[alina0013]

Hi everyone, thanks for your responses to my earlier post about moving to the Hartford area. My husband and I and our toddler are going to check out Glastonbury (and West Hartford, if we have time) tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if there is any any general area of Glastonbury that is kind of a town center, with nice bakeries, shops, coffee shops, that type of thing? Just looking for general cross street names of areas to walk around to get a sense of what the town is like. Also, any suggestions on areas with very nice, upscale but not not huge, established homes to drive through? And, for the longer term, does anyone have any suggestions for a real estate agent who knows a lot about the area? I'd also love recs for West Hartford, but we might not make it there tomorrow-- That may be a separate trip bc it seems like Glastonbury would be better for our commutes, but West Hartford may be more what we are looking for in a community.....

Thanks a lot in advance!

[JayCT]

allina0013 - Welcome to Glastonbury. Glastonbury does not have a real walkable downtown area but was built as a group of small shopping centers. The center of town is around the intersection of Hebron Avenue and Main street with the section of Hebron Avenue between Main and New London Turnpike being somewhat walkable. Parallel to Hebron is Welles Street which has the Fox Run Mall, a small shopping center which will have a Whole Foods in a couple of months. The general business district extends north from Hebron along Main Street to the East Hartford line. There is a great coffee shop at the intersection of Main and Hebron called Daybreak. Unfortunately Glastonbury does not have a good bakery but there is a Panera Bread. Also check out the Shoppes at Somerset Square on Glastonbury Boulevard. It is a nice upscale walkable center with stores like Ann Taylor and Smith & Hawkins.

To view the town you could drive down Main Street to the village of South Glastonbury which has a few small shops and restaurants. It is hard to recommend neighborhoods to look at because there are so many. I like Farmcliff (quiat reproduction colonials) which is located on Olde Wood and Farmcliff Roads. Great Pond Road in South Glastonbury is nice with homes starting around $500k'. Buttonball (off Buttonball Road, Founders Road, Carriage Drive) is a very nice middle class neighborhood. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Jay

[Iska]

Jay, there's practically nothing for sale in these neighborhoods. I did a scouting run this month and found maybe 2 or 3 for sale. People must either love living in these neighborhoods or they've chosen not to place their homes on the market under current market conditions. Or maybe parents are staying put, having been gifted with a new elementary school (Nayaug?) that I'm told makes the other schools now seem a bit déclassé. It's probably best to secure the services of a reputable realtor. Some names have been highly recommended by people I know in the area.

[alina0013]

Thanks for the info! That's too bad about homes in the neighborhood of the new good school not being for sale. That's probably where we would want to be. We will find a realtor.... I just don't have a lot tolerance for realtor bs. It's hard to find someone good, so I'd love recs.

Also, could anyone tell me if West Hartford has a walkable town center area and, if so, it's approx. location?

Thanks again. This board has been so helpful to us!

[skytrekker]

West Hartford has perhaps the most walkable town center in Connecticut.
It has the old town center dating back decades to the early 20th century on Farmington Avenue, South Main street and La Salle Road. There are many upscale shops, fine restaurants, Spa's, coffee and bakery shops, boutiques and art galleries/sales.

The New 'Blueback Square' recently completed has many fine stores, restaurants, shops (some not open yet) and very upscale residential condos for sale and rent. The old center and BB Square are very walkable with a garden like New England setting - both the old center and Blueback are adjacent to each other and are fabulously integrated, offering garden like New England ambiance that is very walkable- with exclusive shopping, recreation and fine restaurants.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Iska

Jay, there's practically nothing for sale in these neighborhoods. I did a scouting run this month and found maybe 2 or 3 for sale. People must either love living in these neighborhoods or they've chosen not to place their homes on the market under current market conditions. Or maybe parents are staying put, having been gifted with a new elementary school (Nayaug?) that I'm told makes the other schools now seem a bit déclassé. It's probably best to secure the services of a reputable realtor. Some names have been highly recommended by people I know in the area.

I have seen a few homescome on the market recntly in the new Nyaug School district and in the other neighborhoods I recommended but they do sell quickly if they are well located and well priced. It shows that the real estate market in Glastonbury is still strong. The OP asked for areas to look at and that is why aI recommended they check these neighborhoods out. I agree that a good realtor is important. I think you need to make a decision on which town you want and then seek out a realtor with experience there. A realtor in Glastonbury will not necessarily know West Hartford. Jay

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I have seen a few homes come on the market recently in the new Nyaug School district and in the other neighborhoods I recommended, but they do sell quickly if they are well located and well priced. It shows that the real estate market in Glastonbury is still strong. The OP asked for areas to look at and that is why I recommended they check these neighborhoods out. I agree that a good REALTOR® is important. I think you need to make a decision on which town you want and then seek out a realtor with experience there. A REALTOR® in Glastonbury will not necessarily know West Hartford. Jay

Hi Jay,

Your last statement, for the most part, is true. However, the MLS allows agents to set up searches for clients based on many criteria including mapped areas and streets. If the REALTOR® is told the desired part of town, (s)he can provide any and all listings as though (s)he were an expert. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt the agent to become familiar with the area!

