<p>What can anyone tell me about the real estate market in the Brookline/Newton/Brighton areas? Son may be moving/buying there. He is hoping to stay under $500,000.</p>
<p>SFH or condo?</p>
<p>My son would really prefer a single family home or a townhouse…he has fantasies of having a garden (in what spare time?)</p>
<p>SFH would be challenging. Especially in quieter areas.</p>
<p>(this is for Newton)</p>
<p>Brookline and Newton are both going to be difficult. Most of the SFHs I saw in both towns would have gone for only slightly under your son’s targeted amount at the extreme minimum if you wanted a halfway decent home in an area that’s not sketchy/run down back in the early-mid '00s. </p>
<p>Brighton may be doable…especially if your son’s not adverse to buying in the cheaper areas popular with rowdy BU/BC students and is not adverse to being far from convenient transportation routes. Ended up turning down a nice studio in a section of Brighton for really low-rent because it was so far away from the T that my commute to downtown Boston would have taken at least 2 hours each way due to the infrequent and inefficient bus routes there.</p>
<p>Thank you for the quick responses!</p>
<p>He can do this limit on his own, more if we give him a little help…and he wants to do this on his own. </p>
<p>I guess starter homes are called starter homes for a reason…</p>
<p>Would town homes be an option in this area?</p>
<p>Yes, there are town homes in Newton that are less than SFHs. I have seen these in Newton Lower Falls and in other areas (intersection of Beacon and Walnut I think, near Whole Foods) and I assume that there are others.</p>
<p>There’s low-income housing (apartments) that were converted to condos at some point - I’d avoid those.</p>
<p>There are also nice, older homes that were converted to condos in the Newton Center area and that may be another lower-cost option.</p>
<p>Newton’s one of the higher-cost real estate towns. If you want to stay right in the vicinity of Boston, I’d look more at Jamaica Plain, Watertown, parts of Cambridge, Somerville. Possibly Dorchester, Roxbury, East Boston (not as good a reputation but has good areas and is gentrifying and definitely cheaper home values). Otherwise you’ll need to go a bit further out. There are towns on the north and south shores that have decent value. I have friends that recently bought a house on Salem, which is a great town, and they can easily take the commuter rail into work every day.</p>
<p>There is a tremendous amount of housing planned for the Boston are near t stations over the next ten years. I linked an article on it in either the investments or housing threads. That would require waiting though.</p>
<p>For under half a million he’ll need to look at condos in Brookline, Newton, maybe very tiny singles in Newton. Brookline singles are very expensive. He’ll get more space for his money in certain Boston neighborhoods (JP, Roslindale, South Boston, Dorchester, Brighton) Watertown, etc. If he is willing to travel on the commuter rail real estate gets cheaper (depending on the town), but it’s very suburban. Newton is suburban, Brookline and Brighton more urban. What is he looking for? Urban/Suburban, distance to downtown, general atmosphere? Where does he work?</p>
<p>There are cheaper places in Waltham too. Is the school district an issue as this is a component of price and therefore resale value.</p>
<p>In Brookline, where I live, you would get a 2BR/1B or maybe a 3BR condo for that. Size would be around 1000 sq.ft, maybe a little more depending on area and condition. Condo prices have been increasing because houses are so expensive. There hasn’t been much for sale. North Brookline is T accessible while South is not. </p>
<p>Newton is significantly larger. Much of it is not T accessible. You can get more for your money depending on the area, say 1500 sq. ft. for around $400k. You can find a few houses for under $500k. Odds are you’d understanding why if you go inside. </p>
<p>You can get more in Jamaica Plain, which has some lovely areas and is partly T accessible. You pay the “private school tax” there, meaning the public schools aren’t where you want to be if you can afford not to be there.</p>
