Why is Essex County so expensive ? (Boston, Salem: renting, houses, buying)

[cwaggy]

I bought in Essex 20 years ago - paid $170K for a 1420SF 'New Englander' ....that is an old house with two or three additions. I immediately dropped $60K in cash to replace the roof, install skylights, siding, paint, gutted 70% of the interior and re-wired, blueboard/plaster, wood floors and a bathroom remodel. I was the GC and was able to pay less than a typical homeowner. in 2010, me and the GFF (girl friend forever) added a master bedroom suite bringing the total SF to 1600SF and tying all the remuddled additions together; cost us about $70K, with me pulling permits and subbing out the work. Now the house is valued at about $450K and I get calls from RE Agents almost weekly asking if I want to sell, they have a buyer. My understanding is at about $450K, it's the Sweet Spot in the market and listings get bid up when they come on the market. Also of note is that taxes in Essex on the same property went from $2200/year in 1997 to over $6000 today. We now have a sewer system (tied into Gloucester) and one of the top-rated school districts in the state and a beautiful new high school in the district we share with Manchester.

Buying in Essex was about the best decision I ever made. It is a fabulous place to live....but we do need affordable housing on Cape Ann, including Essex because too many people are priced out of the market.

[Boston_Burbs]

Essex county is under priced for what it brings to the table.

Depending on the time of the year you can downhill ski, sail, swim in the ocean, swim in a lake, buy produce from an organic farm, apple pick, clam, fish, go to a vineyard, etc. all within commuting distance to a top 10 job market in the USA. I always wondered what the hype was for boring metro west towns who's claim to fame was a commuter rai to Boston.

[Partial Observer]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

Essex county is under priced for what it brings to the table.

Depending on the time of the year you can downhill ski, sail, swim in the ocean, swim in a lake, buy produce from an organic farm, apple pick, clam, fish, go to a vineyard, etc. all within commuting distance to a top 10 job market in the USA. I always wondered what the hype was for boring metro west towns who's claim to fame was a commuter rai to Boston.

I wouldn't say Essex County is underpriced so much as prospective homebuyers are overinherited and oversalaried.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

Essex county is under priced for what it brings to the table.

Depending on the time of the year you can downhill ski, sail, swim in the ocean, swim in a lake, buy produce from an organic farm, apple pick, clam, fish, go to a vineyard, etc. all within commuting distance to a top 10 job market in the USA. I always wondered what the hype was for boring metro west towns who's claim to fame was a commuter rai to Boston.

You know, while certainly no dig at metro-west as it's a lovely area, I've often thought the same thing about it's location.

[timberline742]

Metro west is easier access to the city if you're not directly on a commuter rail stop, which is a big deal.

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Metro west is easier access to the city...

Easier, how?

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by gf2020

Easier, how?

Route 2 and The Pike for starters.


Just getting to 128/95 is an absolute chore on the North Shore most of the time. It takes forever. Then to 93.


North Shore only really works if you're near a commuter line and going to a place near North Station. Otherwise you're SOOL. Work in Cambridge? SOOL. Work someplace not walkable from North Station? SOOL.


Metro West gives you a ton more flexibility. Also, more future flexibility in career locations.

[gf2020]

You seem to be forgetting routes 95, 1 and 1A. They all offer a quicker drive in to downtown Boston than route 2 or the Mass Pike.

You leave Westborough at 7:15 AM on a Monday and I'll leave Newbury at the same time and we'll see who gets to Haymarket or Copley Square quicker. The guy coming from the north will win that race 95 days out of 100.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by gf2020

You seem to be forgetting routes 95, 1 and 1A. They all offer a quicker drive in to downtown Boston than route 2 or the Mass Pike.

You leave Westborough at 7:15 AM on a Monday and I'll leave Newbury at the same time and we'll see who gets to Haymarket or Copley Square quicker. The guy coming from the north will win that race 95 days out of 100.

I mentioned 95. And commuting on Rte 1 sucks, did it enough to know it blows. Thanks Peabody GF.


Ok, how about to Cambridge. It isn't all about downtown Boston. It's Kendall, it's Harvard Sq, it's other parts of Boston. And Haymarket is at North Station.


And not Westborough, but Framingham or Lexington.


And you get transferred from Cambridge now to a job in Canton. Better from Framingham? How is that flexibility in the commute from Newbury to Canton?


Who has the better commute now?


You didn't read what I actually wrote.


Try it, it would help.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by gf2020

You seem to be forgetting routes 95, 1 and 1A.

You even have 495 to get to 93 for the northern part of Essex County.


But you have 95, 495, and 128 snaking through Essex. Traffic on these roads tends to move pretty good and you can make your way down to the Rt1/Rt1a area pretty quickly and get into Boston that way. If you get on Rt1 before 6:45ish you can actually fly down pretty far before hitting traffic. I've done this drive over the last 20 years here and there and it's not bad at all. Usually I hit traffic around the rt60 area. I used to commute to College (circa 1999) down Rt1 and onto Storrow drive and that was a nightmare. Had to move into the dorm to save myself from that hell but after the Big Dig wrapped up completely, it's gotten a hell of a lot better. Even the tobin is better now that they did away with the toll booths. I know that's a recent thing, but the last time I went down this route I remember thinking how much improved that was.

I have a brother-in-law and sister-in-law who live in Portsmouth, NH and both work in Cambridge. I was just asking them about their commutes and they said it's taking them about an hour to get into work in the AM leaving around 6AM. I know they come down I-95 but never asked which highway they took after that.


I don't think either commute is better. Sitting in traffic sucks no matter where you are. I just don't thinl driving into town from the North is all that bad, even though I still would rather avoid it if I could. I've done my share of sitting in misery on the Pike as well. Fortunately I don't need to get into town all that often these days.