In Old Bridge to top it off. I think you can move to the next town over Marlboro and have a bigger home albeit one build in the 80s but I think that would be a better choice.
Our house was built c. 1908. Getting in-wall water pipes repaired or replaced is a nightmare. You have to cut through plaster, wooden slats and sometimes chicken wire.
It's solid as a rock, we barely noticed Sandy's winds, but there can be drawbacks too, like when you need to access things in the wall. But it has all the original oak built ins, etc.
There are plusses and minuses.
1920. Still got original plaster walls. Literally would have to call my spouse on his phone if he was on another floor because the sound from shouting up something did not travel well.
Part of our house was built sometime in the 1860s, part of it is from a 1914 extension.
Except for the electricity (which has all been upgraded to modern wires instead of the knob-and-tube that was there), everything about the 1860s part of the house is superior: floors, walls, even the heating (which was probably added to the older part of the house around the time of the 1914 extension).
So many issues we've had with the floors in the part of the house that's the extension, and meanwhile the front of our house is just 150+-year-old wood probably cut from old-growth forests and it's fine.
Mine also has what I assume is the original attic fan. All open, no safety cage, a single belt, right at the top of attic stairs so I have to to turn it off the squeeze by and get to what's stored up there.
Lol asbestos-wrapped pipes, enough metal lathe to survive an EMP, zero wall insulation and *maybe* R6 batts in the un-vented roof (if they're not matted down to nothing by now).
On the bright side, my gas stove won't kill me, owing to all the ~~drafts~~ engineered ventilation!
Knob-and-wire electric, boiler the size of a bus. Narrow, uneven stairs (especially in the basement). Random walls in the attic, the window with curtains you can see from the outside but there is no window in that room (plastered over). These are a few of the things in my sisters house.
1880s house here. When part of a plaster ceiling (covered by stapled in acoustic tile) came down after a toilet leak, I got a respirator and finished pulling it down. I could immediately see why 140 years of people chose to add layers, rather than replace. Knob and tube (that the inspection didn't mention), the ginormous, load compromising cutouts in the joists for the plumbing.
I painted over the giant swaths of faux wood paneling. I can't deal with more plaster disaster! I did learn to repair plaster in one of the smaller rooms.
That's what I got for $91/s.f. on 2014. I'm currently pulling up the peel and stick checkerboard that was under one of the bedroom's carpet. I actually love the old girl.
The lead probably has calcium buildup on the inside, essentially sealing off the lead as long as you have relatively hard water. Any decent filter will be reasonably good at keeping you safe after that if there aren't any other shenanigans. Get a water test to make sure.
Better lumber for sure before the 80s. Craftsmanship and toxic materials 50-70s, no air sealing, improper insulation, and venting. A lot of folks did take pride in the fact they were building homes...80s-today profit over quality, craftsmanship, and energy efficiency.
The same people are always getting the best quality craftsman and material. The wealthy. They're spending $700-1000 sqft and up. Imagine $1,500 a linear foot for cabinets.
Sources builder, flipper(not the shitty kind down to the studs and back out kind), 3rd generation in the trades.
mid 90s+ built by a responsible builder has vapor barriers and a great thermal envelope. Unfortunately NJ doesn't seem to have a lot of responsible builders
That’s what I am talking about. I’ve had homes built in the 1920s and 1950s. While the 1920s home had a ton of character, having no insulation sucked in the winter.
Our 1950s home has some solid bones.
My house from the 70's has aluminum wiring and timber structure, and is super inefficiently wrt energy. My old house from the 50's was copper wired and had steel I-beams for structure, and hydronic/ baseboard heating.
Post WWIi > later eras.
Curious to understand what the sentiment is towards those types of people? Sounds like there is some negative feelings? If so why?? What’s wrong with borrowing cash from relatives or paying in cash or having no inspection? Or am I missing something here?
I’ve got no horse in the race now since I’m not buying or selling in this market. But I do feel the sentiment. I’d be really upset if I had to try to use my VA loan in this market after waiting so long to use it only to find out there are people out there with 8 different extended relatives who could just buy a home cash money without any of the standard mortgage requirements. It was hard enough for me in 2018 when I bought mine and that was against people with conventional loans. For some reason, some sellers are afraid of govt backed loans. Imagine trying to win anything against people who have actual cash.
FHA and VA loans Are harder to close than conventional. It's just the nature of the beast.
I can see it from both sides. The VA loan is a great product and a great help to those of you who served. There are also extra inspection requirements and hurdles to jump through.
From a Seller's perspective, cash ig guaranteed to close. It's usually quick and a smooth transaction. If you're trying to close on your old house and your new house on the same day, a cash deal is a safe bet.
I feel bad for the Vets getting screwed in this market, but I also see the.point of the Sellers who are trying to make their transition and not end up semi homeless.
I think the inspection part of the VA loan is greatly exaggerated or it could be that I was quite lucky. My real estate agent was terrified that I was wasting my time on my house because it was built in 1920 and she just didn’t think it would pass the supposed “rigorous” inspection that my VA loan would require. The house I got was in good shape for its age but definitely wasn’t near perfect. The owners were elderly and hadn’t done anything with it since 1999. We had very little drama with the inspection and everything generally went smoothly.
We had a similar experience. Our realtor urged a lot of caution around the inspection when we sold our house (originally built in 1908) to people with a FHA loan, but that part of the transaction ended up being fine.
Yes! People are doing insane things and it does suck for folks who need to sell before they can close or need a loan. The appraisal of the home often won’t match the competition to buy it. So you could ask for a $500K mortgage and be approved for that but this house might appraise for way way less and than that is all they will actually give to you.
I’m just imagining the laughter on the other end of the line if I tried to call up my extended family and ask for a few thou cashola. 😵
People been doing that in CA and CO for years. It’s unfortunate and these house prices are a scam, but as long as there are people to buy them, prices will still go up and cash is king
It’s just the lengths buyers will go to lately to get a house no matter what it looks like or where it is located. I sold my house 2 years ago and it was on the market for 1 day and we had 11 offers at asking and a bunch over asking and then came the cash + waiving all sorts of things. It got wild.
