Massachusetts Residents. Tell me about the towns of...

[DawnCt1]

Dawn, we could not sell our MA home (outside Worcester) on the market 6 months. Flew home the month of August, met with a "Property Management" firm and they had my home all rented within 24 hours for exactly what our mortgage is.....woohoo.....plus the renters will pay for all utilities, lawn, snowplowing etc etc.....woohoo.
My DS' as well as DH & I were realllllly sad to have to sell our home in MA......so now we still OWN IT......woohoo!!! If sometime down the road, we realize we are not coming back to New England AND the market rebounds, we will sell it. Both DS' relocated to SoCal with us (1.5 hours away in Pacific Beach, San Diego)!!! They are so looking forward to surfing all winter as vs shoveling snow!!!!!!

So, I am suggesting property management IF you find you are "on the fence" about selling your home!!!


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Nope, I am ready to "move on". Never love anything that can't love you back! I am glad it worked out for you however. There is a buy out option, which is never as good as selling it yourself, so there is always that. So.Cal sounds nice to me.

 

[bicker]

The two towns I just mentioned were North Reading and Carlisle; not Wilmington; I think Wilmington will be a little too low-end vis a vis what I believe Dawn's specs are.

 

[DawnCt1]

Without hard numbers, both in terms of price and both interior and exterior square footage, it is hard to guess which towns would be most promising. My gut feel is that North Reading is probably the best option north and east, Carlisle is probably the best option north and west. Of the two, North Reading is a far better commute to Cambridge, especially since the Anderson Regional Transportation Center is not far. However, neither are cheap -- but that's not necessarily a bad thing in some ways.

The commute from Salem NH to Cambridge isn't horrible, but it's not short, either.

Wow that really is an issue around here, where many of these communities are much older than that. However, while you will find newer communities sprinkled all over, North Reading and Carlisle probably do have some newer communities.

Well, I am back to Realtor.com looking a "pictures". I will check out the communities that you mentioned. thanks. My house now is 3216 square ft. I could be fine between 2800 and 3100. $650K would be fine, although less is fine too. I will

 

[bicker]

Okay at $650K then you can come in closer, a little bit: Bedford and maybe even parts of Lexington instead of Carlisle; Reading, Wakefield or Lynnfield instead of North Reading.

 

[bicker]

Just be careful -- VERY careful with new homes. I know of at least two properties (one in Burlington and one in Reading) that are a few years old but have never been lived in. There are reasons for that. I much prefer, at this point, a home which looks like people have been living in it recently to one that is has been brand-new for several years.

 

[daisax]

The thing with Wilmington is that traditionally it was a rural community, but in the last ten years people have been tearing down old ranches and Capes and putting up McMansions. And there tends to be land.

So it's all a matter of finding the "right" place.

Here's the big realtor in the Lynnfield/Wakefield area, but apparently they cover more towns than that

http://www.northruprealtors.com/

You can see what's around in your price range.

 

[beattyfamily]

Nothing personal, but I'd avoid the North Shore and the South Shore for that matter and stick with the area you were originally thinking of looking in.

If $650 is your budget then you can get a very nice, new or just a few years old house in all the towns you listed in your OP.

 

[DawnCt1]

Just be careful -- VERY careful with new homes. I know of at least two properties (one in Burlington and one in Reading) that are a few years old but have never been lived in. There are reasons for that. I much prefer, at this point, a home which looks like people have been living in it recently to one that is has been brand-new for several years.

Good point. I would definitely get an inspection as well.

 

[BCV513]

Dawn, check out Georgetown. In the last 5-10 years, they've built a ton of new subdivisions. A lot of them are reselling now in the 550-650 range as people realize they can't swing the mortgages any more. The schools are a bit overcrowded, but you don't have to worry about that. It's north, but it's a pretty easy commute down 95. I'd take that over 93 any day.

 

[TheGoofster]

Hey Dawn,

Wish I could be more helpful, but I haven't actually lived in MA in over 20 years. I did grow up in the areas you mentioned though. I lived in Millis for most of my younger life. I loved it there. It definitely has a small town feeling (only 1 light in the whole town), and it seemed to have a very strong sense of community (but of course that was quite some time ago).

I will mention this though. My step dad still lives in Franklin (I lived there for about 4 years before leaving for college). He lives on Daniels Street. From what I understand from talking to him, there are new housing projects going up all over the place. If you are looking for something newer, I think that Franklin might be well worth seriously checking into. It is bigger than some of the other smaller towns around it, but I still get that small town feeling whenever we go back to visit.
With the price range you mentioned, I think you could probably find a pretty good deal in that area. I know I'm probably biased, but of all the areas that have been mentioned, I've always liked the Franklin, Norfolk, Millis areas the best. It seems to be the perfect distance from everything, while giving you some of the best small town feeling.

Good luck in your house hunting.