Good Schools, decent commute to Waltham under $650k, small town feel (Boston: 2013, houses)

[Mary Olive]

My husband just accepted a job in Waltham.

We have 3 elementary aged kids. Live just outside of Philly in a beautiful historic area with top notch schools.

I know nothing about the Boston area.

We are looking for very good schools, 4+ Bedroom house on 1/2 acre or more, 45 minute or less commute to Waltham. Housing budget $650k or less. Would like a small town feeling.

Please Help!

[BuyWithHeather]

Congratulations! What a great time of year to get things started in the Greater Boston Area. My husband also works in Waltham and loves it.

Concord, Ayer, Sudbury and Wayland would be the obvious choices for the quintessential New England feel and good schools. I would also recommend looking a little further out--towns like Boxborough are worth a look, as well.

[kingeorge]

Wayland, Bedford, Sudbury and Acton are most obvious choices. But, you might not get all the space in the house or big yard. Concord is very nice but it is pricey and you might not get enough of house at 650K range. Ayer is not in the same league as any other town mentioned--not very well regarded schools. You will quickly find that 650K does not take you as far as in other places in the USA. If your husband is willing to commute longer (and commute in this areas can be bit hard), Harvard and Groton are very nice with excellent schools and family oriented communities. Harvard, MA is deemed to have one of the best school districts in MA.

[Parsec]

Mary: I've been looking in the same general area as you with about the same budget. You might find houses that fit your criteria on paper in Sudbury, Wayland, Concord and Bedford but once you start visiting houses you will quickly find that many of those homes just don't work. They are generally either older homes with awkward additions or houses that sit on a main road. I think Acton would be a nice town for you to target due to good schools, family neighborhoods with newer homes (built in the 1980's) and a little more affordable due to its distance away from Boston. If you think Acton is too big (population of 20k) then I would look next door in Boxborough. It has some nice options in the $600-650k range, but inventory is extremely low because there's only 2000 houses in town. Commute will be about 45 minutes in rush hour to the North Waltham office parks off 128 (I-95).

[brightdoglover]

How about Littleton? OP could get the house and yard for that budget. Less of a "town" feel because it was originally a farm town, but the orchards and fields/stables and lakes and conservation land make up for no cute downtown. It's a very nice, coherent, unpretentious community with good schools.

[gf2020]

I would look in Wrentham and Norfolk. Better values than the town's mentioned above and still a reasonable drive to Waltham.

[kingeorge]

Originally Posted by gf2020

I would look in Wrentham and Norfolk. Better values than the town's mentioned above and still a reasonable drive to Waltham.

I would like to learn something, so please tell us what is your estimate on commute to Waltham from there?
I have always thought that that area to anything west is very slow, maddening commute! You post made me curious! Thanks.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by kingeorge

I would like to learn something, so please tell us what is your estimate on commute to Waltham from there?
I have always thought that that area to anything west is very slow, maddening commute! You post made me curious! Thanks.

That's about a 30-40 minute commute.

[kingeorge]

What do you use to get there so fast?

[Parsec]

I'm curious too. I used to commute from North Natick to Norfolk and it always took 35 minutes with no traffic. Going the opposite direction was bumper to bumper in and around Natick/Sherborn! When I took a job in Waltham (near Brandeis), my boss's commute from Medfield took 45min on a good day, and that's even closer than Norfolk is. I'm assuming CaseyB is talking about a highway commute during non-peak time.