[groar]

my husband and i are moving back to the northeast from pittsburgh next year in order to be closer to our families. it seems like a perfect time since prices have dropped so much there and have been steadily rising here.

we have family in torrington, terryville and meriden and ideally we'd like to find something that is not too far from any of them - say an hour's drive or less. we are fairly familiar with the area around those towns but it's been a long time since we've lived in ct.

the kicker is, our budget is only around $75-90k. we do plan on having kids so we'd really like to find a place with decent public schools or at least magnet/charter schools or affordable private/parochial schools. we're not picky about living in the greatest neighborhood and we are willing to take on a serious fixer-upper, a very small place, or a nice piece of land with a trailer or cabin where we can build our own house in time. we're not interested in getting a condo.

we'd like to either find a place with a big lot (at least half an acre, up to 20 acres or so), or be somewhere very walkable. we're not that interested in being in between, although we'd be willing to compromise on that for the right house in the right town. we're generally, i dunno, bohemian type people - we're into art and music and stuff like that. so having cultural stuff, vegetarian restaurants, a good yarn shop, a music venue, a record store, a book shop is a bonus. proximity to bike trails and a nice place to walk our dog would also be nice.

anyway, any ideas of places to look? general thoughts about towns in that area? we know the general feel of most of the towns around there but we don't really know much about school districts, neighborhoods, etc. i was very surprised when i started looking at how many places there are in our price range now! that certainly wasn't the case a few years ago. thanks!

[groar]

oh and to narrow things down, these are the towns that seem to have a lot of places in our price range:

meriden
waterbury
torrington
thomaston
winsted
bristol
middletown
plainville
new britain (but my husband says he won't live there!)
beacon falls
naugatuck
plymouth (not terryville though)
new haven (a little far from torrington and the areas where houses are in our range are probably terrible, but we like the city.)

[KH02]

I agree with all the towns you mentioned, however they likely wont come with good public schools.
But I think wanting half an acre up to 20 acres isn't really realistic. Land is expensive.
I think most of the homes you will find under 90K will be condos. I'm not saying there aren't single family houses, but they wont come on huge acreage for that price.

Good Luck in your search. I would search in the areas you listed above and hopefully you can find a place to call home.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Your housing budget is 75-90K? Or, did you mean that this will be your projected annual income?

[groar]

there are places for sale in our budget. they need work and/or they are in bad neighborhoods, but they are out there. not a lot over half an acre but there are some. and there are plenty on lots around 1/4-1/3 acre.

these are places that have seen price cuts of 50%+ in the past few years!

hell, there's even a small manufactured home on a half acre lot in a nice area of CANTON for $75k right now. and it's been for sale for a long time. i'm sure there's something wrong with it but still, even the land would have been worth more than that at one point.

anyway i am mostly trying to get a sense of the towns in my list. how the schools, business districts, etc are these days. what different neighborhoods are like. i can find houses myself, although suggestions of additional towns to look at would be great.

i also know that out in eastern ct there are some really cheap places, with land, and i don't know that part of the state at all.

[groar]

oh and has anyone heard of the hockanum section of east hartford? i did a search on here but just turned up people talking about an apartment complex nowhere near there. all i've ever seen of east hartford has been pretty grim.

[basehead617]

Unfortunately, especially outside condos, I think you'll find that price range puts you in run down neighborhoods in towns with poor schools. Any outlier from that is probably a deal that is not going to close for some reason (like the Canton thing you mentioned, probably some major issue).

That's about the price of a small piece of land alone in a lot of places, let alone a house.

That budget is doable in an OK area in some of PA but in CT i'd be very wary of buying something at that price range.

Some of those towns you listed don't seem to have anything livable in that range that are SFHs..

I'm surprised at what you can get in Torrington though - this isn't really all that bad for <$90k

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...0_M40481-42883

I think you'll definitely have to nix the idea of acreage though unless you mean JUST buying land.

[groar]

thank you for your thoughts! but i think you might be underestimating what is livable to us.

we are cool with a project. a BIG project. we are cool with camping out while we finish a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, living in that and making the rest of the house a construction zone. a house that is half built or has already been taken down to the studs would be even better - blank slate!

that torrington place is lovely but it's also totally done. we don't need anything close to that fixed up, although we will take it if we can get it. as long as it's got a solid structure, pipes, a working heating system and water and sewage (or well & septic), we are ok with living in it. we are even fine with a seasonal cabin that we have to winterize if the timing is right. and depending on the price, we could finance big repairs like a roof replacement.

for instance, i think this place is great, although i don't know the neighborhood: 57 Cedar Ave, Waterbury, CT 06705 MLS# N328256 - Zillow

i'd also consider this place liveable while we were working on it, although not if "has not been winterized" means burst pipes! and i know it's in a nice neighborhood. it seems to be under contract though. 188 Baldwin Ave, Meriden, CT 06450 MLS# N321518 - Zillow

i do realize schools are probably going to be a problem. we don't mind living in a rundown area (where we live now is considered one of the worst places in the pittsburgh area and we love it) but that usually goes hand in hand with bad schools.

[KH02]

Originally Posted by groar

hell, there's even a small manufactured home on a half acre lot in a nice area of CANTON for $75k right now. and it's been for sale for a long time. i'm sure there's something wrong with it but still, even the land would have been worth more than that at one point.

The home in canton is under deposit.

Also, with winter coming it wouldn't be the best time to be camping out while fixing up a home. It can get awfully cold. As far as the waterbury house you mentioned, I dont know the area of Waterbury but know that none of them are that great, and as an FYI the schools there are horrible!!

If I were you I would concentrate more on towns like Bristol and Plainville as they are not as high crime as many of the other cities you listed. Bristol seems to have quite a few homes under that price point. However, be sure to read the details as almost all of them are sold in "as is" condition, and a few are CASH only sales. Good Luck

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by groar

the kicker is, our budget is only around $75-90k. we do plan on having kids so we'd really like to find a place with decent public schools or at least magnet/charter schools or affordable private/parochial schools.

Most of the towns you mention have under-performing schools. Magnet/Charter schools are by lottery, there is no guarantee your child would get picked. Private schools cost several thousand dollars per year. So look carefully at the towns you consider if you want "decent" public schools. Here is a link that lets you compare school districts by class size/test scores etc.

Connecticut Schools - Find a Public or Private Connecticut School - SchoolDigger.com