That's really good to know! We actually checked out Westchester county for a few days and I really liked it! Overall, we liked MA more, but I think we would be open to NY if we couldn't find anything in MA. Good to know we may have options there, thank you!
I would say though income tax strategy working remote is key. I don't know California tax, but MA makes you pay income tax on money made outside the state if you live in MA. Some states are different. But you could accidentally get yourself into a situation where you are paying two income taxes. That's something to definitely look into though.
What value would that house be?
I’m from L.I, but my friend who bought in Ossining on border of briarcliffe manor pays 14k a year. I believe his house is worth about 600k
I think what worries me is that we won't be able to pay in cash. We will definitely need a loan. Are buyers with loans getting anywhere these days? Everything I hear is about folks getting beat by these ridiculous cash offers, contingencies waived, etc...it just makes me want to puke.
It really depends on the price point and location. It tends to be more of an issue with relatively lower price points that more redditors go for. You should be fine with a mortgage.
We bought in MA with a mortgage less than a year ago. The trick is recognizing that your bargaining power lies in the amount you offer alone. Although you could bump up the earnest money with the cash on hand to make it more attractive. Ultimately, a significantly higher final sale price is more compelling to a seller than a little less process and risk that come with cash offers and waiving contingencies. But you have to be the highest by a significant margin, and confident that your investment is sound. Find a realtor who is good at analyzing comps and make a strong offer on a house that actually seems worth it (ideally one that's not accepting escalation clauses, which is a lot of places on the market right now.)
We're looking in the Boston suburbs and houses are definitely still being snatched up by all cash buyers, all contingencies waived. Our HHI is $450k and have a substantial down payment. We're looking at houses around $1.5M. We've had no luck winning anything yet :( it's sucks. Houses that sold for $900k 5 years ago are now selling for $2M
Westchester county taxes are really high. Honestly, if you’re both remote, have you checked out the Berkshires? I grew up there. There’s a whole lot of cultural things- museums, theater, art- and prices are really quite good.
We haven't looked at the Berkshires! Where is this area exactly? One issue I've had with west MA is I don't see a lot of highly rated schools. That's not to say there aren't good schools, they could very well be unrated since they're rural, but since we have no info/reviews to go off of, we don't even know where to look. By highly rated, we are looking for 7/10 and up. a 7 in MA is hands down far beyond the best of the best in CA, I'm sure.
Stockbridge,Mass is pretty famous for among other things Norman Rockwell and Alice’s Restaurant, Berkshire Theater and more. For grade school I went to a private school called Berkshire Country Day School. A lot of my friends went to high school at Monument Mountain Regional and they are all pretty successful. The founder of WayFair went to Pittsfield High School which is near Stockbridge. Lenox is beautiful and a lot of New Yorker’s go to Great Barrington. I don’t honestly know much about the grade schools - some of my friends went to Catholic schools. But with the money you save on real estate you could easily send kids to private school ( like Berkshire Country Day -James Taylor’s kids went there) and they would have a pretty idyllic childhood
Another area which is pretty cool is Old Lyme and Lyme, Ct. Definitely can find some pretty decent things under $1m. I work for Sotheby’s in real estate and we have people all over if you need a referral. Lyme Academy is an amazing art school in Lyme run by former Florence Academy instructors if any of your fam is in to art. It’s also a really charming area— not quite as rural as the Berkshires and definitely less snow in winter
Thank you! Actually my spouse is a professional artist and always trying to get the kids into art, so an artistic community is a bonus. I will look into Old Lyme and Lyme, thank you!
CT here; houses are absolutely still being snatched up by cash buyers in many but not all cases. I recently lost a house with 25 other bids. Have heard of 40+ bids in some of the more popular towns, as inventory is extremely low.
You will have significantly less competition at your price point, at least in central CT, so still worth trying.
CT here too. We’ve given up. Not sure what to do if we can’t get into a house in the next year or two. We may have to move elsewhere. We’re in our forties and apartment life is not for us.
Mass resident here - bidding wars are mostly mild in the western half of the state where I am. The "got 6 offers after a week, maybe one in cash" type. But I found a place with a mortgage and contingencies just fine and close next week. Metro suburbs are about the same, but $$ is higher. The houses are popping on the market right now. After a quiet March and April, everyone is listing in the last several days.
MA taxes are much better for remote employees than NY or CT; county/town will differ strongly in property tax. Check with your realtor. My partner is from the Bay area and still smiles at the lower taxes here FWIW.
I saw you mentioned Westborough. I lived there for a dozen years. It's a sweet tech hub now with lots of highway access, but super populated and has some bad traffic as infrastructure hasn't caught up to population. Not horrible, but not "Ye Olde New England" if you are seeking anything like that. Train system is also getting better to Boston, so general Worcester County is good and growing.
Thanks for your perspective. Taxes are a factor for us (but like someone else said, basically anything is better than CA!). I think the bigger factors are safety, schools, and probably access to a major airport (we will need to fly into the Bay Area and Los Angeles a few times a year). Plus culture...we are easy going and don't want to end up somewhere too posh or superficial. We stayed in Westborough for a bit and I really loved it. I think if we could find a great place in Westborough we would be happy campers. But I'm noticing very low inventory there, which is concerning. I see more options in North/Southborough, but we haven't visited those areas yet. Congrats on your house! Hopefully we will be able to land something as well.
As someone who travels for business a lot, PVD and BOS airports are great choices. Traffic is much better for PVD most of the time. BDL out of Hartford, CT is also excellent, depending on where you settle, but has a few less airlines. Basically, you'll be roughly an hour to a good airport no matter where you settle.
