Texas Couple Finds A New Home In CT Amid Isaias Chaos

FARMINGTON, CT — Two of Connecticut's newest residents dodged downed trees, sidestepped felled utility poles, avoided collapsed wires and navigated around closed roads to find a home last week — right after Tropical Storm Isaias ravaged the area.

And on a tight deadline to boot.

With Isaias making a rude and devastating trip through the Nutmeg State less than 24 hours earlier, Tammy and Jeff Bylund met up with Lisa Fagan, a Farmington-based Berkshire Hathaway certified luxury and commercial specialist on Wednesday. With their house in northeast Texas under contract, they had to put a deposit down on something in Connecticut before leaving Thursday.

"It was just crazy," Fagan said. "We had no idea what roads were open and we had no idea if we could even see some properties. With a tight deadline, we had to find a home."

Oh, one other thing. The Bylunds started the process in March, when the coronavirus pandemic first hit.

"This time, we had to find something," Tammy Bylund said.

Tammy followed that statement with a laugh because in 2016, when she and Jeff were buying their Texas home, there was another natural disaster.

"When we were moving to Texas from Utah — the week were were moving — there was a tornado," Tammy said. "We were driving from Nashville and we kept hearing stay away from here and stay away from there. We spent an extra night in a hotel and finally made it to Texas."

Then she thought of Connecticut.

"We kind of missed most of the craziness because we came in Wednesday," she said. "But there were a lot of trees down. We kept seeing trees down."

Fagan said she, the Bylunds and their four children had a north-central Connecticut tour in March and looked at about 30 homes in two days amid strict virus protocols.

"We managed to keep it together," Fagan said. "This was in the early phases of the virus, when sellers were calling off showings, demanding protection and sometimes offering only virtual visits."

Fagan said she and the Bylunds tested negative for the virus throughout the process.

On another occasion, Jeff Bylund was working in the area and went to Farmington one day in the spring to see a home. Fagan said it seemed haunted as she and Jeff toured the place with Tammy on Facetime back in Texas

"It was the scariest house I'd ever seen," Fagan said.

This week, the specific purpose was to find a house — period. Tammy Bylund said she and Jeff pinpointed a house on Old Barge Road in Simsbury.

"On Wednesday, we tried to look at it, we couldn't get to it," she said. "Power lines and trees were down all around it. We definitely wanted to look at it."

Fagan said she and the sellers' agent, Jessica Starr of Starr Realty Group, mobilized and by Thursday, the property was adequately cleared. The Bylunds toured the home about 20 minutes before leaving for the airport. It was the 14th house they looked at amid the Isaias chaos.

"We fell in love with it," Tammy Bylund said. "It is perfect. We did joke there are a lot of trees. We talked about trees a lot this week. I think we're going to love it in Connecticut. After all we went through to find the house, it seems worth it."