Moving to Boston area - where to live?
Sep 4th, 2006, 04:24 AM
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Moving to Boston area - where to live?
I need some advice. I may be relocating to Boston and I need to know if there are any "affordable and safe" areas to buy a home and raise a family. I will be working in Boston but I don't mind a commute (~1hr). The problem is budget. I would need to find a home for less than 400K. Any thoughts?
Sep 4th, 2006, 05:08 AM
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md.....thats an almost impossible question
as there are so many answers. How big a house fo you need? Do you want to be close to mass transit if youre commuting to Boston (highly recommended)? Are schools important? What type of an ecvironment are you looking for (urburn,suburban,eclectic, homogenious)? As a first step look at the real estate listings in Boston.com and see what areas fit your pocketbook. Once those questions are answered they can be matched with the areas you can afford. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] welcome to the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts"
as there are so many answers. How big a house fo you need? Do you want to be close to mass transit if youre commuting to Boston (highly recommended)? Are schools important? What type of an ecvironment are you looking for (urburn,suburban,eclectic, homogenious)? As a first step look at the real estate listings in Boston.com and see what areas fit your pocketbook. Once those questions are answered they can be matched with the areas you can afford. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] welcome to the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts"
Sep 4th, 2006, 06:06 AM
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If you have school age children you don't want to be in Boston unless you plan to send them to private school.
400K doesn't get you much in the Boston area. I would focus on the South Shore, you can still find some deals there, although the commute will be long. Check out Marshfield, Scituate, Pembroke or Quincy.
Another option that is in your price range is south west of the city. Mansfield, Foxboro, Canton, Franklin, Walpole, Sharon, Norwood come to mind.
400K doesn't get you much in the Boston area. I would focus on the South Shore, you can still find some deals there, although the commute will be long. Check out Marshfield, Scituate, Pembroke or Quincy.
Another option that is in your price range is south west of the city. Mansfield, Foxboro, Canton, Franklin, Walpole, Sharon, Norwood come to mind.
Sep 4th, 2006, 06:07 AM
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Forgot to mention, check out www.newenglandmoves.com. You can check out listings and see what's sold for what in the past year.
Sep 4th, 2006, 02:16 PM
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I think you need to go even further south and southwest of Boston which would put you near or beyond the Interstate 495 beltway.
Look at cities like Attleboro, Brockton, Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford and Plymouth and their surrounding suburbs and small towns.
The Real-Estate bubble for these areas has burst and prices are dropping fast.
There are highways (I-95, route 24 & route 3) heading into Boston from here and also some commuter rail.
Look at cities like Attleboro, Brockton, Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford and Plymouth and their surrounding suburbs and small towns.
The Real-Estate bubble for these areas has burst and prices are dropping fast.
There are highways (I-95, route 24 & route 3) heading into Boston from here and also some commuter rail.
Sep 4th, 2006, 02:57 PM
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IMHO, a major concern is the commute, and in turn it is essential to consider WHERE in Boston you'll be working. Towns on the South Shore make sense if you're working on the southern part of the city or near South Station; but those towns would be terrible choices if you're working on the northern or western parts of the city, and so on.
IMHO, a good strategy wold be to start from where you're working, figure out which locations are accessible within an hour (either by car or public transit) and then start to factor-in housing costs and other issues you might have such as school quality. If you have not started your family yet, you have far more options.
IMHO, a good strategy wold be to start from where you're working, figure out which locations are accessible within an hour (either by car or public transit) and then start to factor-in housing costs and other issues you might have such as school quality. If you have not started your family yet, you have far more options.
Mar 6th, 2016, 12:27 PM
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Hey! There is an online tool called http://navut.com that would help you out with that. It's basically a neighborhood finder and from what I saw, they have a filter for everything you mentioned. They also have all the properties from MLS there. Hope it helps!
Mar 6th, 2016, 02:38 PM
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Of course there are affordable and safe towns that meet your criteria. You can not afford to live in a nice area of the City of Boston and the immediate outlying areas are either very expensive or not very nice. (Brookline versus Chelsea, for example). Public schools within Boston are not that great - as they are not in many cities.
Your budget will put you at the low end of most housing in commutable areas. What size? Willing to buy a house that needs some work?
As far as commute is concerned - the where in Boston is essential to know. Although center city area of Boston - the part tourists see - is relatively small, the areas in which people work is much larger and even a mile or 2 difference can make a huge difference in time of commute. Train, drive, combination will vary, as will time of commute, depending on where you live and where you work.
I live north of Boston in a nice town with good schools. 400K is at the bottom of the housing market, but you can get a 3 bedroom/2 bath house that might need a bit of work for that much.
I don't think Attleboro/Taunton area can reliably get you into Boston in an hour.
Your budget will put you at the low end of most housing in commutable areas. What size? Willing to buy a house that needs some work?
As far as commute is concerned - the where in Boston is essential to know. Although center city area of Boston - the part tourists see - is relatively small, the areas in which people work is much larger and even a mile or 2 difference can make a huge difference in time of commute. Train, drive, combination will vary, as will time of commute, depending on where you live and where you work.
I live north of Boston in a nice town with good schools. 400K is at the bottom of the housing market, but you can get a 3 bedroom/2 bath house that might need a bit of work for that much.
I don't think Attleboro/Taunton area can reliably get you into Boston in an hour.
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