Thinking of Moving Around Newport (Millville, Bridgeton: rent, mortgage, houses)

[DecayingAngel]

My hubby is currently working in Bridgeton and we want to move out closer to his job. I was looking not only at prices but also how rural an area might be. We are both nature lovers and simply need to be around woods, fields etc. We also own an aged horse (30 years old) that we want to keep with us.

I found some very reasonable properties in the Stow Creek area--zip code 08345 to be exact. BING and Google Earth zooms in and indicates these seem to be very rural and surrounded by nature preserves. We just want peace, quiet and nature, actually. There are no children to consider so schools are not an issue.

Can anyone provide suggestions or just his/her experiences and thoughts about this area? I've looked north of Bridgeton in Pittsgrove Twp. etc. but taxes do seem to get much higher to the point where we aren't able to look at houses in our price range because the monthly taxes are $4500 or more. I've noticed that many houses south of Millville have lower taxes in the $3000 range or even lower.

I've seen some nice houses on the MLS that are listed around $157,000 (one in particular in Newport) and taxes are $3100. That is about what we would like although the mortgage guy said we can go up to $171,000.

Any help would be most appreciated. We have been paying rent of $1200 for five years now with absolutely nothing to show for it but a lot of headaches living in an old and badly rehabbed house.