Looking for realistic perspective on living in Boston Metro /Suburbs (Cambridge: vacation home, elementary school)

[BostonMike7]

$750-850K would easily put you into many cities and towns in the 128/95 area. You could probably even find something in the $650K range is you wanted to save a few bucks. Where you go all depends on your personal preferences and tastes when it comes to your home style and neighborhood desires. Only you can really answer that.

The public schools in MA, as a whole are amoung some of the best in the nation, even though on a more local level you will find many people picking apart lesser school systems and advocating nothing less than $1 mil for a house in a top tier city. Plenty of successful individuals hage gone through "lesser" school systems and gone on to get into great colleges and start successful careers.

As suggested by another poster, you could easily find a house in the 128=495 belt area or beyond for $400-600 and invest the difference in home price/taxes and just pay for 4 years of private school. This is becoming popular as many companies (mine included) are rolling out permanent WFH/Hybrid policies.

In terms of quality of life, I have no complaints, but without context of my living situation it's hard to understand what that means exactly

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Yes I'm sure some validate paying 700K on the idea of a good public school but keep in mind a 30 year mortgage and the property taxes after the fact vs four years of paying for a private school.

That mortgage is going toward a house that is going to increase it's value much more than a random house in central MA. I live in rural central MA and the house I bought was paid by me the exact same price was paid 10 years earlier by the previous owner.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

As suggested by another poster, you could easily find a house in the 128=495 belt area or beyond for $400-600 and invest the difference in home price/taxes and just pay for 4 years of private school. This is becoming popular as many companies (mine included) are rolling out permanent WFH/Hybrid policies.

Why should he pay for private schools if he is outside 95? Most of the best school districts in MA are outside 95.

[nmcg79]

Originally Posted by Lampert

The top districts are going to be pressure cookers, then there are districts that are still great and not pressure cookers but not top (they still are top nationwide but not in MA).
What kind would you preferer?

Definitely NOT pressure cooker schools. Do these exist? I would love to hear which ones.

I agree completely with the other comment that the mediocre schools in MA will be better than Oregon.

[nmcg79]

Originally Posted by mdovell

If you were in DC you realize the transit system there is one of the best if not the best in the country. If we all go back to normal so to speak the traffic will be much higher then it is now.

How about this.

Get a home in central Mass, southern NH or eastern CT.
Hybrid go to work physically half the week
Send your kid to private school.

Yes I'm sure some validate paying 700K on the idea of a good public school but keep in mind a 30 year mortgage and the property taxes after the fact vs four years of paying for a private school.

This is definitely something to consider, and essentially what we'd be doing in Oregon.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by nmcg79

This is definitely something to consider, and essentially what we'd be doing in Oregon.

Except there is no need to use private schools with the budget you have. In MA, bad school districts are the exception rather than the rule.

[nmcg79]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Except there is no need to use private schools with the budget you have. In MA, bad school districts are the exception rather than the rule.

This is what I was assuming, yet from just looking online it's tough to get past the "great schools" ratings and get more info about the individual districts. Would love some suggestions about the good schools that may not rate highly in the ratings online.

For example, we thought of Northampton as an option for Western MA, but school ratings online are not great.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by nmcg79

This is what I was assuming, yet from just looking online it's tough to get past the "great schools" ratings and get more info about the individual districts. Would love some suggestions about the good schools that may not rate highly in the ratings online.

For example, we thought of Northampton as an option for Western MA, but school ratings online are not great.

The "great schools" ratings are based on the state average as opposed to the national average, so a "5" is average for MA but considerably above that national average. Anything "6" and over is usually a safe bet for MA although I prefer not to use rankings like that. Narrow down an area of the state you like, and we can better point you to the good schools/walkable areas. Even "Boston area" is really too broad as it's very spread out and "you can't get there from here", so would be vital to know things like "commutable to the Financial District" or "Boston Hospitals" or "128 belt", etc.. If you are now focused on Western Mass (Northampton area), I will not be much help but we do have several posters from out that way who could assist.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by nmcg79

Would love some suggestions about the good schools that may not rate highly in the ratings online.

There are lots of districts with good/great schools around Boston where you can buy a 3BR for around 7-800k. There are also lots of cities and towns with a recognizable city center where you can walk around. Probably that's how most cities and towns are organized in MA actually. You need to find other criteria to narrow down the area to at least north, south or west, roughly.
For instance, do you care bout being close to the ocean?

[nmcg79]

Originally Posted by massnative71

The "great schools" ratings are based on the state average as opposed to the national average, so a "5" is average for MA but considerably above that national average. Anything "6" and over is usually a safe bet for MA although I prefer not to use rankings like that. Narrow down an area of the state you like, and we can better point you to the good schools/walkable areas. Even "Boston area" is really too broad as it's very spread out and "you can't get there from here", so would be vital to know things like "commutable to the Financial District" or "Boston Hospitals" or "128 belt", etc.. If you are now focused on Western Mass (Northampton area), I will not be much help but we do have several posters from out that way who could assist.

Super helpful- thank you! I am getting the sense that there may be too many places to recommend unless we narrow it down. That is a good sign!