The search for our first home! (Boston, Quincy: fit in, 2013, rental market)

[FirstHomeSearch]

Hello all!

We (my wife and I) are relatively new in Boston (completing 2yrs in July 2013) and are looking to buy our first home here in Mass. Our workplaces are at downtown Boston and being our first home, we really dont want to spend more than 375k or maybe 400k max.

Requirements list:
3 bedroom 2 bath (last option is 2 bedroom 2 bath)
1 or 2 car garage
good school district
good resale value/or rental market
single family/townhome/condo doesnt matter

We have been trying to search for towns with decent homes we can afford (not a fixer upper type) and places like Woburn, Framingham, Ashland have been coming up. We currently live in suburbs as well so we dont have a very big issue with commuting to Boston so long as there is a commuter train service available near to our home...But we have no idea on how to check these towns for the schools - if they are good/decent etc. Could any of you provide some links/websites on how to figure out if an area has a good school district, and also, if you guys know about safe towns with good schools which we can afford, please do let us know. Would really appreciate the feedback! THANK U

[MikePRU]

There are lots of good resources for judging the quality of a school system. Anytime you see a "ranking" take that number with a hefty grain of salt. However, the metrics and reviews these sites provide are highly useful.

GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community
Best Schools 2012
Top Massachusetts High Schools | Best High Schools | US News

These are just a few sites. If you keep digging you'll find more, but a lot of them use many of the same measures they just weight them differently to come up with a ranking.

Ashland is a nice town with a lot to offer. They have commuter rail service, a small town center area with some shops & restuarants, and a good school system. The town was the home of one of the nation's first superfund sites and the internet has a long memory. This continues to haunt the town to some degree.

I would stay clear of Framingham. The town has a lot of good things about it, but financially speaking the town is a mess and the school system is not the best in the area.

[FirstHomeSearch]

Thanks! Appreciate the feedback! But any advice (from anyone) on which other towns we should be looking at that have good schools yet fit in our budget? What about Quincy area is that good?

[konfetka]

With your budget I would look into Danvers, Beverly, Melrose. High schools are rated 7, 6 and 6 respectively on Greatschools. Not the best, but better then average, which means better then the rest of the country, since Massachusetts is #1 in schools.

[konfetka]

Also just to clarify a '6' in Massachusetts is not the same as a 6 in Florida. The average here is very high. For example the average for English proficiency in the state would be around 85%. That's why Beverly with 90% English proficiency is only a 6. And when it comes to higher rated school districts differences a very insignificant.

[kmann-sherborn]

The Superfund site continues to haunt Ashland because the plume of toxic sludge is still there. I take no pleasure in saying this. I grew up there and we lost a dear friend who lived across from the site, as well as a young man from my neighborhood who fought valiantly to bring attention to this problem before he passed away.

[pennyone]

Hi Firsthomesearch:

In reference to your "What about Quincy area is that good?"...please refer to the thread started by MArelo below. I posted a review of some of the desirable Quincy neighborhoods that you may find interesting. I live and own my house in Quincy, so if you have any question, you can pm me and I will try to answer them for you.

[FirstHomeSearch]

Originally Posted by kmann-sherborn

The Superfund site continues to haunt Ashland because the plume of toxic sludge is still there. I take no pleasure in saying this. I grew up there and we lost a dear friend who lived across from the site, as well as a young man from my neighborhood who fought valiantly to bring attention to this problem before he passed away.

I had no idea about the problem in Ashland! Thank you for bringing it up to me! Is this plume of toxic sludge because of a chemical disaster that happened there? How is the town today?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by FirstHomeSearch

I had no idea about the problem in Ashland! Thank you for bringing it up to me! Is this plume of toxic sludge because of a chemical disaster that happened there? How is the town today?

This is a link to the information on the MA DEP site:
Nyanza Chemical Waste Dump Superfund Site NRD Settlement | MassDEP

I'm sure there's also information on the EPA's website, but you'll likely get enough information to form an opinion from the DEP website.

[FirstHomeSearch]

Originally Posted by pennyone

Hi Firsthomesearch:

In reference to your "What about Quincy area is that good?"...please refer to the thread started by MArelo below. I posted a review of some of the desirable Quincy neighborhoods that you may find interesting. I live and own my house in Quincy, so if you have any question, you can pm me and I will try to answer them for you.

Thank you very much for your help. I will start looking into Quincy and will pm you once I have decided to narrow down the search to a few towns.

Originally Posted by konfetka

Also just to clarify a '6' in Massachusetts is not the same as a 6 in Florida. The average here is very high. For example the average for English proficiency in the state would be around 85%. That's why Beverly with 90% English proficiency is only a 6. And when it comes to higher rated school districts differences a very insignificant.

That is a good point indeed. I noticed just because some towns have a 8 or higher in the average scores, the home prices are also that high and we really didnt want to compromise on the type of home to get. If we need to venture slightly more into the suburbs thats fine as long as there is a commuter rail option.