I love Basic in Hoboken the best. Amazing selections, everything is always fresh (unlike outdated merch on GoE's shelves). Can be pricey but you get what you pay for.

info I needed yesterday!

But which church is it exactly? The one at 800 Bergen (that's closer to Glenview) or the one on Highland/Bergen, west side of the street...? And where do you go inside the church exactly? Thanks

Interesting about an owner's appraisal not being able to be used by banks. What about a situation where the buyer's appraiser comes up with much less sq footage. In this case "much less" = greater than 10%

Let's say you do hook up/date someone for a while that you meet at your residence? If the relationship doesn't work out, you still have to live in the same building as your ex. blech.

Quote:

I'm so there.

I'd be curious to know what section of the city the very frustrated people on this thread, who have left or are contemplating leaving, are living?

I realize that crime, grime, questionable construction and bad PATH service are fairly ubiquitous .... but high taxes aren't .... We will not buy a place with taxes over $3600/yr. This amount both rules out and rules in a number of areas. Downtown -out! JC Heights - part in/part out. JSQ, McGuinley Square, Lincoln Park - all ruled in.
Even parts of Bergen Lafayette and Greenville have outrageous taxes and are ruled out by our equation.

I love Jersey City.
I lived in Hoboken from 1989 - 2008, when I moved to JC.
My fiance and I have been actively shopping for a condo here. This is proving to be a demoralizing experience because what we can rent is a lot nicer than what we can buy. I was excited that with the r/e price drops that we could buy something really nice but that is not proving to be true when we factor personal safety into the equation. I feel like we see some cool properties and then plug the address into various crime stat reports to be horrified. (this is assuming we live in a part of the city with "affordable" taxes). I'm not sure if the problem is that I read too many blogs or if we just need to rent a while more.
Regardless of if we decide to rent or buy, we definitely definitely want to stay in JC for its diversity, vibrancy, proximity to NYC, architecture, cheaper cost of living (other than taxes), nice parks.

Unfortunately the most powerful message is sent by not living in new construction downtown. Or new construction anywhere in JC. These condos are the most taxed. There's a great response in the 30 year crime low thread about how the horrid taxes downtown are causing people to shift to other areas of jersey city. these people wind up being very proactive about keeping their blocks safe, be it thru neighborhood associations or vigilant calls to the police. This will, in time, make other areas of JC nice. So, even if in the immediate future you cannot vote out the politician who will raise you taxes out office now, you can kick 'em in the ass by shifting locale.

Most of downtown is fine to walk thru in all hours. Do not walk thru any park, even in the richest area of town, after sundown. do not walk to the end of 1st st. it's yucky an any aesthetic sense you have you will be seriously challenged.

For anyone who is concerned about living in a "bad" area.... don't worry! I'm about to move into very same "bad" area with my 12 gauge and my 2 gigantic mastiffs. I also have a cat that's particularly hissy. All of us will be keeping the streets safe from thugs and crackheads in no time flat.

Hi Jersey Roots,
Aside from wondering how often residents are smoking in the indoor common areas of the building, I sent you a list of questions via pm.

thanks in advance for your response.

....Does anyone know anything about life in this bldg (other than the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow shot a flick there) or one this block (by corner of West Side Ave) ??

Thanks. Yes, I know. I do this a lot.
Don't fret. The homebuyer tax credit expires soon
and questions about various complexes will no longer
have to be answered.

It'd be killer to have a **comprehensive** web directory of fun, fanfare + failure of large apartment/condo bldgs in JC.

This place is only 500 sq ft. How could it possibly go for more? In fact, at this price it's been on the market for months.

Yes, please notify HP residents that a woman pretending a black man with a voice changer is running amok so she can gain access to condos to case them out.

The simplest explanation is generally the most likely.

If you were interested in buying a condo pre-construction, what info would you absolutely need to know about the project + developer?

The building in question is The Precinct at 769 Montgomery. This is a 38-unit residential + retail conversion of the 7th Precinct house. As of now the hallways aren't fully constructed, there's a handful of condo units finished, god only knows if plumbing and wiring are hooked up. Nonetheless, I was very impressed with the project but have no experience in this area, no idea when it'll be done or how it'll fully translate. Then, if people will even buy in. Like I said, fell in love with it, but what are some indicators it's "safe" to move forward on such a deal? Thanks.

West, After Hoboken's taxes went up 40% in '08, I know people who have appealed and won. The amount of the their reduction more than covered the attorney's fee and they now have bragging rights.

It's usually $9, sometimes $8. I've done that ride often.

Hello,
We're considering a condo that has a current tax abatement. How can we predict what the real tax rate will be once the abatement has run out? The abatement rate is 1.6% of sale price. How can we calculate the rate for 20 years from now? What is the current rate, even?

Thanks much.

Thanks for the info! I know I ask a lot of real estate q's - it's like porn for me.

