So, I’m looking at homes on Zillow with the wife unit and we’re trying to find a reasonably priced home. One thing I’m noticing is that, at least in my area (Enfield area) is that there’s LOTS of homes in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure.

Is this happening all across the state? Or is this a local phenomenon?

Loss of jobs, higher debt, higher taxes, higher property taxes. Just csnt soak up more from it's people if they already don't have it.

Some other states have more to offer. Better living for lower cost.

ETA.....wtf is up with Walmart. We went up there for Christmas and did some last minute shopping. We were like "qty of bags...wtf"?
It charged us .01 for each damn bag. WTH is that crap? It's the little stuff like that spread out over an entire year.

Our grocery bill used to be 250 on average per week for the family. Down here were about 150 a week. Gas is .04 to .05 cheaper per gallon. We dont have property tax on vehicles. No state tax coming out of our checks. Home taxes are about 1/6 of what we paid when we were in Naugatuck.

I make almost double here what I made up there as a skilled machinist.

As I said....little things add up quick.

I get that, and I know CT’s on the same course as the Titanic was, but I guess I didn’t realize it was THAT bad.

I grew up in Enfield. They fucked up years ago (over a decade) when they started building low income housing to try and draw in overpopulation from Springfield.

Then when I was in High School they started bussing in kids from Hartford.

As for the foreclosures, just bad decision makers. My neighbor is in the process of doing it. They were having a hard time keeping up AND underwater on their mortgage and the genuine professional advice they got was to just stop paying and get foreclosed. Their credit will take a terrible hit but they won’t carry the debt with them.

Sometimes jingle mail is a viable financial option. CT is in a major decline.

Welcome to CT. The plastic bag ban thing has been a well bitched about issue since Democrats passed it and it went into effect last year. No longer do one get plastic bags for free at checkout, stores now are forced to sell them to you. Bring your own bags in and it isn't a problem, just select zero at checkout when asked how many bags you need.

As for the OP's question. It is typically a combination of factors that lead to mass foreclosures on homes in a particular area or state. Could be people are upside down on their home loans. Could be the town just jacked their tax/mill rates and people cannot afford to pay the taxes and are walking away from the home(s). Could be the state taxes Democrats just expanded and jacked up that are a partial cause. Could be people just lost their jobs/income. Could be several businesses shuttering their doors with mass layoffs.

I bring my old bag to the grocery store all the time but she walks in by herself.  (Oh my, if my wife read this I'd be a dead man but I figure I could bring a bit of levity to this somber discussion!)

The town has shrunk and continues to shrink as people leave.  Property values are down about 30% easy, maybe more in higher cost homes.  Taxes are high here for what you get.  And yes, businesses have left including Mass Mutual and Hallmark Cards.  The big mall is dead and the strip malls are just hanging on.  We do, however, have the distinction of having the most concentrated number of fast-food outlets in the country!  No kidding.  Our house is finally under contract (after 1-1/2 years and three brokers) and we're moving out ASAP. You can tell the town is smaller just from the fact that there are less than 1/2 of the kids in school here than even 15 years ago.  This town had 29 schools at one time in the early 80s.  Most are shuttered or consolidated.  We even lost a high school a couple of years ago and they don't know what to do with it.   Talk about a white elephant.

My wife and I decided to stay here until we retire. Then we will evaluate what we do. We bought 14+ acres of land and are going to build a house in a couple of years. I will do much of it myself, one because I am cheap, two because I want the smallest mortgage possible.

Real estate here is not doing all that well. I picked up the land for close to half of what the seller was asking. Maybe it was a good deal, maybe it wasn't. Time will tell. Much like the stock market, buy when down. They aren't making more land.

We also have a place in Florida we visit a few weeks a year that we will go to for longer periods of time when we retire. In that area there are new homes and subdivisions going up all over the place. It is insane what is happening there compared to here. I can't remember the last time I drove by a house being built, let alone a whole subdivision.

It happened to a few people over the last few years that I knew. Lost a job, medical shit....... it happens, this state makes it a lot easier to happen in.......

cant wait for the wife to find an opening somewhere in another state......

Enfield is rough these days.  I usually go to HD up in Westfield because it's a hair closer but when I go over to Enfield it has weird meth zombies walking around in it.

We downsized to a foreclosure. Needed a complete remodel. I did the work, mortgage is extremely low and we have more in equity than we owe. I hate to see what this state has done to people, but we lucked out. Never thought we’d still be here 5 years ago, but trying to make the best of it.

Westfield is a small HD and doesn’t carry a lot of stuff Enfield or Springfield do. JYFI

I frequent the both.

The real estate market has wild swings even in just our small area of the state. Stafford, Enfield,Vernon, Windsor Locks are all very affordable and have a lot of options on the market.

Tolland, Ellington, East Granby and Suffield etc are not so much. And even in those towns it swings. I’m in Tolland now and watch the town Facebook group and people are complaining about their home values dropping and I’ve watched my neighborhood surge in value.

We’re looking for a new home right now (have been for a year).

CT is a real shithole. The wife and I are talking about relocating as well. Fortunate enough to have built my own home the way we wanted, but with the taxes going up up and away, well it's just getting the better of us and is very depressing. To have worked sooo hard just to pay it out in taxes and NOT get ANYTHING in return just sucks!

Not to mention the gun laws and what they have become.

Back to the OP's question. Really it's all the above, people are just realizing the their rights ARE extremely important and this state is continually crushing our lives. Simply put!

I don't exactly trust zillow for accurate information.

You guys looking to move out of town? If in town, I still get notifications daily about what pops up because we just got this house back in July.

We’re looking to stay in Tolland, but are also looking in Ellington and East Granby.

We were thinking East Windsor because our daughter is already making friends with some of the kids she goes to daycare with here in EW. Though, we may do Suffield, too, if the budget permits.

How many sinks does it have?

Goodluck with your search.

I like most of East Windsor, lots of open space away from Rt5. I’d move there but my wife works at Comcast, so being in a Comcast zone is a requirement for us (according to her) and I don’t think EW is. Ha