Help me narrow down a place to buy a house (Boston: real estate market, to rent)
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Hello, I've been living in MA for 10 years, but mostly in the Boston area so I am not very familiar to towns further away. We are looking to buy a house in the next year. Here are the criteria, in the order of importance:
- good schools
- 4 bedrooms, 1.5+ baths
- max $550.000
- a little (or larger) yard, I don't want the neighbors' house right by my house (like it is in Watertown where we live now).
- close to highways, and as close to Boston as possible. Both my husband and I will change jobs so we don't know where we'll end up, but I'll likely be either in Boston or Randolph, and my husband will probably end up in Boston, although he could be anywhere between Worcester and Boston.
I have been looking at Wayland, Norwood, Needham, Weswood but there is not much available in out price range. I don't want to go much further south because the commute to Boston (by car) will be hard, so I started looking West, and you could get better properties for less money in Medway, Holliston, Hopkinton, Ashland.
Any ideas or suggestions appreciated. Also, if we have such a wide area, how would we go about finding a RE agent? I know most specialize in a certain area and you sign exclusivity deals. How would that work if we can't narrow it down much?
Hello, I've been living in MA for 10 years, but mostly in the Boston area so I am not very familiar to towns further away. We are looking to buy a house in the next year. Here are the criteria, in the order of importance:
- good schools
- 4 bedrooms, 1.5+ baths
- max $550.000
- a little (or larger) yard, I don't want the neighbors' house right by my house (like it is in Watertown where we live now).
- close to highways, and as close to Boston as possible. Both my husband and I will change jobs so we don't know where we'll end up, but I'll likely be either in Boston or Randolph, and my husband will probably end up in Boston, although he could be anywhere between Worcester and Boston.
Shouldn't you guys get firm on where your jobs will move to before buying a house??
From my experience, most realtors 'specialize' in a few towns. If you have a broad range of towns that you're interested, you are better off getting a diff realtor for different groups of towns. When I was househunting, the realtor I was using simply added towns to my daily email list so I get updates on MLS listings but I'm sure she was clueless about the market in the towns other than the 2-3 she works regularly in. Just be upfront that's what you're doing.
For me, I also bought after being in MA 10 yrs. I found talking to co-workers gave me incredible insight about specific areas I was interested in. I ended up with Redfin... the business model is you keep an eye on MLS updates and ask for tours when you see houses that potentially work. Usually I go to Open Houses first and if needed, ask RedFin to setup a 2nd tour before signing papers. With the housing market red hot, I usually toured the house and made the offer within 1-2 days after a listing showed up (and the Redfin website is pretty current with showing new listings). So instead of depending on the realtor to advise what area is good, bad and ugly, the customer has to get that info as well as take charge of keeping track of what's on the market. This is in return for getting a big check after closing. If I offended anyone in the profession, I don't mean to.
I have been looking at Wayland, Norwood, Needham, Weswood but there is not much available in out price range.
Definitely cross all these towns off your list. They're just too expensive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kvader
I don't want to go much further south because the commute to Boston (by car) will be hard, so I started looking West, and you could get better properties for less money in Medway, Holliston, Hopkinton, Ashland.
If you commute by car driving in from the south is awful. Don't do it. These towns are all nice places to live and the further west you go (and the longer a commute you're willing to take on) the more your money will get you.
Have you looked at Natick at all? If you're willing to live in a split level, a small cape, or something along those lines you could find something in that town and be a whole lot closer to work than you would be in any of these towns.
[/quote]Any ideas or suggestions appreciated. Also, if we have such a wide area, how would we go about finding a RE agent? I know most specialize in a certain area and you sign exclusivity deals. How would that work if we can't narrow it down much?[/quote]
Most agents tend to specialize in a particular town or two. A smaller number actually travel quite a bit. For example, this year I've done deals in Wayland, Shrewsbury, Sharon, and Lexington just to name a few places. However, I'm happy to admit that there are towns I certainly have a lot more depth of knowledge in than others but if you find yourself a smart agent they can work around that. Another way to do it is to find one agent in each town and just limit their services to that town. If you do go in this direction, make sure you tell the agent as some may not want to be involved in such an arrangement.
The big question though is why not attend some open houses in each town and narrow down the towns you are considering? I can't imagine that once you see the towns in person that all will appeal to you.
As far as exclusivity agreements . . . well you don't have to sign anything you don't want. Personally, I don't ever ask my clients to sign anything except for the state mandated agency disclosure form. The only thing that keeps my clients bound to me is that they want to work with me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mmyk72
For me, I also bought after being in MA 10 yrs. I found talking to co-workers gave me incredible insight about specific areas I was interested in. I ended up with Redfin... the business model is you keep an eye on MLS updates and ask for tours when you see houses that potentially work. Usually I go to Open Houses first and if needed, ask RedFin to setup a 2nd tour before signing papers. With the housing market red hot, I usually toured the house and made the offer within 1-2 days after a listing showed up (and the Redfin website is pretty current with showing new listings). So instead of depending on the realtor to advise what area is good, bad and ugly, the customer has to get that info as well as take charge of keeping track of what's on the market. This is in return for getting a big check after closing. If I offended anyone in the profession, I don't mean to.