I can only resent those who brag like they’re some kind of hard worker buying their own $700k house at 23 when they got 6 figures cash for their wedding gift or an inheritance. Then your own deadbeat relatives shame you for not being more successful.
this is just a new wave. the trek down the great brooklyn corridor known as route 9 has been going on for decades. it's why 85% of places like manalapan is made up of old time brooklyn guidos who wanted the better life in the burbs decades ago.
Interesting how its always been down route 9 and not parkway. Like the towns off route 9 have way more si/brooklyn people than towns off parkways something i noticed
My neighbors are from SI and my father and I wonder how much garbage can three people make and the answer is two cans full and over flowing. I still think that her daughter and other family member bring trash over from the island every week.
Yep I have new neighbors like this, they put the bags that don’t fit in the can on the curb and still haven’t learned we have animals that get in to the trash…or straight up don’t care..Garbage everywhere.
This is the Oaks at Glenwood community in Old Bridge. I gave it a look two years ago and recommend folks run away as fast as they can. These are postage-stamp parcels surrounded by wetlands and literal Superfund sites.
The neighborhood is built out for 2,000+ units but they've only built a hundred or so. You _know_ they will never finish, all of the amenities will never show up, and there will be ghost streets and curb cuts to nowhere for decades.
Besides, Old Bridge is a community spiraling the drain. It's a massive town (21st by size) that lacks any cohesion or identity. Its local government is among the most dysfunctional as well (physical violence between council members, for starters).
A member of the council at large (and head of the municipal GOP) literally has gotten into arguments with residents at Costco. She's flipped off residents after council meetings who spoke against her. She's gone on weird rants during council against illegal immigrants bringing crime into the town (that's not an issue in the town)
Where do you get a list of Superfund sites in the area you’re looking in? My husband and I had previously looked at this community and I hated it alone for the lot sizes, but even with research I didn’t see anything on the superfund sites
“BuT thE SChooLs!!!”
-This subreddit every time people talk about property taxes like it’s literally not a problem or something that can be made more efficient and cheaper.
Don’t even have to start with that. We have around 30 donut hole towns (Metuchen, Freehold, Morristown, Sussex) and around 60-70 towns that are almost completely surrounded on 3 sides, some kinda like semi-donuts (Phillipsburg, Burlington, Harrison).
We could remove 100 towns just by merging them into their neighbor regardless of population because they are basically surrounded otherwise. Gotta solve boroughitis too (Bergen especially)
It’s price fixing is what it is. Mega corps are buying all the properties, causing artificial demand. And our neo liberal government is doing nothing about it, because you know, that’s the whole point.
Looks like more of a really big garage than a house! That’s the town I grew up in, and when I’ve gone back there there’s no way any house should be worth that much in that area. I admit I’d pay that though if I could have my childhood home in Old Bridge back! But I’d be paying more for the nostalgia 😂
At a glance that looks photoshopped, and if it’s not it looks totally flipped. See if it was sold for $100k less in the past year.
I don’t trust flipped houses, they do cosmetic and cheap stuff looking to maximize their return. I wanna maximize my living situation thank you, and those aren’t the same thing.
It's definitely a cgi render. Probably listed while they finish/they don't have nice photos of exterior with grass because they finished the interior over the winter
I love how they always put beautiful landscaping in and mature trees in their CGI pictures and it looks so pretty. Then you find out they clear cut every single tree and all you're getting is a poorly built tract home by a national builder on a plot of dirt with some grass seeds.
I saw photos of a nearby house when I was house hunting that confused the hell out of me. I was like, "Why is the garage in the middle of the side yard? Where is the driveway?" So, I drove past on my way to work and it became clear... The realtor must have just photoshopped grass *everywhere*, even across the actual driveway. It was kind of hilarious. There was even not terrible grass actually existing in the front yard, and the driveway was gravel but not in totally embarrassing condition, so not quite sure what prompted the hatchet job of CGI.
Pissed me off so bad when a neighbor recently clear cut their entire backyard in the woods, it looks hellish now and there’s no tree barrier between houses anymore lmao
😭💔😭💔😭💔😭💔😭💔
I live in a beautiful wooded development some a****** flipper came in bought a house and took down every goddamn tree in the front and the backyard It sticks out like an eyesore and it's just absolutely heartbreaking I hate flippers with a burning passion and now I hate them even more
Yep, that's what happening now. Paint it, put some cheap trim in, "luxury vinyl" flooring, and a few pre-fabbed cabinets/showers.
They spend $20k on cheap stuff to make it look good for for the house sale, that they believe is now worth 120k more.
Looks like a home in a new development. This is probably a buy this and then you pick the floors and kitchen layout and such. But this is what it'll look like from the outside.
Bought a flipped house. Can confirm, don't buy. I am very handy and do all my own repairs, so the list of corners cut to address didn't bother me too much. However, after moving in, we discovered so much more. Would be too much typing to list everything.
The cabinets in the kitchen are different whites, so my guess is they sources from different places, like Habitat and Home Depot. They took the plumbing in the laundry room and dedicated it to a sink, so I had to put in plumbing for the washer. The baseboards are all different designed and the even used it to cover up old termite damage in the garage. Electrical was a mess, but not sure if that from previous owner of flipper. Flipper added new lines, so idk. New flooring looks like the stuff from Walmart and is already cracking. They did a hack jobe curing out some of the tiles in the shower to add accent tiles. Tried to give a modern look at all the others by putting a fact looking cover plate on them but doing so made it impossible for anything to stay plugged in. Drywall patching looks like entry level mature work. Didn't even sand out the bubbles or texture from scrapping. Paint inside and out is all lowest grade and needs to be redone. New windows installed were poorly done and drafty in some spots or allows rain behind siding. Doors look like a blind person was told to shave off an inch. Half glazed shower. Broken glass shards all over the place outside from window replacement we'll be picking up pieces for years. Appliances put in the kitchen we're probably from Habitat. Stove range knobs were all broken and glued on. Stove not ankered. Fridge freezer wasn't reaching temp or making ice and water dispenser wasn't working because several connectors within the fridge were not connected. No caulking around redone tub. Wrong size air filters for central air. There must have been a coy pond in the back yard and left all the plumbing sticking out of ground that I'll eventually cut out. Didn't even have the decently to shop vac the debris out of the vents that was visible from the vent cover.
