Andover Area?? (Boston, Reading, Boxford: real estate, house, schools)

[MovingAgain2]

My husband is interviewing for a job in the Andover area. He seems to really want this particular opportunity. We are originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but have been living for the last two years in the Finger Lakes area of NY. So, at least we are finally used to the cold and the snow...

We are a homeschooling family with 4 children, so the quality of schools in the area aren't as important to me as maybe someone else, although we would want to live in a decent area.

If he works in Andover, itself, what cities would be the ones you would suggest we look in? We would want an acre of land if we could get it. We can pay around 650K-750K. We would like to have the most square footage for the dollar. Homeschooling takes a lot of space, as does 4 boys! Are there very many homeschoolers in the area?

Anything we should beware of?

[smarty]

For that price, there are many choices. Everything around Rt495 and out have an acre. If you move far enough you can even get 10 acres or horse farms. The question is how long of a communte can he tolerate.

You can live in NH and come down Rt93.
Another option is to look along or North of Rt495. (just look at the google map; or yahoo real estate for median price of towns)

Did you really mean cities instead of towns?

[MovingAgain2]

Thanks for the information. You know, the city/town thing is a California thing. We called everything a city... We didn't differentiate town, village, hamlet like we have learned in NY... I guess old habits die hard. Anyway, we don't care how large the city or town is as long as we can get to a larger city...

[tao777]

Hey MovingAgain2,
Reading your post, I'd go to the NH forum. You sound to me like Southern NH towns. Beautiful area -and great info on the forum.

Good luck-

[CaseyB]

Yes, check out southern New Hampshire. You probably also need to investigate which areas would be more supportive of home schoolers before you investigate a particular town. Good luck with your move.

[smarty]

Most of the area out side of Rt495 are towns. Population is small (20-50K). The 2 larger cities near Andover is Nashua, NH and Boston, MA.

As I mention, MA is so small that you could be in another country (Montreal, Canada) is 5 hours. Nashua to Boston is around 1-1.5hr. What kind of city or city activities are you looking for? Do you want country instead of suburb? Almost all town will meet your current criteria.

[MovingAgain2]

Thanks all of you for taking the time to reply...

I think I will try to look at NH as well... Their housing prices seem less, although their property tax seems higher, though not as high as we pay currently.

Ultimately, we would like some place that is semi-rural, though close enough to all the amenities of a big city--shopping, museums, etc. So, the best of both worlds!

Thanks for all the information.

[LovelyBoston]

Originally Posted by MovingAgain2

Thanks all of you for taking the time to reply...

I think I will try to look at NH as well... Their housing prices seem less, although their property tax seems higher, though not as high as we pay currently.

Ultimately, we would like some place that is semi-rural, though close enough to all the amenities of a big city--shopping, museums, etc. So, the best of both worlds!

Thanks for all the information.

Nashua, New Hampshire has lots of shopping, but it is not a city the way Boston is a city -- Boston is the place to go for really nice restaurants, museums, etc., and so if you're looking to be near city amenities, I'd focus more on Mass. areas. Plus, as you noted, New Hampshire has difficult property taxes, and yet because your husband will work in Mass you'd still have to pay Mass. income tax. There are some towns on the North Shore that are close to Andover, easy access to Boston, within your price range, and semi-rural.

Check out Boxford, MA; it is only 20 minutes from Andover. You can get a nice house on a couple of acres in your price range, and get to Boston pretty easily too. You might also try Topsfield.

But if those are more suburban than you'd like, then NH might be the way to go anyway; Chester, for example, is quite rural and affordable, and I think you could commute to Andover in 45 minutes.

[momoffive]

how about reading/north reading/lynnfield or middleton ... all pretty close to andover...

[puffle]

Originally Posted by momoffive

how about reading/north reading/lynnfield or middleton ... all pretty close to andover...

I would be interested in an answer to this question myself, please.