movin outta CT (Hartford, Danbury, West Hartford: real estate, property taxes, insurance)

[kd83]

I might have dropped it a couple times here or there but I am moving to Charlotte in May. I just got back from a trip apartment hunting with my girlfriend and my mother. I am active in the Charlotte forum and posted my thoughts on my trip there, and thought maybe a few of you would be interested in reading it as well since I am more active in the CT forum. Here is the thread. Back from Charlotte Visit

[westguy22]

Originally Posted by kd83

I might have dropped it a couple times here or there but I am moving to Charlotte in May. I just got back from a trip apartment hunting with my girlfriend and my mother. I am active in the Charlotte forum and posted my thoughts on my trip there, and thought maybe a few of you would be interested in reading it as well since I am more active in the CT forum. Here is the thread. Back from Charlotte Visit

I think you will love Charlotte. Family of mine moved down there from Danbury in 1995, and to this day say they will never move back.

IMO, NC is nice, cheaper and more friendly than CT. I just can't picture myself living there, however. I'll have to admit, I felt uncomfortable standing in line at the gas station in Matthews (outside of Charlotte) and having the woman behind me asking very personal questions. I guess I really am a Yankee!

[BigHouse9]

I have said it before in these forums and I will say it agin, NC is not cheaper than CT. And I laugh at the friendly thing too. People in CT are great.

[westguy22]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

I have said it before in these forums and I will say it agin, NC is not cheaper than CT. And I laugh at the friendly thing too. People in CT are great.

Here are the average prices for a 2,200-square-foot house with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage. The neighborhood - a more subjective measure - is one "typical for corporate middle-management transferees." (CNN/Money)

Connecticut

CT Torrington $233,331.00
CT Naugatuck $351,494.00
CT West Hartford $366,125.00
CT Old Lyme $492,125.00
CT Danbury $532,400.00
CT Ridgefield $735,000.00
CT Fairfield $737,738.00
CT Greenwich $1,267,500.00

North Carolina

NC Greensboro $181,166.00
NC Fayetteville $190,000.00
NC Charlotte $204,336.00
NC Winston-Salem $205,440.00
NC Raleigh $228,785.00
NC Wilmington $286,650.00



Nearly half of the price as the same home in CT, I think it's safe to say NC is much, much cheaper. The cheapest communities in CT are similar in price to the more expensive communities in NC.

Also think about taxes and gas prices. Hmm...

[kd83]

Originally Posted by BigHouse9

I have said it before in these forums and I will say it agin, NC is not cheaper than CT. And I laugh at the friendly thing too. People in CT are great.

It really depends on how you live and what types of things you factor into your budget. For some, living in NC would be cheaper b/c certain things are much cheaper, while living in CT can be cheaper depending on what you are into as well. A state as a whole cannot be compared to another state as a whole either, that is apples vs oranges. CT is tiny and yet as you can see neighborhoods and areas range broadly. I would have to live on a bench if I lived in avon or westport, I just dont make enough money for that.


For what its worth, my car insurance is going down, my apartment is cheaper than apartments in CT of comparable quality and in a comparable area, gas is 20-30 cents per gallon cheaper, I dont have to buy a separate set of 17 inch winter tires for my car anymore, everything I need (food, gas, work, etc) is in the area that I am moving to so I barely need to use gas at all. In state tuition/fees for college students is much cheaper than comparable public CT schools, property taxes are much cheaper (even tho I'm not buying a house, but that will help with car and motorcycle taxes), etc. Wages for SOME jobs are lower but the difference b/t wages is not as much as the difference in money I will be saving from the things above mentioned and some things I've even forgotten. As for the people in CT being great, there are great people and there are very rude people, the AVERAGE person in CT is not as friendly as the AVERAGE person in the South. I went to school in south carolina and I've also been to Atlanta, New Orleans, and Charlotte many times and you can just feel a different aura of how people talk to each other, and DEFINITELY how they drive on the highway. Who would have thought the right lane is for the slower drivers..you'd never know that in CT

Either way, some people enjoy the 4 very distinct seasons, and like to go snowboarding, skiing, snowmobiling, building snowmen, etc etc, some people dont. Some people live in certain parts of CT that are very nice and friendly, some people such as myself dont and will probably never be able to afford to. For certain people including myself, the south is a good and even possibly the best option. I've loved what manchester has had to offer for a long time now, and the university area that I visited in Charlotte has 5 times more to offer and for ME, not necessarily everybody, this is a good thing. Plenty of people told me to look in concord cuz it was a "nicer" place to live, but as I made my way to concord I got bored and by the time we started looking at apts we were like....back to University Area it is!! Not for everybody, but its definitely for me.

