possible relocation (Boston, Salem, Andover: for sale, real estate market, rent)

[smarty]

4acadia,

I am not sure how anyone can answer your income question. Assume you have no mortgage. Taxes for $600K home can vary between $4K-$8K a year depending on the town you choose. Heating is a big one $1-3K depending on oil price (used to be $1/gal now is over $2.50/gal; 1700ft house probaly use between 800-1400 gal/yr). Insurance, house insurance depend if it is in flood zone); car insurance depends on what you drive and your record.($1K-2K/car) Then, other stuff like electricity, food and water. A real estate agent can give you more precise figures.

As to the cold, it is not the temperature that kills you. Living near coastal town means high wind. Average high temp of 30F with 20-30 mph wind means it feels like 0-10F. Just wear layers and lots of firewood. :-)

I thing I would suggest is to rent for a couple of months are see if you like the town during winter.

[scottinmass]

I live in Sturbridge,MA and we have a great town. It is in the middle of the state just west of Worcester or "worm town" as its called. Sturbridge has about 8000 people and a good school system. Many people move to this town from surrounding town because of that. Right Now I have a 1st grader and soon to be preschooler. We have a brand new High school with a huge Gym and A huge swimming pool. We have lakes and ponds that have public boat ramps. I live in an area called Walker pond. It is an older Subdivision with a spattering of new houses, ours is the second newest being built in 93.
We belong to a lake association and there are many active people in it. we have a 200ft beach on the pond (private for residents) ,a tennis court,volleyball court, horse stable and a ball field that are common areas. It borders Wells state park so we can walk or ride our bikes to there easily.
We pay $125 a year to use all this and that includes insurance. I can't believe we have a hard time getting some people to pay. Every fourth of July we have a neighborhood picnic at the beach ( this year it was 85 and no humidity) everyone sets up their sun shade on the beach the day before. We start with a fishing derby for the kid, then a road race for runners, then a parade with a town fire truck, this leads us to the beach and then there are kids events. Field events, like sack races, hulla hoop races,est. We have water events for the kids at 1pm and a moonwalk from 9-5pm. We have a raffle table all day and the raffle at 4pm. we had a clown this year at 3 and then the ice cream truck came at 4pm. We have a DJ from 5-9 and he played everthing. We then had Shoosh...Fireworks and what a display.
The other things we have during the year are Neighborhood yard and bake sale, Chicken BBQ, New England Clam/lobster bake, Pig roast on Labor day, Halloween party at ones house, Christmas parties at our house and many neighbors and a kids christmas party at the church. We have a womens friendship league that get together every other month and go out to dinner. They raise money for the assoc. So why don't you move here? the prices are depressed and you get alot for your money here. houses range from 300k-400k. As far a expenses go, Yea, oil is 2.35 a gallon, but I prepay so its like $1200 for the year. Our taxes on our house witch is valued at 311k is less that 3k. you pay in may and nov. House insurance is like $700 a year and each car is about $800. Electric is pricey our ave month is like $175. but we have a pool, hot tub and central A/C. The snow is fun since I have two snowmobiles and a very reliable snowblower. It gets cold for several days in a row but usually it is acompanied by sun. Fall is absolutely georgeous since we are at the foothills of the berkshires. My wife commutes to Marlboro each day and it takes her 45 min each way. some days she has to go to Boston and she takes the train from grafton,ma. The only thing I don't like in this state are the politics, very liberal and I am conservative. I just believe in working for a days pay and earning it, no intitlements. This state thinks otherwise. The Big dig might cost us more with that snafu, but the legislation just announced the wer not going to raise taxes to fix it. they were going after the contractor. The Gay Marriage thing well that's another embarassment, hopefully we get to vote on it in 08. Remember for the people, buy the people.... If you make 90k together you can live here very comfortably and even get a boat for the lake! sorry to ramble but I just wanted to give you an Idea of what our community is like.

[smarty]

I am sure Sturbridge is a nice town or city. However, I think 4cadeia is looking for a town close to the ocean.I think Sturbridge is about 60-100 miles or 1-2 hours from any ocean.

May be she can look into Narragansett Bay in RI. It is a pretty area too.

