Advice from people that relocated

So DH and I are looking to move our family to Northern NJ.... we are in the process of putting our 2 homes on the market here and are looking into areas we want to move etc.

Any advice on what you would make sure we look into before picking the def. place we want to move. and any advice on how to make the selling and buying of your homes work.. timing and money wise.... basically at this point we can't buy a house until we sell one.

Kind of a strange question, but I just want to make sure we don't regret this.

Message edited 8/3/2009 4:56:33 PM.

Re: Advice from people that relocated

We moved from Farmingdale to South Jersey/Central Jersey (we are on the boarder). I knew we were close to stores and the mall but I had no idea how close until we moved here. I am so happy that everything is so close to me (4 miles to Target, BRU, Marshalls, Wegmans) and 6 miles from the mall. With other stores in between like AC Moore and Kohls. I am glad we are were we are because if we were further in, in our town I think I would be annoyed . I do find it annoying that we are 10 miles from the GSP. 10 miles doesn't seem like much but on a weekend or durning rush hour it can take 30-40 minutes.

I think you mentioned last week about Peapack and I actually was on US202/206 on Wed because we were driving to Canada and their were some really nice strip malls and it seemed like a nice quiet area.

We also needed to sell our home before we could buy another one. We were in contract with our first home and then found a house and had that contract contingent on the sale of the home. It all worked out (thank goodness). Make sure to find a good REA when looked and tell them to explain the home buying process in full detail because it is different than NY.

To do the actual move we use a POD. Our closings were 2 weeks apart but I was pg with #2 and my due date was a week after the closing but I didn't know when I would go so this was the best option for us. We moved all the stuff into a pod had it stored and then stayed with my parents. Once we closed on the home we moved our stuff in and just waited for the baby to come in LI.
We looked into hiring moving companies but they were so expensive since it was an OOS move. I also couldn't see doing it buy U Haul. So they pick up the pod and you call when you want it delivered. I also made sure I didn't keep the pod for more than a month because I didn't want to the monthly rental fee. We were living with my parents between homes.

For you I would put both up and move into which ever doesn't sell that way you have a place to live.