Inexpensive towns 3hrs from Boston (Amherst, Northampton: apartment complex, renting, houses)

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

one place I had looked at, but in full disclosure have never actually visited is Guilford, CT, which is near New Haven, on the water.

Agreed that shoreline CT (east of New Haven) is a great spot. A few other towns in that area that offer a lot with lower property tax mill rates than Guilford are Old Lyme and Old Saybrook. Many of these shoreline towns have seen rising real estate prices with people pushing farther from NYC and Boston.

[GeoffD]

3 hours at 70 mph from the Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge will get you as far north as Burke Mountain, VT in the Northeast Kingdom. Or Waterbury, VT. The Vermont Act 68 state school property tax is means tested so for someone moderate income, the house is inexpensive and home ownership costs are pretty low assuming you use a wood stove most of the time. Vermont has a graduated income tax. Moderate income people are in the 3.35% bracket.



New Hampshire publishes their tax rates. The lakes towns tend to have very low property tax rates. You can buy houses far from any lake in those towns at moderate prices. Of course, no income taxes in NH.

Link: https://www.revenue.nh.gov/mun-prop/...-tax-rates.pdf

[BosYuppie]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Eh. My take on crime is this. If you don't use/sell drugs, aren't in a gang and aren't in any illegal activity (loansharking, prostitution, smuggling etc.) the chances are pretty low. The recent crime in springfield is gang related.

If you think Derry, NH or Kittery, ME looks like Springfield or Hartford or Fitchburg, you really need to experience more of the world outside 495.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by BosYuppie

If you think Derry, NH or Kittery, ME looks like Springfield or Hartford or Fitchburg, you really need to experience more of the world outside 495.

Huh? I didn't say they did. I'm just saying that for the most part crime is for criminals. If you look for trouble you can find trouble but for the most part if you don't do drugs, sell drugs or are in a gang the likelihood drops significantly as a factor. Any time I hear of activity I search names and chance are good they had a past. Some people can redeem themselves but people that do things illegally don't take legal routes to survive. I've never heard of a gang taking another gang to court with a cease and desist order over turf. I've never heard of a non competitive agreement from a drug dealer etc

[in_newengland]

As everyone is saying, three hours from Boston gives you a lot of choices. I'm mostly familiar with the CT River Valley towns which would leave you about two hours from Boston on the Mass Pike. The central city is Northampton, which is much cheaper than Boston, but not really that cheap anymore. It's like a hub of activity with a lot to do and the main downside is the number of students.

To get away from relatively high Northampton prices and enjoy the Northampton amenities at the same time, people moved to nearby Easthampton. It's still a good bet even though the prices have gone up somewhat. A gorgeous nearby town is Southampton but it's become very desirable and pretty expensive. It's still more rural whereas Easthampton has industrial roots that are still evident.

I'd say stay away from Amherst, which is overrun with UMass students who have wild parties and cause a lot of noise, vandalism, and general commotion.

If you live in the CT River Valley aka WMass/western MA you have easy access to north-south rte 92 to get to CT and up to Vermont. It's a great location for getting north or south.

[mdovell]

Is UMass Amherst really that wild? Not that I go to Amherst often but once during Barney Blowout I saw a few people oddly dressed in the downtown. The campus is huge so I don't see that many off campus. Personally I like it more than Northampton since it isn't as commercialized. You can see a movie, get a decent cup of coffee, a book store and go to a park all in the same square. There's way too many cars in northampton. If the students are propping up the town why are so many cars there needed?

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Chrls

Hello folks,

We are soon to be retired couple looking for inexpensive towns to live in once we retire. Is there any such thing as an inexpensive little town in MA? Surrounding states perhaps? We do not have much knowledge about MA small towns. We know the larger metro areas are very expensive.
Moving to MA will keep us closer to family but we definitely need an affordable little town that is also safe.
Any advise or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

In 2009 when I was in Portsmouth NH in the teeth of the Great Recession and a tech startup that had just gone bust, I was looking at my personal finances asking the exact same thing. There was no way I'd be able to stay in Portsmouth. It was the bottom of the real estate market and there were plenty of bargains to be had. I'm from South Dartmouth and wanted to be on the coast but not over the canal. My list of towns was Marion, Mattapoisett, South Dartmouth, Westport, and the RI coastal towns as far as North Kingstown where my mother was living. Marion and Mattapoisett were a bit more expensive and I didn't need the better school system. Dartmouth has a $10 mill rate. Westport a bit cheaper. Little Compton really low. I pulled the South Dartmouth lever because I'm comfortable with it but there were good options at the time in all the towns.