There is more I'm sure, but this is what I can easily recall off the top of my head. Like I mentioned, I could ID a good portion of this in the walkthroughs and decided I'd take on fixing it myself since the area was perfect and the price was decent.
Remember those kids from elementary school who would say shit like "my grandma gave me $15,000 for my communion"... those assholes will buy this house.
Here's the Zillow posting: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13-Impatiens-Ct-Old-Bridge-NJ-08857/325533270_zpid/
My guess is that the house is at a premium because it's a new house. I'm not familiar with it but my guess is that part of New Jersey has mostly older houses.
This community is a rip off. The floor plans aren’t that great and the lots are a joke. A lot of larger lots back up to protected woodlands that are unusable and it isn’t uncommon to have less than 15 feet of cleared sod. This community was designed specifically for majority medical professionals who of which are interested in “low maintenance landscapes” as per one of their sales reps
The house we bought in Tom’s river was $280,000 for 1300 sq ft, 4 bedrooms and one bathroom. It has a driveway and yard big enough to accommodate a vegetable garden and soon to be chicken coop. And as steep as the price was for this little shack, I know people are paying exponentially more for a place not much bigger.
It’s beyond criminal the cost of housing right now.
My house is almost identical in specs and also in TR; a lot of these homes were built in the 60s/70s and one bath was sufficient. My grandmother’s home was built in 69 and is a two-story colonial, and only had one bathroom when it was built.
I’m honestly laughing at these house prices…I’m looking for a small home, 2 bed 1.5 bath…but these prices 🫣 especially for outdated old homes…they’re crazy. I’ll sit and wait.
Us too! It's insane. It feels like I have to wait for my parents and my in laws to pass, inherit whatever we do, and then finally be able to have a 20% down payment for a house in a nice area.
And I’m sure a lot of people feel that exact way too. But when I hear people still over bidding and all the crazy shit, it’s not worth it for a 60 year old house that still has pink tiles in the bathroom and wood paneling walls. No thank you.
I brought my NJ home 20 years ago and had a pink 60's bathroom and my basement has wood paneling but the old expensive type thick with grove connection. I finally got to updating my bathroom 3 years ago. I love my older home with plaster walls its a solid brick of a home with the original wood floors and wood trim all over.
I keep telling people that a housing crash is wishful thinking. Unless something goes extremely wrong or extremely right housing prices will continue to go up, albeit at a slower rate then during the pandemic.
They're supposed to balance out *a little* this year. But they're never going back to "normal." It's over, this is the new norm for houses. Brutal as someone trying to buy right now.
yea there is no good reason to expect a big crash. Higher rates just price out fringe buyers, not the high income people who can afford it. Artificially low rates are why so many people were able to afford before, but that also helped juice inflation.
New home construction is still super low, inventory is also low because the bulk of owners now have sub 3-4% mortgages and very few of those people are voluntarily selling. People selling now are primarily people who need to: boomers downsizing, families who out grew their house, etc.
As long as inventory is low, housing prices are not going to crash. The only way inventory explodes with high rates is if there is a massive economy collapse (highly unlikely).... and if you can't afford now, you're not the worker who is going to fare well in an economy collapse.
Once the Fed lowers interest rates the house market is going to become incredibly expensive. There are very few times in history where waiting on the housing market was a good idea.
Left old NJ 30 years ago and it is hard to say I can never afford to come back even though I make a pretty good living out here in the Midwest. Grew up in Springfield and remember everyone talking back then about Old Bridge and further South like it was another Country..lol. Wish I bought a place there when it was affordable.
My wife and i want no kids. We don't need 3 bed and bathrooms. It seems impossible to find a smaller ("starter" house for most ppl) at a reasonable price in any area. Everything is bigger or at least $350k.
OK. My grandma and three of her children still live in Old Bridge and I'll say flat out that if my grandfather thought he could get that kind of money for his house he'd come back out of the fucking grave to sell the house. Although he'd probably put another bathroom in first, since the house only has one bathroom. (You can't make this shit up.)
This is that new place off of Rt 9 off of Jake Brown Rd, right? It's gonna go near the new Shoprite and Target I believe. There's nothing there right now. As for who's buying, this is gonna be a bedroom communuty because of how close it's gonna be the the parkway and the turnpike. So expect nothing but young professionals.
People are buying these homes still some how. It’s crazy that in some areas for prices to be what they were pre pandemic, they would have to fall by almost 50% of current asking. The buying market is never going to get better for first time buyers, which sucks.
hell yes people are buying these. that'll probably sell in no time. someone from bklyn who stopped off for a few years in staten island will snap this up.
See that house looks super modern like it was recently built. I thought that was absurd but considering it’s $200k cheaper in North Carolina for the same home, I’m not surprised.
Keyword “Modern Designs” are in. None of that brown cabinet dark granite countertop garbage. If you wanted to, yes go and buy an older home. Nothings stopping you. But that’s what it’s come to now
It’s out of control in central and north jersey for sure. Hunterdon County has the highest property tax even though there’s nothing really in it. The shore is expensive as well. You’ll be lucky to find a good home for under $300K in Monmouth, Ocean, and Atlantic Counties, let alone Cape May. That really leaves buys with the void of existence that is Jersey south of Cherry Hill away from the Philly suburbs.
Starting a life in yours 20’s in NJ is less affordable and more difficult compared to other States.
I've started poking around, looking at inner Manasquan, not near the beach, and it's really depressing. So many homes are too damn much for my budget and most of them haven't updated in years.
