Like he** I'm going to pay these prices! (Boston, Cambridge: sale, renting)

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by redplum33

msRB311, there's a current thread in the non-romantic forum where some people are saying $7 million isn't a lot of money.

Ah that forum always provides some great drama. I'll have to venture over there.

[OutdoorLover]

Rent is very expensive here, so I agree that so long as you can work out an arrangement with your parents for you to live at home that everyone feels is fair and no one is being driven crazy, it's certainly best money-wise to do that for awhile and save up for a down-payment.

[Taffee72]

That's how I ended up buying a house in Worcester - priced out of Cambridge with the increasingly skyrocketing rents not affordable on my average salary.

[KemBro71]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Rent is very expensive here, so I agree that so long as you can work out an arrangement with your parents for you to live at home that everyone feels is fair and no one is being driven crazy, it's certainly best money-wise to do that for awhile and save up for a down-payment.

All the way up to my 30th birthday I lived with a roommate in a very un-hip but perfectly nice area just outside of Boston. (I wasn't saving for a down payment, but for a different life changing decision)

It was just something I made peace with.

[charolastra00]

I feel you. I just got my rent renewal notice. In just over 3 years, my 1 bedroom in Marlborough has gone from 1400 when I moved in to over 1800 a month. It's not a bad place, but I pay $5 for a load of laundry in a shared machine, have thin walls/ceilings, and a tiny kitchen with no storage space. For the amount I pay all the way out in Marlborough, all I want to do is buy. Wanting to buy to stop the hemorrhage is completely understandable, but the market is insane now. If you can, stay at home a little while longer. I would have given a kidney if I had the option to live at home for low/no rent. It's certainly hard to save for a house downpayment while also paying rent.


My grandmother wants to give me my (unexpected) inheritance early, but has refused to go through her lawyer/accountant so I have no money in hand yet. Some of the condos in buildings I was looking at in Lowell have gone from 280K in the fall to 320K now. It's unreal. My goal of buying before my lease renewal in June is looking like its off the table now unless I'm willing to push my budget up so that I have less than a 20% downpayment and more than 3x my income for a mortgage.



While I don't think prices are going to come down, I hope they start to even out again as inventory opens up and people have a better sense about whether and how often they will have to come into an office. If you can put away a mortgage payment a month for a few more months, you'll have a bit more wiggle room.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by Louisville Slugger

Properties sell what people are willing to pay for them. Location, location, location. Schools and a good commute to a city that offers great job economy helps as well.

Did you look at my Lynn example? It's not a good location. At all. 280k is the bottom of the market right now; what people are paying for the absolute worst of available housing stock.

Either move out of the area or make compromises.

I can't because I want to spend at least 3 years at my current job (in Andover, fwiw).

close to the city, with all the amenities and walkability, but only few get that.

There are condos in Lawrence that are going for ~200k. And trust me, I've thought about it, but I just can't bring myself to lower my standards that much to afford a starter home in the area.

I was like you, saved a ton after college by living with my parents.

For how long? Saving for the last year or so has been great, but I never wanted this to be a long-term solution!

Also renting is not throwing money away. You get a place to live and the flexibility to relocate without all the hassles and costs selling a property.

But I don't want to relocate because of the job factor. Not to mention, rental prices are all really high as well. I might as well get a mortgage if I'm going to be spending 1-2k per month anyway, right?

Be careful with condos. Look at the reserves and how well they are managed. Special assessments can really hurt each unit owner if the exterior is not being maintained and a certain percentage of the dues are not being set aside for a major upcoming expense. Talk to people who live in the condo buildings, visit the building at different times of the day, gather any meeting minutes from the person who manages the building.

Good advice! Thanks!

Originally Posted by massnative71

Keep living with your parents as long as you/them can stand it, meanwhile put away anything you can towards a down payment....Just be patient. Have a long term plan. And out of state is always an option, especially if you are not tied.

Yup, that's the plan even if I don't like it. Coming here to rant has definitely made me feel better, though!

Originally Posted by lrfox

The prices that seemed outrageous to us a few years ago became a lot more realistic with some career growth and savings. The pandemic sped things up for us, but it would have happened down the road anyway.

Part of my anxiety is: what if it only gets worse? What if the 280k crappy condo in Lynn is 500k in 5 years after all my time saving? And what if that's the cheapest on the market?

[KemBro71]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

The last thing I want to do is pay some unemployed shmuk tens of thousands of dollars a year for a single room in the working-class housing that his grandparents built a century ago before the Fair Labor Standards Act for peanuts and pocket change.

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

There are condos in Lawrence that are going for ~200k. And trust me, I've thought about it, but I just can't bring myself to lower my standards that much to afford a starter home in the area.

Coming here to rant has definitely made me feel better, though!

Try to remove emotion out of the equation, and consider things "temporary." I understand the FOMO/anxiety but lots could change. Hacving a steady good job is a real ace in the hole.

Your first home will probably be a 5-7 year thing, I think that's average?

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

Yup, that's the plan even if I don't like it. Coming here to rant has definitely made me feel better, though!

At least wait a few months or until when people start selling again. Like I said, prices on the more undesirable places especially are likely to come down a bit. If you're still not satisfied with what you can get, go from there...

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

Part of my anxiety is: what if it only gets worse? What if the 280k crappy condo in Lynn is 500k in 5 years after all my time saving? And what if that's the cheapest on the market?

Very unlikely, and playing to that kind of fear is the biggest mistake you can make. Even if prices do increase on garbage like that (which again I find very unlikely in the short term), I'm sure you can exceed in monthly savings whatever these properties would be increasing in the same time. If that condo price goes up by $200 a month and you save $500 a month, you still come out ahead.

You work in Andover, have you considered NH?

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by massnative71

You work in Andover, have you considered NH?

Yup, I've been casually keeping an eye on places in Nashua, Manchester, Exeter, Dover, Portsmouth, etc. but it hasn't struck me as much better than what I've seen across the border.

I'd really prefer to be close to a city, but for the right deal I'd even jump on something in a more rural town like Atkinson and towns north. But even places there are much more expensive than they were 3 years ago.

[cjs123]

Originally Posted by redplum33

msRB311, there's a current thread in the non-romantic forum where some people are saying $7 million isn't a lot of money.

Well, shoot...I dashed off a check for more than that this morning!