Better quality of life, but not necessarily cheaper

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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Lakewood, Toms River & Jackson related Inquiries

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amother

Crimson

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 12:58 pm

ShishKabob wrote:

The upkeep is totally more expensive. Consider the cost of landscaping upkeep, or plowing your long driveway and so on. More outdoor upkeep than indoor, however, if you have a very large house, it automatically takes longer to wash the floors and windows as oppose to a regular house in the city.

I moved from a small 2 br apt to a 2500 sq ft house in Monsey. Keeping the house clean is only a bit more, it doesn't exactly double. Take the floors for example. In my small apt, all the floors needed to be washed very frequently, because the kids were trampling through all rooms all the time. But in the bigger house, the daily mess stayed in the kitchen, playroom & hallways, so those were the floors that needed frequent washing, while the bedrooms & other rooms need occasional washing. The kids also have space to spread out their wares, so there's no need to plop them down on the couch, the dining room table or their beds, so no need to clean those as frequently as I used to. Again, the mess is contained in the playroom, kitchen & hallway areas. So what I found myself with was a similar cleaning experience for the daily grind, and a bit extra one day of the week.

Definitely worth it.

amother

Rose

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 1:40 pm

I'm confused.

Does no one buy small houses in Toms River if that's what fits their budget?

Why is the choice big in Toms River vs. small in Flatbush? Obviously you won't save much that way...

amother

Salmon

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 2:01 pm

amother [ Rose ] wrote:

I'm confused.

Does no one buy small houses in Toms River if that's what fits their budget?

Why is the choice big in Toms River vs. small in Flatbush? Obviously you won't save much that way...

I think people are confusing what "cheaper" means. If a small attached home in BK costs $600,000 and a similar home in TR costs $400,000 then it's definitely cheaper. You can't compare the cost of a 3 bedroom home with no property in BK to a 6 bedroom mansion in TR. You have to compare things that are equivalents.

zohar

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 2:02 pm

amother [ Rose ] wrote:

I'm confused.

Does no one buy small houses in Toms River if that's what fits their budget?

Why is the choice big in Toms River vs. small in Flatbush? Obviously you won't save much that way...

The houses closer to Lakewood are the McMansions. Only recently have people been moving further in where there are neighborhoods with more moderate sized houses. (BTW, many of these also have pools)

amother

↑ Emerald ↓

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 4:06 pm

amother [ Rose ] wrote:

I'm confused.

Does no one buy small houses in Toms River if that's what fits their budget?

Why is the choice big in Toms River vs. small in Flatbush? Obviously you won't save much that way...

People are moving because they need more room for growing families. They aren’t specifically looking for pools and big lots of land. They are looking for living space. Our son was actually looking for a home with no pool. The house they liked and could afford had a fully gated one and a swing and slide set.
And a small house in Brooklyn with 3 bedrooms and maybe a tiny yard and shared driveway can cost more than a bigger house in TR.

amother

↑ Emerald

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 4:08 pm

BTW
Our son lives in an area where there is a mix of mansions and simpler homes in TR

amother

cornflower

Wed, Jun 26 2019, 4:49 pm

FWIW, it is NOT more difficult to keep a large home clean because it is much easier to clean a room when there is less stuff in the room. Clutter makes it harder.

Large or small kitchen - really same effort if not less in a large kitchen. A large kitchen probably has less on the counter because there is better cabinet storage so you can swipe down counters easily and not have to move everything around.

However, the number of bathrooms will always create more work although a large bathroom isn't harder to clean than a small bathroom.

I think there has always been a difference between those who want the city life and those who want to live in suburbs. My parents chose to stay in Brooklyn whereas my relatives moved to the NJ. Who is to say whose quality of life was better - our living area was older and much smaller than the homes my relatives had in the suburbs. On the other hand, our family liked the urban life style - and they both worked in Brooklyn so didn't have to deal with long commutes.

naturalmom5

Fri, Jun 28 2019, 10:58 am

amother [ Chartreuse ] wrote:

I think its cheaper in TR. You get a huge house for under 600k with a pool, granted taxes are more but thats equal to a 900k attached home in Brooklyn (plus another 100k to fix up), there is no need to go away in the summer anymore so that eliminates the expense of bungalow colonies. And tuitions are several 1000 cheaper. Daycare and playgroups are cheaper too. One thing to keep in mind is the cost of commuting as well as that some jobs for women are hard to find (teachers, special ed etc) so there may be a loss of income

If you have a school, sorry to be a wet blanket....
Hopefully they will soon start building schools in TR

pesek zman

Fri, Jun 28 2019, 11:51 am

It costs a bundle to upkeep a large house! Costs more to heat and cool, higher electricity bills. More rooms to furnish and fill up. More stuff to break. (Can you tell I’m a minimalist?)

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