All:

Potentially moving to Parsippany, NJ (my company's home office is there).

I want to buy a house there, but looked and decided I can't afford something in Parsippany itself.

Need help from everyone with regard to good places within 10 miles of Parsippany, with home prices for 3bd, 2ba around $250k-$300k.

Also of importance would be quality of school districts if any of you know off hand. Schools are the other income-source for my fiancee'.

I'm just looking for opinions about what cities/towns/townships should I stay away from, and which are the best of that local area. Thanks in advance for everyone's help!!!

 

Maybe extend your search to the Poconos(Stroudsburg),Pa. You'll get more house for your money,lower property taxes,lower car insurance,great school districts,less congestion,cleaner air,ski resorts and most importantly,no front plate on your car.I've lived here for 8 years and commute to my teaching job in Newark,NJ.I lived in Bayonne,Nj and hated living there.I don't regret my decision to move.

 

did you try clifton,lyndhust,kearny, or newark thats where i live

 

How far is the commute from the Poconos to Newark? It seems like such a long distance looking at a road atlas, but I'm used to living in a state that's 300mi wide and 250mi long.

It seems like I should just keep looking, and stay as close to Parsippany as I want to. Thanks for the advice!

 

My commute to Newark is 70 miles each way but I leave at 5:30 AM and it takes me an hour. In the PM Ihead back at 1:30 so I avoid the rush hour.

 

I've lived in Randolph my whole life so I've got some opinions about this ...

Randolph is maybe 10 miles from Parsippany, and is an extremely quiet & safe town with a great school system. I graduated from Randolph High in '97 and our school was voted in the top 10 for public schools in the state of New Jersey. It has gone down hill since then I believe (cause i left, lol). The only thing is I believe the area is more expensive than Parsippany so 250k - 300k might be out of your range. There are nice condos in my town but i don't know how much they go for. Here is a list of a few towns around Parsippany ...

1) Dover - stay away, ghetto
2) Roxbury - next to Randolph, cheaper
3) Newark - no offense to the guy who lives there, but this is one crummy city and is pretty far from Parsippany. Plus it's the car theft capital of the US!
4) Rockaway - nice area, cheaper than Randolph
5) Morristown - great city, lots to do, fairly large
6) Denville - nice
7) Chatham, Madison - real nice, might be too expensive
8) Flanders - quiet town, definitely cheap ... it's where I live and work.

If you are thinking of buying a house or condo in Jersey or PA, I'm a loan officer at American Federal Mortgage Corporation so I can try to hook you up with a loan. Interest rates are rising though. Let me know if you want to talk about this. Hope this helped.

-Matt

 

Stay in Washington... the only thing your going to get in NJ for 250-300 is a townhouse.

I want out of NJ cause housing is SOOOO much. Houses in my town start at 500K....

 

Thanks for the replies and (mostly) constructive comments.

Believe me, if I could stay in WA, I would. This is an opportunity that I shouldn't pass up if I want to continue building a successful career.

I could always sell the Z to get a house, anyway. With that, I'll look around some more.

Stupid question - how many miles from the PA border to the NY border across in the north end of NJ? Just really curious, as it seems like that's the only way I'll be able to make sense of distances and how far away the towns are from each other, and from major cities (if Newark qualifies-at least there's an airport there).

 

There are TONS of houses in Parsippany between $250 - 300k ... obviously I should know this since I am in the real estate/mortgage business. You just have to look harder!!!!

 

i didn't think parsippany was a real expensive place to live, i guess you were looking at the wrong houses or something....parsippany is BIG, but if you can't find anything in it check out houses in:

LAKE HIAWATHA (practically in Parsippany, not bad neighborhood) BOONTON (quiet, small, literally 5 min. away)
MONTVILLE (like 10 min. away tops, some spots are REAL $$$, guy that used to own Xerox lives down the street from one of my friends in this town so you know the neighborhoods are nice, i would definately look here for $300k houses)
LINCOLN PARK (10 min. tops, real nice neighborhoods, don't think houses are real $$$, they're building a new High School, i think it opens in a year or so...currently kids attend boonton high school)

p.s. i wouldn't move anywhere without checking it out in person first....you should make a "business trip"...good luck

 

I think Rt. 80 is about 60-80 miles from PA to NY. It cuts right across NJ.

For my two cents, I think you can definitely get a cheap place to live in the Pocono's in PA, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's the sticks. All personal taste I guess.

 

Hey,have you been to the Poconos lately? Mall,outlets,restaurants,new schools.People from Jersey and NYC are moving here in droves(wife is Realtor). New Jersey's congestion,crime rate,high taxes and crappy schools(I work in one)are the reasons given when my wife asks new residents why they moved to the Poconos.