Trying Again - Help with which towns (Worcester, Framingham: house, good schools)

[mmyk72]

Originally Posted by 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

I'll add another option I've seen people take:
6) Buy a cheaper house in the town you want to be in and deal with the negatives: These houses are priced low because they either need a lot of renov work, located on the busiest intersection you can imagine, very tiny and set on an atypical lot that makes the yard useless (often multiple conditions are true).

[Whatsnext75]

Yeah i figured Canton was better than Weymouth. Canton has very nice homes.

[Whatsnext75]

'Buy a cheaper house in the town you want to be in and deal with the negatives: These houses are priced low because they either need a lot of renov work, located on the busiest intersection you can imagine, very tiny and set on an atypical lot that makes the yard useless (often multiple conditions are true).'

I think this is what most people are trying to do these days but these said houses just arent there or there are lots of offers then the price goes up on the said house.

[mmyk72]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

'Buy a cheaper house in the town you want to be in and deal with the negatives: These houses are priced low because they either need a lot of renov work, located on the busiest intersection you can imagine, very tiny and set on an atypical lot that makes the yard useless (often multiple conditions are true).'

I think this is what most people are trying to do these days but these said houses just arent there or there are lots of offers then the price goes up on the said house.

Actually, these are houses on the MLS listing that seem to never go away, unlike the 'good' houses that goes under contract within the first day of listing. They may not be 'cheap' but comparatively lower priced than those hot houses.

[sparklingforest]

Originally Posted by mmyk72

Actually, these are houses on the MLS listing that seem to never go away, unlike the 'good' houses that goes under contract within the first day of listing. They may not be 'cheap' but comparatively lower priced than those hot houses.

These houses may need serious work - structural, not cosmetic - and may not be the bargains they appear to be.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by meeps2002

What if I expand to say, I'm ok with a door to door commuter rail of around an hour? Thinking something like Tewksbury may work?

This opens up a lot of options. Back Bay is super convenient for the commuter rail from the southwest and west, maybe even more convenient than from Walthsm. You could look at Walpole, maybe Canton, or even Sharon or Westwood if you're ok with something smaller. If you could make Natick or Waltham work on your budget those could be good options.

[Peabody99]

Originally Posted by gf2020

A nice condo in Natick or Framingham seems like a reasonable compromise with a budget of only $400K.

Natick is out of budget but Framingham seems like a good compromise, or Waltham

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by mmyk72

I'll add another option I've seen people take:
6) Buy a cheaper house in the town you want to be in and deal with the negatives: These houses are priced low because they either need a lot of renov work, located on the busiest intersection you can imagine, very tiny and set on an atypical lot that makes the yard useless (often multiple conditions are true).

Like that house on the corner of Rt-27 and Bacon that you can practically touch when you stick your hand out the window? I know you know which one I'm talking about

[Steephill2]

Originally Posted by Shizim

Saugus' school system is a disaster. town is broke despite Rt. 1. political mess.

you could do much worse than waybright elementery in saugus or reeves in woburn. not sure about the middle or high schools but you could always decide later to move then or not

[johngolf]

Meeps

Try a simple experiment. Get a map of greater Boston (say 50mi out). Draw a 30mi circle centered on where you work. Draw a 30mi circle centered on where she works. See where they overlap. Consider she will not be able to take public transportation and you might be able to. Consider commuting traffic patterns. Consider area cost, etc.