Finally time to pack up and move to Montclair? This could be the house for you
Montclair, New Jersey, is a famously popular town for New York City expats, thanks in part to its good schools, easy commute to Manhattan (sometimes as little as 30 minutes into Penn Station), pedestrian-friendly streets, and plenty of cultural offerings. The popular cliche: Montclair is a suburban Park Slope.
Still, you can snag a five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom house there for under $995,000. In Park Slope, that might get you a two-bedroom (co-op, not condo).
First, the location: This is prime Montclair, which means it's walkable to the shops and restaurants in the village of Upper Montclair—an important distinction for New Yorkers concerned about transitioning to a car-dependent existence. (You might be able to get away with just having one vehicle if you live here.)
And then the house: It has recently refinished floors, a new roof, and both the interior and exterior have been repainted.
There's a bonus two-room cottage behind the garage—try getting either of those in Brooklyn!—that could be used as a home office. Or extra space for city guests (or an au pair).
A sunroom off the master bedroom, which appears to be on the first floor, makes for great lounging; there are two bedrooms and two baths on the second and third floors, too. But be forewarned: The taxes in the burbs can be killer; in this case, it's $24,364 a year. So while you might be able to lower your expenses by heading to Jersey (and possibly ditch the private school tuition), other types of expenses—besides taxes, there's upkeep like snow removal and maintenance—might bite into your savings.
Related:
A four-bedroom Tudor house in Westchester—for less than the area median
People in the suburbs: They're just like us (mostly)
Six reasons to be (sort of) jealous of your friends in the suburbs
Feeling priced out of the city? Here's what to expect in the 'burbs