First time home buyer, should we try to buy now before interest rates rise? (Boston: renting, condos)

[skittlesrainbow]

We're currently renting in Newton; I work downtown (Back Bay) and my husband works in North Cambridge. Our current budget is 600k or under. We want a single family house (no kids yet but we have a large dog and 2 cars so condo living is not ideal).

We'd love to live in Newton, Brookline, or Cambridge/Somerville but we're well priced out. We found some homes in our price range in Waltham/Natick, but the commute would be worse for one of us (if we go North Waltham, I'd have to drive to the Newton commuter rail, if we got to Natick he'd have to drive further to Cambridge). Husband said he's willing to switch jobs to Natick/Needham/Wellesely area but of course there's no guarantee if/when that'll happen.

We also considered Medford/Malden but it seems like parking for the Orange line is very competitive and also parts of those neighborhoods seem to be sketchier. West Medford would get me to North station, so I'd have to take the orange/green to back bay again (Arlington/Winchester has less transit and also expensive).

Based on location and the rising interest rates, do you guys think it'll be better to try and get a home in Natick or Waltham now while the market is a tiny bit slower in winter? I am concerned if we wait a year or two we'll be priced out of those neighborhoods as well since we don't want to deal with a fixer upper.

[CaseyB]

Yeah, I would. You certainly aren't going to lose any money on a house in Natick or even Waltham, but as you say, you could be priced out in a year.

[MrLinderman]

Originally Posted by skittlesrainbow

We're currently renting in Newton; I work downtown (Back Bay) and my husband works in North Cambridge. Our current budget is 600k or under. We want a single family house (no kids yet but we have a large dog and 2 cars so condo living is not ideal).

We'd love to live in Newton, Brookline, or Cambridge/Somerville but we're well priced out. We found some homes in our price range in Waltham/Natick, but the commute would be worse for one of us (if we go North Waltham, I'd have to drive to the Newton commuter rail, if we got to Natick he'd have to drive further to Cambridge). Husband said he's willing to switch jobs to Natick/Needham/Wellesely area but of course there's no guarantee if/when that'll happen.

We also considered Medford/Malden but it seems like parking for the Orange line is very competitive and also parts of those neighborhoods seem to be sketchier. West Medford would get me to North station, so I'd have to take the orange/green to back bay again (Arlington/Winchester has less transit and also expensive).

Based on location and the rising interest rates, do you guys think it'll be better to try and get a home in Natick or Waltham now while the market is a tiny bit slower in winter? I am concerned if we wait a year or two we'll be priced out of those neighborhoods as well since we don't want to deal with a fixer upper.

As long as you aren't stretching your budget, it would make sense to me. Just be careful. I'm not saying you're one of them, but that line of reasoning is often used as an excuse by people who are looking to talk themselves into buying, even if it's reallly stretching them thin.

[skittlesrainbow]

Originally Posted by MrLinderman

As long as you aren't stretching your budget, it would make sense to me. Just be careful. I'm not saying you're one of them, but that line of reasoning is often used as an excuse by people who are looking to talk themselves into buying, even if it's reallly stretching them thin.

Thanks for the advice - I can definitely see where you're coming from. I do feel like sometimes I am talking myself into buying because the interest rate is low but I'm not 100% sure it's a good time to buy given some of the uncertainty of my husband's future job. I think we'll take another look into our expenses and think about what other big purchases (furniture, etc.) might be needed if we buy a house and make sure we're not going to be house poor.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by skittlesrainbow

We're currently renting in Newton; I work downtown (Back Bay) and my husband works in North Cambridge. Our current budget is 600k or under. We want a single family house (no kids yet but we have a large dog and 2 cars so condo living is not ideal).

We'd love to live in Newton, Brookline, or Cambridge/Somerville but we're well priced out. We found some homes in our price range in Waltham/Natick, but the commute would be worse for one of us (if we go North Waltham, I'd have to drive to the Newton commuter rail, if we got to Natick he'd have to drive further to Cambridge). Husband said he's willing to switch jobs to Natick/Needham/Wellesely area but of course there's no guarantee if/when that'll happen.

We also considered Medford/Malden but it seems like parking for the Orange line is very competitive and also parts of those neighborhoods seem to be sketchier. West Medford would get me to North station, so I'd have to take the orange/green to back bay again (Arlington/Winchester has less transit and also expensive).

