<p>Thinking of downsizing to a condo. Want something in New Jersey that is a good size with 3 bedrooms and that is under $500,000 and is easily accessible to public transportation with no longer than a 30 minute ride into NYC Manhatten. Any ideas? Thanks!</p>
<p>Check out Eagle Ridge in West Orange, NJ…townhouses…</p>
<p>midtown direct into NYC from Morristown is maybe 50 minutes…lots of condo choices. Just a thought.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“Weehawken, NJ Real Estate - Weehawken Homes for Sale | realtor.com®”>Weehawken, NJ Real Estate - Weehawken Homes for Sale | realtor.com®]Weehawken[/url</a>]</p>
<p>^^can one get a 3 br for under $500,000 there?..jw</p>
<p>Is there a path train from west orange or verona? If so how long does it take into the city?</p>
<p>No train station in West Orange or Verona. There are train stations in nearby towns, but parking is at a premium, often not available to non-residents. My advice would be to look at the NJ Transit website and look at the towns that do have a train station. Most places have bus service to Port Authority. Good luck.</p>
<p>I suggest that you look at the property taxes as well. Some of the high property taxes can choke you…</p>
<p>I would just take myself to a realtor and see what is out there right now. In this market you should be able to get a decent deal on the price of the condo, although in towns that are high demand (ie: near NYC with a good school system), prices have not fallen nearly as much as in other areas.</p>
<p>Look at towns on the MidTown direct line for <30 minute one-seat commutes. Montclair and South Orange both have condos near the train station. You could also find houses in either town in your budget. Other towns to consider are Millburn or Maplewood. All of them are in Essex County, so taxes are high.</p>
<p>Look at Hoboken and Jersey City.</p>
<p>I agree with zoosermom, as well as other posters listing towns like Montclair, Millburn and such.</p>
<p>Also, if you are willing to look into co-ops, or settle for a 2 bedroom (I think a 3 BR condo in this price range is a bit of a challenge), you might also want to look into Fort Lee/Cliffside Park/Edgewater area. Taxes will be high. This area is on top of the GWB.</p>
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<p>That doesn’t put you very far away from Manhattan. BIL lived in Brooklyn and it took him more than 30 minutes to get into Mahattan for his job. And his place cost far more than $500,000 and did NOT have three bedrooms.</p>
<p>My guess is you will have to do at least one of the following: rethink the distance you are willing to travel; rethink the size of the condo you want to purchase; rethink your price range.</p>
<p>Take a look at Ft. Lee, which is the other side of the George Washington Bridge. Many, many condos of all sorts there–hi rise, garden apts–and very easy commute to NYC. From many spots you can get a bus to NYC (178th St Station A train) and on a nice day you can actually walk across the bridge. The town itself is what I’d consider fairly sophisticated for a suburb, not ticky tacky. It aslo has a large asian population for reasons I’ve never been able to figure out, but a good mixof other ethnicities, races, as well. I don’t know about prices, but I think Ft. Lee is worth checking out.</p>
<p>thumper - Once you move out of city limits your commute, while more costly, is often quicker. Doesn’t surprise me about your brother-in-law plus Brooklyn is really hot right now so more expensive than when I was little. Where I grew up in Queens you could take the bus and subway into Manhattan in about 1 hour 15 minutes during rush hour or the LIRR in about 1/2 hour. Of course, by car not during rush hour it was about a 20 minute commute.</p>
<p>Just did a quick check online of 3 brms in Ft. Lee and there are many in yr price range and many appear to be the nice ones too–hi-rises with that panoramic view of the Hudson, the GW bridge, or the city skyline. Take a look and happy hunting.</p>
<p>All of the towns I listed have <30 minute commute to NY Penn Station via NJ Transit trains. All of these towns have decent houses <$500k. </p>
<p>There are also surrounding towns (West Orange is one) not on the train line that have expess bus service to NYC that can take <30 minutes, however they are subject to traffic delays on the roads & the Lincoln Tunnel.</p>
<p>If you can wait, there are some residential condos townhomes developments being built in Harrison, right at the Path station. It looks nice on paper and because of the economy, the projects have been stalled. But I read it has started up again.</p>
<p>Harrison is not a desirable area at the moment, but I think it will be “gentrified” once these new projects are built since the whole area is centered around the Path station.</p>
<p>questbest: as others have mentioned, West ORange is not on the train line, but a hop skip and jump to both express bus and Harrison path train…ALL of Essex county will rape you in real estate taxes (FYI) plus in Millburn, etc you are also paying for great schools (that you don’t need anymore)…</p>
<p>I do like the Fort Lee/Guttenberg idea…didn’t realize you can get a 3 br for under $500,000…there are ferries; busses…</p>
<p>People I’ve met in Westchester have downsized from Scarsdale to apartments in Hartsdale and White Plains, and from Bronxville to the adjacent areas in Yonkers.</p>
<p>“Harrison is not a desirable area at the moment…”
Perhaps not trendy or high profile, but there is nothing undesirable about it either. Several baseball players live there, I believe.</p>
<p>It will be decades before Harrison is gentrified…Terrible place…Morristown is way too far, and steer clear of anybody suggesting an area served by only express bus service…It all depends on what type of lifestyle you want away from work? Do you plan on having a car? Do you want an urban setting? Or a more suburban setting? a 30 minute commute is doable,but not easily from most places in NJ…If you can stand a bt more of commute time, i’d look in Bergen County towns such as Glen Rock/Ridgewood or any town served along the NJ Transit line…great commuter towns with express service to the Path station in Hoboken…</p>