy, even with the market being what it is. we are trying to buy a house right now too and it's so disappointing. I could never move since I am far too attached to my family...but if you can move then you should! I would love it if we all moved to somewhere more affordable...and the weather in GA would be nice too

BecExpecting · April 2010

I'm chiming in here a little late, but yeah, I totally feel your pain. My husband and I were looking to buy a condo last summer, and a 2br1ba could be anywhere from $200,000 - $500,000 in our neighborhood. A CONDO, not even a house. So there'd be assessments and stuff on top of the mortgage. Ridic.

And around the same time, my cousin who lives in South Florida recently bought a 3br2ba house with a 2-car garage and pool for like $160,000.

I was super jealous but my cousin is a great guy, recently married, and deserves happiness.

reghans · April 2010

Feeling your pain! We just moved to Burlington County, NJ and are renting a house right now. This is our third state in 4.5 years so renting until we know for sure we are staying for a while. However, we pay $2900/month. Granted we live in a great neighborhood right by the school, but it is ridiculous! We have friends in Atlanta and we were really hoping to move there as well before this promotion to NJ happened. It is unbelievable the difference. Good luck and I hope you find something nice and affordable soon!

monica92603 · April 2010

Just like a PP said, to us it's worth it to live here b/c we are close to everything! We're in Someset County (central Jersey) and it's close to Philly and NYC, close to the mountains for skiing and the beaches and about 90% of our family and friends are in state w/in an hour.

We own a town house now and have a decent mortgage b/c we refi'd last year and got an awesome rate. We hope to get a lot more equity in the next 5 years and move a little further northwest-ish where the properties are bigger and you get a lot more bang for your buck.

Yeah, taxes blow....A LOT! I pay well over 5k for my townhouse and the house we're looking at will probably have taxes between 8-10k by the time we move. We're USED to it b/c we've lived here all our lives. We don't know any better. Another thing is I think salaries are pretty comparable to this area. I don't think we would make nearly as much if we started somewhere else.

If we weren't so obsessed w/ the area I think it would be cool to live somewhere else, but Jersey is in our blood Best of luck!

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