If you need financing I am in Belle Mead and I can meet you at one of my branches at your requested time. Happy house huting and let me knoe if I can be of any assistance in New Construction if your interested in that as well I am a new construction specialist at Bank of America.

Best Regards,

Joe

the property taxes will kill you in Branchburg,and Readington and there is much flight out of state from people leaving here. I am not a realtor , broker nor banker, so i have nothing to gain. The traffic in Bridge-water on 202 / 206 / 287 is a killer, avoid it by all means! I have lived in NJ my whole life and have been self-employed in the home imp. biz for 29 years. Commuting to and from potential job sites is a demographic art. There are some opportunities out there for what you are looking for and i can offer you some keen insight with no strings attached. If you like e-mail back and i will give you a phone number to contact me at.

Hi, It's Patty again,
Good to get your response, and I definitely understand your feelings on the new construction vs. renovated older construction. The new home that you built sounds lovely and I'm sure was hard to leave. NJ certainly has its' challenges with list prices and taxes...however, I think that if you have some flexibility on commute, you will be able to find a beautiful home for you and your family!
All the best, Patty White
Search for homes at: http://www.TheWhiteHouseHomes.com

Thanks to all for the replies, we are unfamiliar with this area (new to Belle Mead too in fact) , so the names of places to look into are particularly helpful. Will hopefully be contacting some of you in the coming weeks to see what we can find

The older home question is appropriate esp when you look at our budget, but we moved from a state where the homes were (much) less expensive, and had lovingly built a new home now lost to relocation, so it is especially hard on the wife and kids, missing the new kitchen, playhouse, etc. Maybe if we cannot absolutely find anything we may have to rethink the situation, but don't want to go there as yet.

Thanks again.

Hello--I recently worked with a family moving in to this area, who also worked with Pfizer. After getting over the shock of the prices in this area, we were able to find a somewhat older home (70's), but recently updated, and within your price range. New construction in this price range is hard to find within the 20 min. commute preference. I see others have mentioned that Bridgewater and Branchburg are considerations--I agree that you would do fairly well in these towns.

Would you consider an older home, with lots of charm, that has been well maintained and updated/renovated? This would open up many other possibilities that might work for you. New/Newer construction is available, albeit a challenge at this price point--but is possible...the commute would still be reasonable, but longer than the 20 mins. that you prefer.

Please feel free to view our web site, and contact us for more information.
Search for homes at: http://www.TheWhiteHouseHomes.com
Blessings,
Patty and Jim White
RE/MAX Premier

Hi Ab, I suggest Bridgewater or Branchburg - may be a little longer than your 20 minute goal, but will be a reasonable commute. Tomorrow I am showing four homes, three in Bridgewater and one in Branchburgh that could be considerations. All in the mid to upper $500's, but likely several coule be negotiated to your mid $500K range. Three are new(er) and one is new construction.

The area in Bridgewater where you will find a newer home in this price range is close to highways and shopping, most noteably the wonderful Wegman's supermarket.

You can find me online at http://www.feenick.com Somerset County is my area of specialty and Bridgewater is a particular area of focus.

Best,
Jeannnie Feenick
Weichert Realtors
Search and connect at http://www.feenick.com

Ab,
Your best bet will probably be Bridgewater, Branchburg and Readington for the houses that will come closest to meeting your criteria. As in the previous answer you are unlikely to find new construction in your price range but there are some newer homes available. Please fell free to contact me to discuss your situation further.

Hi Ab,

Just a heads up. You might be in for some sticker shock in that area. New contruction around $500,000 within 20 minutes of Peapack is out of the question I would think. At least not on a quiet residential road. A piece of decent land in that area is north of $300,000. You are going to have to knock your expectations way down in terms of housing, or move your commute time to 30-40 minutes. You can probably find a younger home 10-20 years old, but even there it's going to be tight. That's just a very desirable area of New Jersey.

-Marc

I do not work in that area, but suggest you go to http://www.REBAC.net to find an Accredited Buyers Represetative in that section of NJ. REBAC is an affliate of the National Association of Realtors, and provides certification to Realtors completing extensive training in Buyers Represetation.