[cheer_house]

My husband and I are relocating from Philadelphia to be closer to our families. My family lives in central CT, and his family lives in Staten Island, NY. We would like to live somewhere between the two areas. We want to buy a house under $350,000 and possibly still commute to NYC by train. We are ready for a nice house, but still love the walkability of cities. Any suggestions?

[KH02]

If you are spending only 350K I would suggest living outside Fairfield County if you are ready for a "nice" house, as it is VERY expensive to live there. So very likely it would be cheaper for you to look into Hartford county or New Haven county but that would NOT put you in between NY and central CT.

Do you care how long your commute to staten island is? From Hartford county it will likely take close to 3 hours to get their.

If you want to be Closer to staten island then that your 350,000 wont go very far...

[cheer_house]

We are hoping to keep the ride to either family around 1.5-2 hours at the most, so that it can be a day-trip. We may be priced out of Fairfield County.

[KH02]

Hmm, well I would try towns in New Haven county then.
Though I must say the even from New Haven itself you'd be looking at over a 2 hour ride to get to Staten Island...Sorry.
Are schools an issue? What kind of house are you looking for in terms of size and number of bedrooms/land? Do you prefer a city or suburb?

[cheer_house]

We don't have kids yet, but plan to in the next few years. We would like to have 3 bedrooms. We are ready in our minds for the suburbs, but our hearts still love the city

[jdhall1]

You can look in the Danbury area. There are great values out there for 3 bedroom homes.

[KH02]

Yes, I'd agree Danbury would have some good houses for your price range, it would still be little over 2 hours but not by a lot. Danbury would be about 1 hour and 20 min or so to Hartford, CT.
Since you don't have kids yet...I would think Danbury may work for you. I don't have personal experience with there schools but looking at the district's profile it looks as though they score below the state average on testing etc. But since you don't even need to look into that for YEARS i wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Slipperman]

Originally Posted by jdhall1

You can look in the Danbury area. There are great values out there for 3 bedroom homes.

another vote for Danbury. if i remember correctly, it is only about 50 mins to Middletown/Central CT. and there's a train station in Brewster NY that serves a Metro North train that goes into the city. if you want to drive, there's 684 just a few exits away which probably isn't as congested on the weekends.

[LisaGreenw]

Another option is to look into foreclosures. Yes, it is taking a risk, but they are cheaper. From what my co-workers who live in the area say Danbury is nice. Otherwise, I think you would be looking at a condo for your money, not a house if you want to be closer.

[jdhall1]

It's a 10-15 minute drive to the train station from Danbury then about 70-80 minutes to Grand Central. My father commutes from the west side of Danbury to downtown Hartford in just under an hour. I went through the Danbury school system not to long ago and had a positive experience and many of the surrounding towns schools don't offer as many extra curricular activities or as wide of a variety in programs of study as Danbury.

Also, another option for homes around $350,000 are some newer townhomes in resort like complexs. Depending on the unit/complex, they include things like finished basements, lofts, 2 car garages, granite counters and hardwood floors. You don't have to worry about snow removal, exterior maintence and many communities offer resident's access to a pool, clubhouse with fitness center, walking trails and tennis courts.