[Spanky25]

Mid Suffolk, LI here. I’m looking to move. Just to get away from all the traffic, pot holes, garbage on the roads & of course high taxes. CT taxes seem SLIGHTLY lower. However, more concerned about quality of life like I mentioned above. It’s just my wife & I. We’ll both be retiring within 5 years. Presently looking for a condo. It would be a weekend getaway until we retire & move in permanently. Not concerned about schools. However, looking for a good area. I know inventory is very low right now & prices are insane! However, I would like to start researching areas. Although no immediate rush until the market levels off. Something similar to mid Suffolk County LI

Budget is 400k+++++ Allowing 5-8k for property taxes & a few hundred per month for HOA fees.

Would also like to hear if anyone moved from LI to Ct. Areas of suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[kidyankee764]

You mention HOA fees - do you want a 55 and older community? I’d start with checking out Oxford Greens. Beautiful there.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by Spanky25

Mid Suffolk, LI here. I’m looking to move. Just to get away from all the traffic, pot holes, garbage on the roads & of course high taxes. CT taxes seem SLIGHTLY lower. However, more concerned about quality of life like I mentioned above. It’s just my wife & I. We’ll both be retiring within 5 years. Presently looking for a condo. It would be a weekend getaway until we retire & move in permanently. Not concerned about schools. However, looking for a good area. I know inventory is very low right now & prices are insane! However, I would like to start researching areas. Although no immediate rush until the market levels off. Something similar to mid Suffolk County LI

Budget is 400k+++++ Allowing 5-8k for property taxes & a few hundred per month for HOA fees.

Would also like to hear if anyone moved from LI to Ct. Areas of suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Inflated hot markets are not the time to be buying weekend getaways. You have 5 years to mull it over. Do that. Wait for the inevitable - The POP! It will, my guess is within 5 years. Time is on your side, you have nothing to lose.
Otherwise great idea on a CT condo. They'll still be there in 5 years, they ain't goin anywhere.

[Bert_from_back_East]

Why would you want to pay $5-8k in property taxes, in addition to HOA fees, to live in a small, remote Connecticut town with high monthly utility costs (due to long, harsh winters), very few public services and hardly any economic activity or social infrastructure when you are over the age of 65 and retired from working?

For every one person that willing places themselves in the situation described above, there are 100 others who do the inverse.

[Spanky25]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

Why would you want to pay $5-8k in property taxes, in addition to HOA fees, to live in a small, remote Connecticut town with high monthly utility costs (due to long, harsh winters), very few public services and hardly any economic activity or social infrastructure when you are over the age of 65 and retired from working?

For every one person that willing places themselves in the situation described above, there are 100 others who do the inverse.

“For every one person that willing places themselves in the situation described above, there are 100 others who do the inverse.[/quote]”
Exactly! You never hear of people retiring up north! Forget Swamp land, Heat Wave Florida! LOL.

I’ll be 57 when I retire. 5-8k in property taxes is a bargain for me since I already pay 10k. Hey, if they’re less, than great! Which is considered cheap! For a 3 BR BASIC ranch on a 60x100 lot. HOA fees, As I get older, I can see myself getting tired of doing outside maintenance.

I love the winter! I vacation in Maine regularly. Possibly a vacation home in Maine later on. I’ll be much closer.

[Spanky25]

Originally Posted by SteveM85

Inflated hot markets are not the time to be buying weekend getaways. You have 5 years to mull it over. Do that. Wait for the inevitable - The POP! It will, my guess is within 5 years. Time is on your side, you have nothing to lose.
Otherwise great idea on a CT condo. They'll still be there in 5 years, they ain't goin anywhere.

Definitely not the time to buy! However, like I stated, I’d like to research towns in the mean time.

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

Why would you want to pay $5-8k in property taxes, in addition to HOA fees, to live in a small, remote Connecticut town with high monthly utility costs (due to long, harsh winters), very few public services and hardly any economic activity or social infrastructure when you are over the age of 65 and retired from working?

For every one person that willing places themselves in the situation described above, there are 100 others who do the inverse.

The towns the Spanky25 will be looking at don't have to be remote. CT is a small state and even if you pick a smaller town your are most likely close to or border a city or a bigger town. CT is really nice.

I have a friend who was born and raised in NYC then he went out to live in Berkeley CA. To me Berkeley must be nirvana even though I have never been to CA. My friend moved to Milford to help out with his elderly mom. I met him after he moved to Milford. My friend is now retired. I asked him when he was going back to Berkley. He said "I love it here I am not going back to CA". He could never afford to live in a coastal town in CA and he lives within a walk to one of the Milford beaches.

The OP could live in a coastal town if they want with their budget outside of Fairfield County.

Also the state and many towns have senior property tax relief as does the state. CT now gives seniors tax relief from state taxes. A retired couple does not pay state taxes on $100,000 and below (I think $60,000 for single).

