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Both Needham and Natick have a great/happening town center. However, the frequency of trains along the Worcester and Franklin/Foxboro lines is higher than Needham. Commute times will depend on where exactly you are in any of the above towns. E.g., the express from SS to West Natick (skips Wellesley/Newton stations) departs at 5:05/6:05 PM and reaches West Natick at 5:38/6:38 PM, i.e., in just 33 mins.
Except you wouldn't really want to live in West Natick because of it being too close to DT Framingham.
The benefit of being in Natick (and Needham too) versus Norwood/Westwood is that it would be more realistic to work later at the 128 jobs or drive to Alewife or something. That doesn't mean it would be great though, just better.
I have not lived in Norwood for some time, but I always thought that schools are weaker there than in other listed towns.
I would add Ashland and Franklin to this list.
I have not lived in Norwood for some time, but I always thought that schools are weaker there than in other listed towns.
I would add Ashland and Franklin to this list.
Ashland and Franklin commute is way too long. Commute is #1 priority. We don’t have children yet so schools are less of a concern.
Ah, that’s so interesting that the budget keeps coming up as a concern. I see several houses in the 800k-$1.1M range listed now, but realize things might change before we’re ready to buy in spring of 2023. Honestly, at the top of our budget we wouldn’t be ok with townhouse or busy street, but we could compromise on those things at the lower end.
This is why I asked what you were looking for in a house. You can buy a house in Needham in your budget. However, it's likely going to be very small, be in a bad location, or some other kind of high level of compromise. The values in the town have shot up tremendously over the last 2 years especially.
Quote:
Originally Posted by squibbet
I appreciate your insight - what do you like most about Needham?
I love that it has a downtown area with a smattering of good/great restaurants and some shops. There's often something going on in the center of town during the summer. The Heights is smaller but also has some good things to walk to. I like the easy highway access, I like the close proximity to shopping areas like Legacy Place, University Station, the Natick Mall, etc., etc., etc. It's also easy for me to access everything that towns like Newton and Wellesley have to offer without paying the higher cost of living in those towns. My friends who are commuters like that there are four train stations in town. So, it increases the likelihood that you'll be able to live somewhere that you can walk to a station. Most of all, I love the "small town feel" of Needham. I lived in Newton for about 10 years before I lived in Needham and Newton just felt too "big" to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by squibbet
Would also love other perspectives on commuting by train from Needham. We’re planning to visit soon and will do a test commute, and just hope it isn’t so bad that we’d regret stretching the budget to get t e other things we want in a town.
I'm not a commuter myself but friends who live in town seem to find it a convenient place to commute from. As others have mentioned, there are ironically towns that are further from Boston where the train ride takes about the same amount of time. It's nice to be closer in though as driving becomes more of an option at that point so if you need to leave early for a Doctor's appointment it's not unbearable to drive in to work in the morning.
Overall I see 28 results for houses that have sold at $1.2M on below on Realtor.com. At our budget the house will be on the smaller side, but it seems doable financially.
Hunnewell and Great Plain Ave are busy streets. They're not the Mass PIke by any stretch of the imagination but they're also not remotely a quiet neighborhood street either.
14 Highgate is down at the end of the street near Greendale. Highgate is not too busy of a street although it does tend to act as somewhat of an entrance/exit for that neighborhood. However, you do get a lot of traffic noise down that end of the street from Greendale and RT128. Plus, that end of the street has a pretty steep hill so a lot of the properties have lots with a fairly steep slope.
128 Grant was a cute house. It's really close to the train station which is great for walking but you'll definitely hear the train there. I think the low price has more to do with the size of the house, the fact that it had one full bathroom and only 3 bedrooms, and the kitchen and one of the bathrooms was pretty dated. Plus, the house didn't have a garage. Not a bad house but it definitely doesn't offer a ton and not really what the majority of people seem to be looking for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoliz
Beware that these *might* have been sold to developers who are going to tear them down and put up a new house that will sell for twice the price. For a few years now, houses under a million in Needham tend to be snatched up by cash-paying flippers very quickly, and it can be hard to compete with them.
