Trying Again - Help with which towns (Boston, Newton: rent, mortgage)

[tigerclaws]

Someone mentioned Metrowest. You could take the Framingham-Worcester commuter rail to Back Bay and your spouse could commute to Waltham.

Some of the good towns in Metrowest are Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury with each offering increasing commute to your work. You will have to compromise somewhere.

[Boston_Burbs]

I think Ashland or Natick would work.

Both Boston Magazine top 50 towns for schools.

[Parsec]

If you've already done an exhaustive search and didn't find any affordable towns, I don't think a new hidden town is suddenly going to appear on your radar. You have many options, but each of them will be a compromise of sorts:
1) Find new jobs further out in the suburbs
2) Buy a house further out and deal with a longer commute
3) Buy a 2-bedroom condo and have 2 kids share 1 bedroom
4) Buy in a town that's not looked highly upon by the people here on C-D, but you have to make the best of what you've got
5) Move out of MA

The vast majority of young families in Eastern MA already chose one of those options, so you are not alone. Think about it. The top 25 school districts probably have a population of around 500,000 (20,000 residents per town). The Boston area has a total population of 5 million. That means 90% of the population does not live in a top 25 school district. You'll be fine moving to Billerica or whatever town you can afford unless you believe the lives of 90% of the population will be ruined because they can't afford a house in a top school district.

[meeps2002]

I have - the issue we've seen with 2/multi-familes is that deeper pockets always prevail. Any investor who knows that over 15 years they can get 2 rental incomes, buys it well over asking. this leaves distressed properties to us lay people

[sparklingforest]

Originally Posted by kingeorge

Buy something in Waltham. Watertown while you can still afford it. Condo or two family will serve you well. In 5-10 years re-asses if you are ready to bigger, better house or not. Use equity for down-payment for the bigger place, and rent your starter out, or just sell and upgrade. By that time you might be earning more as well, so everything evens out. Waiting is not best strategy right now.

Getting caught in trying to buy bigger "forever" place you can not afford right now is tripping up you, and many young buyers. You lose valuable time chasing some ideal non-existent place, when you can buy something smaller or in need of some renovations, start to build equity, and have something to show for five years later. Very few people started easy and as they wanted in RE. It is long term game that requires strategy, courage, and patience. There is nothing wrong in starting smaller and building your way up. No guts, no glory.

Good luck.

Yes, yes to this. Waltham and Watertown are under-valued right now. Their locations are so good prices will rise quickly. People with incomes of 150 - 250k are being priced out of the "better" towns and need a place to live near the job centers.

[meeps2002]

as of today - $400,000 as the max ... there are 0 homes in watertown on the market and 6 in Waltham

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by meeps2002

as of today - $400,000 as the max ... there are 0 homes in watertown on the market and 6 in Waltham

Exactly, you won't find any 3 bedroom SFH in move-in condition in Waltham or Watertown for under $400k. You need to be realistic and consider your other options.

I just noticed you are renting in the South End. Surely you can afford more than a $400k house if you're currently renting a 2-bedroom in the South End.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

It took friends of ours (moved here from out of state, 1 young child) almost a year to find a place they could comfortably afford which was roughly midway between both their jobs (the company where the husband works provides child care so their child goes with him during the week). They eventually did find a house and moved in last fall. It's nowhere near their ideal place (handyman special, neighborhood isn't considered the greatest) but it does have easy access to a couple of major highways as well as stores and such. Their grand plan is to stay there for 4-5 years, gradually fix up the place, put it up for sale, then move to a bigger place in a better school district. This is not an unusual scenario at all in this area.

The other scenario in this area is people inheriting their family houses. Chances are their parents could afford the upkeep; OTOH, they probably don't need to pay a mortgage. I know quite a few young families in my neighborhood who have taken on the challenge of remodeling in exchange of only having to pay a property tax.

[Whatsnext75]

this is another reason why people need to think outside of the box and not be hell bent on living in Arlington, Somerville, Weston, Winchester, etc. Not everyone will be able to live in the most popular places and there seems to be a feeling of failure or something when they dont. it's just not possible for these towns to hold everyone.

[Shizim]

Originally Posted by xo_kizzy_xo

It took friends of ours (moved here from out of state, 1 young child) almost a year to find a place they could comfortably afford which was roughly midway between both their jobs (the company where the husband works provides child care so their child goes with him during the week). They eventually did find a house and moved in last fall. It's nowhere near their ideal place (handyman special, neighborhood isn't considered the greatest) but it does have easy access to a couple of major highways as well as stores and such. Their grand plan is to stay there for 4-5 years, gradually fix up the place, put it up for sale, then move to a bigger place in a better school district. This is not an unusual scenario at all in this area.

Thats what we did. bought in a blah town and just threw as much principal as we could against the mortgage (15 year term plus extra payments). After six and a half years the market was slightly better than when we bought (end of 2006) and were going to start a family so we sold it and used the proceeds for a downpayment in a Great/Good town (still not Winchester).