[Bdezz]

(Sorry, I know these questions get asked a lot)

I currently live in Rockland, NY and commute 4 days/week to Midtown NYC. My wife plans to take off 2-3 years of work to stay at home with our son until he's ready to go to school. We're looking to move to an area with a lower CoL and downsize our house. For reference, we currently pay 15k/year property taxes on a 2.5k sqft house.

I was asking for information on the Westchester forums, and someone mentioned looking in Fairfield county. I'll be honest that I don't know much about the lifestyle in CT other than what I've seen on Zillow and reading some posts on the CT forum.

I'm looking for information/recommendations on towns with access to the New Haven line.

1. Our budget is 350k-400k for a 1800-2000 sqft house. I'm looking to budget around 2.2k/month on housing expenses. I plan to put 35%ish down on whatever property we buy.

2. We have a young child so schools are important.

3. My wife loves rustic and rural. I don't know if this exists in this area of CT. I prefer more suburban settings. I don't mind seeing my neighbor when I exit my house, but I don't want to be right next to him/her.

4. My current commute is about 1:30-1:40 door to door. I would love to keep it in this range. I work right outside of GCT for purposes of calculating distance.

From my own research, the Fairfield area seems to be priced out unless we want to go down to 1.2kish sqft.

The schools in Bridgeport seem dreadful. Trumbull however seems to have fantastic schools. This seems very appealing assuming the commute to the Metro North in either Fairfield or Bridgeport is bearable.

Milford also seems to have some nice properties in our price range, but the schools are slightly worse and the commute is starting to approach 2 hours at that point.

Again, I know these questions get asked a lot. Sorry about that. Thanks for any advice.

[JayCT]

It sounds like you already did your research. Fairfield is the closest town with good schools that would have homes in your price range but you are right, you would get a smaller and older home there. Trumbull is likely next for a commute and you will get more home for you money there. It is personal preference if it is worth the longer commute or not. Milford would also be a good option but you are correct that the schools do not perform as well as Trumbull or Fairfield. They still are considered good. Again it is personal preference if they are good enough.

One thing to note with any of these towns is that they are all fairly well developed so I am not sure if you are going to find the rustic/rural area your wife is seeking, particularly in your price range and closer to the train for your commute. You might want to consider a less developed town like Monroe for that feel but keep in mind it is further from the train.

Another option you might want to consider is the Danbury area. Some of the towns near there may be what you are looking for. Bethel, New Fairfield and Brookfield are great towns with many nice homes in your price range. These towns have larger lots at more affordable prices than the coastline communities along the New Haven line. I would first consider New Fairfield since it is closest to Southeast Station in Brewster, New York on the Harlem Line. If you live on the west side of town, it is a short drive to the station and then less than a 90 minute train ride into Grand Central. I hope this helps. Jay

[Stylo]

Trumbull and Milford are just about identical commutes to NYC.

I commute 3-4 days a week from Milford and it's roughly 1 hour and 45 for my commute to office near Grand Central. I'm a less than 5 minute drive to the train, which I time perfectly due to limited traffic and don't wind up waiting at the train very long. Then a 5 minute walk to office.

I can take Fairfield Metro, but 1. have to account for possible traffic and 2. the longer walk from the parking lot to the platform. I can usually get to that station in 15 minutes, which is the same for Trumbull. So I choose Milford station because it's just easier, and I don't need the stress of extra driving to save a little train time. And I get a better seat in the morning.

Milford, while not at the testing level of Trumbull, are still very good schools. Especially in the Foran district for high school (a solid 8 on Great Schools). Foran has been improving over the years. Trumbull is a bit pricier if you're not counting waterfront in Milford.

I would recommend Milford for your situation and budget. There's a variety of neighborhoods. As long as you aren't in the more dense shoreline areas, you can get a decent lot in many parts of town. Quality of life is also excellent with many parks, beaches, nice walkable downtown, etc.

But I would certainly not discount Trumbull, or even New Fairfield as Jay said. Maybe focus on finding the best house. My personal preference is to drive as little as possible. It's easier to unwind on the train, especially with a good seat, than to drive. Other towns south of Milford with a station in town either have high taxes or crime issues, or are prohibitively expensive for me. That's why I chose Milford again, among other reasons, and bought my 2nd house here.

[Bdezz]

Thanks for the replies JayCT and Stylo. A lot of good advice there.

Danbury and the surrounding towns were not originally on my radar, so that's more to consider. New Fairfield would probably appeal to my wife since it seems the lots there are larger. Brookfield has some nice properties in our price range, but it seems to add another 10-15 minutes driving time.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by Bdezz

Thanks for the replies JayCT and Stylo. A lot of good advice there.

Danbury and the surrounding towns were not originally on my radar, so that's more to consider. New Fairfield would probably appeal to my wife since it seems the lots there are larger. Brookfield has some nice properties in our price range, but it seems to add another 10-15 minutes driving time.

I think the commute from New Fairfield and Brookfield will be too much. Even Danbury is really pushing it. You would have to drive over to the upper Harlem line to get into NYC.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by dazzleman

I think the commute from New Fairfield and Brookfield will be too much. Even Danbury is really pushing it. You would have to drive over to the upper Harlem line to get into NYC.