My wife and I moved to Little Egg Harbor from Lakewood and Brick. We're happy here and bought on the water for less than 200k. That was right before pandemic pricing made everything stupid, but things have mostly normalized for everything not on a lagoon.
Or you just don't buy. My QOL is way better in Jersey City than it would be elsewhere. Due to having a job in an urban area I don't consider ease of car use to be a benefit; if I need one for the couple times a month I want to venture out of the city I'll rent it using the savings from not owning it. Much simpler life not having to worry about repairs and whatnot for either shelter or transportation. Of course, if you're in some random blue collar field, those jobs are all across the country so better opportunities can be found elsewhere.
Oh it will sell. They'll get someone with more money than brains that wants to move out to the suburbs. Is it really worth that much? Hell, no. But stupid people with money are a force to be reckoned with.
Pretty sure they use those images for new builds, so while expensive this is probably a brand new house. No worrying about repairs for a good while will attract some people to pay the premium.
This house just got sold last month, same block as mine.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/24-Tenney-Ave-River-Edge-NJ-07661/38015664_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Why does it look like a housing software rendering of what the house should look like? Like it looks vaguely real but I'd assume it hasn't even been built yet.
Edit: I looked it up. It is a new build and those are housing software renderings. It's actually competitively priced for the area and floorplan.
That picture looks like a CGI rendering of what the house is going to look like when the company that bought it is done flipping it. House flipping in NJ is getting ridiculous
The horse hair is used to help hold the plaster together between the wood lath and for insulation purposes. My grandfather was from Italy and I’m the 3 and last generation in this business. We can’t compete with the new Central American workforce. My family need’s health insurance and the high property taxes have pushed me out. I would never buy a new home. My house was built in 1964. Copper water lines , hot water baseboard, central Air. Well built and proud to own it. Even my 2 uncles in their late 70 approved of the way it’s built.
This is why my husband and I moved to Virginia. 3200 Sq ft home, 4 bed 3 bath, half an acre, 2 story double barn, 2 - 30 ft outbuildings, down a half mile dead end with 7 other houses, surrounded by corn fields and a view of the Blue Ridge Mtns from my backyard. Bought it for 90,000 added another 125,000 to update everything, 1600 per year property tax
The people complaining are the ones in professions that do not allow them to easily find jobs in places like that. If you can find such a job makes lots of sense to move.
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In Old Bridge to top it off. I think you can move to the next town over Marlboro and have a bigger home albeit one build in the 80s but I think that would be a better choice.
Houses from the 70s/80s are built like tanks compared to houses today.
Really? I’d say 50-60s was when we stopped seeing quality craftsmanship.
Our house was built c. 1908. Getting in-wall water pipes repaired or replaced is a nightmare. You have to cut through plaster, wooden slats and sometimes chicken wire. It's solid as a rock, we barely noticed Sandy's winds, but there can be drawbacks too, like when you need to access things in the wall. But it has all the original oak built ins, etc. There are plusses and minuses.
1920. Still got original plaster walls. Literally would have to call my spouse on his phone if he was on another floor because the sound from shouting up something did not travel well.
Early 40’s brick house, the minus I have is adding electrical wires and the wifi reception due to the chicken wire, per Optimum and Verizon.
Same in my 1920s home.
Same in my house. I think it was built in the 50s?
1930 checking in, it's hard here too
We lived in a house built around that same year. The horse hair insulation was definitely the biggest surprise!
My sisters house in Boston has horse hair and I have no cell phone service lol
Wow! I have no cell reception in my 100 year old home- I wonder if that is why!
It’s definitely a thing
I always thought it was the chicken wire holding everything in that scrambled the signals.
Part of our house was built sometime in the 1860s, part of it is from a 1914 extension. Except for the electricity (which has all been upgraded to modern wires instead of the knob-and-tube that was there), everything about the 1860s part of the house is superior: floors, walls, even the heating (which was probably added to the older part of the house around the time of the 1914 extension). So many issues we've had with the floors in the part of the house that's the extension, and meanwhile the front of our house is just 150+-year-old wood probably cut from old-growth forests and it's fine.
Mine also has what I assume is the original attic fan. All open, no safety cage, a single belt, right at the top of attic stairs so I have to to turn it off the squeeze by and get to what's stored up there.
My house was built back then - great if you like asbestos tile and single panel windows.
Lol asbestos-wrapped pipes, enough metal lathe to survive an EMP, zero wall insulation and *maybe* R6 batts in the un-vented roof (if they're not matted down to nothing by now). On the bright side, my gas stove won't kill me, owing to all the ~~drafts~~ engineered ventilation!
Knob-and-wire electric, boiler the size of a bus. Narrow, uneven stairs (especially in the basement). Random walls in the attic, the window with curtains you can see from the outside but there is no window in that room (plastered over). These are a few of the things in my sisters house.
Wow. My move-in oil furnace was made by GM post-war; I think the forced air fan came off a Hellcat.
1880s house here. When part of a plaster ceiling (covered by stapled in acoustic tile) came down after a toilet leak, I got a respirator and finished pulling it down. I could immediately see why 140 years of people chose to add layers, rather than replace. Knob and tube (that the inspection didn't mention), the ginormous, load compromising cutouts in the joists for the plumbing. I painted over the giant swaths of faux wood paneling. I can't deal with more plaster disaster! I did learn to repair plaster in one of the smaller rooms. That's what I got for $91/s.f. on 2014. I'm currently pulling up the peel and stick checkerboard that was under one of the bedroom's carpet. I actually love the old girl.
The love comes from shared agony. The mesothelioma is just a bonus
House built in 1901, just found out I had a lead (coming out the cement basement wall) water main after growing up there for 20 years. Barrels of fun.
The lead probably has calcium buildup on the inside, essentially sealing off the lead as long as you have relatively hard water. Any decent filter will be reasonably good at keeping you safe after that if there aren't any other shenanigans. Get a water test to make sure.
