Better quality of life, but not necessarily cheaper

amother

Tan

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:27 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Can someone that bought a house in Tom's River for about $600,000 chime in? I would love to know an approximate cost breakdown.

From what I see, the larger houses with pools are more in the $7-800,000 range.

ShishKabob

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:27 am

amother [ Floralwhite ] wrote:

Plenty of people do their own landscaping. Sorry, that's a choice. Owning a pool, with related expenses, is a choice. Washing floors and windows is not an expense.

Washing floors is an expense when you pay someone to do it for you. The topic is how much more the cost is for this town. If you're paying someone to wash your floors and bathrooms in Flatbush, even if you have a larger home, the term larger home in Toms River takes on way bigger proportions.
Landscaping is not a choice if you choose to buy a fancy house with fancy landscaping. There are laws in place where you must keep it up otherwise you get ticketed. And if you buy a house with a pool, you must keep it up.
It's part of the expenses of living in such a house.
I'm not "chapping" why you think these expenses are a choice if you buy that type of a home.

allthingsblue

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:28 am

ShishKabob wrote:

This.
Basically, someone who purchases this type of home is choosing to pay for all this instead of paying for a smaller Brooklyn home with no pool and less land.
They are getting more bang for the same buck, at their choosing.

watergirl

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:30 am

ShishKabob wrote:

You can still do your own landscaping and upkeep yourself, and you can 100% do your own cleaning yourself. Why are you assuming that you have to pay people to do this?

ShishKabob

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:32 am

watergirl wrote:

You can still do your own landscaping and upkeep yourself, and you can 100% do your own cleaning yourself. Why are you assuming that you have to pay people to do this?

You don't necessarily have to hire help for this. However, it's a full time job. You'll be feeling like a slave to your lawn, pool, floors very quickly.

The point is, that if you take cleaning help in Flatbush, you are probably going to take cleaning help in Toms River. The dollars don't match up. It costs more and takes more time to clean a larger home. That's basically the gist of it.

amother

Royalblue

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:40 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

We are paying between $4,500- $5,000 for each of our children in Brooklyn, how much is tuition in Lakewood? Do they give breaks?

I'm paying $4500 for primary girl which includes a 1k kollel break. It will increase each year by a few hundred dollars..

every school is different.

amother

Blue

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:42 am

How much are the heating and cooling bills? If they are a few hundred a month in Brooklyn, they can easily be $1000 a month in a house double the size in Toms River. Also access to jobs is no small thing. Commuting to Brooklyn is not realistic necessarily in the long term.

amother

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 11:59 am

watergirl wrote:

You can still do your own landscaping and upkeep yourself, and you can 100% do your own cleaning yourself. Why are you assuming that you have to pay people to do this?

Hello, did you se the size of those houses??
It's not humanly possible to work, do basic housework, cook, take care of the kids plus clean a huge home.

watergirl

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 12:05 pm

ShishKabob wrote:

Re: second paragraph - I hear.

amother

Jade

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 12:09 pm

My question is as follows(I live in neither of these places). I understand that few people can buy even a small detached house with its own driveway in a desirable part of Brooklyn. But why is the only alternative to that a "huge" house (potentially with a pool) in TR or Lakewood? Why not a regular sized house with a regular sized lawn? I grant you, larger families need more bedrooms, but why does that translate to a house with such fancy landscaping or such huge acreage? My mother, a great-grandmother, still mows her lawn with an electric mower.

In my area, almost all of my non-Jewish neighbors mow their own lawns. The lawn service guys mow all the Jewish lawns. (Except mine and a very few others-- I do it myself, but I grant you that I am not working, so I have the time.)

Why does moving out of Brooklyn=living a much higher lifestyle than most of America?

amother

Emerald

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 12:26 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Can someone that bought a house in Tom's River for about $600,000 chime in? I would love to know an approximate cost breakdown.

Our son & dil bought a house for 425 k.
2200 sq ft Colonial ( low ceilings means heating/ cooling not a big expense) 1/2 acre land, fenced in pool, 2 car garage. Monthly payments including taxes, mortgage 2600. He takes care of the lawn himself. Utilities he says are less than they were in brooklyn. Food - they shop in bingo and costco and kollel ( he works in Brooklyn). One child in school Is 5000 / year which we are helping with. The biggest expense is traveling for job.
What you dont have is the ability to walk to places especially on shabbos. So if you need or want to walk to parents or siblings or just sit on your porch and see people and a busy life it’s not for you.
He was eligible for free solar panels which also cuts utilities expenses.
They only put down 15%. The more you put down the lower your monthly payments.

amother

Saddlebrown

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 1:57 pm

amother [ Emerald ] wrote:

In Toms River? That is so cheap for all that they got.

amother

Floralwhite

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 2:06 pm

amother [ Jade ] wrote:

Yes, pretty much this is what I'm trying to say. It's a CHOICE to: buy a huge house, have a pool, have fancy landscaping, have cleaning help, etc. These are not requirements in TR any more than they are in Brooklyn.

amother

Emerald

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 2:29 pm

amother [ Saddlebrown ] wrote:

In Toms River? That is so cheap for all that they got.

Yup. They sat down with pen and paper and did the math. They have friends who went all out on mansions and are having a hard time making payments. They have friends who bought smaller houses for less because that’s what they can afford.
Just because there are houses for under 7hundred k doesn’t mean you should buy it. One has to know what the expenses are and how they are going to pay it. They’re kitchen is old they didn’t put in a new one. They bought off furniture from previous owners. They don’t want to go into a debt they’ll never climb out of.
There are quite a few houses for sale in their area and it’s a beautiful one. There are different shuls and schools are picking up from there.

amother

Turquoise

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 2:34 pm

ShishKabob wrote:

You don't necessarily have to hire help for this. However, it's a full time job. You'll be feeling like a slave to your lawn, pool, floors very quickly.
.

That's really not necessarily the case. I grew up in monsey with an in ground pool and a large property. My parents, who both worked full time, did all lawn care, spring and fall cleanup, pool care and shoveled our (big) driveway every time it snowed, and I really dont think they felt like slaves. It was just a matter of fact part of life.

Now, as an adult myself we own a house with a very big property. We do all the lawn care etc and shovel our driveway, even planted a gorgeous flower garden and we really dont feel like slaves.

Not saying its the only way, and some circumstances may not make it feasible for some, but it shouldnt be knocked off the table as an option.

amother

Silver

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 2:40 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

It's possible to find a decent size move in condition home in Brooklyn for under 900k.
What about the extra pool related expenses? What about utilities like electricity, heat? Anyone know differences in pricing (pricing in general plus difference because size of house)??

No, unless you want to buy 3,4 bedroom condo.

amother

Violet

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 3:20 pm

amother [ Tan ] wrote:

Boy's elementary school:
Full: $6,800
Break that they offer to everyone: $6,000
If you need more of a break you need to apply for financial aid.

This is not the most expensive school in town.

My sons school is now 8400 I’m hearing other schools are following.