[willow wind]

Simsbury is just an awful commute to Wethersfield. I would suggest looking south, southwest & south east for housing.

If you don't like Glastonbury, go one or two towns further out & look into Marlborough or maybe southern Hebron. Anything with an easy access to RT 2. Beautiful, peaceful towns with good schools. Really a decent commute into Wethersfield.

Wethersfield itself is a lovely town, although you're not going to find much on huge lots if that is a requirement. There are many attractive neighborhoods.

You could find both suburban type locations and more country feel neighborhoods in Berlin, which also has decent schools and is convenient to everything. You could take the highway or main town roads/side streets to Wethersfield if traffic is a mess on the highway.

I would do a little more exploration before committing to Simsbury.

[NewJeffCT]

Agreed with the above post that it could take a good 45 minutes to get from Simsbury to Wethersfield. Starting from Hopmeadow Street (since I used to work in the building where Hartford Life was based), you'd take 10/202 South and then hang a left onto 44 and then turn right at Avon Old Farms back onto 10 South and then hang a left on Route 4 and take either 84 East into Hartford and 91 South to Wethersfield, or 84 West to 9 South to Cromwell, then 91 North back up to Wethersfield (generally, my preferred route, even though you're traveling in the wrong direction twice)

Simsbury is a nice town with great schools, but it's not easy to get to & from there.

As I said before, if you're in the western part of Simsbury, you can take 177 South all the way down through Avon and into Farmington and then get on Route 6 and pick up 84 from Route 6.

You could also try Avon, but there might not be much in your price range in Avon. Avon taxes are definitely lower than Simsbury, though, so you could bump your budget up a bit in Avon. Farmington property taxes are almost half that of Simsbury, so you could bump your budget even a bit more there, and you'd also be saving money in gas and time by living there. Farmington might have a bit more in your budget than Avon or Simsbury.

[mag-nolia]

My coworker commutes from Wethersfield (where she lives) to Simsbury (where our office is) and it's about 45 minutes she said.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by amandanyctoct

Yes we've made quite a change of heart. Fact of the matter is, husband really started liking his job and thus lost his appetite for city life for the most part and other things that I need not explain. We are in the midst of looking for a home now, under 300 is our budget. I work from home, husband works in Wethersfield. Am I missing something on other towns? It's been stated on this board numerous times which suburbs are the best and from what I can tell in our explorations, people are probably right. We want to have kids soon.

Given this, you should not be looking in Simsbury. The commute would be too long and just not worth it when there are equally good towns much closer. When people talk about the top suburbs in greater Hartford, it usually includes West Hartford, Farmington, Avon, Simsbury and Glastonbury. Glastonbury is comparable to Simsbury in feel and quality of schools so I would start there and the commute would be very easy.. You could also consider Wethersfield itself, Rocky hill and Newington. These towns have good schools, many nice neighborhoods and would have more homes in your price range. Jay

[amandanyctoct]

Thank you all for your responses. As much as it pains me to rule out Simsbury, I think that is probably the best bet. We've sort of been all over the map since moving to CT (which I absolutely love, BTW,) because coming from NYC, it's hard to adjust and figure out what is important and what towns are a good fit. Glastonbury is definitely on our radar as is West Hartford of course, but in both of those towns the taxes and home prices are challenging.
As far as the other towns mentioned as suggestions, I guess my (limited) impressions haven't been super favorable. What are the nice areas of Wethersfield with nice homes etc.? The husband works on Silas Deane highway and hasn't even considered it as a possiblity from what he sees. But I suspect he doesn't really see that much of Wethersfield. Newington doesn't seem particularly attractive to us, although it is convenient. Rocky Hill has nice areas? I think curb appeal and a nice neighborhood/street is of primary importance so if anyone has specific neighborhoods that would be helpful.
Lastly, just wanted to mention how much I really love Connecticut. It's a great state with a lot to offer and I'm so happy we relocated here. The fact that my husband was able to find a really good job within about 4 months of moving here in his field (it's a very niche, semi-creative field,) speaks volumes about CT and the restaurants have been wonderful!

[parentologist]

Now that you have let go of Simsbury, it's time to start looking with a realtor. Wethersfield, Newington, and Rocky Hill are all just fine. Personally, I think that Newington would be the best of them for you - the schools might be just a tad better than Wethersfield and Rocky Hill, but you can also get some info on greatschools.org about that. I don't know why you don't like Newington - it's got many nice neighborhoods, good schools, and great shopping. But you should look at all three - you might find the right house in the right neighborhood in any of them. Like any town, they're going to have areas which are better than others. But there are plenty of perfectly fine homes in nice neighborhoods in all three towns, that are within your price range. Get a good realtor from that area who is willing to work with you. She will know the area, and what you're looking for. She will take you around to appropriate neighborhoods, to see what's within your price range, telling you about the neighborhoods as she drives you around to various houses. The market has tightened up a lot, interest rates are likely going to rise, and prices will probably rise too, as there is a lot of pent-up demand. Feels like the year 2000 in terms of the last real estate cycle - could be an insane seller's market by spring. I've bought many houses without a realtor, but at this stage for you guys, there is no substitute for the value that a local realtor can bring to your search. That being said, you can also look on Zillow, set the parameters for houses sold in the last year in each of those towns in the 250-300 range, and then go drive around those neighborhoods, but it will be quicker and easier to work with a realtor now that you've accepted the value of buying close to his work.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by amandanyctoct

