Good for families ...

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Parsec

Well played. I would've been more blunt and said a 4 bedroom house in a desirable town can easily fetch $5-7k/month in monthly rent. You'd need a salary of at least $200k/year (but preferably $250-300k) to afford that! If he owns the plumbing company and employs a crew of 30 plumbers, that's all fine and dandy. But if he's just a self-employed plumber who employs even a few subcontractors, that's not feasible.

EDIT for the OP: I wasn't clear in my original post, but in MA you need to document income to rent a home. It doesn't matter if you have $5 million in the bank. Money may not be an issue, but income does matter.

If the OP's spouse is a plumber/electrician and already has a base of operations then I'm guessing they're not self employed. I have no idea what such a person makes but I can't imagine that budget is not a concern unless as you say they own a large company but it doesn't sound like that's the case here.

So, I think "what's your budget for housing?" becomes an important question.

[MrsStorr]

As a basis let's say that our budget for monthly rent is between $3000-$4000 per month

[kingeorge]

Your budget will not go very far in most desirable communities, especially if you are looking to rent a house. Further you move out of Boston harder it gets to find good rentals. We do have serious lack of family sized apartments and homes for rent. It is not impossible, but it is often harder and more competitive than you would think.

Educate yourself on lead issue to be aware of it, since your baby is still very small.

I would try to look in Newton or Needham. Newton will have most rentals than any other places mentioned. It has very has high preforming schools and very educated and cosmopolitan community. Needham is very sought after with nice community and great schools but possibly less cosmopolitan in its character than Newton. It is in general much easier to make friends in areas where many families came to MA from other areas, than living in the same spot for generations.

You might want to consider hiring RE agent to help you get in more places and help you have more options in available apartments or homes. Or, you might zoom on small time landlords who do not want to sell nice place, and are looking for renters. You can save some money on the fees in that particular case. You also need first last and security which is usually 3x rent amount when signing a lease.

Good luck!

[MrsStorr]

Originally Posted by kingeorge

Your budget will not go very far in most desirable communities, especially if you are looking to rent a house. Further you move out of Boston harder it gets to find good rentals. We do have serious lack of family sized apartments and homes for rent. It is not impossible, but it is often harder and more competitive than you would think.

Educate yourself on lead issue to be aware of it, since your baby is still very small.

I would try to look in Newton or Needham. Newton will have most rentals than any other places mentioned. It has very has high preforming schools and very educated and cosmopolitan community. Needham is very sought after with nice community and great schools but possibly less cosmopolitan in its character than Newton. It is in general much easier to make friends in areas where many families came to MA from other areas, than living in the same spot for generations.

You might want to consider hiring RE agent to help you get in more places and help you have more options in available apartments or homes. Or, you might zoom on small time landlords who do not want to sell nice place, and are looking for renters. You can save some money on the fees in that particular case. You also need first last and security which is usually 3x rent amount when signing a lease.

Good luck!

Thank you so much; this is very useful.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by MrsStorr

As a basis let's say that our budget for monthly rent is between $3000-$4000 per month

Will you be here permanently? Are you renting looking to buy in a year or two? Schools aren't really going to be important for a few years so you may have a bit more flexibility. If you're looking for a single family rental you may need to consider a lot of towns as those are somewhat rare.

Based only on my interpretation of what you've written I'd guess Needham, Westwood, Canton, or Sharon would be good bets. Newton has a lot to offer, but it's a bit dense for the "kids riding around on their bikes in the street" suburb I picture you're looking for. Depending on your plans there's less need to get it right on the first try.

You're also paying a pretty steep premium for proximity to Boston which you don't seem to need. That's actually true to an increasingly smaller extent for Needham, Westwood, and Canton. Given that your budget isn't infinite, you might consider somewhere even further from the city.

[kingeorge]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Will you be here permanently? Are you renting looking to buy in a year or two? Schools aren't really going to be important for a few years so you may have a bit more flexibility. If you're looking for a single family rental you may need to consider a lot of towns as those are somewhat rare.

Based only on my interpretation of what you've written I'd guess Needham, Westwood, Canton, or Sharon would be good bets. Newton has a lot to offer, but it's a bit dense for the "kids riding around on their bikes in the street" suburb I picture you're looking for. Depending on your plans there's less need to get it right on the first try.

You're also paying a pretty steep premium for proximity to Boston which you don't seem to need. That's actually true to an increasingly smaller extent for Needham, Westwood, and Canton. Given that your budget isn't infinite, you might consider somewhere even further from the city.

One should bear in mind that OP is being completely new to this area, and our country. Also that OP will not have benefit of preschool or public schools for an easy new friend opportunities.

There is no question that OP could cast pretty wide net in their search. My advice for Newton or place with more urban-semi urban character is that it might offer better fit for possibly SAHM/new to country situation at first, and until OP becomes more familiar with this area.