As for "hot" markets, Glastonbury, West Hartford, and Meriden are still good. One town on which I keep an eye is Waterbury. Properties are not moving there. The advice that agents give will vary town by town. The second largest MLS in the state insists that, on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being a Buyer's market), southwestern Connecticut is a "1."

Rich

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

Hi Jay,

Your last statement, for the most part, is true. However, the MLS allows agents to set up searches for clients based on many criteria including mapped areas and streets. If the REALTOR® is told the desired part of town, (s)he can provide any and all listings as though (s)he were an expert. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt the agent to become familiar with the area!

As for "hot" markets, Glastonbury, West Hartford, and Meriden are still good. One town on which I keep an eye is Waterbury. Properties are not moving there. The advice that agents give will vary town by town. The second largest MLS in the state insists that, on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being a Buyer's market), southwestern Connecticut is a "1."

Rich

Southwestern Connecticut is a "1"? interesting. I agree that Glastonbury is hot. I am still seeing homes selling well here and as some one else reported there is not a lot of inventory. I would assume West Hartford is the same but am surprised to hear Meriden is too. Rich - what about Middletown? Jay

[skytrekker]

Jay and Rich & Bob regarding real estate locally.

Here in Vernon condo's and townhouse are not selling. In my 24 unit townhouse community, 1 unit has been on the market since late May- another one since mid October-both unsold; Single family homes are not moving either-inventory levels are the highest I was told by a Realtor since 1997.

The last unit sold here in October 06 for 175K. The newer unit here on the market was placed on the market initially for 168900, and now at 162900- they have had I believe 2 showings-still listed at Realtor.com. Extrapolating on this data, if we deduct the difference between the last sold unit and the lowest one priced here at 162900- thats around a 7% slip this year- at least here in the Vernon, Ellington, South Windsor, and Manchester markets. I doubt any of these units will sell now for the remainder of 2007. It seems probable prices could decline further next year- so Moody's Investor Service which predicted nearly an 18% decline here may be fairly accurate-we shall see. I doubt 2008 will see any stabilization due to the resetting of many variable rate tickler loans. In addition if the federal reserve cuts rates- (which has had no affect thus far on mortgage rates) it will drive the dollar lower, increase inflation, oil prices will head higher, and the price of gold reach $1000 an oz-

The odds of a recession next year are high---things are looking curiouser all the time. California and Florida are probably in a recession now- anecdotal stuff from the west coast 'The most common new cars I'm seeing on the street these days in this California beach town are the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris, new higher-quality sub-subcompact models that sell for around $13K. New trucks and SUVs, mid-sized cars -- not so much. Buyers seem to be both young single professionals and families (the Fit has a biggish cab).

From the NYT business section today-Robert Schiller on housing
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/bu...l?ref=business

and he says;

WE have to consider the possibility that the housing price downturn will eventually be as big as that of the last truly big decline, from 1925 to 1933, when prices fell by a total of 30 percent.

As of this August, domestic home prices were already down 5 percent from their peak 14 months earlier, according to the S.& P./Case-Shiller Composite Home Price Index, and prices were falling at a faster rate in the months leading up to August. (Updated data will appear on Tuesday.)

This crisis should be an occasion for some inspired thinking about fundamental changes in our real estate institutions. The actions that have already been taken are not impressive. The housing market is worsening, and more and more home owners are getting into trouble with their mortgages.

[alina0013]

We did not see many for sale signs at all in Glastonbury, but saw quite a few in West Hartford... not sure if this means all that much though.

Regardless, the state of the market isn't the biggest issue for us in choosing where to live. We don't want to get ripped off, that's for sure, but we want to live in a desireable section of a nice town, with top public schools and lots of community involvment, and we understand that these are attributes that we will have to pay for. Additionally, to us, Glastonbury and West Hartford both seem amazingly affordable, because we are coming from the inner Boston burbs, which are much more expensive.

Thanks for everyone's advice on Glastonbury. We had a great day there, yesterday. We spent time the coffee shop Jay mentioned, checked out the library (which I thought was lovely) and visited lots of neighborhoods. We also got over to West Hartford, which we liked, as well. Not sure what we will end up doing at this point, but I appreciate the help!