Frustrated home buyer... - Page 2

Stiney · 06-19-2007, 11:23 AM

We bought it fall of 2005. The market's more of a buyer's market now, so it wouldn't have been anywhere near that expensive if we were buying it now. It's in Northvale, NJ...go as far north and as far east as you can without hitting New York state, and that's Northvale.

Quiltlady · 06-19-2007, 04:27 PM

I live in New York State and the prices for homes are crazy. Homes have doubled and some areas tripled in price.

All of my three adult children have moved to their own places but my dh and I are keeping our house. ITs bigger than we need but we know we'd have to pay a LOT more to downsize. So I'm glad we are staying put.

bellium · 06-19-2007, 04:39 PM

i feel your pain....my husband and i were living in a rental in bergen county, nj, for several years before deciding to look for a home of our own in 2006. because he commutes to manhattan, we needed to find a place near-ish to a train or bus line, and our budget was a little bit less than yours. needless to say, there was no way we could find a home in bergen county for the price we could pay, and we ended up settling in orange county, ny - it's more of a commute for him, and i had to get a new job entirely...

i hope that you're able to find a home that makes you happy!

JamOKnit · 06-19-2007, 04:45 PM

Stiney, I grew up in Bergen County too!!!

Go Northern NJ!!!

Seriously though, it's gotten crazy there. My parents are still in their little 3 BDR, 1.5 bath rancher in a neighborhood where all the rest of the ranchers have been torn down to put up McMansions taking up every inch of the lot. They bought their house about 32 years ago for like 35K and will probably get over 400K for it.

Have patience with your house search! We finally found one we felt was "our home" after months of searching and finding that nothing was exactly right. Turns out this house has its problems too...so much that the seller had to come down substantially in price so we could have the money to fix the issues (crawl space water accumulation, wood rot, HVAC replacements). Original price for 4 Bdr/2.5 Bath/1 garage on about 1/3 acre=$279K. Current price=$229K. But we are glad that although it's going to be difficult and inconvenient to live through all the work, it will be totally worth it when it's all done!

It also is slightly different than what we pictured our new house to be....we originally wanted a 2-car garage, a basement or bonus room, a screen porch or Florida room....and we have none of those. But we have a beautifully renovated house with a 1 car garage and a yard with lots of potential!

Your house is out there...and you will find it!

Carrie218 · 06-19-2007, 04:56 PM

I think I knew what it was like but reading your stories is getting me thinking...

I'm in San Francisco where $400k wouldn't even get me a 700 square foot condo! If I wanted a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath house, I'd be looking at $2 million! Even then, I wouldn't be getting any gardening land.

I am seriously thinking of buying something in another country...

Eloewien · 06-19-2007, 05:09 PM

Or just move to the middle of nowhere... if I told y'all about my house, you just might kill me... I love rural VA!

Kaydee · 06-19-2007, 06:29 PM

I lived in CT my whole life before coming to Boston last year and the prices are crazy there too. My neighbor put their 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath up for sale for $1million. And of course the taxes are huge especially since my neighborhood is a waterfront community...you can't get anything there for less than $750,000 even if you're looking at a small house.