Often times my buyer clients come to me with a wish list describing their ideal first home. It includes things like:
- 3 bedroms
- 2 full baths
- 1200 square feet or more
- 1-car garage
- Move-in condition (some minor cosmetics allowed)
- $1300 per month (including taxes and insurance) or less
- “No-New-London”
Here’s my take on this: I came to New London County back in 1996 fresh out of college. I settled in this little city to be closer to my “then” fiance’ who I eventually married 1 year later. She too convinced me that when we buy our first house that the biggest criteria was to be: “No-New-London”. So, as it turned out, we bought our first home in Ledyard; a modest 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath colonial on 1/3 of an acre for $98,500. We enjoyed that home for 3 years and ended selling to buy another home…in Ledyard.
12 years after buying my first home and 10 years after first becoming a licensed real estate agent, I have come to realize that New London real estate is not to be dismissed. What many of the first time home buyers fail to realize is that many of the best deals are found in New London. If you’re one of the lucky ones to buy closer to Bank Street which is the major hub connecting the downtown to the residents, then you can walk to the water, numerous restaurants, catch weekend jazz, take in an art gallery, sit on the pier, snap photos of some really cool historical landmarks and quite frankly, LIVE a little
on the weekends as opposed to sitting idly in front of the TV because the cost of gas is rediculously too high to justify a night on the town.
There are round table discussions pertaining to real-time politial, social and economic issues right in the heart of the city. I was lucky (or unlucky as some may think) to be interviewed on Fox 61′s evening news because I participated in a group discussion. Did I mention the off Broadway Theater smack dab in the middle of town?
Why on earth would a buyer in today’s markey not want to include New London as part of their possible towns to live in? If you ever want to know what direction a town is going in, follow the investors that have REAL money. One has recently bought into the New London concept and built a beautiful luxury condo community right on Bank Street. You have to assume that business savvy people like that do their homework before dishing out that kind of money…any yet, the average home buyer won’t invest $150,000 in New London Real Estate.
Give me $500,000 and I will turn it into $1,000,000 all by embracing New London’s real estate.
So instead of NO-New-London, why not “KNOW-NEW-LONDON”.
