19. What Your Budget Buys
“What does a million dollars get me in Ridgewood?” is the question behind most first conversations. Here is the answer from what actually closed in 2025 and 2026, at three budgets, from the county deed record. Each column describes the typical home that sold within 10 percent of that price: the middle of the range, with the quarter-to-three-quarter spread where it helps.
| About $1.0 million | About $1.4 million | About $2.0 million | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedrooms | 3 (some 4) | 4 (some 3) | 4 to 5 |
| Bathrooms | 2 | 2 to 2.5 | 3 |
| Living space | about 1,800 sq ft (1,600 to 2,100) | about 2,400 sq ft (2,000 to 2,700) | about 3,100 sq ft (2,700 to 3,400) |
| Lot | about 9,200 sq ft (0.21 acre) | about 10,500 sq ft (0.24 acre) | about 15,000 sq ft (0.34 acre) |
| Year built | 1950 (1930 to 1957) | 1935 (1924 to 1952) | 1928 (1919 to 1951) |
| Most common styles | Colonial, split level, cape | Colonial, then split, Tudor, cape | Colonial, then Tudor, ranch |
| Price per square foot | about $540 | about $565 | about $650 |
| Where these homes are | North and east side (Glen Avenue, Travell area), east and south side (Hawes, Somerville areas), downtown blocks | Spread across the Village; north and east, west side below the Heights, and the south | Upper Ridgewood and the Heights first, then the west side above Hillcrest and the east |
| What you are competing against | The most contested band in the Village: 85% sell above asking, 11% over is typical | Still contested: 86% sell above asking, 13% over is typical | Contested, but with more room: 76% sell above asking, 11% over is typical |
| Expect to bring | Asking plus about 11%, and a fast decision | Asking plus about 12 to 13% | Asking plus about 11%; terms matter as much as price |
Closed sales January 2025 through August 2026 within 10 percent of each budget. Living space is the assessor’s building area and understates finished basements and attics. Competition figures from Section 3.
Reading the three columns
A million dollars buys a three-bedroom, post-war house on a fifth of an acre. Most often a cape, split or small colonial from the 1930s to 1950s, in the northern and eastern parts of the Village. At this budget you are in the most competitive band in Ridgewood and almost never alone.
$1.4 million buys the classic Ridgewood house: a four-bedroom pre-war colonial on a quarter acre. The median year built drops to 1935, which is where Section 12’s inspection list (oil tank, galvanized pipe, cast iron drains, original windows) applies in full. Price per square foot barely moves from the $1.0 million tier; you are paying for a fourth bedroom and 600 more square feet, not for a different kind of house.
$2.0 million buys four or five bedrooms, three baths and a third of an acre, and it buys location. Upper Ridgewood and the Heights account for the largest share of sales at this price. Price per square foot jumps to about $650, which is the premium for the large-lot zones (R-1, R-110, R-125) and the older, larger houses on them. This is also where the market begins to negotiate; Section 5 explains why.
What does not change across the three columns: the age of the house. At every budget the typical Ridgewood home was built before 1950. A buyer who wants new construction is choosing from a very small pool (Section 12) and paying the teardown economics described in Section 11.
What I tell my buyers: if the difference between your budget and the next tier up is $300,000, know what that $300,000 buys before you stretch. Between $1.0 and $1.4 million it buys a bedroom and 600 square feet. Between $1.4 and $2.0 million it buys 700 square feet, a third more land, and a different part of town. Only one of those is worth stretching for, and which one depends on you.
I’ll walk you through what any of this means for a specific house, your budget, or your tax bill. No obligation, and nothing to sign up for.