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Old 01-12-2009, 09:14 PM
 
7 posts, read 16,775 times
Reputation: 10

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Ok so I need some help here.

I am a relatively young business professional (Management, executive level sales director) and 21 years old

My fiance' is planning on attending harvard divinity in the fall of 2010 and we are looking to relocate to Boston, I would ideally like to buy some sort of investment property that I could completely rehab however I am having little luck finding such properties around the Boston area. From what Ive read about the area it seems Chelsea may be a good place to find something like what Im looking for.

any suggestions about other neighborhoods or ideas about what other neighborhoods we should be looking at?

Her commute is of some importance but we would ideally like to live in a hipster type neighborhood and would love to completely revamp an old or historic building from the ground up so that is more of what we are looking for than anything

Thanks for any help you all may be able to give

Zach
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Old 01-12-2009, 10:02 PM
 
Location: Parkland, FL
415 posts, read 1,661,398 times
Reputation: 275
1980 called they want their ideas back. Just kidding Zach. You should look at an area like Roslindale or even Hyde Park. All the hipster 'nabes close to the city like JP, parts of Roxbury, East Cambridge, and the like have been discovered many moons ago. If you are really trying to be a pioneer, try East Boston. More potential in East Boston than Chelsea IMHO.
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Old 01-12-2009, 10:11 PM
 
24 posts, read 74,066 times
Reputation: 12
So is there a quirky neighborhhood, fullo' hippies, ethics shops... not yet invaded by yuppies with gentrification dreams?
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Old 01-13-2009, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Chicago
6,025 posts, read 15,296,312 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eolicom View Post
So is there a quirky neighborhhood, fullo' hippies, ethics shops... not yet invaded by yuppies with gentrification dreams?
not really. at least not any I can think of. Eastie is the closest I can think of, but has some yuppies. maybe places like Lowell, Everett, or Lynn, but I don't think of those places as being "quirky" or full of "hippies".

I honestly can't think of any place full of "hippies". I put hippies in quotes b/c I'm not 100% sure you're referring to actual hippies (ie, long haired, pot smoking, "free love" cliched hippies) or referring to hipsters (ie, 20 somethings w/ too tight jeans, piercings, emo looking). seems like both the former and the latter like areas like JP, but JP has tons of yuppies

Boston is small. most of the neighborhoods, like HowGoesIt said, have either been gentrified of have started the process of gentrification. the areas that haven't are mostly the really sketchy areas of places like Mattapan, Roxbury, and Dorchester, and there aren't to many hipsters or hippies hanging out in the iffy areas of these neighborhoods
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Old 01-13-2009, 02:31 PM
 
Location: Metrowest, MA
1,810 posts, read 10,464,388 times
Reputation: 922
The reason why you have so little luck finding a property to revamp is because you are about 10 years late... There are literally 1000s of builders searching hi and low to find these properties... in the last 10 years..

Wait a while... when people cannot pay property tax and mortgage... you may find such places... People who bought in 2005/2006 lost their down payment and more... Studies indicate there may be another 10% drop in real estate value in Boston. Price in Boston is still relatively high compare to rent.

the interesting thing is... when you're done with the property and want to sell it, will you get your money and sweat equity back?
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Old 01-13-2009, 03:17 PM
 
Location: Newton, MA
42 posts, read 190,393 times
Reputation: 34
Hey Golfslife,

My suggestion would be to look in Cambridge itself or Brighton, Allston, Brookline. Cambridge can be pricey, but it is an odd town in that you can move from one street with nice (expensive) houses down a couple of blocks to a street that looks like the slums, with houses in sad need of repair. It is also very ecclectic, with a great variety of resstaurants of all ethnicities. With Harvard there and the technology companies such as Google and Microsoft setting up their think tanks there, the vibe will continue to be young.

Regardless of which of these towns you choose, I believe you will get your best deal on a multi-family building. In all three towns, I am confident these will go up a great deal in value over the years. All have a highly mobile population because of the colleges and hospitals (students and doctors). So you will be able to rent now and, if you want, turn to condos when the market takes off again.

I work with investor clients looking at these types of properties and, for the first time Ithat can remember, I am findinging multi-families with a postive cash-flow on the rents. This has been unheard of in the past for the greater Boston area. This is in part because prices are good and because mortgage rates are low.


In all this, I am assuming that you mean you want to be in a place that is young and hip, not that you want to live in a commune-like environment. :-)

The one thing I would keep in mind regarding East Boston - it is a bit disconnected from Boston and so you are captive to the traffic getting in and out - and more important, the tolls. They were just talking about doubling them - ouch.

Good Luck!

Last edited by CaseyB; 01-13-2009 at 03:58 PM..
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Old 01-13-2009, 06:37 PM
 
Location: Boston, MA
3,964 posts, read 5,712,414 times
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Sorry buddy but everyone else seems to be right, there aren't many places in Boston where both "hip" young urban professionals live AND need to be revitalized anymore. Cambridge, Somerville, Jamaica Plain, Brooline, and Allston/Brighton all have everything a "hip" neighborhood ought to have but they don't really offer much in the way of revamping from the ground. The best to my mind is East Boston but parts of that neighborhood may be too shady for your tastes. Same with Chelsea. If you don't mind a longer commute, perhaps Lynn or Quincy may suit you. These two cities are more family oriented but are in the midst of revamping themselves.

Too bad you're not moving to Buffalo, New York. I heard there are tons and tons of ideal places to revamp there and they are in need of more young people as well!
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Old 01-13-2009, 09:41 PM
 
284 posts, read 1,163,588 times
Reputation: 98
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfislife View Post
Ok so I need some help here.

I am a relatively young business professional (Management, executive level sales director) and 21 years old

My fiance' is planning on attending harvard divinity in the fall of 2010 and we are looking to relocate to Boston, I would ideally like to buy some sort of investment property that I could completely rehab however I am having little luck finding such properties around the Boston area. From what Ive read about the area it seems Chelsea may be a good place to find something like what Im looking for.

any suggestions about other neighborhoods or ideas about what other neighborhoods we should be looking at?

Her commute is of some importance but we would ideally like to live in a hipster type neighborhood and would love to completely revamp an old or historic building from the ground up so that is more of what we are looking for than anything

Thanks for any help you all may be able to give

Zach
You've received some good advice so far! East Boston/Chelsea do seem promising, but I just wanted to highlight that while it would be amazing to revamp an old building in the area, I'm not sure it would be worth it for two reasons. 1)Your girlfriend would have a tough commute! and 2) You'd be pretty isolated from other folks in their 20s. I've known folks who've moved to less popular areas of NYC and done something similar, but the transit system is much better than Boston's, so they weren't totally isolated as they took on their urban pioneer adventure.

I recommend renting in Boston/Cambridge first (though they are "discovered" already and possibly yuppified, I think you might like JP, parts of Roxbury, or East Cambridge). Get a feel for what other neighborhood's you like, and then think about making a purchase. But just so others can give more ideas, what's your budget?
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Old 01-14-2009, 08:57 PM
 
86 posts, read 311,446 times
Reputation: 54
Medford? (the area on the river a mile or so from Tufts) I have no idea what the nearby amenities are, if any, but there's a commuter rail station right there. (Or you could walk the 2 miles from Davis Square if you had time.)

You might be able to find a home in the 250-300 range, maybe lower. It'd probably need work, but would certainly have historic value.
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Old 01-15-2009, 01:48 PM
 
2,312 posts, read 7,502,590 times
Reputation: 908
I always wondered how you got an "in" to buy one of the closing Catholic churches.
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