Have any MOLers lived in Madison (NJ)?

jameskpolk

Apr 11, 2015 at 3:41pm Edited

Just toying with the idea of escaping Essex County taxes and putting that money into the mortgage. Love the commute from Maplewood but Madison isn't *too* much further out, though less trains.

Can anyone who has lived in both offer pros/cons?

sprout

Apr 11, 2015 at 3:52pm

I believe @Hahaha is now in Madison.

nakaille

Apr 11, 2015 at 5:11pm

I grew up in Madison. It is a lovely community with good schools. Not as racially mixed as MSO but not as white as Chatham or Florham Park. There are 3 universities (Drew, St. Elizabeth's and Fairleigh Dickinson) and that adds a nice flavor, imo. Sweet downtown with some decent restaurants, a really good used bookstore, and plenty of civic pride. I have not lived there in many decades but do still have some family there. It is on the Morris Essex train line.

NolNat

Apr 12, 2015 at 12:07am

Following!

@Jameskpolk, we're in the same boat. Have you thought of Summit?

ZimZimma

Apr 12, 2015 at 12:46am

Yep, went to Drew and lived there for 6 years after graduation and commuted into the city for 4 of them. It is a lovely town and all the houses seem to have big yards. You have to drive everywhere though, and the commute to the city really takes its toll on you. If you miss the express trains it's something like an hour an five minutes on the train. I found it was a lot families with older kids too, but maybe that was just the area where we lived. Maplewood is way more our vibe, but I can see why many people love Madison - it will always hold a special place in my heart! Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Trans_Parent

Apr 12, 2015 at 2:06am

jameskpolk said:
Just toying with the idea of escaping Essex County taxes and putting that money into the mortgage.

Out of curiosity, have you discovered you actually would get more house for the tax dollars you'd reallocate to mortgage payments for a more costly home?

mellowmood

Apr 12, 2015 at 3:18am Edited

I worked in Madison. Nice town, nice homes and shopping, but a much different mentality... IMO.

springgreen2

Apr 12, 2015 at 5:12am

I lived and studied at Drew. It's a nice town, but very suburban.

ivan

Apr 12, 2015 at 5:53am

@Trans Parent, even if @jameskpolk would have to move into less house, or increase his housing budget, there are financial reasons why it could make sense to make the move (a fixed rate mtg is level for X years, taxes grow - quite quickly here; the way the AMT works; forced savings aspect of a mtg/building equity; impact of taxes on ability of property to appreciate).

But it's a good question, because there is a tipping point where increasing your housing/taxes budget doesn't make sense (finding that point depends on assumptions you make about tax growth, whether AMT is an issue, etc).

Should also factor in/consider extra transportation costs and the value of your time consumed in extra commuting.

Should note, as a balance to Essex County's taxes negative impact on home appreciation, there is a macro trend of folks, particularly younger folks, wanting to be closer to the City (if they can't be in the City itself), which favors long term home appreciation in SOMa.

Summit has excellent train service but seems to me - from a distance - as a place that may be a "tale of two towns" with quite a gulf between the haves and have nots. If you can afford to live in one of the "right" neighborhoods, probably not an issue. Would be interested in opinions from folks better informed about Summit's sense of community and vibe than I am from simply driving through it.

kmk

Apr 12, 2015 at 6:43am

ivan said:
Should note, as a balance to Essex County's taxes negative impact on home appreciation, there is a macro trend of folks, particularly younger folks, wanting to be closer to the City (if they can't be in the City itself), which favors long term home appreciation in SOMa.

I couldn't agree more. I am a partial owner of a gorgeous property in Bernardsville. I have watched in horror as its value as decreased substantially every single year. The beautiful homes near by are being sold in foreclosure for pennies on the dollar.

If you want a bargain, buy out there. If you commute to the city think long and hard about the trade-offs of moving further out.

mumstheword

Apr 12, 2015 at 1:40pm

One of my mother's cousins moved to Madison 30 years ago after a very painful, bitter divorce (with her 4 kids and no child support). They're Italian, she loved the Italian neighborhood she was in, met some very nice and supportive neighbors -- and she never left (she just passed away in the last year). She downsized to a small house, after living in a huge house in Convent Station -- and she was very happy.

judy3x

Apr 12, 2015 at 5:35pm

Another Derwid here! Nice town to go to college in, but it seems a little provincial compared to somap

yahooyahoo

Apr 12, 2015 at 5:43pm

I would run the numbers to make sure your theory plays out. The home prices in Madison are substantially higher than Maplewood. My guess is the property tax differential will not cover the change in mortgage payment if you try to buy something comparable.

j_r

Apr 12, 2015 at 6:04pm Edited

A close friend and her husband made this switch with young children about 12 years ago. It works because the schools are good for them, they're both passionate about a particular charity with heavy community involvement, and while he commutes to the city some days by train or car service, much of his work time is spent traveling abroad. It's a long commute.

sac

Apr 15, 2015 at 3:55pm

I would choose Madison over Chatham or Florham Park based on the "vibe" I experienced when I worked in Florham Park for many years and shopped and dined in those three towns pretty frequently (and had many co-workers who lived in them.)

sportsnut

Apr 16, 2015 at 5:51pm

I lived in Chatham before buying a home here in Maplewood and spent a lot of time in Madison as my college roommate and his wife moved there after they got married. I actually liked both towns but Madison had a little more of a "homey" feel to it and while I really liked Chatham it just wasn't a friendly place.

Madison's housing stock is a little more diverse and there are some affordable capes in town. It has a pretty nice downtown and some really good restaurants. The commute may not seem like its much more but those extra 15-20 minutes both ways could be a drain after a while.

amamommy

Apr 19, 2015 at 3:39am

We live in Madison and love it. If you can live in a walk to town location, it is wonderful. We walk to dinner, stores and to the theater, my kids are in the schools and doing very well. I can't say enough good things. Super Stop and Shop is in town and Whole Foods, both life changing. For school drop off, driving is a breeze. I can get my high schooler, middle schooler and elementary there in minutes. It is not a politically charged town, in other words, not a lot of signs or sign stealing. But it is varied, probably 50/50 Democrat/Republican. Chatham is very nice, too, but a little more stepford wivey...we looked there too but after living in city, Maplewood and elsewhere, I just wasn't sure I would totally fit in in Chatham, I felt Madison was a little hipper.

But b/c the schools are so good in Chatham, it has attracted a lot of diverse groups of late, so it probably isn't as 'in the box' as it appears. Madison is full of dual working parents and stay at home moms, also cut down the middle, and again, compared to some places we have lived, we felt pretty accepted very quickly. It is a big sports town (kids actively involved in town sports) and I would say most of my neighbors commute to the city via train. It is longer than Maplewood, but most people feel it is worth it for the taxes/school and tight community feel. We loved Maplewood, by the way.

Taxes really are a lot lower, and the crazy thing is that when we left Essex county, our car insurance dropped dramatically as well.

ffof

Apr 19, 2015 at 4:51am

My friend was a professor at SHU, and before that, Bowdoin College. Very accomplished woman. They moved to Chatham and all the moms on her street felt sorry for her for having to work.

unicorn33

Apr 19, 2015 at 6:20am

Interesting thread. We've been toying with the idea of moving from our house to a condo in Union or Morris county. Amazing just how much time is added to the NY train ride with just a few stops (possibly because Summit is a hub?). Saw a lovely complex in Convent Station--Moore Estate, I believe it was called. Right near Loantaka Reservation. But an acquaintance living nearby told us that the walls there are so thin that you can hear your neighbors flush...

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