would you say now is a bad time to buy? (Boston: buying a house, top school)

[Steephill2]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The reality is the children of affluent, educated parents who are engaged with the whole process will probably turn out just fine attending schools that Zillows rates as a 5 or 6. That brings pretty much any suburb into play.

Here's an idea. Make all MA schools open enrollment. So someone living in one city can chiose to goto the school of another town.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by Steephill2

Here's an idea. Make all MA schools open enrollment. So someone living in one city can chiose to goto the school of another town.

This is what should happen but it never will because the people who bought their $1 million houses have the means to fight any such measure to protect their investment.

[Whatsnext75]

Another thing that is kind of ridiculous is that a lot of people that live in these affluent towns send their kids to private high school. We have friends in needham who send their 5 year old to a kindergarten that is 20k something a year. I guess many people have money to burn but it does stink for people who genuinely want to live in those towns for the schools but cant find anything. Another friend lives in Hingham and he noticed a lot of people use private schools there as well and he was like, don't we pay enough to live here?

[Shizim]

Originally Posted by Dm84

This is what should happen but it never will because the people who bought their $1 million houses have the means to fight any such measure to protect their investment.

logistical nightmare. how will they get funded, transportation, etc.

and selfishly, I'm not paying my nosebleed tax rate so someone from xyz city can ship their kids to school here. they can buy my house when my kids leave high school.

[miu]

Originally Posted by wxjay

Live below your means and within your needs. That means, even if you can afford a home within 128, ask yourself if you NEED that house first.

Many are trying to avoid a long commute time, whether it's due the distance or time spent in rush hour traffic. Eastern MA is a victim of Boston's strong job market and also the top universities which attract the wealthy foreign students.

I do think that there are occasional decent buys in the current market if the buyer is willing to buy a fixer-upper. As to having a decent sized down payment, it's a matter of pooling the money with family members or in a business arrangement.

From what I've seen, Asians are good about a real estate purchase being a multi-generational family effort. A whole family will buy a multi-family unit and occupy all of it. And the two-family next door to me was bought by a man with a used car lot, and his sons helped with renovating it.

My boyfriend has a friend who buys real estate that he fixes up and then flips. So that goes back to being willing to fix up a house instead of looking at places that are in perfect condition or are new construction.

And imo with condos, they just aren't worth buying because of all the condo fees associated with them.

[Steephill2]

Originally Posted by miu

Many are trying to avoid a long commute time, whether it's due the distance or time spent in rush hour traffic. Eastern MA is a victim of Boston's strong job market and also the top universities which attract the wealthy foreign students.

I do think that there are occasional decent buys in the current market if the buyer is willing to buy a fixer-upper. As to having a decent sized down payment, it's a matter of pooling the money with family members or in a business arrangement.

From what I've seen, Asians are good about a real estate purchase being a multi-generational family effort. A whole family will buy a multi-family unit and occupy all of it. And the two-family next door to me was bought by a man with a used car lot, and his sons helped with renovating it.

My boyfriend has a friend who buys real estate that he fixes up and then flips. So that goes back to being willing to fix up a house instead of looking at places that are in perfect condition or are new construction.

And imo with condos, they just aren't worth buying because of all the condo fees associated with them.

condo fees rarely if ever go down. Dont forget special assessments as well. these are the ones that really surprise people. Thats why reviewing condo associations and its numbers before buying is very important. But with the market now, anything goes. Or buy now, worry later. That nice pool and tennis court you use once a year maybbe costing you more than you think.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by miu

And imo with condos, they just aren't worth buying because of all the condo fees associated with them.

It depends.

I'm in a condo now. Even though my fees are high, my mortgage/taxes/etc is low enough that with the condo fees, i'm paying less than what I could rent the place out. My neighbor rents the same size unit that I own (basically a mirror unit) and pays more in rent alone than my total expenses combined. (mortgage, condo fees, sewer, gas, electric).


Condo fees do go up though, and the special assessments scare me. They kinda played into my decision to sell the place and go for a SFH.

[Whatsnext75]

'and selfishly, I'm not paying my nosebleed tax rate so someone from xyz city can ship their kids to school here. they can buy my house when my kids leave high school.'

yeah that would never work. In Boston itself you can't even decide to send your kids to whichever boston school you feel like. Maybe their should be some type of program like a statewide lottery. THe problem is anyone with a clue would want to send their kids to the best of the bunch. Sadly some parents in boston or other not great areas in MA probably dont care where their kids go to school.

That being said, I think people in this state put a little too much emphasis on the best public schools. At the end of the day if you care so much about a kids education and where they go, to me it makes more sense to send them to a private school rather than go through this ridiculousness of scrambling to find a house somewhere in this market.

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by Steephill2

Here's an idea. Make all MA schools open enrollment. So someone living in one city can chiose to goto the school of another town.

Have you considered what the cost of school bus transportation would be under this scenario?

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

Another thing that is kind of ridiculous is that a lot of people that live in these affluent towns send their kids to private high school. We have friends in needham who send their 5 year old to a kindergarten that is 20k something a year. I guess many people have money to burn but it does stink for people who genuinely want to live in those towns for the schools but cant find anything. Another friend lives in Hingham and he noticed a lot of people use private schools there as well and he was like, don't we pay enough to live here?

If someone lives in an affluent town and wants to send their child to private school and has the means to do it, that is their business. The homeowner is still paying taxes to support the public school that their child does not attend. From the town's perspective, that's a plus on the balance sheet.