Moving to Boston from New Zealand

[wildmag]

My husband and I moved from NZ to the States 4 years ago. We've been in Massachusetts for 6 months. It's a great area, we both really like it. For 3k a month, yes you could find something in Newton, Wellesley etc. Boston is a great city, it's definitely a city, but it's so manageable. And you would find a place to buy for those prices whether you're talking US or NZ$. Wellesley is more like Hampstead, lovely expensive shops, all very clean and neat and tidy. Posh schools. Generally child friendly area. Needham is very nice - a mixture of Hampstead and Golder's Green! lots of restaurants. Weather wise, it's been gorgeous this summer, and the leaves right now are beautiful. In my opinion, you'd get more for your buck in Boston than you would in San Fran (no offence to SF, it's great too). I could go on... We don't have children, so can't be specific on that stuff. Good luck!

[lrmkiwi]

Thanks so much for your note. It made me feel more positive about moving especially with comparing it to areas in London that we are familar with. Another question....where would you recommend we start looking in terms of sourcing rentals? Also from what I see it seems you pay one months rent as a fee to a broker is that always the case?

[lrmkiwi]

Thanks that was great feedback. With regards to the villagey feel I meant something like Brookline (we visited there 10 years ago) and Newton sounds good also. Again thanks for a great description on the areas we are looking at.

[marcus K]

You jammy dogs in getting the green cards ha far play to ya, I didn’t get as lucky last year but I’ve applied again this year so here’s hoping, how many times had you to try? Anyway good lucky and we hope it all works out for you all.

[lrmkiwi]

Yes we were very lucky. We did it a couple of times when we lived in the UK years ago and then another time 2 years ago which was the successful one. I guess keep trying it is free and a great opportunity

[marcus K]

use aren't Irish by any chance

[aussie-tb]

I'm an Aussie and I have been living in the Boston area since '94. I arrived just
before winter that year - the first few years were pretty rough, but the winters
are not as bad now (less snow, not as cold). Didn't take long to get use to it.
When I go back home now, I wander around in a T-shirt in winter half the time
('cause our Aussie winters are like autumn here). The snow is nice as long as
there is not storm after storm (as there was in the mid-90s).

I've lived in Cambridge, Arlington and now Newton. The $$$ you give will be
fine. We rent a 3 bedroom now in Newton for <$2000, similar in Arlington.
If you want good schools then the towns you list are good. Forget Quincy,
Watertown etc in that regard. You didn't mention Cambridge. Public schools
there are not so hot, but private schools are fine. Great place to live and no more
pricey than Newton. Wellesly is too far out if you want to commute to Boston.
Newton is fine as is Arlington. Arlington schools are so-so, Newton great (which
is why we moved, we have two children similar in age to yours). Arlington has
a nice village feel if your comparison is Brookline. I never had a car in Cambridge, but
did in Arlington, and it is more important in Newton (public transport from Newton
to Boston is doable but you'd need to live near the MBTA lines.

Note that Arlington is a dry town! That means no pubs, no bottle shops (liquor stores
in the local language), and only a very small number of restaurants have a 'bar').
Newton does not have many real bars and a few nice restaurants. Cambridge
wins here. But again, Newton schools are great, and many people move here just
for that (it is becoming a problem here actually). In Arlington we lived near
to the Cambridge line so a bottlo was not far away and I went to Cambridge for
my pub fix (I work there anyway).

I grew up in country Australia where is it hot, but dry. Very hot. I hate the humidity
and in fact I prefer winter to summer here. I've lived in Sydney and the humidity
is similar, but I don't remember it being as bad as here at its worse - near 100%
humidity and very high 30s C. Keep in mind that home heating in the states is
much much better than Australia - central heating, double windows, etc. In Sydney
I sometimes felt colder inside than out.

For renting we found both our places on Craigslist. We were actually living out
of state when we moved back to Arlington, so we had friends go check out the
places for us. First and last month's rent can be negotiated with private
landlords and sometimes with the estate agents. Coming from so far they
know you have expenses so if you aks they might just ask for the first
month. Oh, and if you can go for gas heating and stove - oil prices are crazy
now.

This is a bit long so I'll sign off.