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My husband and I have been house hunting in Westchester for over a year now and have decided to expand our search to CT. We are looking for a family friendly town with a great school system and a hour or less train commute to Grand Central. Can anyone please give us suggestions?
For short commutes (less than 1 hour) I would second the Noroton Heights area of Darien. Most morning trains express from Stamford (the next stop) which makes it an easier commute. Also possibly Byram/Glenville/Cos Cobb parts of Greenwich (commuting from Greenwich station), but the lower level schools are underperforming in comparison to other towns. With extra commute time your options are opened to New Canaan and Westport as well. In all these towns 850k won't go far but will get you a small starter home that needs some work (at that budget I would rule out needing to consider Stamford/Norwalk unless you require more of a large/turnkey house). What towns in Westchester are you considering?
For short commutes (less than 1 hour) I would second the Noroton Heights area of Darien. Most morning trains express from Stamford (the next stop) which makes it an easier commute. Also possibly Byram/Glenville/Cos Cobb parts of Greenwich (commuting from Greenwich station), but the lower level schools are underperforming in comparison to other towns. With extra commute time your options are opened to New Canaan and Westport as well. In all these towns 850k won't go far but will get you a small starter home that needs some work (at that budget I would rule out needing to consider Stamford/Norwalk unless you require more of a large/turnkey house). What towns in Westchester are you considering?
While the commute would be less, property taxes in northern NJ are higher than Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien or Ridgefield. For an 850k home in a town with top schools, you could be looking at 20-30k in property taxes.
While the commute would be less, property taxes in northern NJ are higher than Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien or Ridgefield. For an 850k home in a town with top schools, you could be looking at 20-30k in property taxes.
Yep. Family of mine lives in Summit, NJ. You can get much more square footage for 850k in Summit than Greenwich, but taxes will run about 1,500 a month in Summit. Their house is probably worth about 600k and I remember them saying their taxes are 15k a year - this was two years ago.
That said, if you get away from the crazy low mill rate towns and head to say, Ridgefield, an 850k house will have similar taxes as a similar house in Jersey - 18-20k.
Last edited by kidyankee764; 10-08-2016 at 12:16 PM..
Quiet retired Gramma needs temporary housing in Winsted or 20 miles around there - Has multible cats, no bar scene, no parties, loves nature Gardening hiking. My children & their families live in Winsted. I don't even know my Grandbabies = please help me get home = My husband and I lived in Winsted for about 30 years, spent the last six years taking care of my husband Dave who had Cancer=I am stranded in Florida and just want to come home. Can probably spend 600 a month for rent. Any sugestions or help woud be appreciated. Condition not important - just want to come home!!
Yep. Family of mine lives in Summit, NJ. You can get much more square footage for 850k in Summit than Greenwich, but taxes will run about 1,500 a month in Summit. Their house is probably worth about 600k and I remember them saying their taxes are 15k a year - this was two years ago.
That said, if you get away from the crazy low mill rate towns and head to say, Ridgefield, an 850k house will have similar taxes as a similar house in Jersey - 18-20k.
well, when we looked at NJ several years back, we looked in towns with really good schools and the homes in that 650 to 850k price range all also needed a lot of work - 60/70/80 years old with original windows and/or furnace, a one car detached garage, etc. The first home we looked at was 700k and was like that, and had property taxes that were 23k. I had to look at that number 3 times just to make sure I wasn't misreading it. I bet you could get a new/newer home in Ridgefield that needs little to no work for 850k
well, when we looked at NJ several years back, we looked in towns with really good schools and the homes in that 650 to 850k price range all also needed a lot of work - 60/70/80 years old with original windows and/or furnace, a one car detached garage, etc. The first home we looked at was 700k and was like that, and had property taxes that were 23k. I had to look at that number 3 times just to make sure I wasn't misreading it. I bet you could get a new/newer home in Ridgefield that needs little to no work for 850k
There are many towns in NJ with a similar commute time as Greenwich where that wouldn't be the case. For example, Summit.
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