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There aren't that many places left out there between NH and Boston that are on the affordable scale. Do you have a couple towns in mind that are fairly afforda

There aren't that many places left out there between NH and Boston that are on the affordable scale. Do you have a couple towns in mind that are fairly affordable still? I have been looking in the suburbs of Boston and when I switched it up to look at Southern NH it was crazy the changes in prices as well as how long the houses have been on the market.

replicatorblog 8y ago
Depends a lot on your definition of affordable. Assuming a budget of $500K, a desire for 3-bedroom+, a commute to Boston/Cambridge, and access to a strong school system, these are the towns I'd consider: + Acton: there are a couple dozen 1,500 sqft. split levels that come on the market per year. Good commuter rail access to the red line. Top 20 state school system. + Andover/Burlington/Frankling are all top 50 school districts, have a limited selction of affordable, though mostly much older houses. You're still looking at an hour to boston, but if you want to work at Oracle, iRobot, Philips, etc. you'll be right there. + Westford: You'll find a decent stock of older 1,000-1,500 sqft. places. Top 20 state school system. Horrible commute into Boston proper, but not bad if you work on the 95/128 belt. Medford and Malden are gentrifying, the former more quickly than the latter, but you're making a pretty big trade-off in terms of school quality. If your office is walking distance to South Station, or North Station, there are some farther flung suburbs with commuter rail access that would be workable. E.g. Newburyport has a cool seaside vibe and a commuter train into the heart of the city, though you're looking at an over an hour of travel time. Southern NH is iffy. Windham is the main town for families, has reasonable prices and houses go very quickly in terms of sales. Salem, Hampstead, Pelham, Derry, Londonderry, not so much. You could theoretically commute from Nashua, but that seems insane to me. If you can afford something in the $750K range you'll find ok townhouses in hip cities like Somerville and Arlington. That sum will get your foot in the door of a fixer-upper in tonier towns like Winchester and Lexington. As you might be able to guess, I'm in the market as well, so if you've got any advice on hidden gems of towns, I'm all ears :)
- ghaff 8y ago
  <Medford and Malden are gentrifying, the former more quickly than the latter I'd agree with that. A friend of mine basically gave up on Malden a couple years back, sold his place, and moved to Winchester.
ghaff 8y ago
The other answer is pretty good. I live in Lancaster which is a bit further west still and it's not super expensive. If you get that far out, the trick is to live near commuter rail and/or one of the highways. In my case, I'm a few minutes from the Fitchburg commuter rail and Route 2. It's still a long commute if you work in the city. (I don't.) And it's not that bad to go into the city in the evening though the traffic is worse than it used to be. I'm actually going in in a little to see a play.

replicatorblog 8y ago

Depends a lot on your definition of affordable. Assuming a budget of $500K, a desire for 3-bedroom+, a commute to Boston/Cambridge, and access to a strong school system, these are the towns I'd consider: + Acton: there are a couple dozen 1,500 sqft. split levels that come on the market per year. Good commuter rail access to the red line. Top 20 state school system. + Andover/Burlington/Frankling are all top 50 school districts, have a limited selction of affordable, though mostly much older houses. You're still looking at an hour to boston, but if you want to work at Oracle, iRobot, Philips, etc. you'll be right there. + Westford: You'll find a decent stock of older 1,000-1,500 sqft. places. Top 20 state school system. Horrible commute into Boston proper, but not bad if you work on the 95/128 belt. Medford and Malden are gentrifying, the former more quickly than the latter, but you're making a pretty big trade-off in terms of school quality. If your office is walking distance to South Station, or North Station, there are some farther flung suburbs with commuter rail access that would be workable. E.g. Newburyport has a cool seaside vibe and a commuter train into the heart of the city, though you're looking at an over an hour of travel time. Southern NH is iffy. Windham is the main town for families, has reasonable prices and houses go very quickly in terms of sales. Salem, Hampstead, Pelham, Derry, Londonderry, not so much. You could theoretically commute from Nashua, but that seems insane to me. If you can afford something in the $750K range you'll find ok townhouses in hip cities like Somerville and Arlington. That sum will get your foot in the door of a fixer-upper in tonier towns like Winchester and Lexington. As you might be able to guess, I'm in the market as well, so if you've got any advice on hidden gems of towns, I'm all ears :)

ghaff 8y ago
<Medford and Malden are gentrifying, the former more quickly than the latter I'd agree with that. A friend of mine basically gave up on Malden a couple years back, sold his place, and moved to Winchester.

ghaff 8y ago

The other answer is pretty good. I live in Lancaster which is a bit further west still and it's not super expensive. If you get that far out, the trick is to live near commuter rail and/or one of the highways. In my case, I'm a few minutes from the Fitchburg commuter rail and Route 2. It's still a long commute if you work in the city. (I don't.) And it's not that bad to go into the city in the evening though the traffic is worse than it used to be. I'm actually going in in a little to see a play.