For Some NJ Home Buyers, It's Chatham or Nothing

For Some NJ Home Buyers, It's Chatham or Nothing

By Robin Benjamin
Categories: Buying a home in this market, Chatham, Real Estate
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For Some Buyers, It's Chatham or nothing at all. Ranked as the 2nd best place to live in NJ by New Jersey Monthly Magazine 2010, and one of the top 10 places to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2005, Chatham Township is known for its beautiful homes, tree-lined streets, a bucolic setting and only a 43 minute commute to New York City on the Midtown Direct.

That's why, after many home owners live in Chatham, they simply won't move anywhere else. They tell me it's like "no other town." Everybody knows everybody and they all seem to be on the street when I'm showing a house. Playing lacrosse in the yard, walking with their kids to a soccer game and let's not forget the two golden retrievers that are always in tow. Did I stage this? You would think I did.

When the inventory is too low in one town, or the "perfect house" can't be found in another, most buyers are willing to look at neighboring communities like Short Hills, Millburn, Summit or Maplewood, each which has its own wonderful set of characteristics and allure.

But not the buyers in Chatham.

When they set their sites on this community, where the median home price grew 6% from 2006 through 2009 - nothing else will do. In my 15 years in the business, I've never seen anything like it. I actually have clients who are now on a first name basis because they have spent so much time together on line to see the same homes. And they will wait for weeks and weeks (sometimes much longer!) for just the right property to become available.

Maybe it's the beautiful homes. Maybe it's the award winning schools. Maybe it's the quaint downtown with wonderful restaurants and shopping. Whatever the reasons are, for some buyers, it's Chatham or nothing at all.

Robin Benjamin