West Springfield - urgent help needed - HELP HELP HELP! (Agawam: credit, houses)

[JamesandSallie]

We just spent last weekend in Western Mass looking for a home (husband will be working in Agawam).........Price range is low-mid 300's - couldn't find anything we liked in Agawam/Feeding Hills/East Longmeadow - just wasn't much in our price range that we liked. Either nice home and no backyard or great backyard/poor location, etc....Realtor showed us a home in West Springfield that we liked - it needed some work, motivated seller, was on a great street, we think we would have some good equity in it if we could get it at a good price and do some cosmetic work on it. But I have heard a lot of different things about West Springfield (this area is near Cayenne/Piper) - driving around there were a lot of REALLY nice homes nearby (40oK on up) - but what about the schools? How about the area? Honest and open opinions needed ASAP PLEASE

FYI - we have a 2 year old son that will be start kindergarten in 3 years........
The home we are looking at is near Piper / Cayenne in West Springfield

[metaljaybird]

Have you tried Suffield, CT? Good school system, and I think you might be able to find some houses priced in that range. Just across the border from Agawam.

[western mass and love it]

west springfield is a perfectly good town to reside in.schools are good till you reach the high school,which is a pit and we sorely need a new one.there really isn't a bad section of the city as compared to other cities,but we do have our older neighborhoods that have mostly 2-3 family houses.we have all the major highways running throught the town(91,90 and rt 5).i live here and love it and think it is a great place to raise a family.

[yankee.peddler]

I agree with a previous poster about looking at Suffield, Conn. Also try Granby, Conn. I have nothing against West Springfield (I had family members who lived there for decades). However, it is definitely an older inner suburb of Springfield with older housing stock and infrastructure. Granby and Suffield are both exurban communities of Hartford and Springfield with newer varied housing stock, newer infrastructure, less density, and good schools. A commute to Agawam is a cinch.

[Leilani Vasquez]

East Granby and Suffield, CT also have pretty low mill rates.

[JamesandSallie]

Thanks for the advice - our concern with CT is that, as we understand it, you are obliged to pay both Mass. state taxes and CT state taxes if you work in Mass but live in CT, and so you are double taxed - is that true?

[urbie]

Originally Posted by JamesandSallie

Thanks for the advice - our concern with CT is that, as we understand it, you are obliged to pay both Mass. state taxes and CT state taxes if you work in Mass but live in CT, and so you are double taxed - is that true?

No. The state you live in will give you a tax credit for taxes paid to another state. (I live in RI, but worked in MA the past couple of years.) So not to worry -- you aren't double taxed!

Urb

[western mass and love it]

i live in mass and work in ct and the tax credit does not give you back all that you should.you do end up losing a little bit of money.

[urbie]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

i live in mass and work in ct and the tax credit does not give you back all that you should.you do end up losing a little bit of money.

Ya, I think that's correct. RI has a limit as well -- it's not a huge amount, but I think there is a minimum amount of RI tax you have to pay, even if all your earnings are from another state.

As with everything else, consult your tax preparer for the full story. I do taxes, so I should know better than to give a pat answer like that without looking it up!

Urb

[westernmass101]

West Springfield is great and safe