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The title of the thread is "100k and struggling in NJ". If reasonable meant a modest move in home with ok schools and taxes then it wouldn't be about "struggling". You are missing the fact that I was responding to a thread of posts that you obviously haven't reviewed yet.
Of course you can buy a home with 100k salary. I did it with 53k salary... Heck you can buy a home for way under 100k market.... in Detroit. But that isn't the point of this thread.
Go back in this thread and re-read my posts... First post I stated that "you have to be realistic... this is NJ". I also posted several times that a $100k with a 20% down is possible on a $350k property. The context you are missing is that the person I responded too did not feel comfortable under those circumstances. So I accepted that and wished her good luck on getting decent properties within her comfort zone. MLS links for properties under $200k were responded and I basically said that those are not good options. After which, you jumped on my case assuming that my point was 100k isn't enough to support those homes... then claim that my expectations are too high. Both of which are incorrect.
MOVE ON. you are missing my point because you are responding to my post out of context....
i could have posted a dozen more MLS links, and i only used West Orange because the poster currently lives in Orange. Those homes were pretty decent options, but not all were "good options".
The point I was making is you just have to do an MLS search, and you'll find plenty of options even in the area she currently lives in, that would be quite affordable and in decent condition.
If the poster doesn't feel comfortable supporting a $350k property on a $100k salary, what makes us think she will be "comfortable" supporting a house in one of the worst property tax areas in NJ? The homes are cheaper there because they are not selling.... for a good reason.
But we are both entitled to our opinions..... and the poster hopefully will find something that fits her requirements.
The issue is that I didn't appreciate (I know it didn't come from you) being accused of having "stratospheric" expectations when my previous posts clearly state otherwise. All because things were taken out of context and a refusal to actually read.
My wife works the school district with children in special needs (OT). On one hand, NJ is one of the best places for a family in need to find help. On the other hand, she expresses frustrations all the time with the system. Its a very complex situation that varies from child to child. Integration into the classroom often works simply with a little extra help from a classroom aid. You think the weather man has a difficult job predicting weather? Try predicting the appropriate response and correct assistance for a child. Often the response is opposite of what you would expect.
Oh yes... she also mentions often that the parents are often part of the problem. Sometimes, the root of the parental problem is denial. Failure to make the right choices because they don't want to admit that the child needs help. Interesting enough her observation seems to be that affluent families suffer from this more frequently. Poorer families simply struggle to provide the extra time (and money) for such children simply because they are trying to keep the family fed, clothed, and sheltered.
She spends at least 20% of time doing paperwork to keep the regulators happy. Oh yes... pay is low too and they often require Masters. That's besides the point. At least malpractice insurance is affordable.
I know one thing, the people i know who are special education teachers are not complaining about "low pay". granted, you're not getting rich, but my roomate was getting a very good salary for a (at the time) 24 yr old. part of the reasons why NJ is one of the best places for special needs students is because NJ recognizes that it's complex. but yeah, i do agree, from what i've seen, that there are ways to integrate many of these students into the classroom, to the benefit of the special needs students, and not to the detriment of others. It's difficult, but it's not something that cannot be done for a variety of the students. every situation is different though.
If the poster doesn't feel comfortable supporting a $350k property on a $100k salary, what makes us think she will be "comfortable" supporting a house in one of the worst property tax areas in NJ? The homes are cheaper there because they are not selling.... for a good reason.
But we are both entitled to our opinions..... and the poster hopefully will find something that fits her requirements.
The issue is that I didn't appreciate (I know it didn't come from you) being accused of having "stratospheric" expectations when my previous posts clearly state otherwise. All because things were taken out of context and a refusal to actually read.
i'm just posting the dollars and cents to show that it's completely affordable. i acknowledged that property taxes in West Orange are high - that's part of the reason why the listing prices of many homes in West Orange are lower. And, homes are selling in West Orange this spring and summer.
But that bottom line is, a $100K income for that particular poster could easily support a house, in perfectly liveable condition, near where she is currently renting. That's all I meant to display. If you want lower taxes, go up to Paramus, or out to East Hanover, or one of the number of cities that have a large retail base (which West Orange doesn't have, making the burdern of taxes fall mostly on residences). But you'll also get the downsides of living in towns with a large retail base (namely, traffic).
And i think ny was just pointing out that you were criticizing properties as unliveable, but they weren't all unliveable. then maybe it steered towards high expectations. But the bottom line is, on $100k income, you can live decently in NJ. if you're struggling, it's a combination of expectations being far too high and poor budgeting/spending skills.
Yup... I agreed and mentioned in a previous post that 100k should be able to support $350k home. She responded that she didn't feel comfortable with that and I simply accepted that answer followed by wishing her the best of luck on home shopping (in all seriousness). You can't force it.
Yup... I agreed and mentioned in a previous post that 100k should be able to support $350k home. She responded that she didn't feel comfortable with that and I simply accepted that answer followed by wishing her the best of luck on home shopping (in all seriousness). You can't force it.
true. so in reality, you and are i mostly agreeing. i would never tell someone to do something they aren't comfortable with. but often, people don't realize they'd be fine. but then again, she also said she's paying $4800/yr for auto insurance, so I'm thinking our budgeting skills differ slightly, since I just reduced my annual premiums to $1900 because I thougth $2700 was outrageous.
The wealthy do live in a different world when the most commonly selected answer to their survey is
“No financial constraints on activities." I thought it would have been long term financial security.
This article makes reference to yours. I think a lot of us might agree that wealthy should mean no constraints on lifestyle rather than a discrete sum of money. To have the constraint of a budget or to have to restrict your choices because of a price tag is certainly not wealthy.
One’s age — and peer group — has a lot to do with one’s perspective on wealth. In the Spectrem Group’s 2013 survey, 45% of Gen X and Gen Y investors -
(basically, those 40 and under) said a person needed a net worth of at least $1 million to be rich.
Among investors ages 60 and older, however, only 22% said someone with $1 million was rich.
It has a quote from the WSJ which says in Danville, Va, a top 1% of earners would be making $179,000 annually, whereas in NYC or Northern NJ to qualify in the top !% would require $588,000.
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