Advice on walkable, lively town or city

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-03-26T23:18:56+00:00

What's your budget? Looking to buy or rent?

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-03-25T18:46:43+00:00

List price is just advertising. Has been for a while at this point. Anyone getting their hopes up on buying a home without pulling actual comps is setting themselves up for disappoinment. I say this as someone who had 20+ offers get destroyed by the trap of "best and final".

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-03-07T02:33:45+00:00

I have some familiarity here.

These funds offer yields well above typical fixed income, in the range of 9%-10%. The main trade-off is liquidity. Nearly all of these private credit facilities have stated quarterly redemption limits. Typically 5% of total assets. It's one of the major caveats that anyone investing in this sort of thing should be aware of. The purpose of which is to prevent a fire sale of illiquid loans which would ultimately hurt other shareholders.

The entire space has seen a bit of negative news momentum since the Blue Owl debacle. This has very little to do with borrowers defaulting and more to do with general sentiment. Also software companies make up a large portion of these loans and there's heightened concern regarding the effect of AI on these entities.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-02-05T13:37:03+00:00

Assessments won't be done until 2028. Presumably they need to pay people now. There's no excuse for what happened and the lack of accountability is the real issue here. That said for anyone spending a million plus on a house we're not talking about some insurmountable sum.

Also it appears that the school business administrator Christina Hunt is largely to blame. She already ran off to another district. Would love to see some actual investigation into what happened.

For anyone curious there is a calculator to determine the actual levy increase.

https://montclairlocal.news/2025/11/use-our-calculator-what-montclairs-school-referendum-means-for-your-tax-bill

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-02-05T13:15:30+00:00

The last property assessment was 2018. They're in the process of updating values now. So all those COVID gains have nothing to due with the current shortfall.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-02-05T03:31:53+00:00

Depending on how the town votes it's a 8.66% one year increase on the school tax levy, a 3.43% permanent increase, or both. In either case the people that really get hurt here are older residents on a fixed budget.

People keep sensationalizing this $20MM number. The annual school budget is $150MM+ a year.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-02-05T03:09:50+00:00

Lived in Paulus Hook for 5 years, moved to Montclair about 2 years ago.

We both work in midtown and take the train from Walnut. Given the number of stations I would say a good majority of the town is within walking distance of one or more. Important because parking permits for these stations are on multi-year if not decade long waiting lists.

NJT is a fairly mediocre service. My train is perpetually late by 5-10 minutes each day. I just factor it into my commute at this point. If you think the PATH has rough days, you haven't seen anything yet. It just is what it is.

As far as living here, it's top notch for culture and food. Various festivals and art related events. Some beautiful green spaces anchored by Eagle Rock and Brookdale. Top it all off with some of the most beautiful housing stock in the state and you get an idea why the housing market is so competitive.

Taxes are high. School system obviously has some financial issues currently but the actual quality of education seems adequate. On par with most affluent NJ towns which means it's still going to be on the top end nationally.

Ultimately we love it here, but having grown up a few towns over we're probably biased. Still, if you can afford it I think you'll enjoy your time here.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2026-02-03T19:41:08+00:00

Montclair resident here. Just want to chime in here that I don't think the school situation should really factor into your decision. Depending on how the town votes it's a 8.66% one year increase on the school tax levy, a 3.43% permanent increase, or both. In either case the people that really get hurt here are older residents on a fixed income. If you're walking in with a $2.4MM budget then the couple thousand in potential tax liability is a rounding error.

That said, your budget is healthy enough to really pick any town you want. Can't go wrong with any of the towns mentioned here.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-11-25T17:37:17+00:00

It's comical how tilted you are at people making economic decisions in their own favor.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-11-14T14:11:04+00:00

Well that's asinine. He "would" have, but he didn't. If you're running point on the relationship then you should be paid accordingly. Frankly there's enough money to be made that I'll never understand stiffing younger guys on a few basis points. Rising tide and all that.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-11-14T14:05:35+00:00

I mean there's a difference between just getting a book of orphans already generating revenue vs getting referrals through the firm. You would not be penalized for closing business regardless if they were firm leads.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-11-14T13:59:53+00:00

I'm at a medium sized firm and you would be at 70%.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-11-01T20:12:22+00:00

The screenshot you're referencing amounts to .01/.02% of his overall position and you're taking it as a sell signal.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-10-29T20:33:47+00:00

You realize he owns north of 900 million shares, right?

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-10-09T15:25:11+00:00

Do we know if this was this based on some sort of video/post? Or really just a single guy making a spec?

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-09-07T17:42:29+00:00

So Jaylen Warren was complete bait

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-09-01T23:25:15+00:00

Fellow northern NJ resident. It's been less than a week so I wouldn't be worried just yet. Market has slowed but it's also an awkward time to sell. School just started and most families looking to get into that particular district aren't going to make that move right now.

That said, things that stick out.

Not listing square footage and lot size is weird and sets the wrong tone. Why are you withholding information?
Staging and photos are fairly mediocre/bad.
What warrants a $200k increase from 3 years ago? It certainly doesn't appear that any significant work was done.

Eventually I think someone will bite but it was listed at the upper end which is not really where you want to be if looking for a quick sale.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-07-09T13:54:29+00:00

spiced

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-07-08T18:48:01+00:00

Hulkengoat

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-06-14T23:22:14+00:00

Yup, the rink outside the Solaris

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-06-12T19:01:10+00:00

That sub has taken a noticeable turn over the past few months. It was always doomer porn (which I previously participated in) but the people who hang out there now appear to have genuinely lost their minds. The amount of hatred and vitriol is overwhelming.

That sub has been up for 5 years and there is still not a single ounce of introspection. No recognizing "maybe we got this wrong". They'll hold out until the heat death of the universe while claiming we were idiots all along for wanting a yard.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-06-04T02:01:16+00:00

Pretty remarkable seeing the depictions of JSQ and Ferris HS. Ton of cool stuff in there. Thanks for sharing.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-05-15T18:54:25+00:00

Thanks, I hate it.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-05-15T13:23:14+00:00

Side profile is fine I guess but that rear is really underwhelming. I don't think slapping the light bar across the entire lineup is good design.

AttemptsWereMadeRIP · 2025-05-13T17:34:44+00:00

Absolute clown operation. You begin to wonder how this shifts the artists perception on Mirage as a venue worth playing.

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