Cheapest Ocean front in Connecticut
Hi All!
My wife and I are testing the water for the best bang for your buck home in CT, ocean front, or a quick walk. Fixer upper with future equity potential, potential for a big upward market swing, and strong rental rate. Budget is under $175k.
We have a primary residence, we're looking for a weekender home with the potential of renting it out possibly 6 months out of the year, full time in the short term, or just during the peak summer months; areas of CT that attract a strong summer rental market. I have no education beyond Fairfield County.
All opinions welcome. Thanks!
@Mario Bellavia Once you get beyond Fairfield County to towns like Milford and beyond New Haven to towns like Branford, ,Clinton, Westbrook, Old Saybrook you get more bang for your buck. There are some great beaches and if you do your work, you may just find a diamond in the rough.
Thanks @Jack D. love old Say Brook, Fresh Salt restaurant is amazing!
Fairfield County is obviously out of the question, there are so many towns to pick from beyond though, it's overwhelming.
Milford is great and you can find some good deal fixer uppers very close to the water. We have great beaches. My husband and I recently bought our first investment home for 145k - 2 house walk from the beach. Clearly it needs work.
But you need to be careful - some of the really good deals were severely flooded in the hurricanes and many require hefty flood insurance.
West Haven has more affordable homes and a great boardwalk but their taxes are much higher.
Thank you @Karyn S. it's funny, I would like to be close as possible to the water but not in a flood zone or property that requires flood insurance. A few houses away works for me.
I moved to Milford six weeks ago, but have been watching the real estate market for the last year here--my impression is that if you want to be just a few houses from the beach you're probably looking at flood insurance--at least over at the east end of town (Walnut Beach area or Silver Sands area). I think as you get over in the western part of town (west of the harbor) you may find places well above the beach that are oceanfront. Also, if walking a block or so to the beach is okay, you could probably find something out of the flood zone just about anywhere.
Thanks @Curran D Bishop Where did you move from? What drew you to Milford? Silver Sands is amazing, such a beautiful park.
Madison, Old Saybrook, and Mystic come up often, all beautiful, but limited options. I'm thinking Milford, Guilford, New London, and now Stony Creek may be contenders. We have beach cruisers so a block or so to the beach is no problem.
Stratford maybe too?
@Mario Bellavia, I moved from Carbondale IL for work. I looked at New London and think it's a fantastic town, probably going to see increases in value IMHO: its got great "bones" as a city, is starting to "urbanify" (trendy places starting to open) but it's way behind the curve, and it seems to me the hipsters there are still young and haven't started having kids/figuring out how to make the city work with kids--so prices are dirt cheap. Great beaches when you get out of the Thames and onto the actual coast of the Sound, puts you a couple miles from the "downtown" but still within city limits. I should note I've done a lot less research on New London than I have on Milford. I ended up settling on Milford because my work requires me to be in New Haven about four days a week and I didn't want the commute from New London--but I was really impressed with both towns. Also check out the village of Niantic just outside of New London.
@Curran D Bishop awesome, thank you for info, really appreciate it.
Mario Bellavia I think Airbnb option is a great idea as long as you are within a short distance that can handle the property management. I’ve seen a few people post short term rentals on Airbnb for city folk that want to get away. I’ve thought about new Milford but also concerned if flood zones and further on coast closing into Rhode Island like new London, new Saybrook, mystic area I see some fairly inexpensive homes however those by water seem more difficult to find. Also it seems there might be some areas in new London I believe that want to steer clear just not so familiar with that area. Have you come across this issue?
@Giannina Biala I love Airbnb. I've put my search on hold. I'm going to focus on buying a better primary residence or cheap rental locally.