So, I am looking to buy a condo in jersey city, but hoping to get some input from like minded people. I was honestly just planning on retiring in some cheap suburb a few hours drive from NYC, but decided against that more recently.
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Bound to nyc relative area as I've lived here my whole life, family, friends, are all here.
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Most friends live in jersey city rather than nyc.
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Jersey has insane property taxes, the worst kind of taxes for FIRE imo, unlikely to shift to an income tax system with lower property taxes. 1 bedrooms would cost about 12k in taxes per year
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The alternative would be somewhere in Brooklyn, but id have to get an older building that likely requires a lot of modernization and may have more issues down the line from age. As opposed to jc where I can get a new construction.
Just want something input to see if anyone actually picked JC
Is new jersey a bad idea?
byu/Slay3d infinancialindependence
Posted by Slay3d
6 Comments
You’re asking more of a lifestyle question than you are a financial question.
Jersey prices might get more expensive if Mamdani gets elected.
Of NJ, NY and Connecticut, NY has the lowest property taxes. I’d look north of the City toward White Plains.
Also condos can be wild depending on the board. They are essentially a hyper-local taxing authority and if the preponderance of the owners are for example wealthier and want lots of capital improvements and upgrades to the property, you can be forced to contribute via high assessments and condo fees. This can also happen if maintenance has been neglected and there isn’t a reserve set aside. At minimum always review the financials and the special assessment history.
I saw a Futurama episode where there was a nice house but it was technically in New Jersey and therefore “not even remotely livable.”
It sounds like you should figure out how much to need to retire in NJ, then work towards that FI number.
Is 12k just taxes or also including HOA? I’m in a neighboring town and that seems high to be just taxes.