~$1.5mm budget; up to 50min commute to Back Bay; looking for a nice suburb north or west? (Boston: real estate, new home)

[New2Boston1985]

My wife and I are relocating to Boston with our young child and are trying to focus on neighborhoods that would work for us. I will be working near the Prudential Center and would like to keep the commute under 50 minutes, if possible. We are both professionals and enjoy being in a place with some energy and proximity to restaurants and a golf course, but would also like a place with enough room for a decently sized house and a bit of a yard. We have a house hunting budget of appx. $1.5mm, give or take. Any suggestions?

[jayrandom]

With your budget Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, and Needham would all fit the bill, depending on what you mean by "decently sized" and "a bit of a yard". In general there's more energy and less space as you move toward Boston. All those places have restaurants and are easily 50 minutes from the Pru. Places like Lexington, Belmont, and Winchester could work, too, but getting to Back Bay from the west is usually easier.

Your budget is big enough and your requirements vague enough that it's hard to give a more specific answer. All seven places I've mentioned have great schools and are safe and there are likely other great options I haven't mentioned. Your best bet is to visit and see what you like. If that's not possible you could give more details about what you're looking for.

[New2Boston1985]

Thank you jayrandom, that is a helpful starter. Do you think a commute from a place like Andover would be prohibitively onerous?

[New2Boston1985]

Also, what is Needham like?

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by New2Boston1985

Thank you jayrandom, that is a helpful starter. Do you think a commute from a place like Andover would be prohibitively onerous?

I think it's a waste when you can afford to live much closer.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by New2Boston1985

Thank you jayrandom, that is a helpful starter. Do you think a commute from a place like Andover would be prohibitively onerous?

Originally Posted by Dm84

I think it's a waste when you can afford to live much closer.

This. Every town is a compromise between quality, proximity, and cost. You can generally optimize two. With your budget you don't need to optimize cost. Someone with a smaller budget--or say family in Andover--might find the commute tolerable, but you can do so much better.

Originally Posted by New2Boston1985

Also, what is Needham like?

Needham is an upscale, relatively dense suburb. There are parts of town with shops and restaurants where you can walk most places, there are also parts of town that are remote houses with giant lots in the woods, and there are parts inbetween those two extremes. There's nothing that someone from the Northeast Corridor would consider urban and nothing someone from Nebraska would consider rural. It has decent commuter rail service to Boston (three stops in town, but the line is relatively slow). It's also close enough that driving isn't horrible.

A forum regular--MikePRU--is the resident Needham expert. Hopefully he will chime in as well, as all I can offer is the perspective of someone who lives in a nearby town.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by New2Boston1985

Thank you jayrandom, that is a helpful starter. Do you think a commute from a place like Andover would be prohibitively onerous?

With a $1.5M budget, you could certainly have a very nice house in Andover. However, the commute would be long and youR budget could certainly get you a nice house in a nice town located much closer to work.

Originally Posted by New2Boston1985

Also, what is Needham like?

I've lived in Needham for almost 10 years and I'm also a real estate agent as well.

I find the people of the town are incredibly friendly and welcoming on the whole. There are tons and tons of activities for families in town, the schools here are excellent, and the town center has a number of great shops and restaurants. There are 4 commuter rail stations in town and excellent highway access. Plus tons of parks, playgrounds, and trails in town. Also, not in town but nearby are major shopping centers like Legacy Place, University Station, the Natick Mall, and Patriot Place.

In your budget, I would expect a brand new or relatively new home in the 4 to 5 thousand square foot range on a 1/4 to 1/3 acre size lot on a quiet side street.

This weekend is a big one in Needham. There was a huge fireworks display last night and today there's an old fashioned super hokey parade. I love living here.

[bjimmy24]

With that budget, the farthest out I'd consider living is Newton.

[brienzi]

Maybe a bit more for your buck in Sudbary.. Check out Lexington, Concord and Bedford too.

[Parsec]

You mention you want to keep the commute to 50 minutes, but you didn't mention where your wife works. I'm in Sudbury and I think it's definitely the best bang for your buck within an hour of the Pru (my neighbor works around there and it takes him 45 minutes leaving at 6:30am), but with your budget I wouldn't move this far out unless you desire a 6,000 sqft house on an acre. It's also probably too quiet for you since you are looking for a place with some energy.

You can certainly find "normal" size homes on a tidy lot much closer to the Pru in denser towns like Newton or even Wellesley. Honestly, these are the only 2 towns I would consider if I had a $1.5mm budget and worked in Boston. I'd probably look in Brookline too, but realize quickly that my budget is too small to get what I want there but I just wanted to throw that out there in case you're okay with spending that much money on just a 3 bedroom house. Newton is more urban and is probably the best overall commuting suburb in the Boston area (access to both I-95 and the Mass Pike, Rt-9 into Boston, green line, commuter rail, and express bus). Wellesley is just slightly further west, but has bigger lots on tree-lined streets. It feels more like a leafy suburb than Newton, but still has a nice walkable downtown. It has access to the Mass Pike (this is the highway you'll take to get to the Pru) as well as 3 commuter rail stations.