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| Taking their time pays dividends Sunday, September 12, 2010 BY VIOLET SNOW The Record SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS |
"Patience is a virtue," says Lawrence Soh, who just bought a home in Cresskill. He and his wife, Clara, took a year and a half to find the right
house, and he believes the time was well-spent. "At the beginning," he says, "you fear if you pass on something, you'll miss out on it. But we saw
the market was not going to bounce back fast, and there would always be opportunities. You have to look for a period of time to figure out what
you want, because when a price comes down, you do have to make snap decisions.
"Lawrence and Clara followed a trajectory common to young professionals who find
jobs in New York City right out of college and move there or to Hoboken. After marrying,
the Sohs rented a condo on the border of Edgewater, which Lawrence calls "a natural
transition area. It's close to the city, for work or entertainment purposes, the view is nice,
shopping is available — it's nice for couples and kids under the age of 5. " But the
waterfront area is not known for its school systems, and as the Sohs' older child,
Charissa, approached 4, they began to think of her education. "Both my wife and I went
to public schools," says Lawrence. "We want a good environment for our children to
learn. Thinking long-term, we started looking farther west and north." After weighing the
options, they settled on Cresskill, although he says the schools there are not rated quite
as highly as in the Northern Valley and Tenafly districts, which are "regularly in the top
five. A lot of Koreans — I'm of Korean descent — have the perception that you put your
child in a No. 1 school, and the school does all the work. I believe it also comes down to
the parents. As long as my daughter could get into the top 20, if her situation is
personalized, she could succeed and do well. Cresskill is down-to-earth, and the people
are respectful, regardless of diversity. Some people there are extremely wealthy, and
some are not, but the respect is there." As a trader at Credit Suisse, Lawrence decided
he could afford a home in the $700,000 to $1 million range. He started looking toward
the high end, bidding around $900,000 for an elegant house that was "jammed into a lot,
" he recalls. "We didn't get it — fortunately, I think. It becomes claustrophobic, a nice
home with three feet of yard space behind it." That experience made the Sohs realize
that having a larger property was important. As they looked at more homes, they discovered that they weren't always comfortable with the quality
of brand-new houses. "At the waterfront, everything is new," says Lawrence. "We had a bad experience with the construction quality of our place
there, built in the early 2000s." Solid construction became another criterion in their search. As the hunt continued, they considered renting but
found the rental market in Cresskill not particularly robust. Older, cramped rentals were available for $2,000 to $4,000, and nothing else was
offered for under $9,000. "The more we looked," says Lawrence, "the stronger our view was that buying a less expensive home that we could
renovate became a much better option than renting." With the help of Realtor Laura Belvedere of United Real Estate in Edgewater, they
found a well-built house at the lower end of their price range that sits on one-third of an acre and gives them multiple options for the future.
Lawrence explains, "We could renovate the home on a small scale, spend $50,000 or so to do some flooring
and repainting, upgrade the kitchen and bath. Then we could hold off a year or so on more major work. The house came with plans for a
$400,000 renovation. And it's a solid location and home, so we could sell. Financially, I could have gone close to a million, but now I'm not tied to
a rigid set of requirements." The Soh family's first week in Cresskill went well. Lawrence is still getting used to the longer commute, which
includes driving to the ferry in Weehawken, a total of an hour and a quarter. Clara, a former piano teacher, stays home with 2 1/2-year-old
Justin. Charissa has started kindergarten in a class of 21. "She's one of three or four Asians, a few Hispanic kids, and the rest are white," says
Lawrence. "I like the level of diversity."
Moving up from the close-in suburbs to farther out? Downsizing? Moving from one part of town to another? E-mail Violet Snow at
violetsnow77@gmail.com.
house, and he believes the time was well-spent. "At the beginning," he says, "you fear if you pass on something, you'll miss out on it. But we saw
the market was not going to bounce back fast, and there would always be opportunities. You have to look for a period of time to figure out what
you want, because when a price comes down, you do have to make snap decisions.
"Lawrence and Clara followed a trajectory common to young professionals who find
jobs in New York City right out of college and move there or to Hoboken. After marrying,
the Sohs rented a condo on the border of Edgewater, which Lawrence calls "a natural
transition area. It's close to the city, for work or entertainment purposes, the view is nice,
shopping is available — it's nice for couples and kids under the age of 5. " But the
waterfront area is not known for its school systems, and as the Sohs' older child,
Charissa, approached 4, they began to think of her education. "Both my wife and I went
to public schools," says Lawrence. "We want a good environment for our children to
learn. Thinking long-term, we started looking farther west and north." After weighing the
options, they settled on Cresskill, although he says the schools there are not rated quite
as highly as in the Northern Valley and Tenafly districts, which are "regularly in the top
five. A lot of Koreans — I'm of Korean descent — have the perception that you put your
child in a No. 1 school, and the school does all the work. I believe it also comes down to
the parents. As long as my daughter could get into the top 20, if her situation is
personalized, she could succeed and do well. Cresskill is down-to-earth, and the people
are respectful, regardless of diversity. Some people there are extremely wealthy, and
some are not, but the respect is there." As a trader at Credit Suisse, Lawrence decided
he could afford a home in the $700,000 to $1 million range. He started looking toward
the high end, bidding around $900,000 for an elegant house that was "jammed into a lot,
" he recalls. "We didn't get it — fortunately, I think. It becomes claustrophobic, a nice
home with three feet of yard space behind it." That experience made the Sohs realize
that having a larger property was important. As they looked at more homes, they discovered that they weren't always comfortable with the quality
of brand-new houses. "At the waterfront, everything is new," says Lawrence. "We had a bad experience with the construction quality of our place
there, built in the early 2000s." Solid construction became another criterion in their search. As the hunt continued, they considered renting but
found the rental market in Cresskill not particularly robust. Older, cramped rentals were available for $2,000 to $4,000, and nothing else was
offered for under $9,000. "The more we looked," says Lawrence, "the stronger our view was that buying a less expensive home that we could
renovate became a much better option than renting." With the help of Realtor Laura Belvedere of United Real Estate in Edgewater, they
found a well-built house at the lower end of their price range that sits on one-third of an acre and gives them multiple options for the future.
Lawrence explains, "We could renovate the home on a small scale, spend $50,000 or so to do some flooring
and repainting, upgrade the kitchen and bath. Then we could hold off a year or so on more major work. The house came with plans for a
$400,000 renovation. And it's a solid location and home, so we could sell. Financially, I could have gone close to a million, but now I'm not tied to
a rigid set of requirements." The Soh family's first week in Cresskill went well. Lawrence is still getting used to the longer commute, which
includes driving to the ferry in Weehawken, a total of an hour and a quarter. Clara, a former piano teacher, stays home with 2 1/2-year-old
Justin. Charissa has started kindergarten in a class of 21. "She's one of three or four Asians, a few Hispanic kids, and the rest are white," says
Lawrence. "I like the level of diversity."
Moving up from the close-in suburbs to farther out? Downsizing? Moving from one part of town to another? E-mail Violet Snow at
violetsnow77@gmail.com.