Poss relocating to Boston area. We have $600,000 max to spend on a house or apartment purchase. Would like to send kids to public (they are in elementary) and have acceptable commute to Cambridge, so less than 35 mins. Anyone with Boston RE/school advice please chime in!
Lexington, Concord, Lincoln?
Are they close enough? Also, do you know anything about the Cambridge public schools, should we decide to rent rather than buy?
Can $600K buy anything in Brookline? Excellent public schools. Also, consider Arlington.
No, not enough $$ for Brookline. Plus, I heard that the commute from Brookline to Cambridge is not good.
Brookline is not far from Cambridge.
You are going to be commuting towards downtown Boston almost anywhere you live. The commute from Brookline isn’t bad.
What about Newton, or Chestnut Hill or that neck of the woods. Both have excellent schools.
So…two of us have suggested Arlington. Check that.
You can get a condo in Brookline, they are not far from Cambridge.
My daughters live in Cambridge and Somerville. I don’t know the real estate purchase prices, but after having apartments in the North End, Back Bay , and Brookline, I really love their neighborhoods now. I would consult with realtors to discuss. Rentals usually start in September because of the high student demand
I helped my son buy a condo in Cambridge a couple of years ago, and it took some mental adjustment on my part to function in that market. $ per square foot is very high, and offers above the asking price are expected. Rents are very high, a little high relative to owning I believe, so there is strong competition from investors on any property that has renting potential, which is almost anything you would buy to live in.
If you are driving, “less than 35 minute commute” to Cambridge will not give you many options.
I would say it will be hard (if not impossible) to find $600K house + 35 minute commute + best public schools.
If you are willing to dedicate 60 minutes to your commute, you will have many more options.
To give you some sense, I live in Sudbury, which has excellent schools. Drive to Cambridge is 35 minutes with absolutely no traffic, which obviously is far from the case during the week.
Real estate in Concord, Lincoln and Lexington is more expensive than Sudbury, and the commute would be as bad if not worse.
You might want to consider Framingham. It is economically and ethnically much more diverse than the other places suggested here. The schools do not have the reputations of being among the best, but we have known families who have sent their children to the Framingham public schools and the kids have done fine.
Not sure how far Bedford is to Cambridge. We have cousins that live there and their children all excelled in school. The dad works downtown.
Google says it’s 30 miles to Cambridge from Bedford. Probably without traffic. Will you be working with a Realtor?
If possible, try to buy or rent where you can park…and ride the public transportation to Cambridge. The T is excellent. From Framingham, I believe you would to take the commuter rail. I can’t imagine driving into Boston for work. It’s not the best plan to drive.
Can you rent for a year while you figure all of this out?
The train from Framingham goes into Boston.
You would need to live near another commuter line - the one that comes from Fitchburg - to get into Cambridge in the most time efficient manner.
The train runs infrequently except for peak commuter hours. If your job is not the type where you can drop everything to run for the train, it may not be practical to use the commuter rail.
My friend rented a 3 bedroom in Lexington for $2000, a few years ago. They had that apartment for years. What about Belmont? Has that become too high? Or Needham?
Needham and Belmont are both good choices, school-wise.
Isn’t Belmont really expensive?
Hmm, Katliamom, I guess you are right - I just checked, and no houses on the market for $600K or less - I see a 2-bedroom, 2 bath, 1,652 sq ft condo for $459K.
Needham is perhaps a bit better, saw a listing for a 1,920 sq ft house, only 1 bathroom though, for $515K.
I lived in Needham, 20 years ago. The commute to Boston was close to an hour, unless there was snow, in which case it was a lot longer. We ended up moving to Southborough, which looks a LOT farther on the map, but it took less time because access to the Mass Pike was easier. Southborough is one town west of Framingham and has excellent schools and much better house prices than inside I-95.
A friend of DS rented a STUDIO near downtown for $2000 this year. I think it is on the other of the river which separates Cambridge and the other side.