[ClearTheCobwebs]

Hello all,

My family & I are moving to Greenwich in a few months (international move). Hence, we're looking for advice on the following:

1. Affordability - Household income shall be $500k to $750k (depending on the year). We plan on renting initially for a couple of years. I'd guess our rental budget shall be $3,500 - $6,000 per month. Would I be able to get something decent (4 bedroom with > 0.35 acres)? I'm not looking for designer homes / mansions (and can't afford them). If I bought now, would I be able to get a decent place for about $1.5MM? I'd like to avoid Byram, Glenville and north of the Merritt if possible.

2. Finding a rental: Is realtor.com the only option? Do the individual realtors' websites normally have properties listed that realtor.com wouldn't have? Also, generally in rentals, would lawn moving / snow removal be our responsibility or the landlord's?

3. Mobile phone / Landline / Cable: What company has the best mobile phone reception in town? How are AT&T & T-Mobile? Verizon? What are my options for cable TV & broadband (or, more specifically, are there any options or is it just one provider)? Similarly, are there any options for landline?

4. Parking at train stations: Do all the stations (Greenwich, Cos cob, Riverside & Old Greenwich) have similar wait times (in years) regarding obtaining parking permits? Also on metered parking, is there more availability in some of these stations relative to the others for a commute to NY (7.30am - 8am)? Our choice of what part of Greenwich to rent in may be dependent on this.

5. Full-day day-care center for a 2 year old in Greenwich: There was a prior post on this in this forum, but the places suggested were not full-day. Are there any full-day (7.30am to 6.30pm) centers around costing less than $2,200 per month?

6. Gyms: I'd like to rent close to a gym. Where are some of the gyms closing late at night?

7. Out of school classes for a 6 year old: can someone recommend some classes (swimming / ballet, etc?)

8. Nanny / au-pair search: what are the best ways of searching in the US (Greenwich in particular)? What would the approximate cost of a live-in nanny or au-pair be?

9. Social life: We're in the 35 - 40 yr range. Are there any social clubs / organizations that you recommend we join to assimilate and find friends quickly?

Sorry for the rather specific questions. As we are moving from out of the US, a lot of decisions shall have to be made remotely. I'll be coming there 1 month before the move and shall have to rent a house and buy a couple of cars & mobile phones, all in 4 days. Hence, I'm trying to arrange as much as possible before getting there.

Thanks in advance for the help you provide!

[TexasBlonde]

Welcome to Greenwich!! I may not know the answer to all your questions, but I'll try.

1) With your rental budget, you should be able to find something that's 4 bedrooms. We own our home, so I don't know a lot about the rental market in Greenwich, but we have some friends who rent a 3 bedroom home (but have a fourth spare room they've converted into a bedroom) and I'm pretty sure they pay an amount within your price range. I did a quick search for you for rentals in your budget, and there were a few (but not many) to choose from. Most of the homes are older though, and a little small square footage wise. If you're wanting to buy, for 1.5mm you could find a 4 bedroom home fairly easily.

2) You can find rentals on realtor.com, rentals.com, Yahoo Rentals, or through many realtor companies websites. Normally, the realtor websites will have the same properties as Realtor.com (although not always) but many times they will have more pictures/information on the Realtor websites as opposed to realtor.com

3) My husband and I both use Verizon for cell service, but I know that AT&T also gets good reception in most areas. In my opinion though, Verizon is the best for covering the entire area with good cell service. I'm not sure about T-Mobile, but I think you'd be fine with either AT&T or Verizon. For cable, your options are Cable Vision (which does cable, internet, and phone services), Comcast, Cox Communications, and I think that's it. We use satellite though (DirecTV) so I'm not super familiar with the cable companies, but I know for sure that those 3 are offered.

4) I'm not sure, but I know some other posters here will be able to answer that.

5) Your best bet for a full-day daycare in that price range may be to look just outside of Greenwich (still within a 10 minute drive or so away) in cities like Cos Cob or Stamford. However, if you want something in Greenwich I think that Banksville Nursery School may offer full-day programs.

6) The NYSC (New York Sports Club) Greenwich Annex is a good gym. They're open 'til 9:30pm on weeknights, but are only open 'til 5pm on weekends. Bruce Park Fitness is another great one and they're open 'til 9 on weeknights (not sure about weekend hours). Other than those 2, I don't know of any other gyms in Greenwich that are open late. You could check surrounding areas (Stamford, for one) though.

7) Dance Adventures of Greenwich is where 2 of my children take dance classes. They offer ballet, jazz, etc. for infants all the way up through highschoolers. My kids love it. Also, the Town of Greenwich has youth recreational programs (like soccer) that my kids really like as well.

