2023 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Amherst, Northampton: assessment, gardening, moving to)

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

At what point does anyone ever really need or want a 10,000 sq ft mansion? If you have so much $ and you absolutely need something insane to invest in, sure maybe...but otherwise?

Probably after a few years in a 6000 sq ft mansion.

Of course no one needs even a 1000 sq. ft house, but it is nice to have. Ultimately the point of making and investing money is to use it for something. I’m sure nearly every thing that beings me joy in my life could be classified as a want, too.

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Take a look at this York, ME $10mil waterfront home....less sq footage, less expensive and much more impressive...to me anyway...https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...67201701_zpid/

I totally agree that the first house is not my luxury dream house. I’d 1000% prefer the Maine house, too. I’m just saying that luxury dream houses exist because there are some people with so much money that they want to spend some of it on an insanely nice house.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by MtPleasantDream

Last fall was record-breaking warm, so it was not really the norm. Usually, frost occurred in early October and your garden is pretty much done.

Actually I like four seasons too, but I want them to be evenly distributed. In terms of climate, North Carolina makes more sense.

Meh. We’re out on the boat every year in October on the warm days. I have boat pictures off Cuttyhunk from Nov 8, 2020. The guy in the photo pressure washing my boat on the lift on November 10 was wearing shorts and a tee shirt. I pretty much always have roses on the rose hedge deep into November. I have a 3 to 3 1/2 month winter here most years and snow that isn’t melted back to green grass in a day is unusual.

It doesn’t break 90F here very often. The prevailing wind is 20 knots out of the southwest off Buzzards Bay most summer afternoons.

I’ve lived in other parts of Massachusetts that had a much more severe winter and much hotter summer but it’s not like that here. The only downside is that the spring is cool. The ocean usually doesn’t warm up to 68F until mid-June. That’s when I start swimming so I pay attention to it.

[MtPleasantDream]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Meh. We’re out on the boat every year in October on the warm days. I have boat pictures off Cuttyhunk from Nov 8, 2020. The guy in the photo pressure washing my boat on the lift on November 10 was wearing shorts and a tee shirt. I pretty much always have roses on the rose hedge deep into November. I have a 3 to 3 1/2 month winter here most years and snow that isn’t melted back to green grass in a day is unusual.

It doesn’t break 90F here very often. The prevailing wind is 20 knots out of the southwest off Buzzards Bay most summer afternoons.

I’ve lived in other parts of Massachusetts that had a much more severe winter and much hotter summer but it’s not like that here. The only downside is that the spring is cool. The ocean usually doesn’t warm up to 68F until mid-June. That’s when I start swimming so I pay attention to it.

Well, North America has fluctuate temperatures in winter. Even in January, sometimes we can get 60 degree days. However, for November Logan airport has 37.9~51.6 min/max temperatures on average, and the mean minimum is 24.4. That means the vast majority of plants cannot grow in November.

Maybe you live in a warmer region of Massachusetts, such as the south shore or Cape Cod. But it will only be slightly better.

[msRB311]

Looks like March could be snowy.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

I'm in Tuscon right now visiting. The weather the past few days has been perfect, but I'm actually appreciating the cloudy weather today as a New Englander. I can't imagine when the heat really kicks in. Not to knock on AZ but compared to MA things the built environment is drab and everything looks the same. The desert and nature are beautiful though.

AZ just doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me. I lived very briefly in FL and while the heat there is not quite as oppressive I always equated the summer in a hot climate with the winter in a cold climate. No matter which end of the temperature spectrum you're at if you're extremely at one end or the other it's unpleasant to be outside. As someone else said, it's probably easier to deal with cold as you can always bundle up. Hard to get cooler outside in a hot climate.

Years ago, my uncle had a friend who moved to AZ. He woke up at 6 AM the first day he moved into his new house and went outside barefoot to get his newspaper. His front walk was still so hot that he burned his feet. He certainly wasn't expecting that at 6 AM.

Originally Posted by MtPleasantDream

WSJ mentioned this mansion in Manchester. They paid 4.2 million in 2015, but are selling for 15 million now!
------------------
The sellers are Stacey and Robert Edelstein, the married co-founders of Universal Capital, a hard-money lending business based in Massachusetts.

Ms. Edelstein, 55, said the couple purchased the roughly 4.2-acre property at an auction in 2015. They paid $4.2 million including auction fees—a relative bargain price that Mr. Edelstein, 56, chalked up, in part, to the sale taking place on a rainy Friday night in October.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-14-99...e-sea-4386908d

The back of this house is AWFUL. The pool area looks nice but the house itself looks like a commercial building not a residential one. The inside is much better. Still a bit drab and certainly could benefit from some color. I don't know why people put in light floors, paint the walls white, and then bring in a white couch. An accent wall here and there and some more colorful furniture I think would do wonder for this house. Perhaps even just some colorful art on the walls.