Thank you all for your responses. As much as it pains me to rule out Simsbury, I think that is probably the best bet. We've sort of been all over the map since moving to CT (which I absolutely love, BTW,) because coming from NYC, it's hard to adjust and figure out what is important and what towns are a good fit. Glastonbury is definitely on our radar as is West Hartford of course, but in both of those towns the taxes and home prices are challenging.
As far as the other towns mentioned as suggestions, I guess my (limited) impressions haven't been super favorable. What are the nice areas of Wethersfield with nice homes etc.? The husband works on Silas Deane highway and hasn't even considered it as a possiblity from what he sees. But I suspect he doesn't really see that much of Wethersfield. Newington doesn't seem particularly attractive to us, although it is convenient. Rocky Hill has nice areas? I think curb appeal and a nice neighborhood/street is of primary importance so if anyone has specific neighborhoods that would be helpful.
Lastly, just wanted to mention how much I really love Connecticut. It's a great state with a lot to offer and I'm so happy we relocated here. The fact that my husband was able to find a really good job within about 4 months of moving here in his field (it's a very niche, semi-creative field,) speaks volumes about CT and the restaurants have been wonderful!

I'm busy at work right now, but I will look up some areas in Rocky Hill for you tonight or tomorrow. Most of what you see around the Silas Deane Highway will be older ranch-style homes built in the 50s and 60s. (My cousin's first home over 20 years ago was a ranch home on Parsonage in Rocky Hill.) However, away from that, there are some nicer family-friendly subdivisions with newer homes.

[parentologist]

FYI, Zillow shows that in the 250 - 300 price range, over the past 12 months (and prices are rising now), with at least 3BR and 1.5 Baths, this many homes sold and this many currently for sale in the below towns:

SOLD/ FOR SALE

Rocky Hill: 23/ 7
Newington: 34 / 10
Wethersfield: 50 / 16
Berlin: 33 / 10
Cromwell: 12 / 5
Glastonbury: 56 / 23

My point is that inventory is tightening up. If you don't limit yourself to one town, you should have a wide range of houses to choose from, but if you are determined to be in a certain town, you'll have much less of a choice. Of course, more houses will come on beginning after the New Year, and picking up in the spring - you need to educate yourselves about the market by looking at houses now, so that you'll be able to jump on something that comes on the market, if it's appropriate and priced right. You really should plan on looking at a hundred houses to educate yourselves - this is a very big financial investment, and you need information to make an informed decision. You also need to check your credit, get a loan preapproval letter from a bank (which is not a commitment to use that bank, just lets the seller know that you're qualified to buy), even start looking for a good home inspector. The best is the kind that goes through the house with you as he inspects, explaining to you everything he finds, teaching you about the house. Otherwise what happens is that as naive first timers, you can get pushed into buying the wrong house, in the wrong area, with a mortgage from the realtor's friend, inspected by the realtor's friend, and pay too much for it. Time to start learning!

[amandanyctoct]

Well we've already gotten prequalified and I believe we have everything in order to get the pre-approval note. We also have our funds saved up for down payment and closing fees/escrow. (We originally thought we'd be fine at 300k or so, but once we saw the break down of the monthly payment with taxes from mortgage broker, that changed our budget a bit!) That was exactly our thought- I knew interest rates were going up and that there is a bigger rush in spring, so we are hoping to buy before then. We currently have an agent we like, although she's based out of Simsbury and works West Hartford/Simsbury and other towns. How does that work with adding in these other towns- i.e. do we get another agent? I sort of understood that agents/realtors around here can show you homes all over rather than just in one certain spot? Thanks for that offer NewJeffCt, that would be really helpful.

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by amandanyctoct

Well we've already gotten prequalified and I believe we have everything in order to get the pre-approval note. We also have our funds saved up for down payment and closing fees/escrow. (We originally thought we'd be fine at 300k or so, but once we saw the break down of the monthly payment with taxes from mortgage broker, that changed our budget a bit!) That was exactly our thought- I knew interest rates were going up and that there is a bigger rush in spring, so we are hoping to buy before then. We currently have an agent we like, although she's based out of Simsbury and works West Hartford/Simsbury and other towns. How does that work with adding in these other towns- i.e. do we get another agent? I sort of understood that agents/realtors around here can show you homes all over rather than just in one certain spot? Thanks for that offer NewJeffCt, that would be really helpful.

Agents can show you around multiple towns, and some of them are good at multiple towns, but the Farmington Valley (Simsbury, Canton, Avon and Farmington) has a different feel than Wethersfield, Newington, Rocky Hill and Cromwell. So, I'd be hesitant to use the same realtor for both areas.