Rent isn't better.
Even at 30, you'd need combined income over 200k. Before a cost like child care is accounted for and if one parent has to stop working or work less.
OT: Real Estate Question - Toms River/Brick and area
- Thread starter yesrutgers01
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Rent isn't better.
Even at 30, you'd need combined income over 200k. Before a cost like child care is accounted for and if one parent has to stop working or work less.
1) I think putting yourself into others' shoes financially is already a slippery slope 2) I offered a solution, you just didn't like it which is your right 3) I am trying to buy a second home in the area so I am unfortunately all too aware of the costs, but for me, it's leisurely and basically a fun project versus someone else for whom it's a day to day struggle and I can appreciate that coming from a background where money didn't grow on trees surrounded by a lot of people for whom it did.
As I said niece bought in wall area within last 2 years under 500 (shark river hills). Another niece just rented in Main st in Manasquan 2 br 2 bath above the hot coffee shop for 2k.
Yea wrong tree buddy. Put myself through school. Broke into the greatest nepotism business in the world knowing nobody. Read your first sentence. Your entire argument has been putting yourself in someone else’s shoes considering your looking for a second home.
Not flaming, but genuinely curious what the greatest nepotism business in the world is?
Yea it’s all free! Put the stress on the luxury units. Double maybe triple the population and only the market rate pay the fees. As I said earlier the low cost affordable units for sale only stay affordable in the first cycle. Then they are open market.
As e5 said population adds many additional costs and stressors. New schools new employees new infrastructure projects. Some covered by tax abatements. But guess what? Those abatements end.
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Wall st more specifically old school fx trading. Was the only person on my first desk not related to someone else on the floor. Transitioned to equities which was one step less on the nepotism scale.
This week's Coast Star for some young public servants:
Sea Girt ANNUAL lease 3BM, 2BA, EIK, den, garage. driveway. Assuming W/D in the house already. $5,500.
3 for 1800 rent
4 for 1375 rent
Spring Lake Heights:
Homestead Garden Apartments
2BR/2BA, parking, doesn’t mention W/D but guessing they’re available. $3000.
2 for $1500.
Cheap? Not necessarily. But doable as a young cop or teacher in your example.
New Jersey Police & Firemans Pension plan is based entirely on last three years BASE SALARY overtime is NOT in any way included in your pension, I enrolled in 1973 & it has never included overtime, NYC is a different animal.
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Shoot I rented in NYC 2 bedroom 2200. I had a base of 30k. But somehow people with a base nearly 3x that are at a disadvantage.
This area is like Edison with the ocean nearby.. Every demographic from Section 8's to Millionaires. Unfortunately the Hasidics are buying up everything and renting out to section 8's or starting to move into some of these neighborhoods. Their rentals are hurting our schools and area in general. Wife grew up in Point Pleasant which is still real good. If you can buy in towns like Brielle, Manasquan, Point Pleasant Spring Lake, Mantoloking you'd be better off. Or go to Freehold, Manalapan or Marlboro.
Had this conversation with someone who worked with autistic kids and she told me families moved to this area to get better care for their autistic kids because of the available resources here. Not sure if this is true.
I was born in Elizabeth and grew up in Woodbridge. I can't imagine the water here is worse than in those areas.
math just doesnt work...your base of $30k had how much additional comp? Tell us what you actually made. You need to be at a 70k min for that rent plus utilities, food, entertainment and much more if you actually want to enjoy NYC- if you were at a $2200 rent with no roommates- you were at least 90k.
Yea heard the same thing regarding Brick specifically. They were ahead of their time with resources for autistic and special needs. People throughout the country moved to get better resources for their child.
Nope I had a roommate. Utilities (heat, hot water) were included. I ate breakfast and lunch at my desk and that was provided by firm. Had a co-signer to get approval and worked as a bartender to supplement my income. Was not uncommon for young traders to make no money first year until they either developed a book of business (clients) or took over a pad (position trader).
Had minimal free cash but needed to be in city to move up in my career, entertaining and time requirements of 12-14 hour days. Was able to significantly increase my income. Took a risk moving in with only making 30k no grantees.
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You did that in anticipation of a future payday. And even then, you admit it was a risk. Sounds like it paid off, a credit to you and your plan.
BUT, that isn't really the same as a (necessary) public servant who isn't going to see that kind of payday, ever. Are they supposed to live with roommates, still spend more than a third their income on housing, and bartend at night ... indefinitely?
