Interior Designer moving to Boston Area - Need Advice (Newton: appointed, 2013) - Massachusetts (MA) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

Gatorman4017 · 05-30-2015, 11:28 AM

Oh no doubt, there are beautiful houses here! They just aren't middle class houses. Anymore at least. They probably were originally. Especially out in the areas you listed. And the city of Boston has a lot of amazing places too, though I haven't been able to spend much time there. I thought I had been warned off of Medford, so I haven't really looked at it. Thoughts on schools there? Haverhill looks like it has a lot of potential, but the schools kind of kill it for me. Everyone talks up Boxford, but it just seems so isolated. If I have to give up living in any kind of town, I better have a pretty nice place. But $400K doesn't buy much there.
To be fair, every city has it's idiosyncrasies. St Louis has a lot of them, and most are bad. I mean, any city that cares that much about a baseball team is just stu- oh wait...

Gatorman4017 · 05-30-2015, 11:38 AM

Also, to be fair, I HATED St. Louis when I first moved there. And while there are things that still bug me about it, I came to realize that it's actually a pretty good place. As long as you don't mind seeing 4 anti abortion billboards roughly every mile and you can keep from rolling your eyes every time someone asks you where you went to high school.

495neighbor · 05-30-2015, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatorman4017

Oh no doubt, there are beautiful houses here! They just aren't middle class houses. Anymore at least. They probably were originally. Especially out in the areas you listed. And the city of Boston has a lot of amazing places too, though I haven't been able to spend much time there. I thought I had been warned off of Medford, so I haven't really looked at it. Thoughts on schools there? Haverhill looks like it has a lot of potential, but the schools kind of kill it for me. Everyone talks up Boxford, but it just seems so isolated. If I have to give up living in any kind of town, I better have a pretty nice place. But $400K doesn't buy much there.
To be fair, every city has it's idiosyncrasies. St Louis has a lot of them, and most are bad. I mean, any city that cares that much about a baseball team is just stu- oh wait...

Maybe check out Beverly and Amesbury if you haven't already done so.

The Jamaicaway/Arborway is another must see when you get around to touring Boston.

Gatorman4017 · 05-30-2015, 11:44 AM

Oh, and Melrose...I don't know. It's not terrible, but I haven't looked at it too much on this trip because there aren't any houses for sale there that would work for me. There's one in Andover that I'm putting an offer in on tomorrow at the open house, but I'm not holding my breath. I figure it'll sell for 20K over the list price - which is out of my range. Hopefully the people in Andover are nicer than the See You Next Tuesday listing agent for this place. Realtors in general here, from my experience so far, just suck. Hard. I've never seen people that make more money and are less willing to do anything for it. And I lived in L.A.!

495neighbor · 05-30-2015, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatorman4017

Oh, and Melrose...I don't know. It's not terrible, but I haven't looked at it too much on this trip because there aren't any houses for sale there that would work for me. There's one in Andover that I'm putting an offer in on tomorrow at the open house, but I'm not holding my breath. I figure it'll sell for 20K over the list price - which is out of my range. Hopefully the people in Andover are nicer than the See You Next Tuesday listing agent for this place. Realtors in general here, from my experience so far, just suck. Hard. I've never seen people that make more money and are less willing to do anything for it. And I lived in L.A.!

Fingers crossed for you on the Andover property.

donewithpretty · 05-30-2015, 12:15 PM

Uhh, the people saying no to Elle Decor are clearly not 30-40-something women in the Boston area! I would've killed for a designer like that a year ago.

Newburyport could be a good place for you, but you might be a little limited in the surrounding towns. Marblehead, Rockport, Manchester, and Newburyport itself are all nice, though you will get a lot of people asking for a coastal look. You would also be just over an hour from Portland, Maine, so you could try to attract clients there too.

Your kind of client is likely to live in Boston, Cambridge, Newton, Brookline, Weston, Concord, possibly Arlington or Lexington. Most of those are pretty far from Newburyport.

Are you on Houzz? You definitely want to be on their Boston interior designers list.

sparklingforest · 05-30-2015, 04:23 PM

it is an incredibly tight real estate market this year. We bought last year and would not be able to in our town this year with the competition and increased prices.

At your price point Danvers is a good choice; dull but solidly middle class. Did you look at Beverly? Ipswich is another possibility; offbeat with a cute downtown but hard to get to.

Gatorman4017 · 05-30-2015, 08:50 PM

I liked Ipswitch too. I was out there today, but it is really isolated. Little logistical things in life would consume me. I don't know how often I've had to go to Home Depot for example, gotten home and realized that I bought screws that were actually 1/4 inch too short and had to go back. Things like that would make my life miserable, as stupid as it sounds. My wife does the same thing with recipe ingredients.

alidmc · 05-31-2015, 07:44 AM

Good luck with the house in Andover, but be aware that location is everything in Andover. 400K for a house in Andover, especially if its in decent condition, is well below the average price. Many of those homes are near Lawrence and the crime from Lawrence bleeds over.
Did you check out Topsfield? Rt 1 and 95 run through the town and it is just North of Danvers. A bit more land, but still close to all of the malls and shopping (and two home depots) in Danvers and Peabody. Danvers is also a good option as is Beverly. Check out Middleton as well.
I hear you about the housing stock near Boston. I've lived here all my life and moved further North to get away from all the vinyl siding.
Best of luck! I think you will come to love this area as much as your old home. The hardest part is finding a home. Is it possible to rent for a few months? This is the hottest time of the year to buy a home. Things cool off in the fall and winter. The prices may not go down, but you the bidding wars tend to be less rampant.

Gatorman4017 · 05-31-2015, 09:16 PM

I found an absolute paradise in Londonderry that I love, but I'm really hesitant about the commute. I had an hour and a half drive each way in L.A. and I'm not excited to repeat it. But it wouldn't be a horrible commute to North Reading for my wife. Anyone have any advice about coming in on 93? Tips and or tricks?