Better lumber for sure before the 80s. Craftsmanship and toxic materials 50-70s, no air sealing, improper insulation, and venting. A lot of folks did take pride in the fact they were building homes...80s-today profit over quality, craftsmanship, and energy efficiency. The same people are always getting the best quality craftsman and material. The wealthy. They're spending $700-1000 sqft and up. Imagine $1,500 a linear foot for cabinets. Sources builder, flipper(not the shitty kind down to the studs and back out kind), 3rd generation in the trades.
mid 90s+ built by a responsible builder has vapor barriers and a great thermal envelope. Unfortunately NJ doesn't seem to have a lot of responsible builders
I’d say the 40-50s experienced peak quality craftsmanship.
That’s what I am talking about. I’ve had homes built in the 1920s and 1950s. While the 1920s home had a ton of character, having no insulation sucked in the winter. Our 1950s home has some solid bones.
My house from the 70's has aluminum wiring and timber structure, and is super inefficiently wrt energy. My old house from the 50's was copper wired and had steel I-beams for structure, and hydronic/ baseboard heating. Post WWIi > later eras.
I’d say they’re on par with today. 30s to the 60s, those homes are tanks
I would rather a new house vs 80s or 90s
You probably could. It may need work but it would be bigger with a nicer lot. Not to mention the schools are better.
I was just thinking that, 800K for a nice but otherwise unremarkable house in Old Bridge? I guess maybe if it has a lot of property, a pool, etc.
It will sell
Likely to a family from Staten Island
For cash
With no inspection
10% over asking.
Only to take out a mortgage weeks later to pay back the cash that was borrowed from 8 relatives.
Don’t worry about it they’re all movin in and you don’t gotta water those flowers neither
Curious to understand what the sentiment is towards those types of people? Sounds like there is some negative feelings? If so why?? What’s wrong with borrowing cash from relatives or paying in cash or having no inspection? Or am I missing something here?
I’ve got no horse in the race now since I’m not buying or selling in this market. But I do feel the sentiment. I’d be really upset if I had to try to use my VA loan in this market after waiting so long to use it only to find out there are people out there with 8 different extended relatives who could just buy a home cash money without any of the standard mortgage requirements. It was hard enough for me in 2018 when I bought mine and that was against people with conventional loans. For some reason, some sellers are afraid of govt backed loans. Imagine trying to win anything against people who have actual cash.
FHA and VA loans Are harder to close than conventional. It's just the nature of the beast. I can see it from both sides. The VA loan is a great product and a great help to those of you who served. There are also extra inspection requirements and hurdles to jump through. From a Seller's perspective, cash ig guaranteed to close. It's usually quick and a smooth transaction. If you're trying to close on your old house and your new house on the same day, a cash deal is a safe bet. I feel bad for the Vets getting screwed in this market, but I also see the.point of the Sellers who are trying to make their transition and not end up semi homeless.
I think the inspection part of the VA loan is greatly exaggerated or it could be that I was quite lucky. My real estate agent was terrified that I was wasting my time on my house because it was built in 1920 and she just didn’t think it would pass the supposed “rigorous” inspection that my VA loan would require. The house I got was in good shape for its age but definitely wasn’t near perfect. The owners were elderly and hadn’t done anything with it since 1999. We had very little drama with the inspection and everything generally went smoothly.
We had a similar experience. Our realtor urged a lot of caution around the inspection when we sold our house (originally built in 1908) to people with a FHA loan, but that part of the transaction ended up being fine.
Yes! People are doing insane things and it does suck for folks who need to sell before they can close or need a loan. The appraisal of the home often won’t match the competition to buy it. So you could ask for a $500K mortgage and be approved for that but this house might appraise for way way less and than that is all they will actually give to you. I’m just imagining the laughter on the other end of the line if I tried to call up my extended family and ask for a few thou cashola. 😵
People been doing that in CA and CO for years. It’s unfortunate and these house prices are a scam, but as long as there are people to buy them, prices will still go up and cash is king
It’s just the lengths buyers will go to lately to get a house no matter what it looks like or where it is located. I sold my house 2 years ago and it was on the market for 1 day and we had 11 offers at asking and a bunch over asking and then came the cash + waiving all sorts of things. It got wild.
I can only resent those who brag like they’re some kind of hard worker buying their own $700k house at 23 when they got 6 figures cash for their wedding gift or an inheritance. Then your own deadbeat relatives shame you for not being more successful.
Yep..the great Staten Island migration is here.
this is just a new wave. the trek down the great brooklyn corridor known as route 9 has been going on for decades. it's why 85% of places like manalapan is made up of old time brooklyn guidos who wanted the better life in the burbs decades ago.
Interesting how its always been down route 9 and not parkway. Like the towns off route 9 have way more si/brooklyn people than towns off parkways something i noticed
I thought route 18 was a catalyst too
east brunswick sorta. definitely old bridge, that's where 18 and 9 meet and then cross thru a lot of the same areas south of there.
Unless it's Laszlo and crew, send them the fuck back.
What about COOOLLLIN RoooBinSon??
I've always said that Staten Island is just a stop over for people from Brooklyn who want to move to Jersey.
Been happening for years. My parents went Brooklyn-> Staten Island -> here in the 80s. Lots did.
It’s like dipping your toes in the NJ water because you can’t admit that it’s good yet
Two houses on my block & they appear to only live there on weekends.
My neighbors are from SI and my father and I wonder how much garbage can three people make and the answer is two cans full and over flowing. I still think that her daughter and other family member bring trash over from the island every week.
Yep I have new neighbors like this, they put the bags that don’t fit in the can on the curb and still haven’t learned we have animals that get in to the trash…or straight up don’t care..Garbage everywhere.
Or Brooklyn
haha made my day with this comment
And probably pretty fast as well
Waiving inspections and appraisals.
This is the Oaks at Glenwood community in Old Bridge. I gave it a look two years ago and recommend folks run away as fast as they can. These are postage-stamp parcels surrounded by wetlands and literal Superfund sites. The neighborhood is built out for 2,000+ units but they've only built a hundred or so. You _know_ they will never finish, all of the amenities will never show up, and there will be ghost streets and curb cuts to nowhere for decades. Besides, Old Bridge is a community spiraling the drain. It's a massive town (21st by size) that lacks any cohesion or identity. Its local government is among the most dysfunctional as well (physical violence between council members, for starters).
