Which towns should we consider?

[charolastra00]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

One man's "move in ready" is another man's "tear that house down!" I guess. .

Yes, the finishes have all been updated fairly recently and the house appears to be in good condition based on the photos but . . . what a weird house! How many people really want/need two kitchens? Clearly, this is a house that's been added on to multiple times and has been designed to someone's specific tastes. Those houses usually have a fairly limited audience.

Keep in mind that my initial budget was 300K pre-pandemic, and is now moving up to 500K. Either way, what is available at those price points absolutely skews what I think of as reasonable and move-in ready! The number of times I've looked at original kitchens from the 70s and thought "I bet I could get away with some new hardwear until I could afford a renovation) or looked up Pinterest suggestions for painting over wood paneling.

I don't see two kitchens here. There are two photos from different angles of the kitchen, and then a wetbar in the basement. While a narrow audience, two kitchens would be great for observant Jewish households! Not a necessity, but some of the more religious members of my family prioritized moving further out so they could afford a large enough kitchen to fit two sinks, two ovens, two dishwashers (the true sign you've made it!), and two sets of flatwear, silverwear, cooking items, and serving items to more easily facilitate keeping Kosher. There are folks in their synagogue lined up to buy the house when they decide to downside. And while I don't keep Kosher, my boyfriend would be *thrilled* if I had a whole separate kitchen to stink up when I make kimchi, saurkraut, and various curried things.

[SouthShorelifer77]

I have lived in Hingham all my life and I love it for it's proximity to the water and the access to Boston via ferry. If you were to commute into town, Scituate or Duxbury especially adds that extra 30 minutes onto your commute driving down 3A.

Something to consider while Scituate offers an excellent town center, community feel, good schools and amazing beaches, they do tend to lose power and have some pretty intense storms. My family rented there for a week and a storm they had there one night scared them straight while over here in Hingham it was much milder. So one would just need a generator to help with those instances. Hingham has their own power/light company so that is great. Cohasset same thing. tend to lose power but so beautiful, much smaller town feel, great schools.

You'll find a 1970s/80s colonial in the 1.5's in Hingham that will need some minor cosmetic upgrades.
You will get a bit more in Cohasset but not much. Scituate 1.5 could get you new construction.

Happy to help answer any Hingham or South Shore questions you may have!

[bizcuit]

Originally Posted by SouthShorelifer77

I have lived in Hingham all my life and I love it for it's proximity to the water and the access to Boston via ferry. If you were to commute into town, Scituate or Duxbury especially adds that extra 30 minutes onto your commute driving down 3A.

Something to consider while Scituate offers an excellent town center, community feel, good schools and amazing beaches, they do tend to lose power and have some pretty intense storms. My family rented there for a week and a storm they had there one night scared them straight while over here in Hingham it was much milder. So one would just need a generator to help with those instances. Hingham has their own power/light company so that is great. Cohasset same thing. tend to lose power but so beautiful, much smaller town feel, great schools.

You'll find a 1970s/80s colonial in the 1.5's in Hingham that will need some minor cosmetic upgrades.
You will get a bit more in Cohasset but not much. Scituate 1.5 could get you new construction.

Happy to help answer any Hingham or South Shore questions you may have!

True, the Boston news stations report live from Scituate during every big storm.

[msRB311]

There's other south shore towns besides hingham, scituate, cohasset...

[momof201842]

We bought our house in an expensive landlocked suburb with a great public school system 10 years ago before my kids were school-aged and my biggest regret is not buying a house in a beach town with highly-ranked public schools. (My teen and tween are so involved with their friends and activities, so there's no way we could move now without disrupting their lives.)

The schools in Manchester by the Sea and Hingham are top-notch. (Boston Magazine just ranked their high schools #3 and #4.) I'd probably be happier in Hingham than Manchester by the Sea b/c although it is beautiful, it is very small.

[Remy11]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

I don't think the OP mentioned skiing, so that's probably not a consideration. I've lived here for 15 years and not been once, and can probably count on one hand the number of my friends who ski more than once a year.

Personally, I love Ipswich on the North Shore. Lively downtown, great beach at Crane's with resident parking (though I can attest that it is COLD - I was there this week and my legs practically went blue), and a commuter rail into North Station.



I think one of the tricky things about planning for future jobs is whether it would be more advantageous for you to live on a commuter rail line that goes to North Station vs. South Station since they're not all too easy to get between. For instance, I am 100% a North Shore girl and would love to buy in Ipswich or Rowley but, because the commuter rail line that goes through both goes to North Station, it would be a much longer commute than you'd think (though you can get off in Chelsea and hop the Silver Line) to get close to South Station. Still, YMMV and Ipswich may be an option for you (Rowley is a bit more rural).

Ipswich is definitely a lovely place. We considered moving there when we were looking a few years back. I was about to say Rowley is sleepy because I grew up in the next town over and the only reason anyone would ever go there was for the Agawam Diner (delicious) and Market Basket, but it's definitely come a long way. The Briar Barn Inn/Grove Restaurant are amazing and I've heard lots of good things about American BBQ. Anonymous Brewing also recently opened, which is supposed to be excellent too. Lots of great places have popped up in Rowley in the past few years. There's definitely a lot more going on there now than when I was growing up.