8) I'd highly recommend going through a nanny/au-pair agency (like Regal Domestics or the Katie Facey agency). They'll handle all the background checks, qualification checks, etc. for you. The salary would really depend on the hours per week, ages of children, etc. but I think, on average per week, the salaries are between $750-$1,500. It's definitely expensive, but well worth it to hire a nanny versus a babysitter, in my opinion.

9) I really don't know the answer to this question either, but I know someone on here will. Downtown Greenwich has a ton to do though, I know that (shopping, nightlife, restaurants, etc). Also, you're not too far from NYC, which has everything you can imagine.

[FrazzD]

We are in similar situation (income wise :-) but are empty-nesters. Looking to rent, I'll be working in Stamford. Walking distance to market, restaurants etc will be good. We like having a view and having some comfortable outdoor living space. My wife is from Jersey but I've been in California all my life...

My wife is a Pilates instructor - would also like to know about good studios in Fairfield County. She's interested in teaching but not full time.

I can commute a little bit. Office is not near the train station, though - I'll be driving.

We think $4K to $7K is our range for a rental (will cheerfully pay less for a perfect place), and we only need 2 BR plus den. Would prefer house to apartment, but detached townhouse or quiet condo might work.

I have some friends in New Canaan who may be advising me, though their top priority has been schools, and that's not an issue for us, as our little chicks have learned to fly already :-)

Thoughts appreciated, especially about Greenwich, Stanford, Darien, Rowhayton, Westport... will consider non-coastal but I'd like to keep a commute to under 30 min...

thanks in advance!

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by FrazzD

We are in similar situation (income wise :-) but are empty-nesters. Looking to rent, I'll be working in Stamford. Walking distance to market, restaurants etc will be good. We like having a view and having some comfortable outdoor living space. My wife is from Jersey but I've been in California all my life...

My wife is a Pilates instructor - would also like to know about good studios in Fairfield County. She's interested in teaching but not full time.

I can commute a little bit. Office is not near the train station, though - I'll be driving.

We think $4K to $7K is our range for a rental (will cheerfully pay less for a perfect place), and we only need 2 BR plus den. Would prefer house to apartment, but detached townhouse or quiet condo might work.

I have some friends in New Canaan who may be advising me, though their top priority has been schools, and that's not an issue for us, as our little chicks have learned to fly already :-)

Thoughts appreciated, especially about Greenwich, Stanford, Darien, Rowhayton, Westport... will consider non-coastal but I'd like to keep a commute to under 30 min...

Since schools are not an issue, I'd say check out Stamford itself. There are many nice areas and the city is not as exclusive as the surrounding towns of Darien, Greenwich and New Canaan. Good luck.

[ClearTheCobwebs]

TexasBlonde: thank you for your detailed reply. It shall help a lot.

[TexasBlonde]

Originally Posted by ClearTheCobwebs

TexasBlonde: thank you for your detailed reply. It shall help a lot.

You're most welcome. Welcome to Greenwich! Let me know if you need anything!!!

[kmbrewer2]

You can easily get a rental in the 4-7K range in Stamford, Darien or New Canaan.Have your wife try the Equinox in Darien or lots of instructors start up their own in home classes and do VERY well.Also Rowayton is a great town for empty nesters.Lots of nice rentals,water,small village,restaurants etc.Check it out.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by FrazzD

We are in similar situation (income wise :-) but are empty-nesters. Looking to rent, I'll be working in Stamford. Walking distance to market, restaurants etc will be good. We like having a view and having some comfortable outdoor living space. My wife is from Jersey but I've been in California all my life...

You might like the new condo's at the Trump building in Stamford. I believe that they're still offering rental units, but i'm not positive:Trump Parc Stamford.

[moving2nyc]

We're also moving the Greenwich in August with our 2 daughters, 11 and 15. Moving from the UK and will work in Manhattan but only a few days a week.

Funds to $6k pm for rental which we thought would have got us something nice. But after searching and looking at a few places we're starting to realise it's not a cheap place to live.

It does look lovely though and the schools we've seen would be great for our children.

Does anyone know of a "welcome group" I heard of that new people to the area can join to make friends and find local information?

Thanks

[kmbrewer2]

All these towns have whats called Newcomers....great groups...they have sub groups for moms....gourmet group...lots of activities.Also if you have kids and are going to be using the local schools,thats all you need.really.It immediately puts you in touch with other kids and hence their families.Try Darien for more reasonable prices and good schools.