Moving to Brookline Questions... (for sale, real estate, foreclosures)

[Garris]

Hi everyone,

We're planning a move to Brookline in the near future and wanted to ask some questions to get the opinions of people here, since I've heard a variety of different things. We have two less than 5 year old kids and are looking eventually to buy a condo in Coolidge Corner after renting for a time. My questions are as follows:

1) Price Range:
We're probably looking to have a price range of a minimum of $750,000, to a max of $950,000-ish depending upon a number of factors (like how much we can sell our existing house for and how my business does). Should we be able to afford a nice 3 bedroom condo within, say, a third to half a mile of the center of Coolidge Corner? Or is only a 2 bedroom the best we can hope for? While my kids can conceivably share a bedroom, I'd rather have the option of each having their own in the future. I care more about something being in great condition than about pure square footage. We'd prefer to be either West or North of the center of CC than towards Brookline Village, but would consider anything really. Also, for this price range, should 2 car parking be considered a given, or will that be a separate search? Is central air unheard of here at this price range? Are more condo units in larger buildings, or are they in coverted homes? I'd prefer to be in the former with professional management...

2) Housing Stock:
I'm shocked how little is on the market condo-wise in Brookline at any given time in my price range for a city this size. One person I talked to said that most transactions of "good properties there" are either "word of mouth" or "come off of realtors waiting lists." He said that any properties that actually hit public notice on a Trulia or Zillow have to almost be flawed in some way to not sell otherwise. He said never buy a publicly listed property in Brookline and rent there and do some networking, waiting until we could hear about word of mouth stuff ourselves.

3) Renting:
We would want to rent in Brookline for 6-12 months while we look for properties. What is the best way to do this? Via a realtor or via agencies or via Craigslist (where the properties all look student related and dreadful). Any recs would be appreciated.

Thank you all in advance for your advice!!

[Bob Lanata]

Garris,

My compliments on your decision to rent for a while before buying. I cannot give you any advice on the price of homes, and know little of craigslist. I am certain that a realtor can help as well as a few that will post here soon. Brookline is a good choice.

Welcome to the area

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Garris

1) Price Range:
We're probably looking to have a price range of a minimum of $750,000, to a max of $950,000-ish depending upon a number of factors (like how much we can sell our existing house for and how my business does). Should we be able to afford a nice 3 bedroom condo within, say, a third to half a mile of the center of Coolidge Corner? Or is only a 2 bedroom the best we can hope for? While my kids can conceivably share a bedroom, I'd rather have the option of each having their own in the future. I care more about something being in great condition than about pure square footage. We'd prefer to be either West or North of the center of CC than towards Brookline Village, but would consider anything really. Also, for this price range, should 2 car parking be considered a given, or will that be a separate search? Is central air unheard of here at this price range? Are more condo units in larger buildings, or are they in coverted homes? I'd prefer to be in the former with professional management...

$750K to $950K is a pretty good budget. You should be able to find what you seek within that price range. However, I wouldn't ever say that in Brookline two parking spaces or air conditioning is a given. You may have to rent a second space (or even two spaces). It all depends on the condo, but the majority will come at least one space in this price range. A lot of the condos are in smaller buildings with say 2-8 units but there are some larger buildings in Brookline. Some of the smaller buildings have professional management.

Originally Posted by Garris

2) Housing Stock:
I'm shocked how little is on the market condo-wise in Brookline at any given time in my price range for a city this size. One person I talked to said that most transactions of "good properties there" are either "word of mouth" or "come off of realtors waiting lists." He said that any properties that actually hit public notice on a Trulia or Zillow have to almost be flawed in some way to not sell otherwise. He said never buy a publicly listed property in Brookline and rent there and do some networking, waiting until we could hear about word of mouth stuff ourselves.

There's a small element of truth in what your friend says but it's very small. In a hot market like Brookline there are some properties which sell before they ever have a chance to make it to MLS. This doesn't mean that the properties on MLS are defective though. Also, I strongly advise staying away from Trulia and Zillow they are the most innaccurate websites on the internet and it often takes a couple of days for new listings to appear on those sites. Try Realtor.com instead or many agents have their own websites which can be used to search for properties. Word of mouth is not the only way to find a property in Brookline.

Right now, an extremely low level of for sale listings is an issue in many areas not only in MA but around the country. It's resulting in bidding wars in areas that haven't seen them in years. It's also driven up prices and made hot markets like Brookline unbelievably competitive.

Originally Posted by Garris

3) Renting:
We would want to rent in Brookline for 6-12 months while we look for properties. What is the best way to do this? Via a realtor or via agencies or via Craigslist (where the properties all look student related and dreadful). Any recs would be appreciated.

Thank you all in advance for your advice!!

My experience is that craigslist is better left to students and scam artists (tons of fraudulent listings on there). For what you're looking for, you're better off dealing with a real estate agent.

[Tatiana007]

have you found a place to rent in Brookline?

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

There's a small element of truth in what your friend says but it's very small. In a hot market like Brookline there are some properties which sell before they ever have a chance to make it to MLS. This doesn't mean that the properties on MLS are defective though. Also, I strongly advise staying away from Trulia and Zillow they are the most innaccurate websites on the internet and it often takes a couple of days for new listings to appear on those sites. Try Realtor.com instead or many agents have their own websites which can be used to search for properties. Word of mouth is not the only way to find a property in Brookline.

I have been casually looking and notice much inaccuracy on Trulia as well. They have properties listed as foreclosures where no public notice has been given and duplicate listings for the same property.

The property value estimates on Zillow are completely off. In my HOA, they have an $150K difference between identical properties.

[maven1818]

Originally Posted by Garris

Hi everyone,

We're planning a move to Brookline in the near future and wanted to ask some questions to get the opinions of people here, since I've heard a variety of different things. We have two less than 5 year old kids and are looking eventually to buy a condo in Coolidge Corner after renting for a time. My questions are as follows:

1) Price Range:
We're probably looking to have a price range of a minimum of $750,000, to a max of $950,000-ish depending upon a number of factors (like how much we can sell our existing house for and how my business does). Should we be able to afford a nice 3 bedroom condo within, say, a third to half a mile of the center of Coolidge Corner? Or is only a 2 bedroom the best we can hope for? While my kids can conceivably share a bedroom, I'd rather have the option of each having their own in the future. I care more about something being in great condition than about pure square footage. We'd prefer to be either West or North of the center of CC than towards Brookline Village, but would consider anything really. Also, for this price range, should 2 car parking be considered a given, or will that be a separate search? Is central air unheard of here at this price range? Are more condo units in larger buildings, or are they in coverted homes? I'd prefer to be in the former with professional management...

2) Housing Stock:
I'm shocked how little is on the market condo-wise in Brookline at any given time in my price range for a city this size. One person I talked to said that most transactions of "good properties there" are either "word of mouth" or "come off of realtors waiting lists." He said that any properties that actually hit public notice on a Trulia or Zillow have to almost be flawed in some way to not sell otherwise. He said never buy a publicly listed property in Brookline and rent there and do some networking, waiting until we could hear about word of mouth stuff ourselves.

3) Renting:
We would want to rent in Brookline for 6-12 months while we look for properties. What is the best way to do this? Via a realtor or via agencies or via Craigslist (where the properties all look student related and dreadful). Any recs would be appreciated.

Thank you all in advance for your advice!!

Hi.
Just saw your post.
I assume you moved by now.
Did you rent or buy?
I am a Realtor and a 20 year condo owner in Brookline.

You had some great questions and I hope you found a good situation for yourself.

Brookline is wonderful. A nice mix of urban and suburban. Very expensive though.

Best of luck to you...