[Samrai309]

Hey everyone

I was wondering if anyone knew of any MLS websites for western connecticut that the general public had access to, similar in set up and appearance to realtor.com or even one I browsed for Long Island homes: MLSLI.com – Long Island Real Estate – Find A Home in Nassau, Suffolk & Queens

Just curious if there were other aspects to see using a site like this geared towards the western connecticut area that maybe realtor.com could not really show me. I am in the process of planning a trip to the new milford/brookfield/new fairfield/danbury areas in mid october. I just wanted to see what the market looked like in the area.

I know from using the Long Island site, it cleared up a lot when it came to "actual" taxes and actual school districts and such, as some incorporated villages had a village tax on top of your county tax. Some houses were marketed creatively so that they appeared cheaper overall. They also did this with town names marketing some houses with towns that if you checked school districts, realized they were actually in another town...technically. Again..creative marketing.

Any info would be appreciated. Lots of great stuff on here. Everyone many thanks--keep up the good work.

[jdhall1]

There is currently no public access to the MLS in western CT at this moment. The market is pretty stable for single family homes under roughly $450,000 and condos under $300,000. The area that is getting hit the hardest (most supply) are homes between $500,000 and $750,000. Condos between $340,000-$500,000 are just sitting on the market considerbly longer than in recent years, in my opinion since devolpers built considerbly too many units in that price range over the 6 years.

School districts are pretty straight forward in the area, since they are roughly done by neighborhood and by town of high school. There are some areas in between neighborhoods (one side of the street goes to Smith elementary and west middle school and the other goes to jones elementary and east middle school) and agents should verify the school for the house with the district office.

[Samrai309]

Originally Posted by jdhall1

There is currently no public access to the MLS in western CT at this moment. The market is pretty stable for single family homes under roughly $450,000 and condos under $300,000. The area that is getting hit the hardest (most supply) are homes between $500,000 and $750,000. Condos between $340,000-$500,000 are just sitting on the market considerbly longer than in recent years, in my opinion since devolpers built considerbly too many units in that price range over the 6 years.

School districts are pretty straight forward in the area, since they are roughly done by neighborhood and by town of high school. There are some areas in between neighborhoods (one side of the street goes to Smith elementary and west middle school and the other goes to jones elementary and east middle school) and agents should verify the school for the house with the district office.

Thanks for the info and reply JD. I plan to take a ride up to the new milford/new fairfield/brookfield/danbury area in mid october. General scouting mission really. Do you have any feedback on these areas? We prefer a semi-rural feel, don't mind driving 10-15-20 mins to stores. I would ideally like to have at least a 1/2 acre...3-4 bedroom house, 2000 sq ft minumum. I'm not looking at brand new construction too closely b/c from what I have seen, they are either on real small pieces or real large pieces. Is that price you mentioned for single family, $450,000..is that pretty much the standard for the area? $500,000-$750,000 is way out of the price range...your talking to a lowly high school science teacher here

I am hoping I get a good feel for the area and all. Its on our radar. My fiancee's aunt used to live in New Milford years ago and she loved it up there. My fiancee loved it as well and thinks she even went swimming in Candlewood lake. She is a nurse so she may very well be the breadwinner for us ....no problem by me. As long as I can avoid having to move back to Long Island where she is now. Value and worth are way out of line with each other, as well as salaries. I'm down in Florida and since she is not too keen on living there, we are weighing our options.
Thanks again for the reply.

[jdhall1]

All of the above mentioned towns do have a semi-rural feel. Danbury is considered the least semi-rural since there is a city center area with an ice arena, shopping, restaurants and a university located just east of city center. Generally, the further away you get from downtown Danbury, the lot sizes increase and as do the home sizes since those areas were built mostly post ww2 and downtown has older buildings. New Milford does have a decent sized downtown, with Brookfield's and New Fairfield's being the smallest.

Candlewood Lake is great and is still the main recreational center for greater Danbury.

The average 4 bedroom 2 bath raised ranch on an acre sells between $360-$390,000 depending on condition in every town but New Milford which well be on average $15-$20k lower since it is a further commute to the major employment centers for the area. Based on your needs, the prices start at $300,000 for homes needing work, but generally between $375,000-$430,000 are a lot of choices to choose from.

[JayCT]

Most owns in Connecticut have their own school districts. Some smaller towns share a district with one or more other small towns. It is pretty straight forward. We do not have the multiple layers of government other states have (there are no counties, villages, hamlets, etc. like New York). There are named areas of a town but usually they do not have much meaning other than location.

Danbury is a small city and has some minor urban type issues. The schools perform below the state averages in the Connecticut Mastery Test scores and class sizes are somewhat large. The other towns you are considering would be better. There are homes in these towns in your price range. Good luck and let us know if you have any questions, Jay

[Samrai309]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Most owns in Connecticut have their own school districts. Some smaller towns share a district with one or more other small towns. It is pretty straight forward. We do not have the multiple layers of government other states have (there are no counties, villages, hamlets, etc. like New York). There are named areas of a town but usually they do not have much meaning other than location.

Danbury is a small city and has some minor urban type issues. The schools perform below the state averages in the Connecticut Mastery Test scores and class sizes are somewhat large. The other towns you are considering would be better. There are homes in these towns in your price range. Good luck and let us know if you have any questions, Jay

Thanks for the feedback Jay. I am a bit familiar with the area and I was using the city of Danbury more as a center point to draw a radius from. I am more interested in the other towns. I just plan to use a map and navigate around the area to get a feel for it. Any other suggestions you may have to get a good feel for the neighborhoods would be welcome. I will certainly take you up on your offer if I do come up with any questions. Thanks for the well wishes.

Joe