[4acadia]

Thanks for the posts! Yes, Smarty, we're looking for a place near the coast. That's a pretty big consideration for us. We're going to visit NE in September...concentrating our search at this time on the North Shore, especially Newburyport, and Portsmouth, NH. We're also going to check out Hamilton-Wenham b/c we heard the schools there are great. We'll tour the whole area and just get a feel for it. We also have realtors in MA, NH and even York, ME, just to meet with and see some homes to get a feel for the market. WE're excited, but very realitistic. We may get there and just not get the feel of it, or find the cost to be too prohibitive.

Thanks again!!

[Dragondog]

The cheapest of all these places close to the ocean is New London/Groton/Mystic/Stonington CT with New Londson/Groton the cheapest- expect to pay around 200K and up for a Cape Cod or small Ranch. A Townhouse condo- 2 bedrooms 1.5 baths start around 140K and up.

Also the southeastern coast of Connecticut has a nice micro climate of less hot summers, and less cold winters because of the nearby ocean-good luck!

[pondhopper]

If you both work from home you may want to consider Martha's Vineyard.

[scottinmass]

Martha's Vineyard? What out for the Rabbitt Fever or tularemia.

[simplistic007]

Florida is still cheap compared to Massachusetts. Massachusetts is definitely TAXACHUSETTS.

Originally Posted by maggiekate

i am now in florida, have been here 8 years now. Florida is getting expensive now.

judy

[Kmommy]

i've lived in and around Boston my entire life, spending about 6 years in Marshfield, and when I say it's expensive, i mean its over the top. My rent for a 2 bedroom in Quincy is astronomical! That said, I'll say that if you like being surrounded by miserable, rude people, this is the place for you. Maybe i'm being one-sided but it's just based on my life experience here. Don't get me wrong, I like Mass, I love the history we have here, and the Cape and the Islands are awsome in the summer. Winters are very cold and snowy, but not so much around the coast. Out of the NE states I would say that the Mass coast has the mildest winters so if your worried about it being too cold I wouldn't go any further North. I am in the process of moving out of mass now, and in doing my reasearch on the other states, I have finally settled on Vermont. If you go to the Vermont posts you'll find that everyone who lives there has something positive to say about the quality of life. Living here in Mass, i've found that i don't like living here but when i'm gone, I will look forward to my visits. I personally love the winter and can't wait to make my move out of Mass. It is my opinion that if your open to all of NE, I would look into the Northern New England states. Winters may be harsher, but in my research i've learned that it's less expensive to live, the quality of life is better, and if you have children the school systems are better as well. I hope my opinion helps you out a bit.

[Lauren]

Hi, I'm a born and bred Boston girl, however, for the past 4 years I've been living in the South. I live in a planned community south of Atlanta and its very nice, but the reason I'm here is because of the high cost of living in the Boston area. Recently circumstances have changed for us and we may be able to move back (to the North Shore area).

Someone, wrote about how people from N.E. don't seem to captivated with their part of the country. If thats true, it's probably because they haven't lived anywhere else. Let me tell you, if they did, then they would be a heck of a lot more appreciative. The North Shore area is beautiful. It is expensive, however, currently, real estate is coming down, but even so, its still expensive.

I'm looking to move to Newburyport myself, and I would say you can get 1700 sq. ft. for in the 400K range. Just check out real estate prices on realtor.com. As far as how much income you need, that depends on how much of a down payment you have. When I lived there last, which was 2000 to 2002 we lived in a new 2000 sq. ft. house in Amesbury and it cost 315K. Our GROSS annual income at the time was 60K. That was not enough, we were getting into debt. Our mortgage and taxes were over 2200.00 per month, plus a car payment, commuter bus cost (140.00 per month), preschool (122.00 per month), you get the idea.

House taxes are expensive. For the size house your thinking of, probably around 4000 - 4500 per year.

I have to say though, as expensive as it is --- if you can afford it, it is a beautiful, area to live in. You have New Hampshire and Maine right there.

There are definitely good schools. Check the MCAS and SAT scores.

It is cold. I do have to be honest and say that I do get depressed every winter up North and that has not happened here in Georgia. But that trade-off to me, just isn't worth it. I don't mind winter there through December. It's January, February, March and even April is usually windy and cold.

I love New England May through December. Here's the things I miss about N.E.: the fresh seafood, the ocean, a fresh snowfall, the Topsfield Fair, Newburyport, being able to travel a wide area and feeling safe. There it is. Good luck to you. If you get there, I can't imagine you not loving it, as long as you can handle the cold weather. Remember, when it comes to winter weather, it could be worse. It could be a Minnesota winter, yikes!!!!!