Exactly whats happening, hence why I asked about the prefab garages. I know they can be put up fairly quickly. Anybody have any experience with them?

 

Thought you were asking about pre-fab HOMES.

 

You are naive indeed. You also seem to be horrible at reading comprehension. My point being that I would love to have a nice living room with a nice tv setup. I CANNOT AFFORD THIS, SO I DO NOT OVERSTEP MY BOUNDARIES AND MEANS. Hopefully the capital letters help you to focus on my POINT and not get so defensive one what you want my words to mean (so you can clam up and get bitchy). I never said you should get a tv. For the record, I have a 27 inch tv that is going on 20 years old. I would love to have a nice 50" plasma tv, but I don't need it. Which brings me to my point that you do NOT NEED YOUR TOYS. I couldn't give a rats ass if you keep them. Your daddy can buy you the house, and hopefully you can live happily ever after in it. Again, it won't change my life in any way. And please, don't go making a claim that I am obnoxious for simply stating my opinion of your situation. I work too hard and too long to put a roof over my head to hear someone rant about not finding her perfect free house to put all her expensive toys in.

 

I did a quick Google search, and a fairly nice one seems to be in the 10-15k range.

 

Very well said juniorbean....

back on topic though: It seems like you are worried about little things that don't need to be your concern too much. When you find a house, you WILL get an engineer to check things out, therefore you really don't have to worry about "bad foundations" and a "roof that is going to cave in".

IF i were in your situation, I would just take it easy and find a place. Like mentioned earlier in this thread, your only concern is to find a place which in my opinion is the least stressful thing. At least you don't have to apply for the mortgage, put up the downpayment, or pay the mortgage. How hard can that be? Like window shopping!

So are you working two jobs, or not working because you said both. (your dad doesn't believe in working and going to school, and also that you and your BF work two jobs to pay for your toys)

 

Do a search... Someone, I believe it may have even been one of the Mods (Shawn S, sorta comes to mind - but could be wrong) put together a huge, free-standing garage. He made a thread about it, complete with pics along the way. It may have been a pre-fab construction, too.

 

Here's the thread I was thinking of. And yep - it was Shawn S...

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ghlight=garage

 

wow, he did an unbelievable job. Thanks for that thread

 

I still don't see why a townhouse/condo is out of the question. You can rent a garage somewhere to store and work on all of your toys with the money your dad will be saving buying a townhome/condo instead of buying an old house, fixing it up, and building a garage. It's also nice that you're being considerate of your future neighbors by making sure you have enough room to make noise, however, even if you get a condo or townhome you can always find a place to tune your vehicles... so that shouldn't be an issue. Where you live and where you tune can be two different locations. People do it all the time.

I'm kind of agreeing with RaviNJCLS here. If you're as busy as you say you are (although I'm not sure, b/c originally you said your dad doesn't believe in working when you're in school, then you said you have two jobs), between work (maybe), school, and other things, maintaining an older home on that much property will take A LOT of your time. With a condo/townhome, all you have to worry about is the interior which will free you up to play with your toys and such.

One thing I learned from househunting is to investigate EVERY single option. Even if you don't think it's one you want. When we were looking for our first place we were dead set against condos/townhomes. Want to know what our first house was? Brand new townhouse. Not only that, but I was dead set against living in a middle unit b/c I didn't want to feel like I lived in a tunnel. Know what our unit was? A middle unit b/c there were windows and skylights everywhere and it had more light then our parents homes did. It also worked out for the best b/c percentage wise we made more money then the end units did, and we cashed out and moved again. In essence, that townhouse contributed substantially to putting us in the situation we are in now. Even when we moved south we knew we wanted to build again, this time a house, but, just to investigate every option, we looked at condos, townhomes, and resale homes... just to be sure we weren't missing out on anything. In the end we built our home as planned, but we were able to do so without wondering "what-if" because we explored every other option first.

So honestly, lose that tunnel vision. Explore any and all options, and if you come full circle and still end up back looking at properties like the ones you are currently looking at, then it was meant to be. At least then you'll know that and won't have to worry about the "what-ifs"...

 

It sounds like you have a lot of stuff. When I was looking for a place I came across a town house development. It's not in the area you're looking, but there is bound to be something similar close to you.

Each unit had a garage, a 2 car driveway and a basement. So there was a lot of storage space. Obviously not enough to fit a trailor, etc, but there was a lot of common parking and you can always rent a place to store your excess stuff for a lot less.

 

We looked into a storage space, and at least where I am currently living, its minimum $375 a month, just for the one car, bare minimum. I guess being in a climate controlled area, etc., is extra. Anytime any of the quads or bike needed to be worked on, we would have to pick it up, take it back to condo/townhouse/whatever, work on it, and then drive it back. I would love love love to have a townhouse, its just not feasible i think. If I could find a safe storage place for 2 quads, a pit bike, a car, one or two trailers, and all the various crap that goes along with it, I'd be set. The majority of storage places I looked at, at least in the Eatontown area, have set times that you are able to get your stuff in and out. It would take some careful planning on our part so we avoided issues. Frequently, we will randomly decide to take the quads out the next day, and at 9pm the night before, are changing fluids and all that. Most of these places, at least by me, are only open 8-5, and a little more on the weekends. We wouldn't be able to tune any of the bikes in a townhouse garage and not severely piss off the neighbors. Its a lot of stuff, but just stuff that adds up, like all the OEM parts for 2 cars and a truck, my winter rims and tires, and each quad/bike has all their orginial parts and several sets of tires and rims. Add in a couple of toolchests and the like, and its a lot just dedicated to cars and quads. We've ebayed whatever isn't useful, but we can't get rid of orginal parts and all that if we decide to sell something. I've found 3 houses that I like, now its just the matter of getting my dad down here to look at them and see what he likes. I just have this huge averison to neighbors and I know how loud we can be and the amount of stuff we have.
My dad isn't happy about me working two jobs, I originally worked for him, on the weekends, but really wasn't making enough money. I took a job at my school, Monday-Thurs, from 6-9pm making telephone calls to get money. It sucks, but the pay is reasonable. If my grades slip, I can't work for school anymore. Im almost done with college, and have a very light classload for this semester, so it makes sense at least to me, for me to be doing something during the week.