Based on location and the rising interest rates, do you guys think it'll be better to try and get a home in Natick or Waltham now while the market is a tiny bit slower in winter? I am concerned if we wait a year or two we'll be priced out of those neighborhoods as well since we don't want to deal with a fixer upper.

As newly minted empty nesters, we were recently in the hunt and looked at a bunch of properties in Waltham. There are some excellent condos, some with even 2-car garages, in that price range but they go FAST. There's a couple under construction right now near the Moody St / River St area (Cushing St, School Ave). It's gentrifying, but it does look like a neighborhood where there could be car break-ins (no data, just hunch & experience), so I wouldn't go with a 1-car garage and having to park one of the vehicles outside.

SFH in Waltham under that price range--you're looking at some combination of busy street, extensive fixes, 1-car garage, no A/C. Good luck with the search.

[breezy1]

What about Watertown? You may find homes in that range. If you are going to buy, I would go for it sooner rather than later. Interest rates are going up and also there will be more competition in the spring and the bidding wars will drive the prices up. We were originally looking in the more affordable areas of Newton, but couldn't nab anything in the bidding wars. We ended up in a great neighborhood in Watertown, which we actually enjoy better than the neighborhood in Newtonville where we were renting!

[BostonMike7]

Problem with buying now is that inventory on the market now tends to be people who really want to sell now, or houses that were overpriced from the summer rush. After Halloween, the number of new homes popping up seems to trickle off as most buyers just wait for the spring.


At least this is what I've seen in my area as new SFH's on the market has all but stopped and the remaining few are getting scooped up with price drops, and possibly desperate buyers/motivated sellers.




On the flip side of things, I've seen homes in my neighborhood appreciate $20-30K or so in the last year. A house across the street from me just sold for what I paid for mine last year, and mine is more SF, recently updated (not including what I've done this past year), and has 1 more bathroom. I've seen this trend with other homes as well. Things are definitely still going up.

[skittlesrainbow]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

As newly minted empty nesters, we were recently in the hunt and looked at a bunch of properties in Waltham. There are some excellent condos, some with even 2-car garages, in that price range but they go FAST. There's a couple under construction right now near the Moody St / River St area (Cushing St, School Ave). It's gentrifying, but it does look like a neighborhood where there could be car break-ins (no data, just hunch & experience), so I wouldn't go with a 1-car garage and having to park one of the vehicles outside.

SFH in Waltham under that price range--you're looking at some combination of busy street, extensive fixes, 1-car garage, no A/C. Good luck with the search.

I definitely agree with you about the area near Moody street (south side of Waltham). A lot of the houses we saw in that area needed extensive work and the neighborhood isn't necessarily the "white picket fence" type. However, the north side near Lexington seemed to be a lot nicer (we saw some nice houses in Pigeon Hill/Belmont line that were over our budget), but perhaps that differs by street/area.

[skittlesrainbow]

Originally Posted by breezy1

What about Watertown? You may find homes in that range. If you are going to buy, I would go for it sooner rather than later. Interest rates are going up and also there will be more competition in the spring and the bidding wars will drive the prices up. We were originally looking in the more affordable areas of Newton, but couldn't nab anything in the bidding wars. We ended up in a great neighborhood in Watertown, which we actually enjoy better than the neighborhood in Newtonville where we were renting!

Watertown would be nice, but it seems like competition there is pretty fierce too! There were a few that I thought had potential but they were pretty quickly off the market. The few we saw online needed kitchen/bathroom updates, so if we took that into account they also went a bit over budget.

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Problem with buying now is that inventory on the market now tends to be people who really want to sell now, or houses that were overpriced from the summer rush. After Halloween, the number of new homes popping up seems to trickle off as most buyers just wait for the spring.


At least this is what I've seen in my area as new SFH's on the market has all but stopped and the remaining few are getting scooped up with price drops, and possibly desperate buyers/motivated sellers.



On the flip side of things, I've seen homes in my neighborhood appreciate $20-30K or so in the last year. A house across the street from me just sold for what I paid for mine last year, and mine is more SF, recently updated (not including what I've done this past year), and has 1 more bathroom. I've seen this trend with other homes as well. Things are definitely still going up.

I was hoping to scoop something that has a good price drop, but I could see the flip side of sellers deciding to wait until the spring when new buyers come back in droves.

[mmyk72]

Buy when you see a house that's works for you for the price you want to pay, as that's probably the hardest and most challenging part. Keep househunting thru the winter. You may luck out with fewer competitors.