Argghhh... Moving from Brookline, need a house, but where to live? (Boston: cul-de-sac, for sale)

[sna77]

Hi, I’m new to the forum and would like to introduce myself and ask a few questions of the group...

My wife and I are in our early 30's and own a 2 BR condo in Brookline. We both have full-time, professional jobs, and have two children (4 years and 7 months). Sadly, we have outgrown our condo and need to start a search for a home. I’m originally from Massachusetts but my wife is from out of state and doesn’t know the state as well as me. Actually, I don’t know much about the state other than the areas I’ve lived… I grew up in Sudbury and spent summers on Cape Cod growing up (my parents are now retired in Dennis). As I mentioned, my wife and I live in Brookline now, and met while living in Manhattan a number of years ago. We are very much city people. We love Brookline, and all it has to offer for both us and the kids, however at this point we have resigned ourselves to the fact that it’s probably time to move into the suburbs. My wife loves Wellesley, and we have a number of friends who are starting to move there, but unfortunately they have bigger budgets than us. =) Actually, our $600ish budget gets us into a place in Wellesley—just not something that I’d deem livable...

So, that leads us to a town search… We’d really like to find a town and a house that we can spend the next 20+ years in. I have no time or skill set to buy a reclamation project and fix something up, so I suppose that we are looking for something more turnkey…

There are a number of things that are important to us—the easiest thing is probably just to bullet list them:

- Top 30ish school system for the kids.
- Near commuter rail. My wife works downtown, so easy and reliable access into the city is a must
- Turnkey. We really want to move into something newer or something that has been recently renovated.
- We don’t need a huge yard or anything, but would prefer to be in a neighborhood or cul-de-sac rather than a main road.
- We’d like the neighborhood to have other kid’s in it as well…
- We’re considering the South Shore to be closer to my parents…
- Close to the highway. I hated the 20 minute drive from Sudbury along Rt 20 en route to 128…

I think our biggest issue so far has been that our expectations have not been met in our price range. We both grew up in nice towns with large houses and yards… Neither of us considered ourselves well-off growing up and both had households where only a single parent worked… We both are educated, hard-working professionals with well paying jobs but to purchase a similar home close to the city is essentially twice or budget. Argghhh…

Anyhow, I guess I’m looking on some guidance on what towns to focus on. We plan to put our condo in Brookline up for sale soon, and really want to narrow our focus to a few towns…

Thanks in advance for any help.

[clevedark]

Brookline *is* the suburbs!

[sna77]

Originally Posted by clevedark

Brookline *is* the suburbs!

Err, thanks... They even call it a town... Actually, we'd love to buy a home around here, but the million plus price range is out of the budget...

[brightdoglover]

Could you buy a bigger condo in Brookline? It sounds like everything you want is right there. I mean, kids don't *need* a suburban house, although you might have good memories of having grown up in one. I can't imagine a better environment for raising kids and education than Brookline, and the access to both your jobs is ideal.
That's what I'd consider, anyway. I think you could be very unhappy moving to a house just for the sake of it being a house, plus, $600K isn't chump change. You should be happy with what you can get for that. Yes, I'd look for a bigger condo in Brookline.
That aside, I can't think of any town that would work, but I'm not that familiar with things towards the South Shore.
Best wishes.

[goyguy]

Sounds like Pembroke, Kingston, Norwell, Plymouth, or Hingham could all be possibilities. The new "Greenbush" commuter rail line has made train travel into the city do-able once again. And there's also even a ferry downtown from Hingham.
Cohasset, Scituate, and Duxbury (aka "Deluxeberry") are all coastal communities south of the city, but the house prices might all prove to be out of reach.
Each of these towns are tied in to school systems which rank higher than average, but short of the stratospheric level of Brookline, Newton, et al. And they're all along or close to Route 3, the Southeast Distressway, which doesn't have to be endured all the way into Boston thanks to parking facilities at Braintree, Quincy Adams, and Quincy Center.
The main trade-off would be in "feel," as all of these towns are decidedly suburban in character although Hingham is launching new developments by the harbor which incorporate high-density housing with bistros, shops, etc.
With some relaxation of their Blue Laws has come some night life to the historically sleepy bedroom communities of Belmont and Arlington, but that's still mainly in the form of restaurants with full liquor licenses. You'd have NO problem finding an older home in "turnkey" condition in Arlington Heights which would meet your cost criteria, but Belmont might prove to be more of a stretch. And though these towns roll up the sidewalks by 9 PM for the most part, they adjoin Cambridge and have good transportation connections. Public schools? Belmont's are in the top tier, with those of Arlington not all that far behind.

