Buying a home at 20 years old is not easy. My annual gross income was $54,000; I did not have any debt and had $2,000 in savings. This may seem ideal, but I did not have a car, which made it virtually impossible to find good homes in West Hartford, which is considered the more ideal side of Hartford to live in. When looking for homes to buy, I kept my children in mind, because I would need to enroll them in a good school. I also kept in mind that I did not have a car to drive them to school, so I did not want to live too close to the school because I’d have to figure out how to get them to school on a daily basis, including during bad weather. Because of my limited options, I had to figure out which district (public) schools were the best for both of my children, while being mindful of the fact that I’d be working in the downtown Hartford area. I was able to find 4 homes that were within my spending range: 274 Flatbush Avenue, 114 Cumberland St, 130 Saint James St, and 42 Popieluszko Ct. After looking at various factors ranging from transportation and school, I decided that 42 Popieluszko Ct, Hartford CT 06106 would be the best housing option for me and my family.
42 Popieluszko Ct is priced at $175,000, which is way below my intended budget. I chose this home because it is ideally priced on the lower end of my budget’s spectrum. It has 3 beds and 2.5 baths, which also meets all of the requirements I looked for when searching for a home. This home is also in located near downtown Hartford, where I would be working and in a zone with very good schools. I also noted the number of parks that surrounded my home, an asset I would really have appreciated as I will probably may want to take my two children to the park on a weekend afternoon.
My future home is located a few blocks away from Park Street, one of the major avenues in Hartford, which would make it easier for me in terms of transportation since many of the buses that go downtown (39, 37, 61, 63) pass literally within a block from this home.
Because I live in Hartford Zone 4, I found it difficult to find good public schools for both of my children. Most of the schools in Hartford are Magnet Schools that choose their students based on a lottery. The living/transportation implications I face would not allow me to enroll in any lottery. I was able to find an excellent elementary and middle school for both of my children. Achievement First Hartford Academy Elementary and Middle School is a k-8 public institution located on 305 Greenfield Street in Hartford, Connecticut. It is located approximately 2.3 miles away from the home I plan to buy, and it is also a school with excellent academics. The school has a 74% test passing rating, a percentage that is well above the Connecticut average, and although it may not be racially diverse (most students are of African American descent), I was impressed by the quality of education. My family qualified for transportation arranged by HPS because of the distance away from our home.