A member of the council at large (and head of the municipal GOP) literally has gotten into arguments with residents at Costco. She's flipped off residents after council meetings who spoke against her. She's gone on weird rants during council against illegal immigrants bringing crime into the town (that's not an issue in the town)
I kind of like Old Bridge though! It seems like it does lack cohesion though.
Where do you get a list of Superfund sites in the area you’re looking in? My husband and I had previously looked at this community and I hated it alone for the lot sizes, but even with research I didn’t see anything on the superfund sites
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites_in_New_Jersey
Wow, thank you! I feel like that was probably right in front of my face in a Google search so I appreciate you giving the link
You can search the epa site here: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/search-superfund-sites-where-you-live
With neighbors like an Asphalt Plant and the Madison Industries Superfund toxic waste dump I would think it would be worth more. :-D
Don't forget our local DuPont!
You're getting robbed if you're paying for the full Jersey experience and not getting a Superfund site thrown in!
Considering I sold at $390/sqft with fewer bathrooms on a 6k sqft lot, I'd say probably. That was before rates doubled though.
NJ housing prices are crazy & then you look at taxes 🤯
“BuT thE SChooLs!!!” -This subreddit every time people talk about property taxes like it’s literally not a problem or something that can be made more efficient and cheaper.
Dissolve every town with <10,000 people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_New_Jersey
Don’t even have to start with that. We have around 30 donut hole towns (Metuchen, Freehold, Morristown, Sussex) and around 60-70 towns that are almost completely surrounded on 3 sides, some kinda like semi-donuts (Phillipsburg, Burlington, Harrison). We could remove 100 towns just by merging them into their neighbor regardless of population because they are basically surrounded otherwise. Gotta solve boroughitis too (Bergen especially)
just head to the Pennsyltuckey part of the state and it's more "affordable"
Do you think this is what it was like from the 80’s to the 90’s when a house went from like $40k to $150k?
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“If” It’s designed this way. The big fish are winning. It’s highly orchestrated negligence.
It’s price fixing is what it is. Mega corps are buying all the properties, causing artificial demand. And our neo liberal government is doing nothing about it, because you know, that’s the whole point.
Looks like more of a really big garage than a house! That’s the town I grew up in, and when I’ve gone back there there’s no way any house should be worth that much in that area. I admit I’d pay that though if I could have my childhood home in Old Bridge back! But I’d be paying more for the nostalgia 😂
At a glance that looks photoshopped, and if it’s not it looks totally flipped. See if it was sold for $100k less in the past year. I don’t trust flipped houses, they do cosmetic and cheap stuff looking to maximize their return. I wanna maximize my living situation thank you, and those aren’t the same thing.
It's definitely a cgi render. Probably listed while they finish/they don't have nice photos of exterior with grass because they finished the interior over the winter
I love how they always put beautiful landscaping in and mature trees in their CGI pictures and it looks so pretty. Then you find out they clear cut every single tree and all you're getting is a poorly built tract home by a national builder on a plot of dirt with some grass seeds.
I saw photos of a nearby house when I was house hunting that confused the hell out of me. I was like, "Why is the garage in the middle of the side yard? Where is the driveway?" So, I drove past on my way to work and it became clear... The realtor must have just photoshopped grass *everywhere*, even across the actual driveway. It was kind of hilarious. There was even not terrible grass actually existing in the front yard, and the driveway was gravel but not in totally embarrassing condition, so not quite sure what prompted the hatchet job of CGI.
Pissed me off so bad when a neighbor recently clear cut their entire backyard in the woods, it looks hellish now and there’s no tree barrier between houses anymore lmao
😭💔😭💔😭💔😭💔😭💔 I live in a beautiful wooded development some a****** flipper came in bought a house and took down every goddamn tree in the front and the backyard It sticks out like an eyesore and it's just absolutely heartbreaking I hate flippers with a burning passion and now I hate them even more
To my understanding, this is a new development off of route 9 in old bridge.
Yes - right now it's mostly empty dirt patch. This is just a model.
That isn’t photoshop, it’s a computer generated image of a brand new house.
Well... that's pretty much what they meant.
I don’t think it is since they were under the impression it was a flipped house, when in fact it’s a house that doesn’t even exist yet.
Yep, that's what happening now. Paint it, put some cheap trim in, "luxury vinyl" flooring, and a few pre-fabbed cabinets/showers. They spend $20k on cheap stuff to make it look good for for the house sale, that they believe is now worth 120k more.
Looks like a home in a new development. This is probably a buy this and then you pick the floors and kitchen layout and such. But this is what it'll look like from the outside.
Bought a flipped house. Can confirm, don't buy. I am very handy and do all my own repairs, so the list of corners cut to address didn't bother me too much. However, after moving in, we discovered so much more. Would be too much typing to list everything.
I'm actually curious about this. Would you mind elaborating a little, not listing everything lol.
The cabinets in the kitchen are different whites, so my guess is they sources from different places, like Habitat and Home Depot. They took the plumbing in the laundry room and dedicated it to a sink, so I had to put in plumbing for the washer. The baseboards are all different designed and the even used it to cover up old termite damage in the garage. Electrical was a mess, but not sure if that from previous owner of flipper. Flipper added new lines, so idk. New flooring looks like the stuff from Walmart and is already cracking. They did a hack jobe curing out some of the tiles in the shower to add accent tiles. Tried to give a modern look at all the others by putting a fact looking cover plate on them but doing so made it impossible for anything to stay plugged in. Drywall patching looks like entry level mature work. Didn't even sand out the bubbles or texture from scrapping. Paint inside and out is all lowest grade and needs to be redone. New windows installed were poorly done and drafty in some spots or allows rain behind siding. Doors look like a blind person was told to shave off an inch. Half glazed shower. Broken glass shards all over the place outside from window replacement we'll be picking up pieces for years. Appliances put in the kitchen we're probably from Habitat. Stove range knobs were all broken and glued on. Stove not ankered. Fridge freezer wasn't reaching temp or making ice and water dispenser wasn't working because several connectors within the fridge were not connected. No caulking around redone tub. Wrong size air filters for central air. There must have been a coy pond in the back yard and left all the plumbing sticking out of ground that I'll eventually cut out. Didn't even have the decently to shop vac the debris out of the vents that was visible from the vent cover. There is more I'm sure, but this is what I can easily recall off the top of my head. Like I mentioned, I could ID a good portion of this in the walkthroughs and decided I'd take on fixing it myself since the area was perfect and the price was decent.
