[senorita2014]

We are considering buying a house in New london county and cannot make up our minds with respect to location. Further complications are added by our current situation. Not sure if we will be in the area for a year or 5 years due to fluidity in our jobs. Hence want good resaleability. We personally want to play safe with respect to school district(elementary) and paying not more than 280-350K for a 3bd 2bath place (<10 year old home; <1 acre). East lyme niantic makes more sense with respect to schools (which is relevant only after 3 years) but is it worth spending a fortune on a market heavily dependent on one employer? Ledyard has decent houses in our price range (not too sure about public schools(elementary) and the real estate market dependent on one major employer again or the casinos both of which are unpredictable).

what area would be good with respect to having decent schools, relatively stable real estate market and good resaleability if we had to move out sooner than we hope to. Are there other cities with 15-20 miles of new london (Old Lyme, old saybrook etc) that are more stable than the ones mentioned above ?

I know this is a laundry list (and some of it may be naive given we are first time buyers) and hence our judgements are totally going numb. Any helpful pointers?

Thanks in advance for your comments

ABC

[mrgmrg]

I have said this before and will say it again: I would not invest money in East Lyme now. It is, as you have said, a market largely dependent on one employer. As that employer continues its flight from the state, changes to home values and schools will naturally follow. Those of us who knew East Lyme before Pfizer (it was essentially a nothing place) know where it's headed. It's also just not a particularly nice town, IMO.

Old Lyme/Lyme is more stable and have excellent schools but tough in your price range. Most of the houses under $350k seem to be cottages in the seedy beach communities. I don't personally know much about Old Saybrook.

Consider Stonington/Mystic. Again, tough for your budget, but possibly doable. My sister lives in Mystic and is happy with the elementary and middle school options there. Stonington has excellent schools. Both are very pretty communities which are located pretty conveniently to New London, with real estate markets that seem pretty stable at the low end, where you are. Waterford may be an option, though it's not a place I would live.

The only towns in the area I would avoid in terms of schools are New London, Norwich, and the City of Groton.

[mels]

I would focus on Colchester, CT. It is extreme northern New London County, roughly 20 miles away from New London proper, and a very easy drive. It's a town full of young families and many people commute from Colchester to Hartford, as well as towards New London.

[senorita2014]

Thanks for these prompt and constructive responses. It is an interesting comment on East Lyme because that area is being publicized as the never declining market. Stonington was not high on our list due to houses being beyond our range. I did not see any comment of Ledyard. What do y'all think?

[willow wind]

You're not likely to find anything meeting your parameters in Old Lyme/ Old Saybrook in your price range. Newer homes on one acre in those towns will be well above $ 450,000, usually much, much more..
Same goes for Stonington.

You would have many more choices in Ledyard/ Gales Ferry. including some new construction.

Most newer construction in East Lyme/ Niantic has been McMansion type homes and they are well in the upper $ 400.000's- $ 600,000's and selling.

To get under ten years old and under $350,000, the Colchester suggestion is excellent. Spot on. This is a growing town,drawing people who work in New London/ Middlesex and Hartford counties. Thus, it's less dependent on just a few major employers, if that is a concern of yours.

There is a good resale market for colonial & cape cod homes in your price range, often newer or fairly new. You'll also get the acre lot. Schools are good and the outlook for the town is continued growth.

You could also find new and newer construction in Preston, Griswold & Montville in your price range and meeting your other requirements. Still in New London county but further out there and dealing with lesser schools.

IMO, look first and most at Colchester. It's got your wish list for housing down best.

[panasyncp17]

Originally Posted by mels

I would focus on Colchester, CT. It is extreme northern New London County, roughly 20 miles away from New London proper, and a very easy drive. It's a town full of young families and many people commute from Colchester to Hartford, as well as towards New London.

+1. I just bought a house in Colchester last summer, easy drive to Hartford, New London, Norwich, Middletown. Also check out Salem, CT.

[willow wind]

OP, you know it's always wise to try to look at the overall picture and not be scared by things that may not be all that important. East Lyme/ Niantic survived quite nicely before Pfizer and they are doing fine without them. Everyone who worked at Pfizer did not move to East Lyme. Madison and East Haddam were huge Pzifer employee destinations as were other towns.

Gateway Commons in Niantic will soon be breaking ground, they are clearing land now. This is a huge,major luxury rental project, combined with retail activity. The retail phase will be anchored by Costco. Costco does not go where it thinks it will fail. Costco, more upscale that BJ's in Waterford, does not go where it can't find the kind of clientele or the numbers it wants.

If you only plan on staying five years or less and East Lyme is was at the top of your list, then keep considering it. Psychologically, you may feel more comfortable in Colchester, but developers seem to be content with East Lyme.

[mrgmrg]

Sorry, I must have missed your desire for 1 acre and a newer house. All of the areas I suggested won't work for your budget considering those preferences. In Mystic and Stonington, you're looking at raised ranches in subdivisions or very old, small houses.

In response to your Ledyard query--you should be able to get a newer house on a larger parcel there in your price range. I don't know what the schools are like. I've always thought of it as kind of an economically depressed area, not to mention its connection to the casinos and the tribes. It's also not very pretty. But worth checking out.

[mrgmrg]

Originally Posted by willow wind

East Lyme/ Niantic survived quite nicely before Pfizer and they are doing fine without them.

Source? Did you live in the area before Pfizer? This is contrary to everyone I know who did, so I'm curious. East Lyme and Niantic (Niantic in particular) were backwaters before Pfizer came to town and referred the majority of their low-to-middle-end researchers and management there through corporate relocation services. The higher-ups, of course, lived in places like Stonington, Madison, or Lyme/Old Lyme.

[senorita2014]

All, thanks for these very helpful comments. Looks like our budget needs to be slightly increased to realistically fit our criteria. Its doable but not sure if its wise given our fluid situation. Also,we are not desiring a large land. <1 acre was misconstrued as a desire for 1 acre. We are looking for small yard so that there is not much yard maintenance (more like 0.4-0.6). The desire for a newer home is so that we don't have to deal with too much repairs due to our lack of experience.

Some of these comments are beginning to lighten the fog. So thanks and looking forward to any unique thoughts and ideas.