I don't think you're offending anyone here. Redfin offers a lower level of service for a lower fee. If you're willing to take on the additional responsability and risk involved in that business model then go right ahead and call Redfin. No one should get mad about that. There are certainly plenty of agents out there that offer a similar level of service but don't give you a rebate at the end so I can understand the attraction. If there were fewer bad/mediocre agents out there who don't offer much of a service level to their clients then this type of business model wouldn't seem as attractive to consumers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3cents
These towns might work, but they are not cheap or near either: Lynnfield, Natick, Canton, Holliston.
Canton a nice town but you'd be taking I93 into Boston which is a pretty tough commute.
Hi all, thank you for the thoughtful replies. Just to answer briefly, we need 4 bedrooms for 1 child, 1 on the way, and 1 mother in law on the way to live with us We want to buy sooner rather than later because we'll likely change jobs again in 2-5 years, so whatever we get next year are not going to be permanent positions either, but I don;t want to rent anymore. I am very confident that we'll stay here long term, this is why we want to buy closer to a highway, to be well positioned for any future commutes.
I didn't look into Natick but I will. Best guess is that hubby will end up working inBoston and I will be in randolph (if not next year, then the year after). The north towns (wakefield, etc) would be to far to commute to Randolph, and Canton and Sharon are nice but I think too far south, as commute to Boston would be bad. Maybe Dedham would be a happy medium? Don't know much about it either, but seems cheaper than Norwood.
also, good idea about going to open houses, I should start doing that. Good schools is at the top of the list for us. How are the schools in Natick? I thought they vary in quality but I don't know details. I should check out redfin. Never heard of it before, so thank you, mmyk72!
Speaking of Weston, I didn't know that houses are so expensive there. I thought Newton was bad! I was playing with numbers in Zillow and Weston continued to remain blank until I got over 1 million upper limit.
also, good idea about going to open houses, I should start doing that. Good schools is at the top of the list for us. How are the schools in Natick? I thought they vary in quality but I don't know details. I should check out redfin. Never heard of it before, so thank you, mmyk72!
Schools in Natick are good. The high school is actually brand new as of a year or so ago. I have a number of friends & clients that live in Natick and they all have good things to say about the schools.
Redfin is like any other agency in that some of their agents are good and some are not so good. Their business model is quite a bit different than many other agencies though. They also rebate their clients some of the commission. However, the level of service they offer is much lower than a traditional agent and their agents are required to cover a WIDE area. So, their local knowledge of your town of choice may be extremely limited. Redfin agents are also asked to handle a large volume of clients so the amount of personal attention you'll receive from them is limited.
"Discount" brokerages like Redfin are going out of business left & right across the country or are revising their business model into that of a traditional real estate agency because this type of service model just doesn't seem to be a good fit for most consumers and also doesn't seem to economically viable for the companies themselves.
Given that you're looking in areas you're not familiar with. I think you would be a lot better off hiring a traditional agent. Look hard for a good one as there are plenty of bad/mediocre ones out there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kvader
Speaking of Weston, I didn't know that houses are so expensive there. I thought Newton was bad! I was playing with numbers in Zillow and Weston continued to remain blank until I got over 1 million upper limit.
Weston is quite expensive. Newton with it's 13 different villages has a much wider range of prices and housing types. Newton is a very interesting place in terms of the real estate market. Each village brings with it a certain level of cache and then there are even pockets within villages that have more cache then the rest of the village. Even on a more micro level some streets can be much more expensive than the street a block away. It's very interesting.
OP, if you'll be working in Randolph and hubby in Boston, then it'd make more sense to stick within shouting distance of 128/95.
What about:
Milton (contrary to popular belief there are houses there within your budget)
Dedham
Norwood (actually I've got friends there who had your budget -- they found a place and are very happy. Can't vouch for the schools but their kids are in public school and seem to be doing very well)
Easton
Stoughton
Mansfield
Raynham, maybe?
I can't vouch for the school systems because I don't have kids, but IMO it doesn't hurt to look around
OP, if you'll be working in Randolph and hubby in Boston, then it'd make more sense to stick within shouting distance of 128/95.
What about:
Milton (contrary to popular belief there are houses there within your budget)
Dedham
Norwood (actually I've got friends there who had your budget -- they found a place and are very happy. Can't vouch for the schools but their kids are in public school and seem to be doing very well)
Easton
Stoughton
Mansfield
Raynham, maybe?
I can't vouch for the school systems because I don't have kids, but IMO it doesn't hurt to look around
I agree with this and I would also add Walpole, Canton and Sharon to this list.
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We want to buy sooner rather than later because we'll likely change jobs again in 2-5 years, so whatever we get next year are not going to be permanent positions either, but I don;t want to rent anymore. I am very confident that we'll stay here long term, this is why we want to buy closer to a highway, to be well positioned for any future commutes.
