Rent or buy in Fairfield County, CT?

Submitted by emalways t3_10os5tw in Connecticut

I can’t decide whether to rent or buy a home in Fairfield county, ideally as close to Greenwich as possible. Schools will become important in the next 5 years. I have a budget of about $550,000 with 10% down. I’m debating renting something instead for $3K-$3,500/month. Based on the current market and future projections, what advice do you have? Thanks!

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lizardRD t1_j6j9zs2 wrote

I’m going to be truthful, you’re not going to get much for 550k in a good school district town around greenwich. New caanan, Greenwich or Darien definitely not. You may be able to find something in Stamford or Norwalk but the schools aren’t great. If you are willing to move up the line to Trumbull you could definitely find something there with that budget. My husband commutes from Fairfield to greenwhich daily, it’s not that horrible if it’s only occasionally to see family. You may be able to get something small in Fairfield but it won’t get you far. We’re planning on selling/buying this spring/summer and our budget of 850k is not getting us far in Fairfield.

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welcomebackjelly t1_j6ib45u wrote

You aren’t buying anything good near Greenwich with 500k. Triple that and maybe you’ll find something half way decent.

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rsjem79 t1_j6hsom1 wrote

$550K isn’t going to go very far in Greenwich, Stamford would be a better option but even there the housing market has gone crazy so your budget may not get you much there either.

For reference, my wife and I bought in Stamford in Jan 2019. 3-BR 2.5 bath, 1700 sq feet for 599k. Out neighbors in a very similar home sold their house last summer for over 700K. There were half a dozen offers on the first day it was listed and the buyer paid cash.

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IndicationOver t1_j6iibub wrote

Why do you have to live as close to Greenwich as possible?

Budget of 550k and 10% down but you want to live in basically in Greenwich? Go to Stamford.

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emalways OP t1_j6ik9r0 wrote

I didn’t say I’d like to live in Greenwich, I know that’s not realistic, just as close as possible.. ie. Stamford, Norwalk vs. Trumbull, Danbury which are more than 40 mins away. I have family in Greenwich and want to stay closer to them.

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1234nameuser t1_j6hrzd1 wrote

Anybody buying at current inventory levels has a very high tolerance for risk.

I'm not a gambling man, renting is the obvious choice to me.

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rubyslippers3x t1_j6gmjfx wrote

If you can afford to buy, then buy. House prices there will always rise. Unless you buy more than you can maintain. It's a solid market, particularly in lower FC.

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WheredMyBrainsGo t1_j6gqzxp wrote

This is copium. But if you must live as close to Greenwich as possible then you may as well pay your own mortgage rather than 2x your landlord’s cause you’re going to be paying an inflated rate anyway.

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1234nameuser t1_j6hsiev wrote

https://www.redfin.com/county/425/CT/Fairfield-County/housing-market

barely matches inflation rate and already down 2.7% yoy

only reason to buy a house is because it affords homebuyers massive gov't subsidized leverage, but entry price is important to long term gains

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rubyslippers3x t1_j6huhh4 wrote

Umm.. that's not the only reason to buy. Renting you are basically throwing away your money with no chance to reclaim any of it. Buying, you have an opportunity to reclaim some when you sell. You may gain some or lose some. Renting is a total loss of $36,000 every year at $3k/mo rent. As long as you don't buy more than you can maintain, buying is the best option. POV: rented 7 years in FC, owned 4 years in FC.

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