[Henbob6]

We might be relocating from GA to CT in the next 6-8 months. My husband will be in sales, and will be traveling throught out the NY/New England area. The Hartford area seems like a good, central location. We'd like to get a 3-4 br house, with basement/woodshop. School and town sports/recreation are important to us - our boys are 5 and 9, and are active in sports. We've seen some promising houses on realtor.com in Simsbury and Granby, but since we've only been looking for a week, it's hard to tell if these are flukes or not!

Is $275K reasonable for north of Harford? Are the schools as good as GreatSchools indicate? Any areas to avoid?

Thanks for any advice! I grew up north of Boston, and never thought I'd move close to home again!

[Mr_250]

If you are looking at the Hartford area with a $275 budget, you will be hard pressed to be in Simsbury.

Not sure if you have your mind set on the "north of Hartford" location, but if you open up searchable area you can find plenty of towns that meet the criteria.

Towns like Rocky Hill, Cromwell, Berlin, Wethersfield, Newington and Southington.

I'll vote Southington for the fact that it's close to major highways, you could find a good home for that price and sports are huge here (Football and baseball teams always rank in the top 3 statewide). Also, the school system is very good, large, but good.

[NewJeffCT]

Simsbury has excellent schools, and Granby schools are good as well. Most people would consider Simsbury schools to be superior to Granby. At the high school level, Simsbury HS has about twice the number of students as Granby HS and will offer students more choices/options in terms of class choices. Simsbury will offer more choices in terms of restaurants and shopping (lots of retail along Route 44, which stretches through Simsbury, Avon and Canton)

There are no bad areas in either town

[NewJeffCT]

Originally Posted by Mr_250

If you are looking at the Hartford area with a $275 budget, you will be hard pressed to be in Simsbury.

Not sure if you have your mind set on the "north of Hartford" location, but if you open up searchable area you can find plenty of towns that meet the criteria.

Towns like Rocky Hill, Cromwell, Berlin, Wethersfield, Newington and Southington.

I'll vote Southington for the fact that it's close to major highways, you could find a good home for that price and sports are huge here (Football and baseball teams always rank in the top 3 statewide). Also, the school system is very good, large, but good.

They've already indicated they've found some promising homes in both towns within their budget. I think in the other thread, they also wanted to be close to the airport, which was why Simsbury and Granby were possibilities.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...70-37547?row=9

[Mr_250]

Originally Posted by NewJeffCT

They've already indicated they've found some promising homes in both towns within their budget. I think in the other thread, they also wanted to be close to the airport, which was why Simsbury and Granby were possibilities.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...70-37547?row=9

Gotcha,

Scratch my post.

[JayCT]

Public schools in Connecticut are considered to be among the top in the country so even a middle rated school system will be very good. I do not like greatschools.com because their criteria is not necessarily the same as what most people consider when looking for good schools. I have seen them give good ratings to questionable schools and questionable ratings to very good schools.

Simsbury has one of the top rated school districts in the state. Students there perform well over the state averages on the Connecticut Mastery and Connecticut Academic Performance Tests. $275,000 will likely buy you a modest home in need of work or a home that is located on a busy street. Granby is a little less expensive but offers less accessibility to major shopping. Still it is a beautiful town. If you want to be north of Hartford, near the airport, I would also consider East Granby and Suffield. Both are nice smaller towns with very good schools.

If you do not need to be near the airport and want a good town and more for your money, I would consider the towns Mr._250 recommends. There are a few others you can also consider like South Windsor, Bolton, Hebron, Marlborough, Tolland and Colchester. Even Glastonbury would have some modest homes in your price range. Good luck, Jay