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

At what point does anyone ever really need or want a 10,000 sq ft mansion? If you have so much $ and you absolutely need something insane to invest in, sure maybe...but otherwise?

No one NEEDS a 10K sq ft house. However, some people do WANT them and can afford them. Money is only good for the good it does. If you have it and spend some on something that makes you happy then that's money well spent. Some people want an indoor pool or basketball court. Some people want space in their home for a home theater. Michael Jordan had a smoking room in his house. These people put things in their house that they want and that make them happy and that's totally fine. If you don't want it then from your perspective it's a waste and you likely wouldn't buy their house. That's all.

Originally Posted by porterhouse

0% chance I would live in this area if I didn’t like the winter and spend a lot of time outdoors skiing and hiking.

I go outside a lot less in the winter. I much prefer outdoor activities in warmer weather. Even if you don't like winter outdoor sports, I think there's a lot of pluses to living here.

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Meh. We’re out on the boat every year in October on the warm days. I have boat pictures off Cuttyhunk from Nov 8, 2020. The guy in the photo pressure washing my boat on the lift on November 10 was wearing shorts and a tee shirt. I pretty much always have roses on the rose hedge deep into November. I have a 3 to 3 1/2 month winter here most years and snow that isn’t melted back to green grass in a day is unusual.

It doesn’t break 90F here very often. The prevailing wind is 20 knots out of the southwest off Buzzards Bay most summer afternoons.

I’ve lived in other parts of Massachusetts that had a much more severe winter and much hotter summer but it’s not like that here. The only downside is that the spring is cool. The ocean usually doesn’t warm up to 68F until mid-June. That’s when I start swimming so I pay attention to it.

My parents are snowbirds and live on the Cape during the summer. They HATE the Spring down there and every year since they've moved to the Cape they've been coming back north later and later in the spring every year. It's just too cold during the Spring for them.

Originally Posted by msRB311

Looks like March could be snowy.

I hope not!

[Saguarogirl507]

Originally Posted by bizcuit

Welcome home and good luck with your move! Where in MA are you moving?

Thank you. We are moving to Amherst. We found an over 55 condo there at an affordable price for us. I am so looking forward to being back in Mass. I still wish I could have moved closer to the city but prices are just insane. This should work for us since the new place is within walking distance of pretty much everything. Thank you for asking!

[Saguarogirl507]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

I'm in Tuscon right now visiting. The weather the past few days has been perfect, but I'm actually appreciating the cloudy weather today as a New Englander. I can't imagine when the heat really kicks in. Not to knock on AZ but compared to MA things the built environment is drab and everything looks the same. The desert and nature are beautiful though.

I could definitely see missing MA if I moved here. Hope you enjoy the return back to MA.

Oh this is the best time to be here for sure. And I wish I could have loved it better here. I never planned on moving back but here we are! It is so true how everything looks the same! And for me I hate driving and everything is so far from everything! Driving to see a friend can take over an hour from one end of town to the other.....and the drivers.....OMG....you think drivers in Mass are bad......Between all the elderly drivers who should not be driving and the drunk drivers......It is very scary!

In five weeks I will be home in Mass.

[Saguarogirl507]

Originally Posted by msRB311

My MIL lived in Tuscon and I didn't like it. Scottsdale-I could live there.

I never made it up to Scottsdale. Driving on the 10 is a horror show.....I think if one is going to live here the Phoenix/Chandler/Scottsdale area is preferable. More to do up that way. Plus getting out of town is easier since the big airport is there. Tucson has a lovely airport but no direct flights to anywhere....well maybe LA.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by MtPleasantDream

Well, North America has fluctuate temperatures in winter. Even in January, sometimes we can get 60 degree days. However, for November Logan airport has 37.9~51.6 min/max temperatures on average, and the mean minimum is 24.4. That means the vast majority of plants cannot grow in November.

Maybe you live in a warmer region of Massachusetts, such as the south shore or Cape Cod. But it will only be slightly better.

Good thing I don’t live at Logan Airport. The ocean temperature here is still fairly warm in November. Warm fall. Cool spring. My whole life, I’ve been skiing from November into early May. I always welcomed winter and there’s nothing more glorious than spring skiing.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by Saguarogirl507

I never made it up to Scottsdale. Driving on the 10 is a horror show.....I think if one is going to live here the Phoenix/Chandler/Scottsdale area is preferable. More to do up that way. Plus getting out of town is easier since the big airport is there. Tucson has a lovely airport but no direct flights to anywhere....well maybe LA.

I've heard about retirees doing the Phoenix/Flagstaff combo although with Phoenix becoming much more $$$ it's much less viable. Certainly be a lot less disruptive than the Cape Cod/Florida combo that's somewhat popular here.