New Jersey Real Estate Agent

“I am relocating to Princeton New Jersey, where should I live?” This article presents 5 key criteria to consider, since this question is one of the more frequently asked by my clients and in readers’ e-mails. The question of where to live is also part of the bigger question of how to find the home, the community, the schools that would be right for your family and within your budget?

When relocating to Princeton area it’s important to realize that you may or may not choose your home to be in Princeton. When people say they live in Princeton, they often don’t mean it literally. Princeton happens to be one of the more recognized town names, so it’s easier for others to relate to this location.

When you relocate to Princeton area and are looking for homes for sale, you may want to consider West Windsor, Montgomery Township, Hopewell, Pennington, Plainsboro, and Lawrencewille among the communities to research.

Deciding which community would be best suited for your family means making choices basedon the several important criteria.

1. Commute from your Princeton area home
Where you need to commute and how much time you want to spend doing it could influence your decision of where to buy your Princeton area home. If you will be commuting to New York City or Philadelphia, you would most likely need NJ transit trains from Princeton Junction. Many homes in West Windsor, Plainsboro, Princeton, and Lawrenceville are within a relatively short commute to the train station. Many Montgomery, Hopewell, Pennington homes are further away from the Princeton Junction train station. If shorter commute time is an important consideration, you may want to consider areas within those towns that are the closest to the train.

When I work with out of town clients, before they come to Princeton to visit the homes, I email the  possible selections. I preview them and time the distance to the train station. This gives my clients a better understanding of where to focus their search.

2. Princeton Schools

Schools are another serious consideration for many Princeton area home buyers. I don’t recommend one schools system over the other for several reasons, but have assembled a list of resources to make your re-search more effective.

Read: How To Select The Best School Buying Princeton Real Estate Homes

3. Community Amenities

Home buyers often ask what it’s like to live in Princeton compared to other surrounding towns. Each community offers different things to Princeton area home buyers. Libraries, parks, dinning, shopping, being within walking distance to schools or shopping is of different importance to different people.
Princeton Boro offers many choices for shopping, dinning and cultural activities. Many homes are within walking distance to the town centre, schools and Princeton Library.

Read: About Princeton – Relocating And Living

Princeton Township, administratively is a separate municipality, sharing the Princeton schools with Princeton Borough. It has generally a more suburban feel with homes on larger lots.
West Windsor has every large chain store known to man, along the route 1 corridor. Hopewell Boro and Lawrenceville have a small “village” feel with a main street, restaurants and shops or galleries.

4. Types of Homes
There are people who prefer brand new homes, and there those who prefer historic ones or just love older homes with character. Although most of the communities surrounding Princeton have homes available in all categories, the inventory of available choices varies by town. West Windsor, Plainsboro and many parts of Montgomery have many new developments and offer a lot of choices for people who like the newer homes. Princeton Boro, Lawrencewille, parts of Hopewell and older parts of Montgomery have many older character homes and historic homes .

5. Budget

How much you want to pay for your home in the Princeton area for most buyers is the main criteria when purchasing a Princeton real estate. I listed this criteria last, not because of it’s insignificance, but because you could find homes available in many price ranges in all the towns surrounding Princeton. The question is more what type of Princeton area home could you get for your money.  Very generally speaking, a home in Princeton would cost more then a similar one (amenities, condition, age, size, acreage) in other surrounding communities. One important consideration then is to prioritize what is more important, given your budget, the community or the type of the house.

Read: What Is The Real Estate Like in Princeton? – summary of price ranges

To make it easier for my clients relocating to Princeton area to quickly zero in on what is most important to them, I take them on tours of the towns and show them the types of homes that fit their budget in different towns.

Answering the question of where to live in and around Princeton often means reconciling conflicting priorities of the type and size of the home, the location, the commute, and/or schools.

Read : How To Buy And Sell Your Princeton Home Like A Pro

Please call 609-553-4175 for services in Princeton, Montgomery Township, West Windsor, Plainsboro, Princeton Junction, Hopewell, Pennington, and Lawrenceville New Jersey.New Jersey Real estate, New Jersey homes for sale and/or listing New Jersey homes to sell, relocation services and assistance. Referrals are accepted. Countrywide and international relocation program is available.

Faina Sechzer does not guarantee or is in any way responsible for accuracy of the information on this site, and provides said information without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied. Every consumer is urged to perform their own research and analysis.

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