Hrekires

Hrekires t1_ja8739p wrote

Just a note of caution about Rahway, be sure to look up FEMA flood zone maps... and then probably add a couple blocks onto the map.

If I ever get the motivation to sell my house and downsize, I think about some of the condos downtown there but only if it came with an off-street parking spot that wasn't at ground level.

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Hrekires t1_j9v09ce wrote

I mentally divide the state into Western, North, Central, South, and the Shore. I'd put Atlantic Highlands in the Jersey Shore category.

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Hrekires t1_j3r1yp7 wrote

I know you can't predict the market, but buying with a 3.5% down payment and paying PMI for a couple years rather than waiting until we'd saved up 20% was probably the smartest thing we did. It's a pretty massive difference when you're looking at ~$400k houses and not one that could have been made up for in a few years by brown bagging lunch to work.

We bought in 2018 and then refinanced to get rid of PMI when prices peaked in 2020... if we'd stayed in our apartment and kept saving money, I literally wouldn't be able to afford to buy the house I'm living in today.

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Hrekires t1_j3ou974 wrote

  1. Became a dual-income, no kids couple
  2. Gave up my apartment in the city to move into a relatively inexpensive apartment in Jersey together
  3. No vacations and limited luxury spending for a couple years while saving as much as we could
  4. Set our budget at something we'd be able to afford on a single income so that we wouldn't be in dire straights if one of us lost our job, took a paycut, or decided to become a stay-at-home parent someday (our happy-medium was 60-70 year-old houses in middle class towns that were move-in ready but dated)
  5. Looked at houses in towns we wanted to move to in order to figure out where we could find something that met our needs and was in our price range
  6. Made sure we had enough saved for a 3.5% down payment, closing costs, and moving expenses
  7. Found a real estate agent
  8. Got preapproved by a bank
  9. Started looking at houses and putting in offers
  10. Eventually had an offer get accepted and not fall apart during the legal review or home inspection periods
  11. Closed on the house and became a homeowner
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