Unreal Estate Game: Connecticut
 

Assume that you idly buy a state lottery ticket while getting a doughnut at 7/11, and voila! You're a winner! You win your choice of one the five houses that will be shown.

I'll give you five houses in a state, and you vote on the house you would take.

Background rules:

Assume that your job situation won't need to change - you can find an identical job or work from home or whatever, so jobs don't matter.

Consider the house itself and the location and anything else that's important to you (schools, restaurants, lot size, etc.). Feel free to do a google map search to check out the neighborhood and the area.

You cannot sell the home. You can live in it as long as you like, but when you move out, it reverts back to the state as a prize for a future winner.

All houses will generally be in the $900,000 to $1 million price range.

All maintenance and utilities and taxes are cost-neutral compared to your current home.

If you wouldn't move into any of these homes, you can instead accept a cash prize of $50,000 (tax free).

Today's state is Connecticut. Here are your five houses:

Groton - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...0_M30636-13245

Morris - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...-96540#photo33

Pomfret - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...9_M41281-71111

West Hartford - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...7_M37247-80002

Woodbridge - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...5_M46232-15683

Woodbridge for me.

My rankings:

#1 - Pomfret. I initially thought I wouldn't be a fan of this place. It's not in a walkable area at all. But I really like the color palette of the house, and I really like that there's a three-bedroom guest house. I've always wanted to have a nice guest house where I could invite people to "come and stay a month". Combine that with 36 acres, and you kind of have a cool estate. (That said, I wish they had different cabinets.) It's not horribly far from Providence, Rhode Island for culture and night life.

#2 - West Hartford - I LOVE the oversized fireplaces even though it would be a hassle to feed them. And why did they close up the fireplace in Picture 34? The exterior is fantastic and stylish, and location is pretty decent. The kitchen seems a bit dated, but tolerable. You can walk with a little effort to some restaurants, and there's a park not far away. This is almost a winner.

#3 - Morris. I'm a fan of the blue kitchen and the basement. The master bedroom is cool, too. It's a nice property, but too far from town.

#4 - Woodbridge. The library is a really nice room, and there's a nice water feature on the grounds. But the house design is odd. It looks like they expanded an older house a couple of times and had force some rooms into roles that they weren't designed for. The location is pretty meh, too.

#5 - Groton - Pretty much the only advantage of this house is ocean frontage. It's not that attractive and not conveniently located. I don't need it.

Groton is the only one I didn't like. It looks like the house in the neighborhood that everyone hopes to burn down to increase their property values.

Hartford for character.

Maybe Woodbridge, but probably the 50K

I could live in that Groton place and be completely happy even though it's the smallest. Just wish it was half the price.

That place really surprised me. I recognize that oceanfront property is always going to be pretty expensive, but Groton is on the other side of the state from the New York suburbs. I figured Connecticut would be much more expensive on the western side and more reasonable on the eastern side.

Pomfret

I need a double tiebreaker vote here. This is a close one.