[ogre]

I don't know areas south of Boston really well, and I'm not sure how far south you're interested in looking, but I think Norwood might be a town you should check out if you want the well-stocked downtown and the commuter rail connections of Wellesley without Wellesley's price tag, and if you don't necessarily need to be really far south of Boston. The one thing I don't know about is how the schools are in Norwood. If they're good, you may want to give that town a looksee.

If west of Boston would work, you might check out Natick. Its downtown does not have quite as large a collection of businesses as Wellesley's, but the downtown area is nice and attractive, and again there's that commuter rail line. I hear that the middle schools in Natick are lower in quality than schools for the other grades, but that the schools are good overall.

[CaseyB]

sna77. I think you should give the town of Westwood a look. It's close to 128 + Rte 1, has a train stop and the schools are very good.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by sna77

There are a number of things that are important to us—the easiest thing is probably just to bullet list them:

- Top 30ish school system for the kids.
- Near commuter rail. My wife works downtown, so easy and reliable access into the city is a must
- Turnkey. We really want to move into something newer or something that has been recently renovated.
- We don’t need a huge yard or anything, but would prefer to be in a neighborhood or cul-de-sac rather than a main road.
- We’d like the neighborhood to have other kid’s in it as well…
- We’re considering the South Shore to be closer to my parents…
- Close to the highway. I hated the 20 minute drive from Sudbury along Rt 20 en route to 128…



Thanks in advance for any help.

Norwell would fit your criteria.

[steve1282]

mansfield has the best schools and neighborhoods, also look at walpole norwood, norfolk wrentham all in the 300k range though

[sna77]

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful responses.

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

Could you buy a bigger condo in Brookline? It sounds like everything you want is right there. I mean, kids don't *need* a suburban house, although you might have good memories of having grown up in one. I can't imagine a better environment for raising kids and education than Brookline, and the access to both your jobs is ideal.

This is something that we have considered--although we considered selling our condo here and just renting a 3BR in Brookline. Your money really does go a lot further in the rental market here... Although if we did do that, I suppose it wouldn't be a permanent solution...

Originally Posted by goyguy

Sounds like Pembroke, Kingston, Norwell, Plymouth, or Hingham could all be possibilities. The new "Greenbush" commuter rail line has made train travel into the city do-able once again. And there's also even a ferry downtown from Hingham.
Cohasset, Scituate, and Duxbury (aka "Deluxeberry") are all coastal communities south of the city, but the house prices might all prove to be out of reach.

Of these towns, the only one I'm really familiar with is Hingham. I actually did a drive through of Norwell and Scituate the other day and saw some decent houses, which started at the high-end of my budget. In Scituate particularly, there appeared to be some really nice houses that were just sitting on the market for a year plus that had dropped from the 800s to the 600s. I'm not sure if this is a reason for concern, or is simply an effect of the housing bubble?

Originally Posted by ogre

I don't know areas south of Boston really well, and I'm not sure how far south you're interested in looking, but I think Norwood might be a town you should check out if you want the well-stocked downtown and the commuter rail connections of Wellesley without Wellesley's price tag, and if you don't necessarily need to be really far south of Boston. The one thing I don't know about is how the schools are in Norwood. If they're good, you may want to give that town a looksee.

If west of Boston would work, you might check out Natick. Its downtown does not have quite as large a collection of businesses as Wellesley's, but the downtown area is nice and attractive, and again there's that commuter rail line. I hear that the middle schools in Natick are lower in quality than schools for the other grades, but that the schools are good overall.

I've been using this article: Public Schools Chart - Boston Magazine as a source of public school rankings... Not sure if there is a better source? I'm actually not crazy about either Norwood or Natick. I feel like if I'm going to move to the suburbs, while I'd like the feeling of a main street / downtown area, I definitely don't want to be in an area where the biggest attraction is a mall / main road that is used for a pass through. Both of those towns remind me of NJ--ha.

Originally Posted by CaseyB

sna77. I think you should give the town of Westwood a look. It's close to 128 + Rte 1, has a train stop and the schools are very good.

I've driven through Westwood a few times (and also further down to Medfield), and actually it would be an ideal location. $600k doesn't buy you much there however. In my price range, i feel like I'd just be stuck with a project...

Originally Posted by Beachcomber4

Norwell would fit your criteria.

Of the Hingham, Norwell, Scituate towns--what are the pros and cons of each? I loved the feel of those towns when driving through last weekend.

Originally Posted by steve1282

mansfield has the best schools and neighborhoods, also look at walpole norwood, norfolk wrentham all in the 300k range though

I do love what the $ can buy you in those towns, however I'm not crazy about being out as far as the 495 area...

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. its given me a good place to start looking...