[Magdalena1]

Hi,

I wonder if you had 300K-350K to spend on real estate what would you choose?
Considering that most of the time you spend in Greenwich/Stamford area, would you decide to buy a house that requires a lot of work for about 300K budget, and fix it over a couple of next years, or would you go with a nice townhouse in not the best area? Ex. Liberty Commons. My friend is deciding on buying a townhouse there, but heard that Liberty St is quite bad. She knocked on doors of those brand new units- Liberty Commons, and 4 families she was able to talk with said that maybe its loud sometimes, but no one comes close to their properties, and they feel safe there (all units have garages). She was also told that the city is working on improving this side of Stamford, and Stamford Hospital bought some land there too. Do you have any info about West Side? Do you know where she can get the info?

Another choice for her can be Norwalk- cheaper, and probably for the same about of money she could get a townhouse in decent location. Some of the criteria are - for common charges to be under $300 a month, gas heat, some storage and/or a garage. 2 bedroom unit - fireplace a plus but not mandatory.
Is Foxboro Dr a nice complex? What about Hill Court, or Fairview?

Thanks

[Stylo]

Well, if it were me I wouldn't buy anything at that price in either city, as that's not a great price point to buy around there IMO unless your friend absolutely has to be there for commute purposes.

That's a pretty dumpy part of Stamford. With the cost of living so high in that city, the lesser income folk need SOMEWHERE to live, and a lot happen to live there. I can't see it changing drastically. It seems like most of the city's crime is centered in that area.

Norwalk is not that much cheaper. I can't speak to the complexes themselves, but area wise -

Foxboro: decent area off Route 7, lots of traffic/noise there, but safe, strip malls, typical suburban layout
Hill Court: so-so area near the hospital, lots of older housing, relatively safe, but might not be as safe as Foxboro
Fairview: same

I wouldn't buy in any of those areas personally for what she wants with her budget. Where does she have to commute to? Why can't she consider less expensive areas that are more friendly to her budget?

[JayCT]

I would be looking in Fairfield where you can get more for your money. At that price she could get a nice updated condo or small house. JMHO, Jay

[Travel_Bum]

You don't say if you have children. If you have no children Foxboro is Norwalk is a great complex. There is the shoreline in Norwalk and alot of great things to do! Don't do Liberty Street in Stamford!

[Magdalena1]

She works in Stamford and her boyfrend in Greenwich- within two years he may be working in Manhattan, and with the gas prices so high sometimes its better to pay more for a place and dont spend that much on gas, and time in traffic.
She is pregnant with her first child, and so schools will be important, but not for the next 4-5 years.
Would you pay more for a property, or pay less and have longer commute to work?
Wouldnt you get even as for the spendings anyways?

Does Fairfield have good schools?
What about Wilton/Weston?

[Stylo]

Fairfield has better ranked schools than Norwalk and Stamford by a good margin. They could just commute via train?

Wilton and Weston have good schools too, but she's not going to get anything in her price range. There's very few condos/townhouses in Wilton (pretty sure there are none in Weston) and it's going to be tough to find something in that price range.

[Magdalena1]

She could commute by train, or find some other job in other town. She works in the office and shoudlnt have that much trouble with that. He cant use train. He is a private driver and uses his Cadillac to drive people. He works mainly in Greenwich area, but also travels to the airports and Manhattan a lot. Therefore, they would want to stay in Stamford/Norwalk area because of gas prices.

[JayCT]

The problem is that Stamford schools are not the best performing so if good schools will be a priority in the future, they should probably consider buying in a town with good schools now. Five years is about the minimum I would recommend anyone to buy and keep a home before selling these days. If they bought in Stamford, in five or six years they would have to sell that home and move to another town. That is of course assuming that they do not think the schools in Stamford are what they want. It almost sounds like they may want to consider renting in Stamford for a while and buying in a couple of years when schools will become an issue. Jay

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by Magdalena1

She could commute by train, or find some other job in other town. She works in the office and shoudlnt have that much trouble with that. He cant use train. He is a private driver and uses his Cadillac to drive people. He works mainly in Greenwich area, but also travels to the airports and Manhattan a lot. Therefore, they would want to stay in Stamford/Norwalk area because of gas prices.

They could more than make up for gas prices by going with a much less expensive town near a train station: Fairfield, Trumbull, and even less expensive Shelton, Stratford, Milford.

[Magdalena1]

Thanks Guys- as always you pointed out things that I havent think of, will pass the info to her. Its up to her to decide.
It seems that now its not going to be btn Norwalk and Stamford only, but few more towns