Best Overall Affordable Boston Suburb? (Cambridge, Quincy: for sale, rent, condos)

[mwt137]

My wife and I currently live in Boston, and we are deciding to move out to the suburbs and start a family. We're looking for the trifecta (good schools, near Boston, affordable housing), which we realize doesn't exist, but we were wondering which towns come closest to that. We have previously looked at Wakefield and Melrose, though the housing stock there in our price range tends to lead to older homes that need a lot of work. In addition, towns like Brookline, Newton, Arlington, Belmont, and Milton are very desirable but also pricey and have high property taxes.

Here is our wishlist:
- Budget of 350k
- 2-3 bedrooms
- 1.5+ bathrooms
- Easy public transit commute to Harvard Square, Longwood Medical Area, and MGH. Ideally, under 45 minutes with options other than the commuter rail
- In a town with a good school system and good safety
- Home doesn't require extensive work (we can deal with some cosmetic issues as long as the bones of the house are good and the major systems + roof are all in good condition)

Here are some towns we have heard could be potential contenders:
Braintree
Canton
Dedham
Melrose
Natick
Norwood
Wakefield
Walpole
Watertown

Which, if any, of the towns we listed would be most ideal? Or is there another town we should consider that isn't on this list?

[Coldjensens]

Not sure of prices, but my wife grew up in Wayland. It is an awesome little town with great schools. My FIL is not rich. He was a chemical buyer for Polaroid. Probably did fairly well, but not a 1%er. They could afford Wayland.

Wayland also owns a beach in an adjoining town. I thought it was really funny. People fomr the town where the lake is have no access to the lake. Only people from Wayland can use the beach that is not in their town. I wonder how that came to be. Nice little beach/park though.

Boston is a journey, but not unreasoanble. You can take a train from a nearby town. That is the best way to get there. I am pretty sure MIL worked in Boston for a while.

That is such an awesome area. Every time I visit, I find myself thinking maybe we should have moved there instead ot moving near my Parents in Michigan. I love my parents and siblings, but there are so many many incredible little towns surrouounding Boston. A little crowded and a bit too liberal, but still, pretty, loads of history, great schools some water to play in and a really cool city nearby. What more can you ask?

That is my 0.02 for what it is worth.

[pennyone]

I hate to say this, but with a budget of 350 and your requirements, getting a house from a town on your list would be a stretch. I grew up in Milton, and it is indeed a great little town. But for 350, you are looking at a very small house in poor condition, and located near the border with Mattapan. You can look at Quincy, which is a big city with many nice neighborhoods; but at that price range, even Quincy's picking is limited and you may think it is too urban anyway.

I think Braintree would be your est bet. I find the town nice and solidly middle class, but amazingly boring. It does have the mall to keep the taxes low.

[gf2020]

Maybe Swampscott? $350K is well below the average price of a single family house in the Greater Bosron area.

[maggiekate]

have you thought of roslindale near the west roxbury line, the bus is there and it is real nice.
Canton was near me when young and did live in Hyde Park near truman Hwy. 3 ft from the Milton line.
It was a neat place to grow up. Arlington is also nice but check it out. I would say no to Dedham and pick
roslindale near the w Roxbury line. also if you are handy that would help. Hyde Park is further out for what you need.
too bad Boston is so costly, but I would say Roslindale the Centre Street place and even just rent. If you like arlington
you could rent and decide. some say Burlington but I no not much about there.

[BHboston]

Melrose jumps out at me from your list. Melrose has pretty decent schools, and the commute into Boston on the Orange Line is really short (20 min or less) if you park just over the border at Oak Grove station in Malden. The only potential issue (as you pointed out) is that the housing stock tends to run older there meaning more work needed.

[kingeorge]

I would look in Watertown. Your commute would be very reasonable. If you can deal with smaller fixer-upper, you will do fine.
Watertown has residential tax exemption which is neat for FTHB. It is very young city, and having Cambridge nearby is huge bonus. With your commute requirements I would try to stay to the west, and maybe second best is north. But do not go south, your commute will be long and painful. 350K in Eastern MA will not get you anything that is not old and need some sprucing. You can get something renovated only if you go with condo. If you decide that you are game for condos as well, than you can expand the area and look for condos in Arlington, which is great place to buy as well.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Not sure of prices, but my wife grew up in Wayland. It is an awesome little town with great schools. My FIL is not rich. He was a chemical buyer for Polaroid. Probably did fairly well, but not a 1%er. They could afford Wayland.

Wayland is very pricey. I helped a client buy a house there a couple months ago in the low 3's. She's adding on to it but even if left as is it probably needed at least $100k worth of work to make it liveable.

[mmyk72]

When I started househunting, I also had a budget of 350K and wanted a SFH that needs no extensive work in a few of the towns you mentioned. I can tell you that the pickings are slim and you will be wasting your time UNLESS you up your budget or start considering housing other than SFH. Another thing is you may get a decent house for relatively 10-15K less if it sits on a major street or some undesirable location.

If you are interested in Natick, there are areas with predominately slab ranches (no basement) that can be in decent condition for 375k - these are a bit less pricey than the traditional houses with a basement. You just have to keep an eye out when 1 pops up for sale.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by mmyk72

If you are interested in Natick, there are areas with predominately slab ranches (no basement) that can be in decent condition for 375k - these are a bit less pricey than the traditional houses with a basement. You just have to keep an eye out when 1 pops up for sale.

That's a good suggestion.

I sold a cape style home in Natick last spring that was on a slab. It was in very good shape was 2,000 sf, 3 beds/2 baths, and had a 2 car detached garage. It sold in the low 4's, but I've since seen some other slab capes sell in the high 3's in the same neighborhood although they were a bit smaller. There are tons of slab ranches in the Whethersfield neighborhood that often sell in the mid-3's even when in good condition.

You just have to be prepared for the large reduction in storage space that living in a slab brings with it. Not only do you lose the storage in the basement, but all the systems that would normally be down there are now going to be upstairs like the water heater, furnace, etc.