Yes but the drive from New Fairfield to Southeast Station in Brewster is easy and fast. I believe it is only about 8 miles from the town line. Then the train ride is under 90 minutes to Grand Central which is not bad. I doubt the OP will find anything closer in their price range with good schools. Jay

[Lalalally]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Yes but the drive from New Fairfield to Southeast Station in Brewster is easy and fast. I believe it is only about 8 miles from the town line. Then the train ride is under 90 minutes to Grand Central which is not bad. I doubt the OP will find anything closer in their price range with good schools. Jay

This is correct. New Fairfield is a 15 minute car ride to the station in Southeast, and the rush hour trains between Southeast & GC are ~82 minutes.


To the OP: for comparison regarding real estate taxes, my house in New Fairfield is ~2,800 sf on 2 acres. Taxes are $8,500.


It's not an easy commute, but people do it. A

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by Bdezz

(Sorry, I know these questions get asked a lot)

I currently live in Rockland, NY and commute 4 days/week to Midtown NYC. My wife plans to take off 2-3 years of work to stay at home with our son until he's ready to go to school. We're looking to move to an area with a lower CoL and downsize our house. For reference, we currently pay 15k/year property taxes on a 2.5k sqft house.

I was asking for information on the Westchester forums, and someone mentioned looking in Fairfield county. I'll be honest that I don't know much about the lifestyle in CT other than what I've seen on Zillow and reading some posts on the CT forum.

I'm looking for information/recommendations on towns with access to the New Haven line.

1. Our budget is 350k-400k for a 1800-2000 sqft house. I'm looking to budget around 2.2k/month on housing expenses. I plan to put 35%ish down on whatever property we buy.

2. We have a young child so schools are important.

3. My wife loves rustic and rural. I don't know if this exists in this area of CT. I prefer more suburban settings. I don't mind seeing my neighbor when I exit my house, but I don't want to be right next to him/her.

4. My current commute is about 1:30-1:40 door to door. I would love to keep it in this range. I work right outside of GCT for purposes of calculating distance.

From my own research, the Fairfield area seems to be priced out unless we want to go down to 1.2kish sqft.

The schools in Bridgeport seem dreadful. Trumbull however seems to have fantastic schools. This seems very appealing assuming the commute to the Metro North in either Fairfield or Bridgeport is bearable.

Milford also seems to have some nice properties in our price range, but the schools are slightly worse and the commute is starting to approach 2 hours at that point.

Again, I know these questions get asked a lot. Sorry about that. Thanks for any advice.

As far as commuting goes Fairfield would be the best. I am originally from Stamford and I looked for a house in Fairfield. My husband and I bought our house 20+ years ago and in relative terms was in the same price range as you. My first choice of Fairfield I would have had to get a house on a fairly small lot in my price range in the beach area where I wanted to move. The houses also needed a lot of work.

I had never been to Trumbull but the realtor took me to see a house there. I feel in love with it. There was more land and less work to do on the house. When we bought our house there was only one train station in Fairfield. Now there is the Metro Station on the Fairfield/Bridgeport line. You can take the connector down to I-95 right to the metro station. If you get a house in the southern portion close to the connector it's a pretty good ride down to the Metro Station. For rustic and rural look in the Nichols section of Trumbull that is near the connector in the southern portion of town. Nichols is on the National Register of Historic Places. Look at all the awesome historic houses on the Facebook page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichols,_Connecticut
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Nichols-...=page_internal

Milford is also good. I figured out a little while back that if you lived in Milford close to one of the train stations it was only about a 5-8 minute longer commute than Trumbull. Milford has good schools but the schools in Trumbull are a bit better. Milford has all the great beaches. You have to weigh what is more important to you. I have cousins in Milford and they love it there. Their children got into great colleges and are doing very well in life.

The average house (like you want) in Trumbull is $402,000. The taxes would be $9567.
The average house (like you want) in Milford is $309,000. The taxes would be $6010. (more for your money because it is a little further out.)

[Stylo]

How do you figure Milford is 5-8 minutes longer for someone near train station?

Maybe if you’re on the southern part of Trumbull and don’t hit traffic going to either Fairfield station.

[Lalalally]

Originally Posted by Bdezz

Thanks for the replies JayCT and Stylo. A lot of good advice there.

Danbury and the surrounding towns were not originally on my radar, so that's more to consider. New Fairfield would probably appeal to my wife since it seems the lots there are larger. Brookfield has some nice properties in our price range, but it seems to add another 10-15 minutes driving time.

This is also correct. While New Fairfield and Brookfield appear to be “next” to each other on a map, there is a large lake (Candlewood) that separates the two, and there is no way to drive to one from the other without driving through Danbury first, and the drive through Danbury will account for the extra 10-15 commute time that you’re seeing to the Harlem line train stations. And likely even more than that during rush hour traffic... The CT towns with the easiest access to Harlem line trains are Ridgefield, Danbury, and New Fairfield. Ridgefield is the southernmost (I.e. closer to the city) and is a beautiful town with excellent schools. However, it’s beyond your budget.