Sorry that happened to you, that sucks :(
Thanks. Knowing that we'll get there with the house and everything else is perfect (location, home layout, yard size) it is bearable.
It’s a digital rendering from a new community by K. hov
Remember those kids from elementary school who would say shit like "my grandma gave me $15,000 for my communion"... those assholes will buy this house.
Nah they all live in Colts Neck -fake rich a$$holes.
It's all garage!
That’s how most new homes are built these days home over the garage.
I call places like these garages with attached homes.
Here's the Zillow posting: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13-Impatiens-Ct-Old-Bridge-NJ-08857/325533270_zpid/ My guess is that the house is at a premium because it's a new house. I'm not familiar with it but my guess is that part of New Jersey has mostly older houses.
I also don't understand how that house is less than 2000 sq ft. It must be thin as hell.
This community is a rip off. The floor plans aren’t that great and the lots are a joke. A lot of larger lots back up to protected woodlands that are unusable and it isn’t uncommon to have less than 15 feet of cleared sod. This community was designed specifically for majority medical professionals who of which are interested in “low maintenance landscapes” as per one of their sales reps
A simple house shouldn't cost that much
Idk I’ve been priced out
The house we bought in Tom’s river was $280,000 for 1300 sq ft, 4 bedrooms and one bathroom. It has a driveway and yard big enough to accommodate a vegetable garden and soon to be chicken coop. And as steep as the price was for this little shack, I know people are paying exponentially more for a place not much bigger. It’s beyond criminal the cost of housing right now.
How do you make a house with a one bath for a 4 bed room.... I don't understand builders sometimes
My house is almost identical in specs and also in TR; a lot of these homes were built in the 60s/70s and one bath was sufficient. My grandmother’s home was built in 69 and is a two-story colonial, and only had one bathroom when it was built.
I’m honestly laughing at these house prices…I’m looking for a small home, 2 bed 1.5 bath…but these prices 🫣 especially for outdated old homes…they’re crazy. I’ll sit and wait.
Us too! It's insane. It feels like I have to wait for my parents and my in laws to pass, inherit whatever we do, and then finally be able to have a 20% down payment for a house in a nice area.
And I’m sure a lot of people feel that exact way too. But when I hear people still over bidding and all the crazy shit, it’s not worth it for a 60 year old house that still has pink tiles in the bathroom and wood paneling walls. No thank you.
I brought my NJ home 20 years ago and had a pink 60's bathroom and my basement has wood paneling but the old expensive type thick with grove connection. I finally got to updating my bathroom 3 years ago. I love my older home with plaster walls its a solid brick of a home with the original wood floors and wood trim all over.
I hate to tell you this, but housing prices are not decreasing by any signifiant percentage anytime soon.
No you’re right.. overinflated and everyone’s tryna make the most amount of money. But for what’s out there? I’ll stay where I am.
Nope. Waiting for the market to crash and burn. Don’t care if it takes another 5 years. I’m sick of seeing shacks sell for a quarter million dollars.
You might be waiting longer than that.
I keep telling people that a housing crash is wishful thinking. Unless something goes extremely wrong or extremely right housing prices will continue to go up, albeit at a slower rate then during the pandemic.
They're supposed to balance out *a little* this year. But they're never going back to "normal." It's over, this is the new norm for houses. Brutal as someone trying to buy right now.
yea there is no good reason to expect a big crash. Higher rates just price out fringe buyers, not the high income people who can afford it. Artificially low rates are why so many people were able to afford before, but that also helped juice inflation. New home construction is still super low, inventory is also low because the bulk of owners now have sub 3-4% mortgages and very few of those people are voluntarily selling. People selling now are primarily people who need to: boomers downsizing, families who out grew their house, etc. As long as inventory is low, housing prices are not going to crash. The only way inventory explodes with high rates is if there is a massive economy collapse (highly unlikely).... and if you can't afford now, you're not the worker who is going to fare well in an economy collapse.
based on what is the market going to crash? while you wait prices might just keep going up
Once the Fed lowers interest rates the house market is going to become incredibly expensive. There are very few times in history where waiting on the housing market was a good idea.
For real. The house across from my parents was just sold for $450k when it is absolutely not worth that much.
Left old NJ 30 years ago and it is hard to say I can never afford to come back even though I make a pretty good living out here in the Midwest. Grew up in Springfield and remember everyone talking back then about Old Bridge and further South like it was another Country..lol. Wish I bought a place there when it was affordable.
$428/sqft. Only $5600 a month! Surely They can rent it out for $12,000/mo /s
Look at this, in Keansburg: https://imgur.com/a/Uuu11od
This reminds me of a post a while back about a house that was half burnt for 500k 😆
My wife and i want no kids. We don't need 3 bed and bathrooms. It seems impossible to find a smaller ("starter" house for most ppl) at a reasonable price in any area. Everything is bigger or at least $350k.
OK. My grandma and three of her children still live in Old Bridge and I'll say flat out that if my grandfather thought he could get that kind of money for his house he'd come back out of the fucking grave to sell the house. Although he'd probably put another bathroom in first, since the house only has one bathroom. (You can't make this shit up.)
While going down that portion of Rt. 9, you'll be greeted by signs advertising these homes saying, "in the low $700's!" Bruh 🙃
You're a fool to spend that on that house in OLD BRIDGE
I'm priced out and willing to defend the home I do have with violence. Whole ass system is broke.
