"Affordable" jewish communities near the Bronx?

amother

Burlywood

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 1:47 pm

My husband works at the Bronx. We live in Queens. As much as I LOVE living in Queens, we can't live here forever because our family is growing and the apartment is too small. We could try and just rent out a little bigger apartment in the area, but I'm hoping we could buy a house one day. So where are other jewish communities with nice houses (or apartments) that are cheaper than in Queens? I know there's west hempstead. I'm not looking for something too far away from where he works (the most is about 45 min away). We're modern orthodox, looking to live in a mixed friendly community with good schools. Thanks

pesek zman

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 1:51 pm

What's affordable to you?

I live on the UWS so by comparison, Washington heights and Riverdale (less so) are quite affordable

But that's more for apartment rentals than hime purchases

amother

Burlywood

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 1:53 pm

pesek zman wrote:

What's affordable to you?

I live on the UWS so by comparison, Washington heights and Riverdale (less so) are quite affordable

But that's more for apartment rentals than hime purchases

In Queens, a semi-detached house costs $800,000! so less than this please.

How's the rent in Riverdale? I was looking at rent over here and 2 bedrooms are around $2000, it depends.

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 2:07 pm

amother wrote:

In Queens, a semi-detached house costs $800,000! so less than this please.

How's the rent in Riverdale? I was looking at rent over here and 2 bedrooms are around $2000, it depends.

If an $800,000 house is affordable to you, Riverdale works. This attached house in South Riverdale just sold in that range

https://www.zillow.com/homedet.....zpid/

(I've never been in that particular house, but those houses can be quite nice.)

and you could almost certainly get something in North Riverdale.

Scarsdale/New Rochelle are likely out of your range, but you could also consider White Plains or possibly Mt. Vernon (small community). I wouldn't consider NJ. The GWB can be pure hell some days.

amother

Rose

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 2:22 pm

Teaneck/Bergenfield can be 45 minutes depending where in the Bronx and what time you cross the bridge. Houses are significantly less than $800k and there are several MO schools in the area.

amother

Burlywood

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 2:46 pm

amother wrote:

If an $800,000 house is affordable to you, Riverdale works. This attached house in South Riverdale just sold in that range

Nope, $800,000 range is definitely not affordable for us. From what I've heard west hempstead houses are cheaper than queens? just want to check out more areas with friendly warm MO communities that aren't far away of a drive from the bronx (about 30-45min)

amother

Burlywood

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 2:47 pm

amother wrote:

Teaneck/Bergenfield can be 45 minutes depending where in the Bronx and what time you cross the bridge. Houses are significantly less than $800k and there are several MO schools in the area.

OP here
As much as I like the suburbs and beautiful houses, I read and heard from many people how taxes are high and the tuition would also be higher from what I pay for right now, so I rather not look into NJ, at least not yet.

doctorima

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 3:00 pm

I would suggest looking into Riverdale. You won't be able to find a nice home there in your price range, but you can definitely buy an apartment in one of the buildings with lots of frum neighbors. DH will have a reasonable commute, and you'll have plenty of MO options for shuls, schooling, etc.

amother

Powderblue

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 3:07 pm

doctorima wrote:

Not a good idea to buy there. The mo Jewish community there is transient and moves to the suburbs after a few years. Op I think tuition prices are similar in NJ and LI.

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 3:43 pm

amother wrote:

Not a good idea to buy there. The mo Jewish community there is transient and moves to the suburbs after a few years. Op I think tuition prices are similar in NJ and LI.

There are a certain percentage of transients, sure. Just like in Manhattan. And Washington Heights. And Brooklyn. And anywhere else.

But my kids have been friends with some of the same kids in Riverdale since preschool. I've lived there more than 20 years, as have many of my friends.

And I see the same thing among younger people. Some leave. But a large percentage settle in.

doctorima

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 4:03 pm

amother wrote:

Not a good idea to buy there. The mo Jewish community there is transient and moves to the suburbs after a few years. Op I think tuition prices are similar in NJ and LI.

I didn't say it was ideal, nor that OP would necessarily stay there forever. Given the constraints she laid out in terms of commute time from the Bronx, price of housing, an MO community, and nowhere in NJ, I suggested that Riverdale is her best bet.

And while some of her MO friends will move on, there are plenty of others who buy and stay. And if too many of her friends move, at that point perhaps OP will join them years down the line, when perhaps her finances and DH's employment will be different.

amother

Rose

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 4:29 pm

amother wrote:

Aren't West Hempstead taxes just as high? MO schools are expensive everywhere in the NY area. I would assume schools like HANC in West Hempstead are similar in price to Yeshivat Noam in Paramus.

amother

Burlywood

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 4:53 pm

amother wrote:

Aren't West Hempstead taxes just as high? MO schools are expensive everywhere in the NY area. I would assume schools like HANC in West Hempstead are similar in price to Yeshivat Noam in Paramus.

OP here

So I don't know if I want to move to west hempstead in the future, but I know quite a lot of young ones in Queens that moved over there and some still send their kids to a queens yeshiva with school bus.

The tuition in my area is almost $12000 for one. I did get a scholorship and it was reduced a little bit. If we're already talking NJ, I'd love to hear more about the tuitions over there and type of schools (looking for modern orthodox, not too right wing). In the past, I did look at some places in NJ, but then I read that taxes are higher so basically you'd be paying something more of, although you might get a nicer looking house in NJ than around queens. I also love the people where I live right now...it's a mix and not judgmental.

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 5:05 pm

amother wrote:

If you think that $12,000 tuition is high, then Riverdale/Westchester is not going to suit your needs.

The "cheap" school is WTA, and that's about $11,000, exclusive of lunch and transportation. SAR, Westchester Day and Kinneret are all substantially more.

amother

Burlywood

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 5:25 pm

amother wrote:

That's what I thought... that's why I rather still send them to the queens yeshiva since it seems like others will be more expensive but live somewhere more affordable? does it make sense? what I'm trying to say that houses in queens are way too high so if we ever want to buy, it would have to be somewhere else, yet still not as far away so we could still send them to the same yeshiva and not far from my husband's work as well.

saw50st8

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 9:00 pm

My taxes in Teaneck are about $12,000/year. We send to He'Atid which is under $10,000/child for a great education.

LI and Westchester have much higher taxes in many places. I don't know specifically about frum places, but my coworkers who live in Westchester pay $20,000++

amother

Cerise

Tue, Nov 28 2017, 10:10 pm

Someone suggested buying apt in riverdale. So if buying an apt is an option, why not just buy an apt in queens and if in future you buy a house in a different neighborhood, u can sell the apt to help pay for part of a future house.