IMHO Newton or town character similar to Newton could be easier on foreigner to plug-in. Many areas of Newton (but not all) are very walkable with many local playgrounds, and dense enough that would offer easier access to mommy groups, library kids programs, Boston etc. It seems much easier to move around and meet people in denser more walkable neighborhoods than car-dependent quiet suburb.

Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge etc. attract majority of well-off expatriates for a reason, or at least at first. Needham is an interesting option to explore as well. But, I am not sure about recent resident profile as opposed to 20 years ago when it was well to do "townie" town (no diss intended).

Yes, they can save money and move somewhere far away, but then risk OP being possibly very lonely and needing to be in traffic herself to be able to explore and entertain her baby.

Wouldn't it be more fun to be close to Boston and Cambridge for museums, family outings, and exploring all that this area has to offer? Living in far away suburbs when moving to new country and big new city seems like wasted opportunity, especially since they have healthy budget that will make for good options in rentals closer in.

All this being said, OP will do what OP finds to be the best fit.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Will you be here permanently? Are you renting looking to buy in a year or two? Schools aren't really going to be important for a few years so you may have a bit more flexibility. If you're looking for a single family rental you may need to consider a lot of towns as those are somewhat rare.

Based only on my interpretation of what you've written I'd guess Needham, Westwood, Canton, or Sharon would be good bets. Newton has a lot to offer, but it's a bit dense for the "kids riding around on their bikes in the street" suburb I picture you're looking for. Depending on your plans there's less need to get it right on the first try.

You're also paying a pretty steep premium for proximity to Boston which you don't seem to need. That's actually true to an increasingly smaller extent for Needham, Westwood, and Canton. Given that your budget isn't infinite, you might consider somewhere even further from the city.

I agree with Westwood or Canton. There will be more possible rentals in Canton but Westwood is a beautiful town and the schools are terrific.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by kingeorge

One should bear in mind that OP is being completely new to this area, and our country. Also that OP will not have benefit of preschool or public schools for an easy new friend opportunities.

There is no question that OP could cast pretty wide net in their search. My advice for Newton or place with more urban-semi urban character is that it might offer better fit for possibly SAHM/new to country situation at first, and until OP becomes more familiar with this area.


IMHO Newton or town character similar to Newton could be easier on foreigner to plug-in. Many areas of Newton (but not all) are very walkable with many local playgrounds, and dense enough that would offer easier access to mommy groups, library kids programs, Boston etc. It seems much easier to move around and meet people in denser more walkable neighborhoods than car-dependent quiet suburb.

Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge etc. attract majority of well-off expatriates for a reason, or at least at first. Needham is an interesting option to explore as well. But, I am not sure about recent resident profile as opposed to 20 years ago when it was well to do "townie" town (no diss intended).

Yes, they can save money and move somewhere far away, but then risk OP being possibly very lonely and needing to be in traffic herself to be able to explore and entertain her baby.

Wouldn't it be more fun to be close to Boston and Cambridge for museums, family outings, and exploring all that this area has to offer? Living in far away suburbs when moving to new country and big new city seems like wasted opportunity, especially since they have healthy budget that will make for good options in rentals closer in.

All this being said, OP will do what OP finds to be the best fit.

A lot of this is just guessing on our part. I know certain people who'd prefer Newton, others Needham, and even some that would prefer somewhere really sparse like Dover, so I don't think there is a single right answer. Kids playing in the street seemed like something more in line with the densities of Needham and Westwood than Newton, hence my suggestion.

I assumed (and probably others) that the OP would have access to a car, but if she won't the recommendations would change quite a bit.

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by kingeorge

Needham is an interesting option to explore as well. But, I am not sure about recent resident profile as opposed to 20 years ago when it was well to do "townie" town (no diss intended).

A lot of things come to mind when I think about Needham (wealthy, excellent schools, soccer moms driving Porsche Cayennes, etc) , but townie isn't one of them lol

[bohemka]

I see a larger decision to be made here, and that's Chicago vs. Boston. They are very different animals.

Coming from the UK, you'll find New England much more like home (if that is indeed your home). Having lived in both cities I can tell you, on the whole, people in Chicago are more outwardly personable, so I'm surprised you're not getting much help on that forum (unless everyone is just looking for houses and neighborhood advice there as well).

Without children, Chicago is one of the most fun places to live that I can think of. Things change with kids, though, and it's less about eating and drinking with friends and music festivals, and more about finding kid-friendly activities. The diversity of activities, ecosystems and topography that New England offers is hard to beat. When you leave Chicago, you've just left the most interesting place for miles and miles. When you leave Boston, you've got interesting stuff in every direction. It's more of a city vs. region decision.

Best of luck!