Moving to MA

[brent s]

Originally Posted by CTBorn

Thanks for all the help! I have another question now though. I just bought a new car yesterday and since I live at home in CT still I registered it here. When I was looking at the RMV site I was confused about converting registration. I saw something about paying sales tax on the car when I need to register it for MA. If that is the case I would have to pay over $1000 just to register my car after already paying sales tax and everything here. It's not like I bought the car here to avoid MA sales tax. I just don't live there yet.

no, you don't have to pay sales tax again on the car. That is just if you are a MA resident and you bought a car out of state, say in CT. You'd have to pay sales tax on the car to MA when you register it.

[CTBorn]

Originally Posted by brent s

no, you don't have to pay sales tax again on the car. That is just if you are a MA resident and you bought a car out of state, say in CT. You'd have to pay sales tax on the car to MA when you register it.

Thanks. The way the site had it confused me. I feel like I have so much work left to do and I'm moving on Sunday. I thought I found the perfect place in Framingham today but when I looked up all the reviews a great majority were negative.

[Charliekeet]

Definitely look more for 1 beds in Newton and surrounding areas (Watertown, Waltham, Brighton/Allston, Natick, ... and maybe Needham or Dedham, Framingham or Ashland).
Those are doable and worthwhile commutes - you're not going to get much more apartment for your money going farther out than that, and you'll waste time, gas, and energy.

[CTBorn]

Originally Posted by Charliekeet

Definitely look more for 1 beds in Newton and surrounding areas (Watertown, Waltham, Brighton/Allston, Natick, ... and maybe Needham or Dedham, Framingham or Ashland).
Those are doable and worthwhile commutes - you're not going to get much more apartment for your money going farther out than that, and you'll waste time, gas, and energy.

Do you have any opinions on Apartments in those areas. In Natick I was looking at a place called Natick Mills. In Framingham some places I was considering were Jefferson Hills and Bayberry Estates. None of them seem to have a lot of fans on apartmentratings.com.

[daly22]

Natick is a much nicer town than Framingham. Not that Framingham doesn't have some beautiful areas - it definitely does, but the rentals are often times in dumpy and potentially dangerous areas, (albeit nowhere near as bad as Lawrence!) I think Natick Mills is on Rte 27/North Main Street? Not too bad. Definitely safe. Less than a mile from a nice down town and train that goes into Boston. The traffic is horrendous along certain stretches of Route 9 and route 27. It isn't like you can just drive out to Route 9 and get to Newton in 20 min. The back up is intense. Natick is a great place to live. I think I would feel safe to live anywhere in the town.

[Coolhand68]

I'm going to cast my vote for Waltham. Decent sized small city that's just 10 - 15 minutes from Newton. Rents are reasonable and within your range. Easy commute to Newton and if you want to go into Boston you can take the commuter rail and be there in 20 minutes.

[Charliekeet]

Originally Posted by CTBorn

Do you have any opinions on Apartments in those areas. In Natick I was looking at a place called Natick Mills. In Framingham some places I was considering were Jefferson Hills and Bayberry Estates. None of them seem to have a lot of fans on apartmentratings.com.

I'm not familiar with the individual aptmt complexes (I assume these are big buildings or groups of buildings), but the area is fine. I live in Newton and drive through Natick & Framingham every day - traffic can be an issue, but there are different ways to go off the beaten path (Rte 9, 27, etc).

It depends on what you're looking for - if you're used to living in a big apartment or condo complex, that's what you should go for, but in my experience you get better value (and maybe a better living experience) renting a place within a 2 or 3-bedroom building or house in a smaller-feeling residential neighborhood. You feel more a part of the community, the price is often less, and you have a more direct relationship with a landlord than with a complex mgmt. company. Again, it depends what you're looking for, but I'd look on Craigslist for individual listings rather than at the big developments' sites.