Future payday wasn’t garunteed. Far from it. Failure rate was greater than 80%.
No but they have a retirement built in and also a garunteed lifeline in overtime and outside jobs. Again this conversation didn’t start out in civil servant world. Someone dragged it there. I have many family members in that environment. I am somewhat jealous of them. I could have retired at 47 if I listened to my brother in law.
There you go- you did what you had to do but you did not have a $2200 apartment at $30k.
You had $1100
When I had to get my first place at 17- I split a $700 rent with a roommate as I made $6.12 an hour during my first year at IBM.
No lunches provided, had to get furniture, car, gas etc…
I worked 70+ hours each week. Recently looked at my recorded SS and in that first year I had an apartment- I made just under $17k
And I was doing better then mist of my friends but at least they got to live at home for another year or two.
Yeah, but that's what you were working toward. So it was presumably worth the suffering in the short term for the long-term goal.
True about police, but not teachers as far as OT and outside jobs.
No, I don't cry myself to sleep for them, but I also don't begrudge their viable housing options within the communities they work. Or think it's very comparable to a business exec or stock trader living lean before making bank.
This conversation (thread) started out on a quick dead-end, from which it spidered off into various vaguely related tangents 😄
Furthering you education (Masters, PhD), tutoring, administrative track, summer employment or moving on to a better paying district are some ways to combat that.
And some teachers don't necessarily want to live where they work.
Sure, some teachers also have to. In some cases, it even means bestowing upon their family a much better FB team to root for, numbing the chronic pain of RU fandom 🙂
True enough, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't have the option.
Not sure what you mean there? Or the part after either.
And aside from moving on to a higher paying district I laid out some of the options to stay close by.
There also isn't a draft. People have a choice to decide what they want to do. And in making those choices some other decisions have to be made too. Like where you can afford to live with what your salary will be.
Some teachers have to get grad degrees.
It's been a few pages. but wasn't the original reference about housing that's already being built? So future gens can factor that into their decision making.
I said I had a 2 bedroom apartment at 2200. At no point did I say I had it by myself. 2 bedroom inferred a roommate.
Again not begrudging. Just being honest. There are sacrifices people make at certain points in their life. I chose finance and the risks associated. Some people don’t understand you don’t have to live in a doorman building or live in a 4 bedroom house in the suburbs. It’s about enjoying the process and sometimes embracing the struggle and being self sufficient. No one forces a 9 month work calendar and holidays off but to each their own.
Your 17k and 350/months plus utilities in Poughkeepsie , sounds alot like 1100/ month plus electric furniture cabs, subway groceries etc…in NYC 30k working 70 hrs plus entertaining clients 4 nights a week. Then working 2 shifts as a bartender on weekends.
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no matter how you slice it- it is still very tough if you are young and have to make it out on your own at an early age.
I do not know your age but I was on my own in 1980 when I had to be out of my Dad's house to make my own way at 17. Lucky enough to get a full time job at IBM at 18. And I kept my part time job at a Grand Union for a couple of years too on top of the 50/60 hrs a week at IBM. But $6.12 an hour doesn't go far when you have to figure out how to buy furniture dishes and a car, insurance, rent, utils etc. I think the Grand Union job was paying $2.65 at that time or something like that. My monthly take home was barely over $800
And I was most likely making more than most of my friends at that time.
I found all the local spots that had .25 drinks on any given night of the week. Learned how to cook a ton of pasta and rice. And still stopped by Dad's for dinner many times a week.
And somehow- found a way to buy some great cars- go to concerts, and have a ton of fun.
Exactly my point and the point of others in this thread. You can make it work and be creative of how you discover and find success and to a lesser extent fun. At 23 you don’t need to have luxury. You can make do with average. It builds character and you will appreciate your accomplishments. Risk and Struggle are okay. But it is not for everyone. You can take the easier route. But that may not be the most rewarding financially on the back end. Starter houses are starter houses for a reason and not everyone’s starter houses are in the most desirable locations within 5 miles of their jobs or within the hottest real estate markets in the country.
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Maybe social media has something to do with it. Nobody wants to be seen in a run down starter house or sharing a "Crib" with someone else in their TikTok or Instagram video.
I'm much like you. Me and the Mrs have always been scrimpers and savers and always living well below our means. It worked out for us.
I am not doubting your finances, but you are lucky to have had financial struggles not in the current era.
