Boston Taxes and Real Estate (apartments, to rent, condo)

[DiderotsGhost]

Two questions:

(1) Is there a Boston city income tax?

(2) What might be a reasonable price range for a 3BR condo in urban Boston*?

I am not very familiar with Boston, but I will have to relocate in two years and I want to explore all the options. Boston is the only major East Coast city I am not all that familiar with, so in terms of RE pricing, comparisons with NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Atlanta, and Toronto could also be useful. I am assuming Boston is less expensive than NYC, but do not know how it compares with places like Northern Virginia and Philly. My first visit to Boston will be this November.


* By "urban Boston", I mean the areas closer to the city core. I do not know enough about the city yet to name specific neighborhoods.

[DiderotsGhost]

Third question that arose after looking at Boston apartments on Craig's List:

(3) Does Boston have rent controls?

I found an old news article saying rent controls were defeated, but Craig's List has the 'fee' and 'non-fee' apartment dichotomy that normally arises from rent controls.

[shiver]

1) No city income tax in Boston (it's not like NYC)

2) 3 BR condo in Boston? Much cheaper to rent than to buy. Areas such as Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the North End are very centrally located and also very expensive. To buy, you're probably ooking at 600K+. To rent in those neighborhoods, probably 3,000+, but it depends on your expectations. (I'm speaking very generally here).

3) No rent control. The fee you've read about refers to the fee that the real estate agent gets for finding you the apartment. It has nothing to do with rent control. A fee is involved unless you rent directly from the owner/management co. that owns the property. However, a lot of landlords go through agents. No fee just means that the owner is paying the agent instead of passing it on to the renter.

From my knowledge, Boston is less expensive than NYC and a little pricier than Philly. I don't know about NoVa; I think Boston is a little more expensive than DC as well (but it's probably close). Definitely more expensive than Atlanta.

[DiderotsGhost]

Thank you for the responses! Very useful info.

Originally Posted by shiver

1) No city income tax in Boston (it's not like NYC)

2) 3 BR condo in Boston? Much cheaper to rent than to buy. Areas such as Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the North End are very centrally located and also very expensive. To buy, you're probably ooking at 600K+. To rent in those neighborhoods, probably 3,000+, but it depends on your expectations. (I'm speaking very generally here).

3) No rent control. The fee you've read about refers to the fee that the real estate agent gets for finding you the apartment. It has nothing to do with rent control. A fee is involved unless you rent directly from the owner/management co. that owns the property. However, a lot of landlords go through agents. No fee just means that the owner is paying the agent instead of passing it on to the renter.

From my knowledge, Boston is less expensive than NYC and a little pricier than Philly. I don't know about NoVa; I think Boston is a little more expensive than DC as well (but it's probably close). Definitely more expensive than Atlanta.

[sm4269a]

Boston has an affordable housing program:

Affordable Housing - Boston Redevelopment Authority

[JeffPersons]

To find the City of Boston property taxes go to cityofboston.gov and enter the address. There is all kinds of info about the property including the taxes. One caveat, there is an owner occupancy credit of $1500 is you owner occupy the home. Keep in mind that the $1500 may not be reflected on the site if the previous owner didn't have it in place.

In terms of prices, Boston hasn't gotten any cheaper. The city as a whole has flat lined since 2005. Home prices have not lost one dollar in value in a decade and shows all the signs of staying that way.

Its our schools and hospitals.

Hope this helps, Jeff Persons

[JeffPersons]

The city of Boston does not have an income tax. The real estate tax is $11 per $1000 per year.

In the city we go with price per sq ft often.

Back Bay averages about $750 per sq ft without parking. Beacon Hill is about $850 per sq ft and the South End is about $650 and Midtown can go from $900 to $1500 per sq ft.

Its hard to imagine a 3 BR being less than 1000 sq feet, the math is easy.

Hope this helps, Jeff Persons