We should all get our heads out of the sand. The state of New Jersey (and others) are in a dire financial situation due to unfunded pensions, ridiculous Union costs including health care, and obnoxious teacher contracts including pensions. Ridgewood is the poster for this behavior. The police, fire, and teacher contracts are just unsustainable no matter how good we think the services are. Why else would the mayor get all her kids on the town payroll and pensions if they were not well paid with life benefits ?
Ridgewood is not as desirable as we all hope. Our property values have eroded with no real appreciation (why we can appeal tax assetment every year). Selling a house in Ridgewood is no longer a easy task, taxes are too high, no water, poor roads, normal school ratings, commute to NYC requires changing trains, fighting for parking, or long bus rides (Summit, Short Hills etc have no change). If you ask in NYC where young people are looking to move it is Westchester, southern/central NJ, and Nassau County. The house we purchased 15 years ago and fully updated is worth less now then what we initially paid for it.
Taxes for a similar house (sq foot and cost) in those areas (1 hour commute to NYC) are 30-50% less then Ridgewood with similar rated schools, fire and police protection, less village “rules” and the simple ability to water your lawn or wash your car.
The population numbers posted by 3:42 negate that the high earners are leaving at a increasing pace. Think about why someone would pay a state tax of 7-11% when they can move less then 100 miles away and pay 0-3 %. Retires or high earners are mobile, there is little reason to pay NJ/Ridgewood much longer
If you bought a house 15 years ago and it’s worth less than what you paid for it you’re not qualified to give any financial advice.
What a mess . Shut down village hall.
You never know what your house is worth until you actually sell it. If anyone is using things like Zillow, then you are probably way off.
I agree on many points but the taxes. Taxes in Westchester county and Long Island are at least 30% higher for same property size and lot, easily. And for the life of me I can’t figure out why there is not a single train from Ridgewood that can go straight to Penn. When I moved here I thought that switching in Secaucus wouldn’t be a big a deal but I was wrong. It is very tiring.
Regarding property values I can only tell you that 2 houses in my street sold this summer within 2 days after going to market at insane prices for the size of the house (1500-1600 sq feet) in just a regular area (nothing fancy) of the village. It feels like a bubble which at this rate may burst in 2-3 years. People who move to Ridgewood come for the hype. They do not know about water, overrated schools, street conditions, ugly politics etc. until about a year after they’re in. The hype about Ridgewood is crazy.
3 highest re tax rates in the country… 1)Westchester 2)Rockland 3)Bergen…. From what I’ve seen in Westchester the actual taxes for equivalent houses in equivalent towns are sometimes lower due to assessed value…. and you can go from white plains to grand central in 30 minutes….if you want to see how awful the market is for our “quaint village” simply look at the sales numbers… https://www.zillow.com/ridgewood-nj/sold/
Keep hype alive. At least for another couple of years.
This town should be called the village of flip-flop because every 4 to 6 years residents are flip-flopping their home by and swell .
There are no trains directly to Penn because our tracks come through Secaucus perpendicular to the tracks that go to Penn Station. And trains don’t do 90 degree turns so good.
White Plains is a dump. You get what you pay for. I’ve lived on Bergen County for over 60 years. No.municipality in Bergen can match Ridgewood for services, education, recreation, open space, availability of multiple public transit options, walkability, and real estate values.
Good lord I have to go over this again?
First of all 8:13 is absolutely right that the author who was STUPID enough to purchase to begin with around here is now going to bitch about re-sale 15 years down the road from the absolute peak of RE prices.
HELLO?
McFly?
Please remember that we have a pretty good gig going on down here at Villlage Hall thanks to you being asleep at the wheel and our union boys making sure you get screwed at every turn. The More you get screwed the better we do. We’re experts. We’ve been doing it for years. Ask the current Mayor…she knows. That’s why her boys are on the dole. Fat cat city. And your buying. Now like I said B4…just get on the train and leave the corruption to the professionals. You just keep believing the hype AND PAY YOUR TAXES. that is all. Have a nice day.
Just listen to Sarah Huckabee’s story about the ten guys in a bar to know what’s in store for Ridgewood and NJ: …”So the next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, and the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They no longer had enough money between them all to even cover half of the bill.”
Don’t like Ridgewood, there is an easy fix….don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. You will NOT be missed.
This bears repeating:
” People who move to Ridgewood come for the hype. They do not know about water, overrated schools, street conditions, ugly politics etc. until about a year after they’re in. The hype about Ridgewood is crazy.”
Our taxEs,are,less,than Glen Rock and Ramsey . And the original poster never checked westchester or summit for accuracy….they are a lot higher. It’s the whole state of nj . Even shitty towns have high taxes. Police unions, teachers unions, and inner cities that drain the state treasury to fund the abbot schools in all the shithole cities. That’s what you get for allowing democrats to run things in Trenton (who are owned by the unions). Just wait for your bills to go up if Murphy is successful in. Purchasing the governor office
Thanks 3:02…could you be more of pandering lackey toadie and sycophant or are you just a plain old Ridgewood ass&$)?.
No need to reply…you answered in your incompetence as are all responses in kind.
12:51 am apparently you are not smart enough to figure out that you can leave town if you are unhappy here. And surprise, surprise, you don’t even need a passport to leave Ridgewood or the state of New Jersey. So now tell me genius, exactly why are you still here crying like a baby because you don’t like the property taxes you pay here……this ought to be good, I await your dumb ass reply.
12:51 am, I see you failed basic English and creative writing. What country are you from?
I love it when people just can’t get along. People the villages so overrated please. I’m glad I moved out. You go to neighboring towns they all badmouth Ridgewood why is that . This town is not what are used to be. Those days are gone this town is in a dirty disarray