If you’re considering a move across the country, there are few places better to settle down in than the great state of New Jersey. It’s a great time to move to the state, with much of the older population moving away to new homes to retire.
Buying a house in New Jersey is a fantastic way to better your quality of life for many reasons, though there are some challenges that might present themselves as well. It’s important to get as much information about homes in the state before making the move.
What do you need to know about buying a home in the state of New Jersey? Read on and we’ll walk you through all of the basics.
The Best Places to Live
Where are some of the best cities in the Garden State? The most popular cities to live in include Newark, Hoboken, Trenton, Camden, Elizabeth, and East Orange. There are also a number of charming smaller towns including Montclair, Princeton, Ridgewood, and Chatham.
Princeton, being a college town, also has a great number of educational opportunities and various forms of entertainment. The city is also home to a fantastic food-growing community that prioritizes farm-to-table dining. Given all the fantastic access to libraries and many public institutions, Princeton can be a lovely place to raise a family.
Transportation in most of these cities is pretty fantastic. Public transportation is easy to access and allows you to get around much of the state with ease. It’s also an easy hop into New York City thanks to a number of train lines.
Within the cities themselves that we’ve mentioned, it should also be easy to get around by bicycle, bus, or of course, your own vehicle.
Understanding the Climate
If you’re not from the northeast region of the United States, you may be uncertain about what temperatures and climate you might face when you eventually make your big move.
Lucky for you, the climate in New Jersey is pretty predictable. The summers tend to get quite hot, with highs into the 90s. You’ll be able to hit the water, head to the beaches, and will certainly need some t-shirts and shorts to wear out.
The temperatures will totally flip come the winter months. Things will get down into the low 30s or even into the teens. Snow will come down and you’ll need to get used to dealing with ice and sleet.
The spring and fall in Jersey are beautiful with a temperate climate and gorgeous scenery. You truly get a sense of all four seasons when you live in the state. If that’s something you’re looking for, you can find it in the confines of the Garden State.
Flood Insurance in New Jersey
Getting a home near the water? There are many great waterfront properties within the state of New Jersey, and many others that are not too far from gorgeous bodies of water.
If you’re purchasing a home in the state, you may be curious about the risk of flooding in New Jersey. Depending on where you are located, it is possible that flooding could occur.
When purchasing a home, it would not be a bad idea to consider flood insurance alongside your standard home insurance policy. You can get affordable flood insurance through the government but it might be worth looking into the plans available from private providers as well.
While flooding isn’t all-too-common across the state, the risk is high enough that it would behoove any serious homeowner to get this kind of policy.
Education in New Jersey
If you’re looking to raise your children in the state of New Jersey, you’re likely curious about the various educational opportunities that will be available to them. Luckily, New Jersey has some of the best-ranked public schools in the country.
The schools in New Jersey, from elementary through high, consistently rank high in areas of student achievement to school funding.
You can rest assured that if you put your children through the public school program in the state, you’ll be giving them a chance to learn in some of the best classrooms anywhere in the USA.
Of course, the state of New Jersey also has a number of stellar private schools you can enroll your child in if you’d prefer. There are also lots of opportunities to pursue higher education without having to leave the state’s borders.
Entertainment & Culture
There’s also a great deal of culture to engage within the state of New Jersey. Cultural hubs from Princeton to Montclair offer plentiful opportunities to see the best up-and-coming artists from the area perform and share their work.
The Montclair Film Festival is one of the most exciting up-and-coming get-togethers in the film world. It offers Jersey residents a chance to see cutting-edge work and buzzed-about releases long before their theatrical release.
Proximity to New York City also means celebrity events and stop-ins are both norms. There’s always an opportunity to see someone interesting speak.
There are endless opportunities for all kinds of dining within the state, though it’s always worth looking into what’s available directly in your immediate neighborhood.
Buying a House in New Jersey
If you’re considering buying a house in New Jersey, it’s important to get familiar with the many elements the state has to offer. There’s a lot to love about Jersey. If the above reasons tickle your interest, you might want to go ahead and close the deal on the home you’re looking into.
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