Given the competitive market in MA, if you found an ideal home near town dump would you still go for it? (Arlington: days on market, rental)

[Bruins3445]

So we've been looking all over the state (and NH) and people are outbidding our offers, homes going under agreement hours after being listed.. It's insane. At the top of our budget, it still isn't much house for the dollar and I don't like the idea of being house poor.

So I took the advice many people here gave me and looked at condos. I still have my reservations about condos but for now I think I've found a town house large enough for my family to reside in for the next 10-15 years. It is on the lower end of our budget and even with the condo fee it wouldn't be bad. Plus not having to shovel snow or landscape is a perk.

The downside? The development is right next to the town dump. This was a huge concern but to be fair I didn't know it was a town dump until my wife saw the sign as we were scoping out the neighborhood. It is clean looking (as clean as a town dump can be). So we started asking neighbor's their experiences living near it and no one had any negative things to say. No foul smells or issues of that sort.

So it seems like a no brainer to move forward. Good price point. Solid HOA. Good town with good schools. Good access to highways for me. But something in the back of my mind just can't let go of the idea that it's a bad idea to live next to the town dump.


With the competitive market I don't have much time to dwell on this. I could wait and see if more things come on the market, but more houses means more competition for us to go up against and our realtor said they've never seen a market like this before. It's sellers market. I'm not thrilled with the rental situation we are in but it's short term so this would be motivation to buy now.

What would you do if you found a great property but it was near the town dump? For what it's worth, you cannot see the dump at all when you're inside the development and the development itself is very nicely maintained.

ETA: if it makes a difference, a former patriots player bought a really nice townhouse directly across from the town dump (not in same development as one I'm considering). Also, a huge developments with many homes that go for $1m are less than half mile away from town dump. It just doesn't seem like the town dump affects the value of homes or matters much to the community...

[Brave Stranger]

To be honest I would be more worried about the condo fees.....watched a friend's condo community in Arlington go from about 225$ per month in 2007 when he purchased the unit to over 500$ per month now & that's not adding in special assessment fees. The dump would not trouble me too much, unless you are on well & septic, then I would be more concerned.

[mdovell]

Here's a few things to consider

1) Is the dump active? If it is not active when did it close?

2) If it closed has it been capped yet?

[jan0105]

A friend lives next to the dump in our town. The only negative thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of flies in the summer. I would worry about resale a bit if I were you -- can you ask your agent to look up how many days on market units average in the complex?

[MikePRU]

Resale would be more biggest concern. If you like to garden, possible soil contamination would be next on my list. If you're absolutely convinced that you can't afford something in a better location then go for it. However, the one thing I would personally never compromise on is location.

[Peabody99]

I also would worry about condo fees and resale. Location, location, location! I bought a fixer-upper to get into a great neighborhood.

[Dm84]

Your budget is really the limiting factor here. IMO if this is really the best place you can find in budget I'd go for it.

[jayrandom]

Being near a dump bothers everyone some. Does it bother you less than it does the average buyer? If you're more comfortable with the location than someone else would be, it might be a good deal. Just remember that you'll get less when you sell so you'll need to pay that much less when you buy. Figure out what the discount for location is and don't pay more than that even if you think it's maybe worth more to you. That's a hard calculation to make so be careful.

[Dm84]

The OP's budget was approximately $300k if I remember correctly. IMO if the worst thing about the place at that price range is being near the dump I'd probably take it.

[Bruins3445]

Sorry I did not reply individually. I didn't have answers to some of the questions. However I just called "the dump" myself to inquire and apparently it is only a transfer station for trash. No actual burning or burying of trash done there. They did say that decades ago theyd bury trash but that was grown over with grass and is monitored by the EPA. She said they did a great job of completing the landfill aspect when the burying was shut down because most people don't even know it was once a landfill. To be honest I didn't know either until my wife noticed a sign that I would've missed.


The appeal of this condo is that it isn't a dump (no pun intended). As many of you warned me, and I quickly realized, on my budget I was seriously limited as to what I could find that would be VA eligible and wasn't a POS. The condo is move in ready, is essentially a duplex so it has ample space for us to expand to the basement, offers privacy, and the appeal of never mowing a lawn sounds sweet to me. It is closer to the $200k mark which means it will give us financial freedom (even wth the condo fee). In our situation I think we are doing the right thing rather than investing in an older, crappier home that will need work.

I will be thoroughly investigating the condo association. Do you recommend an attorney doing that? Debating if hiring a RE attorney will be worth it.