[kd83]

Originally Posted by westguy22

Here are the average prices for a 2,200-square-foot house with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage. The neighborhood - a more subjective measure - is one "typical for corporate middle-management transferees." (CNN/Money)

Connecticut

CT Torrington $233,331.00
CT Naugatuck $351,494.00
CT West Hartford $366,125.00
CT Old Lyme $492,125.00
CT Danbury $532,400.00
CT Ridgefield $735,000.00
CT Fairfield $737,738.00
CT Greenwich $1,267,500.00

North Carolina

NC Greensboro $181,166.00
NC Fayetteville $190,000.00
NC Charlotte $204,336.00
NC Winston-Salem $205,440.00
NC Raleigh $228,785.00
NC Wilmington $286,650.00



Nearly half of the price as the same home in CT, I think it's safe to say NC is much, much cheaper. The cheapest communities in CT are similar in price to the more expensive communities in NC.

Also think about taxes and gas prices. Hmm...

I think all of these apply right now

<-- bighouse9
<---- me
<-----you
<--- at all the haters
<--- at the 70 degree weather I just enjoyed for 3 days

[kd83]

oh to add to the prices that westguy included since homes dont apply to me, Waterford Commons in Manchester would be in a comparable area and of comparable quality apartments to the ones we looked at in the University Area in Charlotte and below are the prices. The 4 complexes that we narrowed it down to were all 1 bedrooms, 1 bedrooms w/ den, or 2 bedrooms that were all between $700-850 and the smallest was comparable to that 855 sq ft at Waterford Commons (there is an even more expensive complex down the street in manchester) AND these apts were even nicer than my friends apartments who all live at Waterford Commons and Aspen down the road....Deposits are from 100-300 dollars instead of the 500 and pet deposits are cheaper as well as storage spaces being cheaper. The charlotte apts are all Electric (heat and electricity as one bill) average monthly bill of 40-60 dollars with around a $10-20 water/sewer bill. Try paying that little for utilities in CT on top of that god awful rent below to begin with.

Waterford Commons
Floorplan(s) Beds Baths Rent Deposit Sq. Ft.
Carlton II 1 1 $1,000.00 - $1,045.00 $500.00 690
Carlton 1 1 $1,100.00 - $1,185.00 $500.00 855

[skytrekker]

Raleigh/ Cary NC median home price last quarter 2006 median $226,500
Hartford metro same time period $253,800

Not a huge price difference guys 27k

Charlotte $199,000 source NAR

Also- what makes you think those low utilities will STAY that low? Things change guys- todays boom towns are tomorrows bust.
Also NC ranks very low in; education; transportation infrastructure, the arts, health care, rights for women and gays/lesbians.
Yup its cheaper but making comparisons with Greenwich seems silly- compare with metro Hartford.
Also home prices along the outer banks are VERY high- you failed to compare those prices with shore communities in Connecticut.

Also are local incomes in NC able to support these higher real estate prices? CNN business had a bunch of markets that where over priced for local economic conditions and afford ability- CT markets where all deemed fair priced and affordable-All the NC Markets where deemed 'overpriced' for local economic conditions and ripe for a correction- all that glitters is not gold.

[westguy22]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

Raleigh/ Cary NC median home price last quarter 2006 median $226,500
Hartford metro same time period $253,800

Not a huge price difference guys 27k

Charlotte $199,000 source NAR

Also- what makes you think those low utilities will STAY that low? Things change guys- todays boom towns are tomorrows bust.

Raleigh, NC is one of the most expensive metro areas in NC, and the Hartford area is about average for CT. It's just what I said a few posts above, the more expensive areas of NC are similar to average/below average areas in CT.

Utilities have always been most expensive in the Northeast (and out West). They have been much cheaper in NC since my family moved down there more than a decade ago and that hasn't changed yet. I think it's safe to say it'll be cheaper in NC for a good while.

We were not comparing anything to Greenwich. Greenwich was simply a town on the list made by Coldwell Banker. The Outer Banks is largely a tourist area where most folks come from Boston, NYC, Chicago and DC to vacation. Most of the communities we compared are commuter cities and towns. That's like including Key West in with Florida.

[westguy22]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

Also are local incomes in NC able to support these higher real estate prices? CNN business had a bunch of markets that where over priced for local economic conditions and afford ability- CT markets where all deemed fair priced and affordable-All the NC Markets where deemed 'overpriced' for local economic conditions and ripe for a correction- all that glitters is not gold.

This is probably due to the wages in NC being somewhat less than in CT. If wages are less, even moderately priced homes can be unaffordable. A $300,000 home in NC is probably more shocking to people down there than a $400,000 home would be to people up here.

In CT, I can bet they were deemed affordable because people here make more money. Granted that money doesn't help much in an expensive market.

I'm laughing to myself at the folks who truly believe CT is not more expensive than NC! Come on, guys!