Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I currently work in Watertown and live with family in West Roxbury. I would like to buy a small house or condo, but my budget is very tight. I'm looking at max $150K. It seems this would be do-able if I moved out to Worcester county or if I got lucky a bit closer on a condo in either Natick, Framingham or Marlborough.
I'm looking for suggestions for affordable towns along the Mass Pike or possibly Rte 20 that would be no more than an hour's commute to Watertown during good weather. I'm planning on living alone and I'm mid-40s and not afraid of driving. I spent six years commuting an hour each way on the 101 in Los Angeles so the Mass Pike always seems like a breeze to me except for the horrible 128 interchange.
Any town suggestions you might have would be great. I'm not really that familiar with most of the Metrowest towns and their relative level of affluence. And I'm not wedded to a town right off the Mass Pike either, so if you have some other ideas I would love to hear them, but I would ideally prefer to avoid having to get on 128 every day unless it was for only a few miles.
The one bedroom units in the condos across from the West Natick train station (Natick Village, Natick Green, Deerfield Forest) are selling right now for around $140K-$160K. They're far from what I would call palatial in size, but Natick is a great town with a lot to offer and it's far closer to your work than any town where you could get a single family home for this price.
Very affordable would be Shadowbrook Condominiums in Milford. Ten minutes to the Mass Pike and then 15 mins to Watertown. It's an older place but it's a decent place to live. I know people who live there. In fact one of them works at the Watertown home depot.
OP, do you really need to buy something? What is the chance that you need to move in <5 yrs?? You can rent a condo in the area that you may buy and see if that works for you first.
Thanks Mike and David. I will look at both of those.
MMYK72, there's a zero chance I'd need to move in five years. I tend to stay put. I live in the same place in LA for seven years and I've lived with my folks now for 7 years. I'm done with renting. Do you have any towns to suggest?
Agree w Mike about the Natick condo's since they fall in your price range and is a tolerable commute to Watertown (less than 1 hr). Reason I asked is that these are often available for rent for $1200-1350 range and you probably won't feel any diff between renting one or owning it.... except who you write the check to each month, I guess. Also, you should look into how easy it's to sell when you're ready to move on since there are always other units up for sale to compete with. I know a friend who lives in one of the complexes and he has been there for many yrs and likes it. The area is kept very nice and I see mostly (or all) professional type people living there. No loud music, people hanging out drinking beer, etc.
Very affordable would be Shadowbrook Condominiums in Milford. Ten minutes to the Mass Pike and then 15 mins to Watertown. It's an older place but it's a decent place to live. I know people who live there. In fact one of them works at the Watertown home depot.
Wowee, 15 minutes from 495 to Watertown? It usually takes me that long from Framingham! Sometimes I'm amazed at how fast some people claim to drive on here. Please let me know before you get in your car, haha.
Wowee, 15 minutes from 495 to Watertown? It usually takes me that long from Framingham! Sometimes I'm amazed at how fast some people claim to drive on here. Please let me know before you get in your car, haha.
Good catch. Even in non-rush hr traffic, it takes 40 min to get from Milford to Watertown (Bing Map). I'd plan at least 1 hr in traffic.
Wowee, 15 minutes from 495 to Watertown? It usually takes me that long from Framingham! Sometimes I'm amazed at how fast some people claim to drive on here. Please let me know before you get in your car, haha.
Read what I posted. I said 10 minutes to the Mass Pike, then 15 to Watertown. That's 25 minutes. Okay, maybe it would take 30 minutes. These times aren't exact.
Read what I posted. I said 10 minutes to the Mass Pike, then 15 to Watertown. That's 25 minutes. Okay, maybe it would take 30 minutes. These times aren't exact.
That's exactly what I said, from 495 (once you get onto the Mass Pike) to Watertown. But anyways, I think it's really closer to 40 min even in normal traffic. 25 minutes is out of the question, but even 30 minutes is hauling it at around 90mph. The OP cares about morning rush hour which will take closer to 1.5 hours. When I worked in Waltham I had a coworker who took 1.5 hours to get from Medway and our office was right off the MassPike at Rt-30, which is even closer than Watertown. There are definitely some back roads that will cut down the commute time, but not everyone likes to drive on windy backroads for an hour. Some prefer to just sit in the traffic on the highway.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