Possible. Anytime you're looking at a house in Needham under $2M depending on where it is and what the lot size is you maybe competing with a developer. Most of the teardowns right now are right around $1M.
Quote:
Originally Posted by simplexsimon
If OP is willing to pay these prices then he or she should be a competitive buyer, no? Do developers offer other advantages to sellers other than all-cash?
Developers' offers usually include several things that give them an advantage over most buyers like . . .
-Cash offer
-No inspection
-Close whenever you want
-Leave anything you want in the house and the developer will throw it away
To be honest, many buyers are offering most of these things in theri offers these days as well. It's a REALLY competitive market in Needham still.
MikePRU, really appreciate this info. If we can’t break into Needham without too much compromise at the top of our budget, do you think Norwood and Canton are next best to focus on?
Hoping I can tap into your expertise as a realtor here, but when do you recommend we engage a realtor and really start looking if we need to close by June 30 2023 at the absolute latest? Is Jan too early? We’re out of state so being available to see houses will take some coordination and travel on our end.
MikePRU, really appreciate this info. If we can’t break into Needham without too much compromise at the top of our budget, do you think Norwood and Canton are next best to focus on?
Hoping I can tap into your expertise as a realtor here, but when do you recommend we engage a realtor and really start looking if we need to close by June 30 2023 at the absolute latest? Is Jan too early? We’re out of state so being available to see houses will take some coordination and travel on our end.
Not Mike, but if you’re priced out of Needham (which it seems you may be), my order would be something like:
Westwood/Natick
Canton/Milton
Dedham
Norwood
Nothing against Norwood, but the schools aren’t quite as good as surrounding towns. I will say of all the towns (including Needham) I like Norwood center best.
One other point that may be off topic but should at least be mentioned. Unless you have kids/some strong home buying incentives from your move, it is worth considering renting for a year to get a feel for the different towns. There are subtle differences between not only towns but individual neighborhoods within towns that may or may not be important to you.
Not Mike, but if you’re priced out of Needham (which it seems you may be), my order would be something like:
Westwood/Natick
Canton/Milton
Dedham
Norwood
Nothing against Norwood, but the schools aren’t quite as good as surrounding towns. I will say of all the towns (including Needham) I like Norwood center best.
One other point that may be off topic but should at least be mentioned. Unless you have kids/some strong home buying incentives from your move, it is worth considering renting for a year to get a feel for the different towns. There are subtle differences between not only towns but individual neighborhoods within towns that may or may not be important to you.
Thanks again, Jay. Understanding that we don’t have kids yet, so schools aren’t as an immediate of concern as the commute, do you still think Westwood/Natick are the best options? Norwood seems to hit all the boxes except schools, so I’m surprised it’s so low on your list.
Renting for a year is in the back of our minds as well.
Thanks again, Jay. Understanding that we don’t have kids yet, so schools aren’t as an immediate of concern as the commute, do you still think Westwood/Natick are the best options? Norwood seems to hit all the boxes except schools, so I’m surprised it’s so low on your list.
Renting for a year is in the back of our minds as well.
We were in a similar situation in 2007/2008 (looking for a SFHwith good commuter rail access to Boston). We knew that schools would be important one day and we didn’t want to set ourselves up to have to move (or to feel forced to move) when the time came. I would probably recommend against Westwood if you aren’t planning on kids. You pay a lot (upfront and in taxes) for the schools.
To be honest, most of the other parents we know only moved to Westwood once they had kids close to school age. Almost without fail they were moving from places closer to downtown (Dorchester, West Roxbury, South Boston, Dedham) that have shorter commutes and are a lot more exciting for couples without children.
We were on our house hunting journey in 2018 and ended up in Norwood. We looked at a number of the same towns you have listed. I had a personal preference for Canton as I like the downtown area but at the end of the day we simply couldn't beat the better value on home price we got in Norwood compared to the others. The commute was a big factor not because I was working in Boston at the time but wanted to leave that open. We also like how accessible everything seems to be points North, South and West. We have no regrets, although I should note we are older and so schools did not figure much into the calculation (even with no kids its something to consider for resale value).
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