Low inventory? (Boston, Cambridge, Somerville: for sale, real estate market, 2014) - Massachusetts (MA) - City-Data Forum

peachto4 · 12-16-2013, 09:54 AM

I've been browsing zillows for a home to purchase in the merrimak valley and Very northern Metro west area. It seems inventory is light. My price range is about 800 k or less and we desire a 4 bedroom home. Is the inventory low right now in these areas, or am I priced out of these areas with my target home price?

MikePRU · 12-16-2013, 11:07 AM

If by "northern Metrowest" you mean Lexington then $800K is going to be an entry level budget and you'll have a tough time finding a house. In most other towns in that area though, $800K is a very good budget.

This past Spring/Summer/Fall we were dealing with very low levels of inventory. Seasonally, even in normal markets, inventory levels ebb and flow and there is usually lower levels of inventory during the winter especially during the holiday season. I expect we should start to see more homes for sale toward the end of January.

Parsec · 12-16-2013, 01:33 PM

I don't think Metrowest stretches that far north. The Metrowest Chamber of Commerce and Metrowest Daily News service areas only stretch as far north as Hudson-Sudbury-Wayland-Weston. It doesn't even include towns like Concord or Lincoln, so Metrowest doesn't really border Merrimack Valley. However, there are TONS of homes in Merrimack Valley in that price range. I can't think of a single town you'd be priced out of.

Scriptkitten · 12-16-2013, 04:09 PM

The 2013/2014 yellowpages covers acton Ashland Bedford Burlington concord Dover Framingham holliston hopkinton Hudson Marlborough natick needham Sudbury wayland Wellesley Weston and "surrounding areas"

peachto4 · 12-16-2013, 07:24 PM

Mike...I see you are an agent! Perfect person to ask! Is 800 K going to go very far in the areas of Concord, Carlisle, Lexington, Westford and Winchester? We are looking for a 4 bedroom home hopefully in one of these recommended towns. Also, are these towns consitered part of the Merrimack Valley? My husband got a job in Tewksbury and we are relocating sometime in June. Many thanks!

MikePRU · 12-16-2013, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parsec

I don't think Metrowest stretches that far north. The Metrowest Chamber of Commerce and Metrowest Daily News service areas only stretch as far north as Hudson-Sudbury-Wayland-Weston. It doesn't even include towns like Concord or Lincoln, so Metrowest doesn't really border Merrimack Valley. However, there are TONS of homes in Merrimack Valley in that price range. I can't think of a single town you'd be priced out of.

I don't believe a lot of people would include Lexington in their list of towns in Metrowest. However, somehow I just knew the OP had Lexington on their list even though in my mind it's not part of Metrowest. Part of the problem is that there really is no official definition of these regions. The Metrowest Daily News seems to have one list while the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce has another and other organizations have their own lists. Most would agree though that Lexington is not a part of MetroWest.

This is really not important to the real conversation here but the definition of these areas like Merrimack Valley, MetroWest, South Shore, North Shore, etc is a very interesting side topic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by peachto4

Mike...I see you are an agent! Perfect person to ask! Is 800 K going to go very far in the areas of Concord, Carlisle, Lexington, Westford and Winchester? We are looking for a 4 bedroom home hopefully in one of these recommended towns. Also, are these towns consitered part of the Merrimack Valley? My husband got a job in Tewksbury and we are relocating sometime in June. Many thanks!

I don't think anyone would say these towns (except Westford) are in the Merrimack Valley. Concord, Carlisle, Lexington, and Winchester are too far south to be in the MV.

You can find a house for $800K in any of these towns with four bedrooms. Out of curiosity, I actually looked and there were nearly 80 homes sold in the last 6 months in these towns with a minimum of 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and priced between $700K and $800K. The question is . . . are you going to be happy living in the house? Your dollar will go a lot further in some of these towns compared to others. For example, in Lexington $800K will get you a more modest house which is perhaps a split level style or multi-level style. It might even be a small colonial style home that needs updating. On the other end of the spectrum you have Westford. In that town, you could buy a brand new large colonial with all the bells & whistles well within your budget.

