If you could live in any town in the Northeast... (Boston: ski resort, vacation home)

[skeddy]

Scituate Mass. south shore of Boston, 30 miles away, last train stop Greenbush Station.

[GeoffD]

The OP in 2007 said an island town in Washington across from Seattle with $500K median housing price was too expensive.

I lived in Portsmouth, NH for a decade. I sat down and took a hard look at my retirement math. It didn't work owning a home in Portsmouth. A teardown shack costs $500K and the property tax rate is $16.79. I moved. With 3x my net worth, I would have stayed.

With that $500K limit, it rules out anything commutable to Boston. It rules out the NH Seacoast.

I sail. My list when I bought was towns in the warmer water of southern New England with coastal villages with non-Boston housing prices aligned with the original post and a sub-$10 per thousand valuation property tax rate.

My list was: Dartmouth, Westport, Falmouth, Bourne, Little Compton, and Jamestown. In any of those towns, a $500K house pays less than $5,000 in property taxes.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by Parsec

I would live in a highrise in Brookline, MA but that's just me ... I prefer an urban atmosphere.

My preferences have changed a lot in 9 years. Back then I was looking at buying a condo in Washington Square, but now if I could live anywhere I'd pick an oceanfront compound on the Vineyard. I gotta admit island life is pretty sweet.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

My list was: Dartmouth, Westport, Falmouth, Bourne, Little Compton, and Jamestown. In any of those towns, a $500K house pays less than $5,000 in property taxes.

I'd sell a kidney to live in Little Compton. Beyond the general appeal of the place, it also has a prolific assortment of stone walls which you simply don't see in MA/NH (wooden fences are less burdensome, assuming you have trees handy). Such an awesome little town.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

I'd sell a kidney to live in Little Compton. Beyond the general appeal of the place, it also has a prolific assortment of stone walls which you simply don't see in MA/NH (wooden fences are less burdensome, assuming you have trees handy). Such an awesome little town.

Shhh!

I think what you meant to say is that Little Compton is a terrible, horrible place that nobody should ever go to ever.

And for the record, lots of Westport (including the Acoaxet section, which you can't even get to without cutting through a small part of Little Compton- Adamsville), Dartmouth, and even Tiverton is the same (Tiverton- running all the way up to the MA border at Fall River, is a tale of two completely different places). All Beautiful.

[ladyalicemore]

If we are talking about dream locations, somewhere between the B and C cross streets on Commonwealth Ave in the Back Bay, Boston, in a flat in one of the majestic brownstones there.

I was a house sitter in that neighborhood once for a summer, watching the house in exchange for free rent for some affluent friends. Spoiled me forever, the convenience and beauty of that idyllic spot so near the Public Gardens.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Shhh!

I think what you meant to say is that Little Compton is a terrible, horrible place that nobody should ever go to ever.

And for the record, lots of Westport (including the Acoaxet section, which you can't even get to without cutting through a small part of Little Compton- Adamsville), Dartmouth, and even Tiverton is the same (Tiverton- running all the way up to the MA border at Fall River, is a tale of two completely different places). All Beautiful.

Yeah, that whole swath of land is quite nice. Additionally, the weather is borderline temperate if one is accustomed to central MA winters, such as myself. No need to retire in the Carolina's when there's the RI coast.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by MAtoNC!

Marblehead and Newburyport

Spring Lake NJ or Stockbridge ,Lenox or Lee Mass...maybe even Williams Mass.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Yeah, that whole swath of land is quite nice. Additionally, the weather is borderline temperate if one is accustomed to central MA winters, such as myself. No need to retire in the Carolina's when there's the RI coast.

Just returned from vacation in Little Compton! Weather was perfect, just love the lushness of that area (for NE). And yes, the meticulous stone walls are one of the first thing that stands out about the place. Spent a little time in Westport as well, didn't realize how pretty a town it was after usually flying down Rte. 88 on the way to the beach.

Even South Shore Beach surprised me for the better. I had been there years ago, but there's much more to it than I remember.

Overall a great trip.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Shhh!

I think what you meant to say is that Little Compton is a terrible, horrible place that nobody should ever go to ever.

And for the record, lots of Westport (including the Acoaxet section, which you can't even get to without cutting through a small part of Little Compton- Adamsville), Dartmouth, and even Tiverton is the same (Tiverton- running all the way up to the MA border at Fall River, is a tale of two completely different places). All Beautiful.

I have friends who live in Westport off River Road a bit north of Acoaxet. Yep. You have to drive a few hundred yards in the Adamsville part of Little Compton to get there. I was bummed when Abram Manchester's in Adamsville burned. A great spot for Sunday brunch or to hear a band. The Barn is still there for breakfast.

Mom used to have a waterfront house on the Sakonnet River in Tiverton not too far from Four Corners/Gray's Ice Cream. They have higher property taxes so I scratched it off my list. I really wanted a $10 mil rate town. Tiverton's mil rate is up near $20 per thousand. The property tax rate scratched Marion and Mattapoisett off my list, too.

The big problem with Little Compton if you're there for boating is the lack of harbor with moorings. Unless you go back generations where you inherit the mooring, you're not getting one of the few in Sakonnet Harbor and there isn't much parking there to park a car and trailer to use the town landing. Your boat is going to float in Westport.

I'm not all that much of a beach person but the Rhode Island coast from Point Judith to the CT line is another low property tax area with reasonable housing costs. My retirement math works best when the house doesn't tie up a huge fraction of my net worth and where the property tax burden is very low.

I like the Casco Bay towns but the boating season is far too short.