Best area to buy our first home (Providence, Warwick: real estate, property taxes)

[natlax25]

Hello all,

My fiance and I have been living in RI now for a little over a year -renting apartments in northern rhode island, as my fiance commutes to the boston area (he does work in several areas in a 50 mile radius of central boston) and I am working in Warren. We are ready to buy our very first home and are starting to do some house buying homework.

In doing so, I stumbled across this website forum and from looking through these discussions, it sounds like this is a great website to get advice!

To that end, can anyone provide some insight about some good areas (towns) to consider whether it be southern mass or ri that would be a sound investment for a couple (no kids) to get into? We want a good deal most of all, dont need a huge place at all, would like to be able to resell the house / property within 2-4 years if need be. Also, looking for areas where the it seems as though it is developing more (i.e. housing developments and the like popping up) Being near the water would be pretty sweet too, but none of these are absolute necessities. Also, any idea what the best public schools are?
As I have been told, native RI's are not apt to drive more than 20 or so minutes to get to work and civilization, and I have been looking at places in harrisville on spring lake, but I am worried that it would be tough to sell out there bc of the commute. I am from the midwest and driving 2 hours to get to civilization is not uncommon.

So, any advice would be greatly greatly appreciated!!! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by natlax25

...can anyone provide some insight about some good areas (towns) to consider whether it be southern mass or ri...

What's your budget? Without this information, it's tough to provide guidance.

That said, the old bromide that the three most important factors in real estate are "location, location, location" is important to keep in mind as a first time home buyer. That is, it is generally better to have a smaller, cheaper home in a better town/neighborhood than a bigger, more expensive house in a less desirable neighborhood/town.

Barrington is great if you can afford it. You might also check out Rumford and Riverside in East Providence (a few parts of Riverside are a little iffy but Riverside is pretty good overall). E. Prov schools are just so-so. Warwick is not a bad choice, either (I'd steer clear of Cranston). Seekonk, MA has little pockets of new houses sprouting up in a variety of places--you might check it out. Seekonk schools are OK; a little better than E. Prov. but not as good as Barrington. You may not care about schools but they are VERY important with regards to resale.

[Rnrboy]

Professor, what do you have against Cranston? I don't get people who pigeonhole Cranston. This is a big area with a lot of variability. To tell someone to just "steer clear" of it without saying why is a bit strange if you ask me.

Some might say you'd much rather be in Western Cranston than Riverside any day of the week. Some would complain that parts of Warwick near the airport are getting congested and some property values have gone down due to air pollution.

I happen to like Warwick, just illustrating the folly in making blanket statements with no specifics.

[Rnrboy]

CNN/Money Magazine named Cranston (and Warwick) two of the best places to live in the country in 2006:

CNNMoney.com: Best places to live 2006: Rhode Island

I'd say Cranston is in a better position now than it was then. We've actually got a budget surplus for a change. In reality, most places in RI are nice places to live. I used to live in other states and I've never been in such a safe place.

[Coem]

You might want to consider Attleboro/South Attleboro, MA. I don't know much about the area, but read an article the other day about how it's becoming an attractive place for people who can't afford towns closer to Boston. I also have some friends who bought their first home recently in Lincoln, RI and enjoy the area. Cumberland is very nice, but I think it's rather pricey in most areas of the town.

[Rnrboy]

Cranston also made 24th Safest City in America:

City Crime Rankings by Population Group

OK, enough of that for tonight

[Pattig]

I'd recommend Cumberland RI. My son and his wife just bought their 1st home in the Cumberland Hill area. Right now prices are great. Nice young families and convenient to Route 295 for commuting to Boston. Property taxes are high everywhere in RI, so you won't escape that. My son and his wife really love their little neighborhood. Right now you can buy a 3 bedroom 2 bath home for under $250000

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by Rnrboy

Professor, what do you have against Cranston?

Not too long ago (just 5-10 years) ago Cranston was considered one of the worst managed cities in the U.S. Its bonds had junk-rating status--the worst in America.

Cranston has improved remarkably but I remain very skeptical about a city that allowed things to be so bad for so long. Furthermore, the efforts to improve the city were fought tooth and nail by a significant percentage of the population and my impression is that a significant number of people would like to see the city return to its bad old ways. Five years is not enough time, in my opinion, for the city to prove that it has finally gotten it's adminstrative and fiscal act together for the long run. Cranston still has, for example, significant unfunded pension obligation problems. Bottom line: Cranston remains a risk, IMHO.

[INNYRI]

I'm in Lincoln, and I understand our town is popular with Boston commuters. Schools here are pretty good, and it's overall a nice place to live. Your commute to Warren would probably be 45 minutes or so with traffic; less when traffic is light.

I'm from the Midwest, too, and then lived on Long Island where I was accustomed to long commutes for work and recreation. When we moved here, I drove long distances to do various things (and my neighbors were amazed!) After 7 years in RI, however, I have caught the Rhode Island distance disease. I found myself saying the other day, "But that's in Warwick--that's at least a half hour EACH WAY!"

Agh!

[Pattig]

Originally Posted by INNYRI

I'm in Lincoln, and I understand our town is popular with Boston commuters. Schools here are pretty good, and it's overall a nice place to live. Your commute to Warren would probably be 45 minutes or so with traffic; less when traffic is light.

I'm from the Midwest, too, and then lived on Long Island where I was accustomed to long commutes for work and recreation. When we moved here, I drove long distances to do various things (and my neighbors were amazed!) After 7 years in RI, however, I have caught the Rhode Island distance disease. I found myself saying the other day, "But that's in Warwick--that's at least a half hour EACH WAY!"

Agh!

You are so right about that "distance disease" most people in RI have. My sister lives in West Warwick and I live in Scituate right on the Johnston line and she almost never comes over here, because it's "too far to drive". It's like 15 miles away- now that crazy!!!!!!