Looking for a CT-West Hartford realtor - unique situation (good schools, areas)
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OP. You still haven’t put many words around the kind of place you want to live or how you want to be spending your time.
If Northern California means the Bay Area, Southern Vermont would certainly be a big transition.
It’s generally going to be hard to find a $200k house with affordable property taxes with a strong school system that is near all the suburban affluent people conveniences. The wage scale in those parts of New England are too high.
That is not necessarily true in towns like Newington or Wethersfield. Here is a nice home in Newington that is in the OP's budget. Taxes are about $5,400. There are other homes and condos as well. Remember the median sale price of homes in Newington is $195,000. That means that for every home sold above that, there is also a home that sold below that price so it should not be that hard to find a nice but modest home in their price range. Jay
That is not necessarily true in towns like Newington or Wethersfield. Here is a nice home in Newington that is in the OP's budget. Taxes are about $5,400. There are other homes and condos as well. Remember the median sale price of homes in Newington is $195,000. That means that for every home sold above that, there is also a home that sold below that price so it should not be that hard to find a nice but modest home in their price range. Jay
$5,400 is enormous property taxes. This is a single mother who can qualify for a mortgage on a $180k to $200k house and I’d bet a Vermont bank ran the numbers assuming Vermont property taxes. With the Act 68 means test, a $200k house for that income level might be $1.5k to $2k in property taxes.
That is not necessarily true in towns like Newington or Wethersfield. Here is a nice home in Newington that is in the OP's budget. Taxes are about $5,400. There are other homes and condos as well. Remember the median sale price of homes in Newington is $195,000. That means that for every home sold above that, there is also a home that sold below that price so it should not be that hard to find a nice but modest home in their price range. Jay
Almost $5,500 in taxes on a home that will likely have a sale price of $190k is absolutely insane. That’s almost 3% of the home value, which is among the highest rate in the country.
@GeoffD Thank you for the info. I'm only being vague as so not to bog down with details.
I originally got a pre-qualification from 2 different banks in NH (HarborOne and Mascoma) for a mortgage loan in either VT/NH or MA. They advised I'd be around the $180-200k mark, $200 stretching it, but possible. The most recent one was a pre-approval with Fairview in MA, with pretty much the same qualification limit.
For Northern CA, I lived in both Silicon Valley and Sonoma County. Houses there (in So.Co) start around $400-600k and are either trac homes or fixer uppers, or 1/2 bdrms that are very small. Most homes now are far from reasonably priced for sure. SF and Silicon Valley are too ridiculous to even mention.
And yes, the move was a substantial one and was not taken lightly, and took more than a year to plan, research, and most of it had to be researched online while working FT in the West coast, while solely taking care of 1 elderly parent and my Daughter.
I had been to VT on several occasions at different times throughout the year, so I was already familiar with the area, but not all areas and you can't fully judge how it is to live there until you actually plant yourself there. Not a move for the faint of heart for sure and by no means was it an easy one, but I'm here and making the best of what I can to move forward.
With regards to this statement "..$200k house with affordable property taxes with a strong school system that is near all the suburban affluent people conveniences.", it is the very trouble that I am having now. Although after visiting Newington and Wethersfield yesterday, I have to agree with @JayCT in that they are areas to now consider, although not as appealing as Farmington,etc, they seem to have some lower priced options. I looked at that home yesterday at an open house and it's a nice neighborhood, but wow, that one was teeny tiny and you'd never know it from the pics on Zillow. In fact, the majority of the homes I've viewed on those sites are way smaller in person, like crazy small rooms the size of a closet in some cases. It's quite remarkable actually.
We spent the last 7 and 1/2 years in a cute, but small 1bdrm cottage in Sonoma County, sharing a 15 x 15 large bedroom with my Daughter. Although our quality of life was wonderful for those years and the space didn't bother us for the most part, there were issues with continuing to rent (paying over $80k to someone else's pocket for one), and my Daughter getting too old to share a room with her Mother,etc). It was time to buy but could not be done from there, hence the leap, and admittedly a big one at that. So, we are not looking for an oversized home here, but we need more room than what we had before for sure.
For property taxes all being high, I can say that most that I have found are $4500+ a year, many $5000-$8000, and some even more crazy than that, for the same priced home. But, I have seen some "lower" taxes on some. Just not a lot to choose from, or ones I'd even like to call home.
For Northern CA, I lived in both Silicon Valley and Sonoma County. Houses there (in So.Co) start around $400-600k and are either trac homes or fixer uppers, or 1/2 bdrms that are very small. Most homes now are far from reasonably priced for sure. SF and Silicon Valley are too ridiculous to even mention.
Well, you’re moving from a world class city to a small metro away from big city life. Go to southern CT (suburban NYC) and you’ll see similar prices - a million dollars for a smaller modest home. My guess is many salaries will be lower in Hartford than in San Francisco.
Anyway, I think you’re on the right track and it seems like you’re doing your homework. One suggestion - make sure whatever home you end up in has decent insulation, energy efficient windows and does not have electric heat. If not, you will be paying hundreds per month to keep your house warm in the winter. I made that mistake in my first CT home, which IIRC was around your budget. Old windows and not great insulation meant I was paying dearly from November to March.
Most people with a portable job would flee south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In 2010, I might have had some suggestions in southern New England at that price point. In 2019, the prices are now 1.5x in those places.
Where are you in Vermont? There are affordable towns that tuition out middle school and high school to affluent towns with a strong school system. You just can’t be too close to the resorts.
