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In OP's case, yes. But that's why Framingham isn't as cheap as you think it should be.
I get it, but does it not not seem like a poor value compared to, say, Acton? A top 20 district with express rail in Cambridge and tolerable upper 95/128/Waltham access. Particularly if you review job market data which shows the high wage/high skill jobs are largely concentrated in Boston/Cam and upper 95. Or even Ashland or Hopkinton which are top 30-50 districts?
The lower/middle tier towns are being squeezed up in this low inventory/low rate environment. Meanwhile their higher priced peers are remaining *relatively* static.
For OP, the reality is in a theoretical rising rate/declining value RE market Shrewsbury will still be one of the the most desirable Worcester 'burbs, where as Framingham will remain the bottom of tier of metrowest 'burbs. I'm not trying to beat of up on Framingham as the north side of town is very nice, but ain't Natick and it ain't gonna be Natick unless there is an absolutely massive gentrification push.
Only barely and you would have to leave pretty early. North Framingham would be better, and would also be more realistic to work Downtown or Back Bay from there.
For OP, the reality is in a theoretical rising rate/declining value RE market Shrewsbury will still be one of the the most desirable Worcester 'burbs, where as Framingham will remain the bottom of tier of metrowest 'burbs.
Most of you aren't old enough to remember the real estate correction at the S&L meltdown around 1990. The gold plated towns held their value pretty well. The blue collar towns that had been bid up in the bubble of the 1980s collapsed. Any distress sale in a gold plated suburb or desirable city neighborhood kept the bank whole. That wasn't the case in most of the metro. That really didn't happen at Dot.Com or the Great Recession. I think it gives many in metro Boston the mistaken belief that the Boston market is recession-proof.
Only barely and you would have to leave pretty early. North Framingham would be better, and would also be more realistic to work Downtown or Back Bay from there.
The question is if this is enough to offset all the things that make Framingham a worse choice.
Most of you aren't old enough to remember the real estate correction at the S&L meltdown around 1990. The gold plated towns held their value pretty well. The blue collar towns that had been bid up in the bubble of the 1980s collapsed. Any distress sale in a gold plated suburb or desirable city neighborhood kept the bank whole. That wasn't the case in most of the metro. That really didn't happen at Dot.Com or the Great Recession. I think it gives many in metro Boston the mistaken belief that the Boston market is recession-proof.
It definitely did happen in the Great Recession, albeit a smaller scale than the S&L.
I still have a valuations spreadsheet I downloaded circa ‘12 comparing 2008 to 2010.
Shrewsbury came in at -6.6% (worse than I imagined) and Acton at -2.8%. At the time, Acton-Box and Natick were both very hyped school districts. Southborough was still seen the ‘gold plated’ ‘borough.
Marginally worse, depending on the destination. OPs only known destination is Worcester, so in her case not at all. Hopkinton would be preferable, but depending on her area of expertise and her husbands job security, Shrewsbury likely remains her best target in terms of school quality AND diversity. I wouldn’t rule out Acton either, though the tax burden and commute to Worcester suffers some ... err ... significantly.
Thank you. My husband and I are both in Pharma industry.
Thank you. My husband and I are both in Pharma industry.
Worcester is at the periphery of the pharma industry area in MA. It's much more likely you will find a job closer to Boston than in Worcester.
If you are getting a house in Shrewsbury you can get to all the pharma places between Worcester and 95. Which is quite a bit. I wouldn't commute to Cambridge from Shrewsbury though (Cambridge has probably the highest concentration of pharma jobs).
Worcester is at the periphery of the pharma industry area in MA. It's much more likely you will find a job closer to Boston than in Worcester.
If you are getting a house in Shrewsbury you can get to all the pharma places between Worcester and 95. Which is quite a bit. I wouldn't commute to Cambridge from Shrewsbury though (Cambridge has probably the highest concentration of pharma jobs).
Agreed. I'd target Acton given OPs expertise. Acton is a much more tolerable Cambridge commute, especially if/when express trains return. Maybe Littleton/Westford too.
Shrewsbury came in at -6.6% (worse than I imagined) and Acton at -2.8%. At the time, Acton-Box and Natick were both very hyped school districts. Southborough was still seen the ‘gold plated’ ‘borough.
Buy the district, not the house.
I bought my West Portugal house for 80.56% of the town's 2008 assessed value. I think I overpaid by 5% so a 25% drop. Goes to show how metro Boston defied what was happening elsewhere in the country.
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