Fast forward 12 years. We're at the top of a bubble. My house has doubled. It's no longer inexpensive. Unless it's something a vacation home buyer would want, these towns track the local economy and interest rates. There will be a correction. Don't buy now.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

In 2009 when I was in Portsmouth NH in the teeth of the Great Recession and a tech startup that had just gone bust, I was looking at my personal finances asking the exact same thing. There was no way I'd be able to stay in Portsmouth. It was the bottom of the real estate market and there were plenty of bargains to be had. I'm from South Dartmouth and wanted to be on the coast but not over the canal. My list of towns was Marion, Mattapoisett, South Dartmouth, Westport, and the RI coastal towns as far as North Kingstown where my mother was living. Marion and Mattapoisett were a bit more expensive and I didn't need the better school system. Dartmouth has a $10 mill rate. Westport a bit cheaper. Little Compton really low. I pulled the South Dartmouth lever because I'm comfortable with it but there were good options at the time in all the towns.


Fast forward 12 years. We're at the top of a bubble. My house has doubled. It's no longer inexpensive. Unless it's something a vacation home buyer would want, these towns track the local economy and interest rates. There will be a correction. Don't buy now.

I really wish I had bought a place in Little Compton circa 2012, but the idea of making a lateral job transfer had zero appeal at the time. Prices have, rather unsurprisingly, jumped significantly since then.

[mdovell]

As much as I could have been negative of housing in the past I don't think we're in a bubble. buyers are much more qualified vs 2008. Inventory is still pretty low and there just isn't enough contractors out there leading to much higher prices for labor and materials.

Much of the stimulus of restarting the economy is going to give people more faith in buying a house. This gives support to lower ended homes. What I'm seeing now is a bit of hypocracy but gives faith to the market. If we believe the narrative that some people left urban areas for more suburban and that lifted prices and reduced inventory that makes sense. But if we also think that we're going back to the office and more homes will go back on the office and lower prices that frankly is not happening. I can't see people moving back and I can't see people tolerating a much longer drive as part of "going back". If someone buys a house they are not looking to sell it and leave in a year. I would argue at least a good five or so years to build equity.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business...a-16055743.php
Facebook isn't given free food to employees and isn't doing shuttles anymore (remember the 128 smart bus plan long ago?) Covid compliances looks to have cut the perks of big tech. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN2BG09U The pandemic has shown us that employers have the courage to let people most people work regardless of where they live.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Is UMass Amherst really that wild? Not that I go to Amherst often but once during Barney Blowout I saw a few people oddly dressed in the downtown. The campus is huge so I don't see that many off campus. Personally I like it more than Northampton since it isn't as commercialized. You can see a movie, get a decent cup of coffee, a book store and go to a park all in the same square. There's way too many cars in northampton. If the students are propping up the town why are so many cars there needed?

Yes. It goes way back too and nothing is done about it. There are what, 19,000 students? Some are in highrise dorms and they cause trouble because there are too many kids all crowded in. But most of the trouble in town is due to students in off campus apartment complexes. Even twenty years ago a realtor wanted to show me a moderately priced house and when I went there I saw that the bus stop for the students was right in front of the house. Deal breaker. Several large student apartment complexes were across the street!

Not only do they break into houses, vandalize property, but they get drunk A LOT and get loud and very disruptive. People have to call the police in the middle of the night to break up wild parties in off campus houses filled with students. There are always at least a few huge drunken events in the center of town (near the bars) every year where the police have to come and try to break up a near riot of drunken students, so many that the whole street is blocked with them. After a football game is one example, last day of classes is another. The Amherst police complain because they say they are not equipped to handle UMass students but the campus police say that can't handle anything that takes place off campus.

One time I was almost in Amherst on rte 9 and was stopped for a traffic light. While I was stopped, a bunch of drunk students piled onto the hood of my car, lying across the hood or sitting there. I was so fed up by this time after having put up with this behavior for years, that I drove as soon as the light turned green and they all slid off. Lots of big parties too, during the COVID era and not much is done, just empty threats. They don't call it ZOO Mass for nothing.

Best time to enjoy Amherst is during the summer or during winter break.