There was a time when the average salary was 1/3 the average home price.
Maybe doable but if you're earning under 100k how much are you pocketing with that outlay?
Social media for Gen Z is full of get rich quick schemes, lol. Basically they are told don't go to college, don't work hard, buy some bitcoin and listen to Andrew Tate and the super models will be at mom's door asking how to get down to the basement.
It is actually very sad...it is why most Gen Z women are not dating Gen Z men.
That said, for those doing the right thing, they should still have options. I graduated RU as the economy was on the precipice of the worst crisis of our lifetimes, and i know what my generation went through (and still is short the money we should have had). So i am definitely sympathetic to costs ATM.
It falls on the individual to figure that out.
Make your own coffee instead of Starbucks. Make your own lunch instead of eating out. Cook your own dinner more frequently than going out. Pick a streaming service instead of five. Couponing. Etc.
Financial struggles are financial struggles. And I don’t wish struggle on anyone. And what I had was not a struggle. It was reality.
The NY/NJ metropolitan area has always been a difficult place to be a homeowner. But there are decisions to be made. Every generation thinks they have had worse than others. That won’t change. But as many in this thread have said you can make it work if you’re open and flexible. Don’t have to be perfection.
As someone who rarely buys coffee and only has the cheapest Netflix, it's not that easy. Also these days, you get a deal on food out and it's cheaper than groceries.
And I won't deny people in Wall Rook, lol.
All true. The way I look at it is, no matter who is in charge, I'm going to pay a lot of taxes. If they are used to help a teacher or nurse live, better that than payola or helping the wealthy.
As the wife and I had pretty much decided on the Middletown DE area and have now been down to the area a number of times pricing homes- we get to learn so much more.
First, if you want any property at all- you will be in a dump of a newer home that is not near anything. Any home that is fairly new and in a nice neighborhood and close to shopping- the home prices are lower than NJ for sure and taxes much lower too but...not a damn person down there is willing to negotiate at all and all think their house deserves %0k+ over any comp in the area. And while it may still be cheaper than here- it is not cheaper for there.
Property tax- some good some bad- it is much lower but going to climb fast as younger people are buying up the cookie cutter spec homes and needing new schools.
The good thing is that at the age of 65, you get to start getting a reduction of the school tax. But, not as much as what they made it sound. Maybe $500 off.
And there is a fear of what happens a few years down the road- so many of the homes are in these new developments in the corn fields. But, what happens down the road if another builder buys up the field next to you and either builds a dump or worse yet, a better neighborhood.
And then- the contractors, we were looking at a really nice home with an unfinished basement. Wanted to get pricing on what it would take t finish- just the basics- dryway- electric, plumbing(maybe a rough in or maybe just a powder room) carpet doors. And they are all coming in at 100-200 k which is more than I would pay here in Bergen Co.
So- we are going down again this weekend. hopefully we do find what we like.
But, also thinking Pa now too but I am not familiar...Does anyone have a suggestion of a good area, reasonable, safe, nice homes, community, shopping nearby? and not out toward Ohio...:)
First, if you want any property at all- you will be in a dump of a newer home that is not near anything. Any home that is fairly new and in a nice neighborhood and close to shopping- the home prices are lower than NJ for sure and taxes much lower too but...not a damn person down there is willing to negotiate at all and all think their house deserves %0k+ over any comp in the area. And while it may still be cheaper than here- it is not cheaper for there.
Property tax- some good some bad- it is much lower but going to climb fast as younger people are buying up the cookie cutter spec homes and needing new schools.
The good thing is that at the age of 65, you get to start getting a reduction of the school tax. But, not as much as what they made it sound. Maybe $500 off.
And there is a fear of what happens a few years down the road- so many of the homes are in these new developments in the corn fields. But, what happens down the road if another builder buys up the field next to you and either builds a dump or worse yet, a better neighborhood.
And then- the contractors, we were looking at a really nice home with an unfinished basement. Wanted to get pricing on what it would take t finish- just the basics- dryway- electric, plumbing(maybe a rough in or maybe just a powder room) carpet doors. And they are all coming in at 100-200 k which is more than I would pay here in Bergen Co.
So- we are going down again this weekend. hopefully we do find what we like.
But, also thinking Pa now too but I am not familiar...Does anyone have a suggestion of a good area, reasonable, safe, nice homes, community, shopping nearby? and not out toward Ohio...:)