 

I am not familiar with the areas you are looking, But I am very familiar with NJ having been here my whole life so keep in mind two words.... Property Taxes.

In my search for a home the first time and the second time I explored existing homes and new homes. Each time I ended up in a brand new home. Just a better all around deal to me.

So keep in mind the area and the cost to live in that area. Acreage in NJ does not come cheap unless you are in a crap area with crap schools (gotta think resale or even your own kids education one distant day)


You have what sounds like a very generous Dad - take your time and think it through - this is a HUGE investment for him and you and your BF. You could one day make a lot of money off this investment if you choose wisely now.

anyway - just 2 cents - good luck house hunting...it is a fun time. Stressful, but fun.

 

Right now, property taxes in Jackson, Freehold, etc., aren't that bad, or at least not bad when compared with other places in NJ. Thanks for the heads up. One place has a development being put in at the beginning of the street. The house is about 3/4 to a mile down the road. How does that effect pricing now and later?

 

Jackson and Freehold are going to have HUGE tax increases very soon. They are building tons of new homes but don't have the infrastructure to support them (fire, rescue, road maintenance and most important SCHOOLS).

Keep in mind what you pay in property taxes today will be a pittance compared to what you're going to pay in a few years. My wife and I were looking in that area and I don't think it's the bargain it's cracked up to be.

 

well i won't try and pretend I can forecast what will happen with this crazy ass economy and real estate market, but in theory - your house will be worth more after that development goes up...so buying now rather than later is better. Future resale people will enjoy that you are located near a nice development. At least in my recent selling experience - that line about location, location, location was certainly proven true.

 

What is the price range on the homes that will be built in the development? If they are near the asking price of the existing house, that should benefit you b/c you should be able to get a deal on that house. The catch is that you'll need to hold it until that development is fully built-out to make any significant money on it.

If the price of the home you're looking at is less then what the price of the new homes are then your values should rise. If your house is more then the new homes will be, your value will likely fall.

 

JB, I don't think you'll be able to compare what she's looking at to what they're building. All the new homes in that area are McMansions and it's like comparing apples to oranges.

You definitely have a lot of land compared to the new homes but the home itself is not comparable.

Your best bet for an appreciation is if a builder wants to buy the tract and build several homes on it. Otherwise it's just a big shitty old house on a large plot.

 

I agree that having the development nearby means that potentially, down the road a developer might want to buy the land to build on. Also, with new homes means new infrastructure and retail development which may help the home value. Most people want to live near schools, hospitals, stores, etc.

 

Yeah but all that means huge property tax increases. Jackson is one of the areas which is rapidly outgrowing its infrastructure. They unfortunately don't tell the new homebuyers that they need to be prepared for hefty property tax increases. Add to that the fact that most of the oldtimers in Jackson either don't have any kids or don't have ones currently in the school system. it can only lead to higher property taxes.

You are much better moving to an established town with little to no new development. We've been looking back down in South Jersey at areas where new housing development has slowed significantly.

 

True

 

But then again this is all a moot point since Daddy is paying the bills.

 

The houses havent gone up yet, but land is cleared and marked off. I dont have much in the way of options of area-i need a central location between the undergrad school im in now and the grad school im going to. Jackson, Freehold, Englishtown, etc., are all in the middle.

 

Well yes and no.

If she's looking at a house that is $400k... and they're building these cookie cutter larger homes for $400k it gives her an edge when buying b/c the seller should be more flexible on pricing or lose the sale to the community.

On the flip side, if she goes to sell and wants to put the house on the market for, say, $475k in a few years, and homes in that community are selling for $475k as well, who in their right mind will pay that much for her resale when they can get a new (or newer depending on construction progress) home for the same amount?

That is what I'm referring to. If the houses in there are like $650k+ and the house she's looking at is $350k-$400k, older, and in need of restoration to bring it up to date as far as amenities and luxuries, then yeah, that community won't really do much for her value. And, if the area is growing like you say it is... then yeah, taxes will do nothing but go up so the infrastructure can be upgraded.

What they did around here was finally get smart. They had a moratorium for 14 months, which just ended October 1 to allow the infrastructures to catch up (which they did somewhat: new roads were completed/resurfaced, 3 new schools are going up with one open, and 2 expected to open for the 2007 school year, and the water treatment plant in the area is expanding to be completed in late 2007/2008). So with the moritorium over they passed a new "law". Now, if a builder wants to build a community, the town and county taxes the builder and developer. For any new community approved going forward, the developer/builder must pay a certain amount of money per house for the right to build it, and that money is used exclusively for infrastructure. It's a good idea and keeps taxes stable while making the builders and developers responsible for the communities they are building in.

 

Great idea