Place near waltham (Framingham, Arlington, Billerica: for sale by owner, real estate, condos)

[yatinkamal]

Hi,

I have a family with 2 kids. We are looking for a single family house and Can you recommend/suggest some places near waltham. We can afford around $360k.

Thanks,
-k

[goyguy]

You can find nice houses IN Waltham within that budget. It might take some doing, but you could possibly snag something in neighboring Belmont (better public schools) in that range too. Arlington, the next town east of Belmont along Route 60, would have more options in a town with schools comparable to Waltham's but in a less diversely-populated setting. Ditto for Watertown, which abuts Waltham to the east along Route 20. That's as close as you're going to get geographically; looking a bit farther afield, the towns of Needham, Maynard, Chelmsford, and Billerica would have the most available for $350k or less.

[yatinkamal]

Thanks for the quick response. Which web-sites I can use for looking for home for sale? I don't want to have a buyer's agent, is it possible to do home-search without buyer's agent??

Thanks,
K

[smarty]

You can search. But, if you want to buy, you still need an agent. Unless you buy a house that does not use an agent, the owner still need to pay the agent's fee since you have to contact their agent. Btw... owner pays agent fees since they work for him.

you can checkout isoldmyhouse.com or for sale by owner on boston globe.

If you just want to look at listing, realtors.com.

[beefstew]

You can buy a house without a "traditional" buyer's agent.

My husband & I just bought a place in Waltham. We went to several open houses & were lucky enough to find a place that we liked without having to call an agent to set up an appointment for us. Then to make an offer, we used Redfin (Redfin: The Market-Leading Online Real Estate Brokerage) - basically a buyer's agent that lets you do the home search legwork & helps you with the offer-making & closing process - and refunds you 2/3 of the buyer's agent commission! They will also take you around to properties if necessary, but they charge for this beyond your first day of showings.

Also, Massachusetts allows dual agency, whereby you can have the listing agent of the home that you find be your buyer's agent too. I believe the seller has to agree to this. IMO, it really doesn't benefit to do this because the seller counts on paying the commission - I don't think that their agent will agree to taking a lower commission as a bargaining chip - and it is good to have someone on your own side.

A few thoughts on the original post - I think you'd be very hard-pressed to find single family homes in Needham or Belmont or Arlington in that price range. Waltham is by far the most affordable of the inner suburbs.

Trulia - Real Estate, Homes For Sale, Sold Properties, Real Estate Maps is a good place to look at listings.

[Jefferino]

Why in the world would you ever move to an area you are not familiar with, plan to spend probably $400K on property, and not use an experienced buyer's agent? It will cost you nothing, and save you thousands. I have had incredibly good experiences with buyers agents. I am working with one now in the Chelmsford area, and it is saving me a lot of time, money, and hassle. I can provide a high-quality referral that I have used if you like.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by goyguy

You can find nice houses IN Waltham within that budget. It might take some doing, but you could possibly snag something in neighboring Belmont (better public schools) in that range too. Arlington, the next town east of Belmont along Route 60, would have more options in a town with schools comparable to Waltham's but in a less diversely-populated setting. Ditto for Watertown, which abuts Waltham to the east along Route 20. That's as close as you're going to get geographically; looking a bit farther afield, the towns of Needham, Maynard, Chelmsford, and Billerica would have the most available for $350k or less.

I doubt you'd find a single family for $360K in Belmont, or even in Arlington. It's hard to find condos at that range there. I also think that Arlington's schools are considerably better than Waltham's or Watertown's. Needham is also a stretch budget-wise. The other towns named would be better bets, as would perhaps Framingham.