My husband just retired but I have a few years to go. We want to get out of expensive Fairfield County. One of the towns we are looking at is Madison right on the coast. Madison has great senior tax property relief. I just looked this up and I think Madison actually has expanded the options. You can now get 1) the regular tax relief program 2) tax freeze or 3) tax deferral. Lots of New Yorkers retire to Madison. Plus in that area you are close to a great hospital, Yale New Haven Hospital.
https://www.madisonct.org/851/Tax-Relief-Programs

This link is from 2015 and it shows the CT towns that have senior property tax relief.
https://ctcwcs.files.wordpress.com/2...ruary-2015.pdf

If you are interested in certain towns you can go onto their websites to see the updated information.

[CTartist]

Here is a condo in Madison in a great location close to the town and beaches. For $359,000 the taxes are $5,276 and that is before the senior tax relief programs.
https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...1/pid_39946085

Where can you live in a very nice town on the CA coastline within a 10 minutes drive to the beaches for that amount?

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Bert_from_back_East

Why would you want to pay $5-8k in property taxes, in addition to HOA fees, to live in a small, remote Connecticut town with high monthly utility costs (due to long, harsh winters), very few public services and hardly any economic activity or social infrastructure when you are over the age of 65 and retired from working?

For every one person that willing places themselves in the situation described above, there are 100 others who do the inverse.

Why would anyone want to move to a remote retirement community of a god awful southern state where you are really isolated and far from things to do, family and quality medical care and services?

I’d rather deal with the cold than the horrible heat and humidity you get in the south. Remember too that your yard plants and grass grow in the heat and need to be maintained even when it’s 95 degrees with 80% humidity.

I’m not sure how you can characterize any town in Connecticut isolatedwhen we are near so much. I’d rather live a couple hours drive from literally thousands of things to do including two of the greatest cities in the world. The best part is in retirement is you have time to enjoy all of it.

And if you think we have very few public services, go move to one of those low cost states where there are no services and tell me there are. I’ve seen first hand the horrors of not having local police, fire and emergency medical services nearby.

Hardly any economic activity? Need I remind you that Connecticut is No. 3 in Gross Domestic Product per capita. How is that “hardly any” economic activity?

As for social infrastructure, most towns in Connecticut offer Senior Services. My town has tons of activities for seniors including day trips, lectures, movies, sport events, dinners and entertainment. Most towns here do too.

My in-laws are snowbirds. In the winter they live in one of those large retirement communities in a cheaper but more isolated area. While there are a lot of activities in their community, there’s little to do nearby. They are more active when they are here because they do sports here, go to shows, go on day trips, attend lectures, participate in discussion groups, and many other things. In fact my SIL would prefer to live here year round but her husband wants the warm weather in the winter so she grudgingly goes south each winter for a couple months.

The fact is that when most Connecticut residents retire, they stay in state. They may downsize, but they remain here. Also note that we see many people on this forum asking about retiring to our state. It’s not on the same scale as retiree destinations like Florida or Arizona but it does happen. You don’t have large retirement communities like Heritage Village in Southbury or Oronoque Village in Stratford if we had no retirees coming here.

Also note that Connecticut has recently enacted tax codes that are more retiree friendly including no tax on the first $100,000 in retirement income for couples. Also many towns have property tax abatements for retirees as well so it’s not nearly as pricey as it used to be. I’m not leaving. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Spanky25

Mid Suffolk, LI here. I’m looking to move. Just to get away from all the traffic, pot holes, garbage on the roads & of course high taxes. CT taxes seem SLIGHTLY lower. However, more concerned about quality of life like I mentioned above. It’s just my wife & I. We’ll both be retiring within 5 years. Presently looking for a condo. It would be a weekend getaway until we retire & move in permanently. Not concerned about schools. However, looking for a good area. I know inventory is very low right now & prices are insane! However, I would like to start researching areas. Although no immediate rush until the market levels off. Something similar to mid Suffolk County LI

Budget is 400k+++++ Allowing 5-8k for property taxes & a few hundred per month for HOA fees.

Would also like to hear if anyone moved from LI to Ct. Areas of suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I think we need to know more to help you. What type of community do you want to live in, rural, urban or suburban? What do you expect for your $400,000 budget? How far from New York are you willing to go? What interests do you and your spouse have that you might want to be near?

There are many very nice retirement communities in our state. The largest is Heritage Village in Southbury. It has about 2,590 units spread across 2.3 square miles. There are pools, tennis courts, clubhouses and golf courses. Southbury has a nice business district with many stores and restaurants. It’s a nice quite area that’s about 90 miles from Manhattan.

Another nice retirement community that’s closer to New York is Oronoque Village in Stratford. It has 929 units on 300 acres and includes a beautiful PHA golf course, clubhouse with pools and tennis courts. I have friends that moved there and they love it. Stratford is about 74 miles from Manhattan or less than a two hour train ride to Grand Central Terminal.

If you want a nice quiet beach town to look at, I’d suggest looking at Old Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River. It’s a charming beach town that a lot of retirees retire to. There’s a lot of nice shops and restaurants and a great little live theater named The Kate after the town’s most famous resident, Katherine Hepburn. She and her family had a beautiful summer home there for decades and decades. There are many different types of homes there and because of the large number of second homes there, taxes are pretty low. I’d consider living there in retirement. Jay