So, what kind of home are you looking for? All of these towns are pretty reasonable commutes to Tewksbury.

peachto4 · 12-17-2013, 06:57 AM

Thanks so much, Mike! I am very interested in knowing what "county" to say I am looking in. I suppose this could help me narrow down a search that is commutable from Tewksbury. Do you know?

We are looking for a 4 bedroom home, colonial style or even updated Cape. We are not intersetd in Split Level or contemporary. We are not afraid of a little work though. Sschool system has to be really good. A bonus for me would be a town that has life, I want to know I have neighbors and can get a cup of coffee in town. Make sense? Please tell me there is a town and a house for us somewhere up there.

Many thanks!

MikePRU · 12-17-2013, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peachto4

Thanks so much, Mike! I am very interested in knowing what "county" to say I am looking in. I suppose this could help me narrow down a search that is commutable from Tewksbury. Do you know?

I would just say that you're looking for a town that's X minutes commute to Tewksbury and not worry about what other labels to put on it. All the towns you've mentioned so far are (by most local people's standards) pretty reasonable commutes to Tewksbury. Concord may be pushing it a little and is probably the town furthest away of those you've mentioned. Keep in mind when you're using a site like Google Maps to judge commuting times that the drive times they give are usually the time it will take without traffic. RT 128 gets quite congested in the morning especially around Burlington so if you live south of there that will add to your commute time and will not be accounted for by Google Maps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by peachto4

We are looking for a 4 bedroom home, colonial style or even updated Cape. We are not intersetd in Split Level or contemporary. We are not afraid of a little work though. Sschool system has to be really good. A bonus for me would be a town that has life, I want to know I have neighbors and can get a cup of coffee in town. Make sense? Please tell me there is a town and a house for us somewhere up there.

Many thanks!

Every single town you've listed has a good school system. So, that's a good start.

Lexington is probably about the most expensive town you've listed. So unless you want to live in a modest colonial (think well less than 2,000 square feet) or increase your budget, I would probably cross that town off the list. This being said, I do think Lexington is a great place to live.

Concord is less expensive, but the people of Concord in general tend to swing strongly to one side of the political spectrum. For example, they've banned the sale of bottled water in town because of the environmental impact of the bottles. If you don't have similar leanings, you might be more comfortable in another town. Plus, Concord as already mentioned would be the longest commute to Tewksbury of the towns already mentioned.

I don't think there's too much going on in Carlisle in that I don't believe there's much in the way of shops/restaurants in town, but somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on that. So, if you're looking for a buzzing town center I don't believe you'll find it here.

Winchester is also a lovely place to live. It's been considered a desirable place to live for a long time and so there are some really lovely older homes there to look at as you drive around. Plus, Winchester will give you better access to Boston and it's amenities than any of these other towns. You'd also have pretty decent access to Cambridge & Somerville as well both of which have a lot to offer. Like Lexington though I'm not 100% sure that you'd be happy with the house your money buys you in this town. Likely something fairly modest that needs to be almost entirely updated.

Westford is also a nice town. You might also want to think about Andover and Newburyport which are nice towns and quite convenient to Tewksbury as well.

The one piece of advice I'll give you is that real estate in this area is highly Boston centric. The city is kind of the heart of things around here. From jobs to a night out many people in the area consider living closer to Boston a plus. So, the further you get from Boston the less expensive the houses get. Should the real estate market take another negative turn sometime in the future as they did last time the market turned downward I would expect that towns closer to Boston with good school systems and good commuting options in to Boston will maintain value better than those that are further out. So, based on recent history I would tell you that towns closer to Boston are a better place to put your money than those further away especially if it's possible that you may be relocating again in the future.

peachto4 · 12-17-2013, 10:17 AM

Thanks Mike! Such helpful advice! I always appreciate your posts. Kindest regards to you and everyone else who has posted.

gf2020 · 12-18-2013, 09:15 AM

My advice has always been to determine the town that you want to live in first and then find the right house in that town.

Comparing a $800K house in Winchester with a $800K house in Westford, for example, is an apples to oranges exercise. Both communities are very nice but they have very different average home prices and your impression of any individual house will be skewed by that. Now, say you decide you want to live in Winchester. You will look at only the $800K homes in Winchester and you can make meaningful comparisons between just these homes.