HELP! What is a good neighborhood for families buying in the 650,000 range near lexington? (Boston: apartment, condos)

[kellib]

We are considering a new job in Lexington and would love to live there but find it quite costly! I am looking for the same schools as lexington but less of a price. Any ideas?

[DreamworksSKG]

Try Burlington, Winchester, Arlington area

-jeff
Winchester, MA

I am partial to Winchester
its a great town, great schools great lifestyle
quaint new negland town center, excellent transportation
lots of recreation activities/outdoors,

20 min by rail to Boston
20 by highway - no traffic (30 with traffic)

[kellib]

Hey dreamworks,thanks for all the data! Can you tell me how long of a commute the winchester area is to lexington? Also, house pricing?

[DreamworksSKG]

LOL we border Lexington on the West, about 10 minutes...back roads. (Just be careful going up Johnson road (Speed trap)

-jeff

Houses and condos go from $300,000 - 1 million
depends on the area of town and home. best thing to do is look in the paper, like the globe or do research yourself , come to town and check it out.

You can find some condos and homes for around $300-400-500K tho.

-jeff

What is your price range are you looking for a condo , house, apartment or would it matter?

Other options nearby might be Woburn or Arlington

[holden125]

As Jeff said Winchester is right next to Lexington and I lived there as a kid. It is a really nice town. It seems you could get a place in Lexington for $650,000, though. If you're hoping for more house for that price, you might find Winchester pretty similar to Lexington. For larger houses it is quite expensive. Arlington is another good town, as are Concord and Bedford (both of which are farther from Boston), but I don't know if I'd say they are that much more affordable than Lexington. Per square foot, they are fairly comparable.

You can take a quick look on here:

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

and adjust the gold bars on the right to set price range, bedrooms, etc. You can change towns easily too.

[smarty]

Like everyone says... Bedford, Winchester, Concord, ....

All towns have houses in your price range... The real question is what do you expect to get for $650K. In some communites, a 3br small lot (like Lexington)... others... 4br big lots...

[kellib]

Thanks for the feed back. I am coming from charleston south carolina. I am use to 3000sq. ft. in the 650ish range with new construction. I get the fact that I am not going to find this. However, love the new england charm and traditional home but really don't want 1800 sq. ft with zero yard and original everything from 1965......so I am trying to understand how far out I have to go from Lexington to get more home and still have a great school and sense of community. Anymore ideas here?

[smarty]

For the price and size, You probably have to go closer to Rt495 to towns like Westford, Andover, N. Andover, Reading, Acton, W. Concord, ...

You can probably look into Wayland and Sudbury.

[pattibrennan]

I even suggest going a bit more West and think about the Southboro, Westboro area. OR the Rte 2 region which goes west but leads right into Lexington and on into Cambridge and Boston. Cute smaller towns that are very Historic and very nice. Acton,Berlin, Bolton, Concord, Harvard, Stow, Littleton. All are on Rte 2 or close access to Rte 2. All have highly rated school systems and I am just suggesting towns you might find more for your money in terms of newer construction. You will find a lot of old homes and many historic homes as well..... but welcome to Mass! That is par for the course. Don't let people scare you when they say moving West of Boston is a longer commute. N, S or West the commute is what it is. It can be tough in all directions. You just get more space and breathing room a little further west and the best of the country side with quick access to everywhere. Good luck.

[pattibrennan]

One more suggestion. Westford is a great town with lots of new construction. That is North and that would be my suggestion for the North area. You would be to Lexington quickly and in addtion could be to NH quickly as well.