From the start, we've been mainly focused on a generous square outline running north/south from Montgomery - Bentley and east west from Bergen to West Side. The sq footage for the $$ is firmly in our price range for this area. The area has it's conveniences and I adore Lincoln Park. I love the pre-war bldgs that are there... some stunningly redone. Streets a bit closer to the PATH get a little too pricy or small for us. yes, there are stunning condos on Glenwood - can't reach them yet. For the record, we will be parking a car on the street and I don't plan to walk alone after 8 pm though I am out frequently at night. At what hour should a *couple* starting thinking about a taxi? After 10 pm? Whatevs. what we can afford is what we can afford so we're making friends with it, and I'm not a fan of the Heights.

Xerxes,you've given feedback about a lot of places you wouldn't live so I'm not sure where you do actually live. Hamilton Park is safe enough to walk around all hours but way too expensive. Ditto for Newport and Paulus Hook. Hoboken doesn't even get consideration - it's far too provincial.

while many would advise us to keep renting, in fact buying affords us an opportunity to lower monthly housing costs up to 20% and in 3 years I don't want to be kicking myself about all the places we could've afforded when the market was down.

1. I question the accuracy of NJ by the numbers. They report a robbery in a place/date that I **know*** simply never happened.

2. Discussion of the area by Lincoln Park seems to be as polarizing as talking about life on Astor Place (different thread). Of note, in this this current thread there are several references to the neighborhood being worse, not better, than it was a few years ago.

3. regarding being on the "right" or "left" side of Harrison, is that r/l from the POV of going east or west on Harrison?

thanks.

To respond to what several residents of this area have said earlier in the thread..... if the neighbors are so "awesome", what IS the problem? The children attending the schools in this area, are your neighbors' children, yes?
Or are people coming in from other areas to buy + consume drugs? If the area is rife with gangs, aren't these the neighbors too?

Hey Greenville Chick,
How come everywhere you go, shots are fired?

So who has better riots at dismissal - Lincoln or Dickinson?
A friend of mine lives on Summit and to visit her we've parked on the Prescott. One night we stood outside for a while (after midnight, so this makes it a valid standing outside late) to see exactly what it is we are supposed to be just so terrified of in this neighborhood. Didn't find it. shrug.

I can see where Duncan and Fairmount may contain an element of hinkiness, but when going by Lincoln Park late at night in consideration of that neighborhood we didn't turn up much excitement there either.

We must be doing it wrong.

We would be buying it to live in it, not rent it out. This is, of course, assuming we can actually get inside it. If the market is in the pits and there's so much inventory to be moved, not sure why it's so hard to get a return phone call from a realtor.

Are you talking about 30 Astor? I'm having the very same debate with my fiance right now about that property. i love that neighborhood for its houses. I do think it's also a decent long term investment. I do wonder at my life expectancy though if I live there and am equally torn as you are about what to do about it. Best of luck in your house hunt.

FAB,
These issues are not unique to JC. Off the top of my head, 1,2,3,9,10,11, 13 apply to hoboken and I'm sure denizens of other Hudson County cities could say the same.

Oh, and Cake Boss being filmed at Carlos' has added ridiculous amounts of foot traffic (in the form of tourists coming to take pictures of the place) in an already crowded area.

Imahog: Tell me more about this "cleaning machine" of which you speak. I am absolutely **terrified** of those pointy metal things that my dentist office usually uses to clean teeth. I would welcome a much lower stress alternative.

"By now, she knew that a price in the low $200,000s was unrealistic."

Odd. My fiance and I are only looking at condos in JC below $200K and still need to somehow narrow the field.

I also got a laugh out of her concern about the doorman knowing her comings + goings, and ostensibly who she's coming + going with. Guess she'll give her neighbors plenty to gossip about [in her own mind].

Thanks everyone for your input. As I posted in a thread about JC Heights, we're at an impasse in terms of what to do b/c I want to buy in JSQ and my fiance wants the Heights. In fact we saw a promising place on Ogden, which he's sold on, but I'm in love with 340 Fairmount. Both neighborhoods are very different and various bribes on each side (him to me: "I'll drive you to the PATH every morning if we live in the Heights" me to him: "we can get a cat if we live on Fairmount") are only complicating matters.

In short what I've concluded is that while Fairmount is walking distance to everything, it can be sketchy to get home at certain times. While Heights is quiet and safe, it's not the most convenient for commuting to NYC and not great selection of shops/restaurants just outside your door.

Points of reference: I lived in Hoboken for nearly 20 years. now we rent in Hamilton Park but cannot afford to buy in that area. Prior to us meeting my fiance lived in Newark for 8 years.

Hiya,
I started the thread "340 Fairmount" because my fiance and I are looking to buy a condo either by JSQ or in the Heights . In reading over the responses on this thread and the thread i started, I'm more confused than ever. My partner + I are at an impasse with me pushing for a unit @ 340 Fairmount and him wanting a unit we saw on Ogden Ave. Space difference between the 2 is 70 sq ft, both are the same price per month. We are at a loss to tip the equation either way and I'm so frustrated about what to do.....
I commute to NYC. He drives to work within NJ.
I like hubbub and action. He likes quiet. Hey, opposites attact.
AAAAAAAgh!