Maynard, MA? (Acton, Concord, Stow: for sale, real estate, 2013)

[honeylemonbutter]

Hello!

My fiance and I are looking to buy and noticed houses in Maynard, MA seem pretty affordable. We have particularly found houses on Glendale Street in Maynard - seems like the entire street is for sale! Does anyone have knowledge of Maynard or this particular street? Is something wrong with it?!?!?!

Thanks!

[Happy in Maynard]

Drive through any town between late May and early September and you will find multiple homes for sale. In Maynard there are many retired folks on fixed-incomes that are not happy with recent over-rides to improve the schools so they may be downsizing. There are many young highly educated professionals moving-in who enjoy the walk-able downtown and city feel but like the low crime rate; one of the lowest in the State. Younger families are very supportive of the schools and can afford the over-rides.

Maynard is one of the communities in Massachusetts where the homes are more affordable. Maynard is a well kept secret. My wife and I moved to Maynard in 2002 and we really like it. It's a very small close-knit community with lots of young families. As you'll see when you drive around, a new State of the Art High School is being built; scheduled completion of 2013. Maynard has a new Superintendent of schools (7/11), new High School Principal, new Middle School Principal and new Elementary School Principal. School District has new electronic i-pass system to communicate with parents and highly qualified and experienced teachers are in place. The new Town Manager is extremely bright and has lots of experience and ideas for controlled development of open spaces.

One of the things that attracted us to Maynard is: unlike surrounding communites, Maynard is both culturally and economically diverse. Maynard is also a little funky and irreverant and really relishes its independent thinkers. This sometimes gives outsiders a mixed signal but if you live there you get-it. I hope this helps you.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by Happy in Maynard

One of the things that attracted us to Maynard is: unlike surrounding communites, Maynard is both culturally and economically diverse. Maynard is also a little funky and irreverant and really relishes its independent thinkers. This sometimes gives outsiders a mixed signal but if you live there you get-it. I hope this helps you.

I love Maynard and the fact that it chose to revitalize its schools, but I wouldn't get too carried away. No one would mistake any of the towns in the area for coastal California or NYC, including Maynard. In 2000, Maynard was 94.64% white. Now, I'm sure it's become more culturally diverse, maybe even at a faster rate than surrounding towns, but it can't be dramatically more so in ten years when the immigration rate is so low in MA. FWIW, neighboring West Concord was 83.59% white in 2000. Housing is significantly cheaper, even by half, but $300k ($200/sq. ft.) average is still a chunk of change for most of the country. Regardless, I do agree that Maynard is different from its surrounding towns and the entire area benefits as a result.

Edited to add: According to this site, Maynard is 93% white now with a cost of living index of 133.4 while West Concord is 138.8 (which is 78% white now so one could even argue it's getting culturally diverse at a faster rate).

[brightdoglover]

The roads approaching Maynard have a critical mass of stuff like auto parts, parking lots for cars, etc., which leads to a downbeat look, but that's is misleading.
Regarding "white/etc.", there is a thriving Brazilian community in Maynard as there is in surrounding towns. There are a number of good restaurants and a good little moviehouse in downtown Maynard. I don't know anything about school systems, but I think Maynard is a decent mix of the old working class and newer arrivals, with good access to roads.

[Happy in Maynard]

Diversity doesn't always include shades of brown. Diversity includes Canadian, Dutch, Irish, German, English and Scandinavian. They would all categorize themselves as "white". I am amazed at the number of recent come-overs from Ireland and the UK calling Maynard home. Attend a town meeting, youth soccer game, the farmers market, the Outdoor Store or Neighborhood Pizza House and you'll hear multiple accents from a wide range of "white" cultures.

The schools are improving. My kids have lots of well adjusted friends who are college-bound. Last years High School class had a mix of college choices: Princeton, BC, Holy Cross as well as WPI, St. Michaels and UMass. A few kids chose the trades.

The Acton side of Maynard has Christmas Tree Motors and the State Police Forensic Center. The Concord side has some retailers; Wendy's, Jiffy Lube, Powder Mill Equipment, Eastern Bank. The subury and Stow sides are nicer residential.