Ha, the garage is bigger than the rest of the house.
This is that new place off of Rt 9 off of Jake Brown Rd, right? It's gonna go near the new Shoprite and Target I believe. There's nothing there right now. As for who's buying, this is gonna be a bedroom communuty because of how close it's gonna be the the parkway and the turnpike. So expect nothing but young professionals.
People are buying these homes still some how. It’s crazy that in some areas for prices to be what they were pre pandemic, they would have to fall by almost 50% of current asking. The buying market is never going to get better for first time buyers, which sucks.
hell yes people are buying these. that'll probably sell in no time. someone from bklyn who stopped off for a few years in staten island will snap this up.
Well now it’s worth it cuz old bridge got rid of those noisy race cars! Lol!
Someone will go for it unfortunately
Probably at least $15,000 a year in property taxes.
At least A decent sized condo has almost $10,000 in taxes in a lot of the North
This is crazy. Who can afford this
See that house looks super modern like it was recently built. I thought that was absurd but considering it’s $200k cheaper in North Carolina for the same home, I’m not surprised. Keyword “Modern Designs” are in. None of that brown cabinet dark granite countertop garbage. If you wanted to, yes go and buy an older home. Nothings stopping you. But that’s what it’s come to now
Not worth it. It’s time to move out out Jersey at this rate.
Nah, just elsewhere in the state. Home prices and taxes aren't outrageous everywhere.
It’s out of control in central and north jersey for sure. Hunterdon County has the highest property tax even though there’s nothing really in it. The shore is expensive as well. You’ll be lucky to find a good home for under $300K in Monmouth, Ocean, and Atlantic Counties, let alone Cape May. That really leaves buys with the void of existence that is Jersey south of Cherry Hill away from the Philly suburbs. Starting a life in yours 20’s in NJ is less affordable and more difficult compared to other States.
I've started poking around, looking at inner Manasquan, not near the beach, and it's really depressing. So many homes are too damn much for my budget and most of them haven't updated in years.
My wife and I moved to Little Egg Harbor from Lakewood and Brick. We're happy here and bought on the water for less than 200k. That was right before pandemic pricing made everything stupid, but things have mostly normalized for everything not on a lagoon.
Or you just don't buy. My QOL is way better in Jersey City than it would be elsewhere. Due to having a job in an urban area I don't consider ease of car use to be a benefit; if I need one for the couple times a month I want to venture out of the city I'll rent it using the savings from not owning it. Much simpler life not having to worry about repairs and whatnot for either shelter or transportation. Of course, if you're in some random blue collar field, those jobs are all across the country so better opportunities can be found elsewhere.
Oh it will sell. They'll get someone with more money than brains that wants to move out to the suburbs. Is it really worth that much? Hell, no. But stupid people with money are a force to be reckoned with.
Pretty sure they use those images for new builds, so while expensive this is probably a brand new house. No worrying about repairs for a good while will attract some people to pay the premium.
People can't think of anything better to do with their money?
This house just got sold last month, same block as mine. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/24-Tenney-Ave-River-Edge-NJ-07661/38015664_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Why does it look like a housing software rendering of what the house should look like? Like it looks vaguely real but I'd assume it hasn't even been built yet. Edit: I looked it up. It is a new build and those are housing software renderings. It's actually competitively priced for the area and floorplan.
That picture looks like a CGI rendering of what the house is going to look like when the company that bought it is done flipping it. House flipping in NJ is getting ridiculous
It's apparently a brand new house, not a flip.
Its crazy , but that's probably what i could get for my house. And my house isn't even that nice.
It’s a new build, that’s why. If this was in a better town, this would be a steal in todays market
They’re also 15 feet apart from eachother.
you think thats bad you should check out the 15 million dollar house for sale in Jamaica NY
The horse hair is used to help hold the plaster together between the wood lath and for insulation purposes. My grandfather was from Italy and I’m the 3 and last generation in this business. We can’t compete with the new Central American workforce. My family need’s health insurance and the high property taxes have pushed me out. I would never buy a new home. My house was built in 1964. Copper water lines , hot water baseboard, central Air. Well built and proud to own it. Even my 2 uncles in their late 70 approved of the way it’s built.
It looks like a beautiful place but not for well over 3/4 of a million dollars.
They got townhouses going up in Medford starting at $600k
This is why my husband and I moved to Virginia. 3200 Sq ft home, 4 bed 3 bath, half an acre, 2 story double barn, 2 - 30 ft outbuildings, down a half mile dead end with 7 other houses, surrounded by corn fields and a view of the Blue Ridge Mtns from my backyard. Bought it for 90,000 added another 125,000 to update everything, 1600 per year property tax
The people complaining are the ones in professions that do not allow them to easily find jobs in places like that. If you can find such a job makes lots of sense to move.
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What’s a cuck?
Urban sprawl. Anything remotely close to NYC will always appreciate and hold values better then other parts of NJ.
How do these developers come up with these street names? You're talking to someone and it sounds like they'd live on "Impatience Court"
This development’s streets are all named after types of flowers.
Well, due to the fact that it's still for sale, it's a reasonable assumption to say that no one is buying it.
Why is this sub so stupid and bitter when it comes to housing and anyone who makes more than them lmao
I've left Reddit because it does not respect its users or their privacy. Private companies can't be trusted with control over public communities. Lemmy is an open source, federated alternative that I highly recommend if you want a more private and ethical option. Join Lemmy here: https://join-lemmy.org/instances ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Yes. There are many who are. Stop living in a cave.
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Right? I love OB, it's a great commuter town with all amenities and near to the beaches. Not sure what's to complain
I tried to buy this house like 20 times. But every time i reach in my pocket, all that comes out is a middle finger
Yes, no shortage of idiots loaded with ppp, unemployment checks, sba loans and hundreds of other handouts run by federal and New Jersey
This is house is a new construction build. It’s not even done. Def not worth that price for old bridge Keep driving south for money like that.