<p>A lot depends on what your son wants in life, where he works and his hours, what his family situation is. North Brookline is a very easy commute with the B, C and D branches of the Green Line. I live a little over a mile from Fenway Park. My kids went to Brookline public schools, which are great. The area is what I call semi-urban; there is green space and walk friendly shopping but also full-sized supermarkets and drugstores. Not the suburbs. Not the heart of the city. </p>
<p>The way things have changed around town, many of the older blue collar and student neighborhoods are in transition. Parts of Allston and Brighton have become where younger people want to live.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for this great information ! I have a feeling he may be more looking at Brighton given what I have seen on Zillow and Trulia.</p>
<p>On supermarkets, there’s a Shaws on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton near Boston University, the 88 Supermarket (it has a new name) nearby, Shaws Supermarket in Newtonville (used to be Star Market), Shaws Supermarket in Auburndale (Newton), a supermarket in Watertown (it’s at one of the huge intersections near Newton Corner), Whole Foods in the West End. I’ve heard that Whole Foods wants to build a supermarket in the South End. There’s a big supermarket on either Main St or Moody St near downtown Waltham.</p>
<p>It’s very easy to check listings. Just google the area and a bunch of sites will come up that have MLS. Brighton Center has improved a lot and now has some coffee places and fairly good restaurants plus some popular bars. The old dives are gone. The housing is a real mix and mass transit sucks (as in none but the bus), but it’s easy in and out by road. I think that is an area which will continue to improve. Not as student-y as Allston with more individual houses, though the part of Allston further out Commonwealth Avenue has nicer housing and is more people in the 20’s and 30’s. Has the T, which runs out to BC on Comm Ave.</p>
<p>No interest in Southie? My daughter bought a condo there a year ago, and in a year it has appreciated almost 4%. Not bad in this market.</p>
<p>I’ve sent my son the link to this thread. I really appreciate all of your information and insight.</p>
<p>You can find houses below $500K in parts of Newton</p>
<p>[Newton</a> Real Estate & Newton MA Homes for Sale - Zillow](<a href=“http://www.zillow.com/homes/Newton,-MA_rb/#/homes/for_sale/Newton-MA/fsba,fsbo,new_lt/house_type/40013_rid/0-500000_price/0-1773_mp/42.395826,-71.010303,42.254951,-71.400318_rect/11_zm/0_mmm/]Newton”>http://www.zillow.com/homes/Newton,-MA_rb/#/homes/for_sale/Newton-MA/fsba,fsbo,new_lt/house_type/40013_rid/0-500000_price/0-1773_mp/42.395826,-71.010303,42.254951,-71.400318_rect/11_zm/0_mmm/)</p>
<p>A lot of the ones in that range are either right on Route 9 (Boyleston St - which is a very busy road with a 50MPH speed limit) or in Nonantum which historically has been a blue collar ethnically Italian neighborhood of modest homes on small lots. There are a few in other areas too though like West Newton, Auburndale and South Newton.</p>
<p>Arlington has houses in that range, sometimes Belmont too, though I didn’t see any there. </p>
<p>These are the basic “near Boston” towns with good schools that feel like an inner suburb with good city access.</p>
<p>The Boston public school situation still seems broken to me. Personally, I hate driving through Brighton (which is part of Boston). It just takes so long to get anywhere. Somerville seems like a great place to start out as it’s more of an urban market with a young crowd and they’re supposed to be extending the Green Line there which will drive up real estate. Watertown, Waltham and Medford all have nice parts, pretty blue collar though.</p>
<p>Belmont is a very pricey town.</p>
<p>One thing about target budget - there are a lot of older homes in Newton that need a lot of work. If you’re buying a SFH at the lower end, you should have some money budgeted for repairs or be able to do the work yourself.</p>
<p>The Waverly section of Belmont, near Watertown and Waltham, often has more moderately priced homes (though apparently none now). </p>
<p>Agree about the repairs, but often it’s just updating. Our first home had 60 amp service and we couldn’t run the washer, dryer and dishwasher at the same time. You can invest cash money to fix, or you can just live with it until you have enough money to buy the keeper house. </p>
<p>If you’re really handy, getting a nice two-family in Newton or Belmont seems like a wise move.</p>