I do agree with bright-dog-lover on other points. Maynard is an ecclectic mix of the old and the new. Maynard is a hidden-gem. In terms of Glendale Street, I know an artist and a professional photographer that live on that Street. It's fairly friendly neighborhood.

[Mass-Ark-Mass]

I just stumbled across this old thread after making a similar observation that Glendale Street seems to feature several properties that are selling below $200,000 and some even below $150,000 on a lot of the real estate web sites.

Are these just small lots or is this just deceptively pricing of foreclosures? Are there are in fact houses that can be found around say $150,000- $175,000 that aren't massive fixer uppers (I can do cosmetic interior work and some electrical repair)?

If these prices are legitimate, I would consider buying one of those cute 850-1000 sq ft houses so that me and the puppies would enjoy a place with a backyard to play fetch and barbecue. You'd all be invited over to try my ribs and brisket if that were the case...

[ogre]

Check out the bird's eye view at this mapping website: Bing Maps - Driving Directions, Traffic and Road Conditions. What you'll see there is pretty typical of properties in Maynard. Most yards are on the small side, but they are real yards, not the little strips of grass barely separating one house from the house behind it like you find in a lot of city residential neighborhoods. You might think twice about Maynard if your dogs are border collies or some other rural breed that needs a lot of room to really run around, but for breeds more toward the average in their need for space, that street, and most of Maynard, should be fine.

I'm not familiar with housing prices in general in Maynard, but my best guess is that many properties that look like bargains there are probably legit. Maynard has a long history as a blue-collar town, and in recent years has attracted an influx of young professionals ready to leave the city and start families. Most likely the reason you can still find bargains in Maynard is that this influx of young professionals has been happening for a short enough time that it has not yet driven up property values. The countryside surrounding Maynard is peaceful semi-rural exurbia, while Maynard itself, having an industrial past, is more densely built and has a real downtown area. I'd guess that what is attracting the city-expatriate yuppies is that they can raise the families they're starting in a nice quiet, safe area while still having some of the walk-to-the-local-shops-around-the-corner feel they had in the city.

The bottom line is that Maynard has kind of a plain appearance, but it's not a run-down dump of a town or anything like that. It's a rather nice town in fact, and is likely to be getting even nicer. Definitely worth a look if you find a property with a price that's right, and you'd enjoy a walking kind of town with local shopping and dining, and some nice orchard-country outdoor scenery as close as the adjacent towns.

[brightdoglover]

One thing that might keep Maynard prices down is the proliferation of auto businesses on some of the approaches to the town- not strip malls or anything, just garages and other "plain" businesses right on the side of the small two-lane road. Might put some people off.
I think Maynard is a fine place. I've gone there for dinner and a movie many times. Nice downtown feel.

[wheelz]

Originally Posted by honeylemonbutter

Hello!

My fiance and I are looking to buy and noticed houses in Maynard, MA seem pretty affordable. We have particularly found houses on Glendale Street in Maynard - seems like the entire street is for sale! Does anyone have knowledge of Maynard or this particular street? Is something wrong with it?!?!?!

Thanks!

I know this is old news, but Glendale st. is a bypass between the main drag and rt 27. It is a short stretch of road and is somewhat undesirable, actually, you couldn't pay me to live there, but that's just me. Maynard is building a new high school and their taxes, and in turn, their residents' wallets, are feeling the affects.

I have not had first hand experience, thankfully, but the police force in Maynard is brutal. It seems as though their definition of "To Protect and to serve" entails writing as many tickets as humanly possible. I see them on a daily basis, if they do happen to pull you over, expect backup to show up almost immediately.

I don't live in Maynard, but I drive through on a daily basis.

[insertname]

The houses seem more affordable but don't neglect to factor in the higher taxes. Seems taxes right now are over $6000, most houses i have looked at are around $6700, that can add an extra $100 + to your monthly expenses compared to a lot of other towns.

I have been debating Maynard too. But those high taxes have been a turn off so far.

ETA: Just saw this was old! Hopefully OP found their home!