Schools in VT are mostly good schools, but it's the same issue here with the towns that have them, are high in prop taxes since most of it goes to the education system. And, a lot of those towns are too far inland and a bit more remote than I'd prefer.
We're in Bellows Falls, VT at the moment and my Daughter is enjoying the middle school here, but the plan is for her to only attend until the end of the year as we don't plan to stay in this area and any other area in VT that we can afford (Bennington, Rutland,etc) has some major issues that I'd prefer to not be a part of for a long haul stay.
There are way more crumbling homes in VT than I expected, and it makes sense because they are historic but there are not enough people to sink the money into them to keep them in shape. It's a shame for sure.
Across the way in NH, we saw a beautiful, historic home in Charlestown that we'd have a shot at getting in our price range, but the prop. taxes are way too high at $7300 and probably counting for any subsequent years. We thought of Keene as well, but there is just something missing.
Ugh, finding a home is like painting a room. At first, you are all excited and look forward to picking out your colors and materials, and you can visualize what it is going to look like and how it will change things up, but then once you get serious and start painting, you realize the work involved and you run into issues and make mistakes.
Schools in VT are mostly good schools, but it's the same issue here with the towns that have them, are high in prop taxes since most of it goes to the education system. And, a lot of those towns are too far inland and a bit more remote than I'd prefer.
We're in Bellows Falls, VT at the moment and my Daughter is enjoying the middle school here, but the plan is for her to only attend until the end of the year as we don't plan to stay in this area and any other area in VT that we can afford (Bennington, Rutland,etc) has some major issues that I'd prefer to not be a part of for a long haul stay.
There are way more crumbling homes in VT than I expected, and it makes sense because they are historic but there are not enough people to sink the money into them to keep them in shape. It's a shame for sure.
Across the way in NH, we saw a beautiful, historic home in Charlestown that we'd have a shot at getting in our price range, but the prop. taxes are way too high at $7300 and probably counting for any subsequent years. We thought of Keene as well, but there is just something missing.
Ugh, finding a home is like painting a room. At first, you are all excited and look forward to picking out your colors and materials, and you can visualize what it is going to look like and how it will change things up, but then once you get serious and start painting, you realize the work involved and you run into issues and make mistakes.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I suggest you go to your town hall and ask them to explain the income test for Act 68 state school property taxes. At the price point you're looking for and with a dependent, Vermont might cut you a very large tax break on the state school property tax. It might change your thinking on the price point you can afford in Vermont. Personally, I'd look closer to I-91 & I-89 where you have the big box stores across the river in West Lebanon NH, Dartmouth-Hitchcock for medical, and all the stuff going on at Dartmouth College. Farther down the Connecticut river valley is far more impoverished and decayed. I see things in White River Junction (part of Hartford VT) that are in your price point. A 1000 square foot 2 br house on 1/4 acre built in 1993 for $209,000. You're less than 10 minutes from all the big box stores and 15 minutes to Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Hartford VT has double the median household income of Bellows Falls. That level of affluence from all the college and health care jobs makes a big difference.
Using Hartford VT as an example. The state school tax is $1.6369 per hundred. The muni tax is about $1.00. I'll bet you don't pay much of the state school tax.
Most people with a portable job would flee south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In 2010, I might have had some suggestions in southern New England at that price point. In 2019, the prices are now 1.5x in those places.
Where are you in Vermont? There are affordable towns that tuition out middle school and high school to affluent towns with a strong school system. You just can’t be too close to the resorts.
Except that she wants good schools and most affordable areas down south have questionable schools. In districts that do have good schools, home prices and taxes are higher. Many close or even higher than here. If the OP only cared about money, it would be a different story. She said what she is interested in here. Going beyond that is off topic to this forum. Jay
Schools in VT are mostly good schools, but it's the same issue here with the towns that have them, are high in prop taxes since most of it goes to the education system. And, a lot of those towns are too far inland and a bit more remote than I'd prefer.
We're in Bellows Falls, VT at the moment and my Daughter is enjoying the middle school here, but the plan is for her to only attend until the end of the year as we don't plan to stay in this area and any other area in VT that we can afford (Bennington, Rutland,etc) has some major issues that I'd prefer to not be a part of for a long haul stay.
There are way more crumbling homes in VT than I expected, and it makes sense because they are historic but there are not enough people to sink the money into them to keep them in shape. It's a shame for sure.
Across the way in NH, we saw a beautiful, historic home in Charlestown that we'd have a shot at getting in our price range, but the prop. taxes are way too high at $7300 and probably counting for any subsequent years. We thought of Keene as well, but there is just something missing.
Ugh, finding a home is like painting a room. At first, you are all excited and look forward to picking out your colors and materials, and you can visualize what it is going to look like and how it will change things up, but then once you get serious and start painting, you realize the work involved and you run into issues and make mistakes.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I love this little graphic.
I am not an expert on the Hartford area but I foster Italian Greyhound dogs and the person who is the head of it in CT lives in Farmington. I go up to Farmington to pick up a dog on occasion. It is a beautiful and safe town with very good schools. The lady I know lives in a townhouse not not far from West Hartford and close to the UCONN Health Center.
Just to give you an idea of the condos she lives in this is one. There are bigger 3 bedrooms that you could probably afford too. With 20% down this condo would be $1570 a month including taxes and common charges. The HOA fee is high but it includes gas for heat and hot water. https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...h/pid_28765280
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