First Time Home Buyer South of Boston (Brockton, Newton: transplants, how much)

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by Dm84

My advice, don't buy an SFH. There's no such thing as a low maintenance SFH, just maintenence and high maintenance.

Aint that the truth.


I went from a 5-year old condo where I barely had to do anything, to a SFH where I make 3-4 trips to Home Depot every week.


Yes, you still have to fix your toilet, but you don't need to worry about snow removal, landscaping, , getting trees, cut/pruned, fixing your driveway, and overall SFH tend to be larger than Condo's anyway, so more to do.




Still, I love not being under an HOA anymore.

[MrLinderman]

Originally Posted by vtecluder617

I think Braintree is more desirable because of the redline and its "better" schools. Plus the property tax is lower. We actually looked at houses in Braintree in 2013 and they were getting snatched up for over asking price. We ended up in Hanover instead (which we love).

But, Weymouth is definitely a hot spot now as well. I think a lot of people that are priced out of Braintree ended up in Weymouth. Its becoming unaffordable as well.

You have a point there, but I think the people who base their decisions off the property tax and red line (not the schools, they are a quite a bit better- although there are tons of private elementary and high schools around) are doing themselves a disservice. The problem with basing their choice off the redline is that public transportation to the redline isn't any better in Braintree than Weymouth, and the simple fact that the Braintree garage is usually filled between 7-7:15 at the latest. It's very small, and it's a consideration easily overlooked. With regards to the property tax, Braintree's is a bit lower (10.98 to 12.80), but with the stark difference in values of homes between the towns, you'll end up paying as much, if not more in taxes in Braintree for comparable homes.

I have nothing against Braintree at all (I'm an Archies boy). But I think people are looking in Braintree because it's the trendy place to look. The market is hot as Hades in there, but I think it's a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy- people say Braintree is becomign trendy, and then -viola- Braintree becomes trendy. It has tons of pluses, but your dollar does not got far at all there. We went to an open house that must have had 45 people there last week, for a house in Braintree for like 399- that in my opinion was a boderline tear-down. At the very least it needed to be gutted top to bottom.

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by MrLinderman

I have nothing against Braintree at all (I'm an Archies boy). But I think people are looking in Braintree because it's the trendy place to look. The market is hot as Hades in there, but I think it's a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy- people say Braintree is becomign trendy, and then -viola- Braintree becomes trendy. It has tons of pluses, but your dollar does not got far at all there. We went to an open house that must have had 45 people there last week, for a house in Braintree for like 399- that in my opinion was a boderline tear-down. At the very least it needed to be gutted top to bottom.

Thats what we experienced in 2013. Every open house was mobbed with people. Literally waiting our "turn" to view a bedroom because 3 couples were already in there! After putting a full asking price offer on a home in East Braintree, and it getting rejected because someone went in over asking, we decided maybe Braintree wasn't for us haha.

[MrLinderman]

Originally Posted by vtecluder617

Thats what we experienced in 2013. Every open house was mobbed with people. Literally waiting our "turn" to view a bedroom because 3 couples were already in there! After putting a full asking price offer on a home in East Braintree, and it getting rejected because someone went in over asking, we decided maybe Braintree wasn't for us haha.

Yup. We've pretty much written Braintree off, short of the perfect home at the perfect price (which won't happen). We also had a really bad experience at an open house in Braintree last weekend that kinda turned us off to the town in general (probably because I look like Jonny Gomes a little bit, and was dressed a bit casually) in which the agent literally followed us around without saying anything because he thought we would steal or some nonsense.

I hate hate hate tooting my own horn, but in that house I noticed the owner had his law degree hanging on the wall, so I turned around and looked at the agent and said "Oh that's weird, I went to a much better law school than he did," and then smiled, told my wife this house wasn't for us, and walked out. Guess I'll have to dress better for open houses than I do for work

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

+1 on not understanding why weymouth isnt becoming more desireable yet everywhere else is. Its right next to hingham. One would think it would have become 'hot' before braintee esp since its near the water.

Unattractive housing.

[vtecluder617]

Originally Posted by MrLinderman

Yup. We've pretty much written Braintree off, short of the perfect home at the perfect price (which won't happen). We also had a really bad experience at an open house in Braintree last weekend that kinda turned us off to the town in general (probably because I look like Jonny Gomes a little bit, and was dressed a bit casually) in which the agent literally followed us around without saying anything because he thought we would steal or some nonsense.

I hate hate hate tooting my own horn, but in that house I noticed the owner had his law degree hanging on the wall, so I turned around and looked at the agent and said "Oh that's weird, I went to a much better law school than he did," and then smiled, told my wife this house wasn't for us, and walked out. Guess I'll have to dress better for open houses than I do for work

Wow that would have really ticked me off. Thats why I never judge a book by its cover

[Whatsnext75]

Braintree stinks. I wouldnt want to live there.

[n1ey]

Originally Posted by erkmove

I'm purchasing my first home - single, 30YO female, so school districts not important, sense of community and.or neighborhood with young-ish professionals or families and activities is. Work part of the time from home, part of the time in Boston so don't want a terrible commute but not an everyday concern. Friends are in Medford/Somerville but I'm priced out of homes or condos there. Family in CT and on the Cape so South of the city seems better then North. Need to be near-ish the ocean. Budget is $270K for condo or apt, and up to $340K for a home provided it's low maintenance. Ideally wanted to be in Quincy but finding limited options in condos in my price range, move over to Weymouth and a lot of options seem to be just commuter complexes with no character. Have heard mixed reviews of Weymouth as a town also.
What are people's opinions on towns like Abington or Rockland if I were to buy a SFH instead of a condo? I don't especially want to be as far from the city as Marshfield/Scituate/Cohasset, though I love those towns, but I'm pretty much priced out of there too.

Stay away from Weymouth, Abington, and Rockland. You will not buy a condo with easy re-sale in the southern parts of those towns. You might do well in the area of Weymouth near the water or Hingham.

There is a major drug problem in Abington. The condos in Abington actually border Brockton. They are not near transit. You lose a major advantage. Many of the SFH structures in Abington are over priced. They are not actually cheap. Houses are selling for 500k in Abington. 300k would require a lot of rebuilding in Abington.

Rockland is in a transit desert. It is not on the commuter rail. The school system is considerably better than the one found in Abington. Most of the neighborhoods are not rated highly save for the one on hill. You are not getting in there for cheap.

Bill

[jan0105]

There are plenty of (relatively) less expensive houses on the market in Abington.

https://www.redfin.com/city/29811/MA/Abington

[MrLinderman]

Originally Posted by n1ey

Stay away from Weymouth, Abington, and Rockland. You will not buy a condo with easy re-sale in the southern parts of those towns. You might do well in the area of Weymouth near the water or Hingham.

There is a major drug problem in Abington. The condos in Abington actually border Brockton. They are not near transit. You lose a major advantage. Many of the SFH structures in Abington are over priced. They are not actually cheap. Houses are selling for 500k in Abington. 300k would require a lot of rebuilding in Abington.

Rockland is in a transit desert. It is not on the commuter rail. The school system is considerably better than the one found in Abington. Most of the neighborhoods are not rated highly save for the one on hill. You are not getting in there for cheap.

Bill

If you knew anything at all about Weymouth you'd know that South Weymouth is the nicest part of Weymouth by far, and North Weymouth is one of the worst parts of town.