[JViello]

Originally Posted by tryingtomakeitinCT

@JViello: You are right, there are houses in decent neighborhood around $175k. However, how many single people do you know that can afford that? The report that came out states that a median value home is unaffordable to 60% of CT residents. That could possibly be affordable with roomates, however you still need income to get a mortgage for that amount and there is no way I'm co-singing with roomates for a house. As for rents in Manchester around $800/month...does that include heat and hw??? Are you talking Squire Village or a nicer area??? I've done my research and $800 in Manchester typically gets you a one br with no utilities included. I'm lucky to live where I do, in a nice neighborhood with a decent rent. However, I have been there a long time and got in when rents were actually affordable in CT. Right now, I'm focused on my future and my future does not include renting my entire life. I would love to have a nice house with a nice yard and not have to hear people below or above me. That is not possible for me in CT. Now I'm not playing the "victim" here-this is just fact. I work way to hard to have zero to show for it. Now you doubled your income and that's great for you, but you are also in a trade. I work in an office....jobs in a trade generally pay a LOT more. Heck, if I had a son I would get him in some kind of trade. I could also buy a place with my boyfriend and FINALLY have a house. However, now I dont want to sound negative here, but I've seen a lot of broken homes and I want to know that if it comes down to it, I could live independently. Again, in CT, for me, that is getting more difficult by the day. Same for many of my friends. It's just sad because although I'm not exactly fond of this state (I personally HATE snow) this is where my "base" is and it's sad to think of leaving my family and friends due to a financial situation.

Thanks for the response and please don't misunderstand me I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything, just giving another perspective.

Just to correct a couple points in your post.

1. I WAS in a trade, making $8 per hour. I took a chance, worked my you know what off to polish my image and took a job selling phone service for SNET. It got my foot in the door. I then immersed myself in telephony engineering and worked my way to being a "network engineer" and then was what's called an NTC (Network Techincal Consultant) which means basically I went out with the salesmen and designed from a network standpoint what the customer needed/wanted to do. I made 6 figures at the height of my work in SNET back in 1997. Then the "Merger and aquisition" madness took over and I left/got pushed out. I went to MCI in Charlotte for 2 years to design and implement their dialtone phone service and get several Lucent 5E switches up and running. They got bought by Worldcom and that came to an end. I then came back to CT and did the very same thing for Connecticut Telephone...they got bought out. LOL It was a fun ride.

I then took a job as an IT Director for a small aerospace company in E Hartford. After two years, I had enough of working in a smelly cave of a building with no windows and miserable people and left to start my own business. NOW I'm back in a trade running my own business.

2. You can have a roomate, collect rent and list that as income. They do not have to be a co-signee. Just make up a lease for paperwork sake and call them a tenant.

I obviously don't know you enough to know what you make etc, but let me toss some numbers out there for you to think about.

You CAN have a house, but I have news for you, it takes years of saving and sacrifice to do so. I rented and saved money for 7 years to put 50K down on a 180K home that needed work. My granparents did the same thing. Nothing's changed except that banks will now finance 0% down so people just jump into high mortage rates with no equity in the home instead of saving and waiting.

Anyhow, if you rent for say 2 years with a roomate and save $500 per month, that will give you $12,000 as a downpayment. That can at minimum give you 10% down on a decent condo that you own.

Putting 12K down on a 120K condo will give you a mortgage of $624.00 per month including PMI insurance but not including taxes. Property taxes will be about $175.00 give or take depending on the town. That's $799.00.

Now, if you get a roomate or do not live alone, take whatever is "split" (Say $500.00 per month for rent) and apply it towards the principle of your mortage on top of your payment.

In 5 years you'll have about 50K of your principle paid off. That puts you in a position to sell your condo for say $130-135K (do some basic updates along the way as well.) and have about $75,000 to put toward a home.

At this point in your life, I would hope your income would be higher as well. So now your're looking at a $250K house with 75K down and a mortgage of 175K or about $1300.00 per month.

That's how it's done. That's how many foreigners who come here do it from nothing.

Will it take you 5 years or so? Yes, but that's nothing in the scheme of things.

Besides, what do you think you'll get in say Charlotte NC for less than 175K? I'll tell you. A small home, built on a slab with no usable attic and a tiny lot built with "engineered" parts. (Read: man made joists etc) Not much differen then here really, just cheaper taxes. Anything less than 175K really doesn't give you much anywhere these days unless you live in Paduka, Nowheresville.

Just some thoughts. Oh and BTW, IMHO "reality" is meant to be changed or worked around. I'm sure the guy who sawed his own arm off when pinned down by a rock saw past his reality and survived.

[CTGirlNoMore]

Honestly, I was only approved for a mortgage of about $120K I think it was. You can't find anything decent for that price. By decent, I mean in a safe area. And I opened my search pretty wide.

THAT is discouraging to me.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by CTGirlNoMore

Honestly, I was only approved for a mortgage of about $120K I think it was. You can't find anything decent for that price. By decent, I mean in a safe area. And I opened my search pretty wide.

THAT is discouraging to me.

FYI, I just did a search in Manchester for 130K (You can negotiate) and 31 listings pulled up.

There is a 2 bed 1.5bath townhome in a nice area with a deck, small yard etc with updates and basement. End unit. ASKING is $119K.

MLS #G539099

2 bed 1.5 bath unit a little smaller, but a decent complex for $94K.

MLS #G555012

etc

They are out there.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by tryingtomakeitinCT

Again, I'm not being a "victim"-I am just telling it like it is, for me at least. It seems this board has a lot of "well to do" folks on it....from Stratford,

"Well to do" compared to where? Altoona, Pennsylvania?

You don't appear to have a good grasp on where the $$$ is in our state.

@JViello: My wingtips are getting a bit dull, come down with your shinebox 'cuz. LOL.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

@JViello: My wingtips are getting a bit dull, come down with your shinebox 'cuz. LOL.

LOL Yes sir, right on it. Newspaper today sir?

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by JViello

LOL Yes sir, right on it. Newspaper today sir?

Not today. But i will be expecting you to bring me the Times on Sunday. Don't forget to iron the pages this time!! Arghhhhhhh.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by JViello

FYI, I just did a search in Manchester for 130K (You can negotiate) and 31 listings pulled up.

There is a 2 bed 1.5bath townhome in a nice area with a deck, small yard etc with updates and basement. End unit. ASKING is $119K.

MLS #G539099

2 bed 1.5 bath unit a little smaller, but a decent complex for $94K.

MLS #G555012

etc

They are out there.

I have to agree with Jay. There are very nice safe places to be had for reasonable rents. It sounds like you are stuck in Meriden. You might want to consider Middletown. It is safer than Meriden, the taxes will be less and there are lots of nice condos under $120,000. Also note that you might want to consider taking a step back in order to take two steps forward. Move into a cheaper place or share an apartment for two years in order to save some money, then buy something for yourself. Get it in your mind that it will be modest and do all you can to pay it off quicker. Also consider getting a second job to earn a bit more. In the long run you will be ahead.

As for your friend who thinks she would have to move to upstate New York to make it, I think that maybe it would work if she had family there to support her but without that she probably would be worse off. For the most part jobs up there (depending where that is) are scarce and low paying. So while her costs may be lower, her pay would be too if she were able to find a job. Jay

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

But lets face it, the only real difference in COL here is real estate and taxes. Taxes aren't dramatically different than they are in NY, NJ and Mass. If you need to live in a mansion for $225K, the south is for you. However, there are plenty of affordable towns in Connecticut with decent to good schools where you can raise a family.

Additionally, real estate is based on supply and demand. If you think housing is too expensive and it doesn't go down, well, the market doesn't agree with you. If housing does go down it's a sign that the market thinks housing is overpriced. However, it's never going to be Alabama here... Thank god.

You make a good point. To someone from downstate NY, northern NJ or metro Boston, CT (at least outside of FFC) is cheap. Perhaps to someone from California as well. But to someone from most other parts of the country, it would look pretty expensive.

[kidyankee764]

Just thought I'd throw this into the conversation:

Report ranks lower Fairfield County as most expensive area for renters - Connecticut Post

[JViello]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Just thought I'd throw this into the conversation:

Report ranks lower Fairfield County as most expensive area for renters - Connecticut Post

No no, that would be California.

I agree that lower FFC is just nuts. It was back in 97 when I went to work in NYC for short term project and considered living in lower FFC anyway. It was like $1500 for a decent 1bed back then! lol

Now take those numbers and see how it can skew a place like Hartford or New London when they toss it all in the same "CT Bucket".