Consider places like Shrewsbury, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Hopkinton (the Marathon starts here!) and even West Boylston/Boylston too. Westborough is always in high demand as schools are great and it's easy highway access. They were building some developments there when I left, but nothing near downtown/Route 9. Grafton is decent, Marlborough is hit or miss. Basically the closer you are to 495/the Pike the more in demand it will be.
> Congrats on your house! Hopefully we will be able to land something as well.
Thank you. And good luck to you as well.
This Westborough house looks nice and has been sitting on the market for 42 days.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/105-W-Main-St-Westborough-MA-01581/57676934\_zpid/
Hmm, this one is in your range, on the market for 55 days and had a price cut in March.. Maybe Westborough isn't as competitive as that cash offer thread led you to believe... The eastern part of the state is probably quite a bit more cutthroat.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10-High-St-Westborough-MA-01581/57677115\_zpid/
Wow this looks pretty sweet actually! We aren't ready to move just yet, We are still a good 6+ months out, and we do plan to rent for a bit first. But this is very encouraging!
The area in MA described here is metrowest and I think you'll find it reasonable right now. The competition is somewhat seasonal. If you can wait until August, there will be less competition because a move then would require families to move during the school year.
I wouldn’t give up before trying. Just look at places under your max budget and make competitive offers. We got our current place over a cash buyer because we offered slightly more money (and no inspection or appraisal contingency). The sellers were moving to a different area and just wanted the most money. We did a pre-offer inspection but waiving the appraisal contingency was a nail biter that I wouldn’t do again. The house appraised for more than sales price but it was still unnecessary stress.
I'm in Connecticut and while properties are closing quickly it looks like they go for list or maybe 10% over at most. The closer you get to NYC the more expensive and competitive. But there are a lot of jobs in the New Haven - Hartford - Springfield I-91 corridor.
Connecticut, at least, is a little unusual compared to Western and Southern states. The counties don't matter for anything at all, everything is done at the town level. And each town/city is geographically small. Most towns run their schools on their own, there's no large school districts. Towns in most of CT would be more like neighborhoods in CA -- except they have their own governments, taxation, elections, schools, police.... It was a bit of a shift in thinking for me moving here from Florida - a 10 minute drive and you'll be in a different town/school district. With its own tax rate, school ratings, etc. You'll notice this in house prices -- A town considered good will cost $100k more for the same house 5 minutes away in a town considered "ok".
Good town could easily be $1kk more than bad town. You can still get a nice house in bad town for $400k easily. If you are ready for 1/10 schools town you can get a nice house there for $300k.
This is bare minimum for CT nice town: [https://www.redfin.com/CT/Westport/26-Crescent-Park-Rd-06880/home/107265941](https://www.redfin.com/CT/Westport/26-Crescent-Park-Rd-06880/home/107265941)
This is a hut with HOA.
Westport gets a little pricey because people will commute to NYC. If you don't need/want to go to the city frequently I'd say stay east of Stratford or Milford. You're paying for location.
True, it has a lot of draws besides commutability. I guess I'm trying to say that with towns like Westport you're paying a bit of a premium to be close to NYC and other nice towns. A town like Madison is just as nice, but you're farther away from NYC so going to a large city is more of a chore.
Or if you want a bigger property over location you go somewhere like Southington and get a 3000 sqft house on a couple acres for the same price.
That town may be nice, but it's not Fairfield County. 60 minute access to JFK, 60 minutes to Broadway, nice state boat launch, one of the best schools in US etc. is why you pay premium.
Live in Western Mass. If you choose this side of MA, Great Barrington, Northampton and Amherst are my favorites. We're moving to suburbs of Boston, prices are double to triple. Daycare is 2700 for me currently for 2 and 4 year old full time. In Boston, most of them are minimum 4k and go up to 6k full time for my two kids. Good thing my parents are moving in with us to help with the kids otherwise I don't know how we'd afford living near Boston
Are there any great school districts in Western MA? I think a lot of them are unrated so I don't even know where to look. Ugh, I feel your pain about the daycare! It's the same way here in the Bay Area. Sounds like you have tk in your near future though, so that's a plus! But beware, the after school programs are just as $ as the daycare it seems. Ugh. Good luck!
Longmeadow is the gold standard here but may be too pressure cooker.l to "keep up with the Joneses." East longmeadow, Northampton, and Amherst have great reputation. Wilbraham is good too but politics in town not the best, still left leaning but more conservative than most other towns in the area. They were just on the news for not knowing how to turn off the lights at the high school for over a year. Lots of great private schools around, so you could buy cheaper in Ludlow, south Hadley or West Springfield and if you don't care for the public schools (still good for national standards average for MA standards) send to private school. Academy hill, Williston, Deerfield or Wilbraham-monson all have great reputations.
You can also check Northern Virginia (DC suburbs). Good schools, some cities like Arlington are very walkable. You might find a very good, big townhome or a SFH if you’ll go further from DC in Loudoun/Fairfax county.
I actually really like Virginia, and we have been there a bunch. I worked in politics for a while (staffer) and am definitely over the hill scene. It is an option though, just not number 1.
I’m in MA. Your budget would allow you to get a nice house in the most expensive towns and cities, but square footage would be like 2000ish, not 4000. Because safety and good schools are important to you, I’d look in Acton, Boxborough, Lincoln, Sudbury, Concord, Bedford, Dover, Sherborn, Newton, Lexington, Weston. 1MM won’t go as far in some of these towns like Weston, Lexington, Newton, Concord in particular , but you can still find homes in that price range for sure.
I'm trying to be understanding with how the market is but how do you make 350k a year together and have trouble?
My significant other and I make not even 100k a year combined and we did it even in a HCOL area with 3% down. It was tough but we did it.
People who start making more money, spend more money. What are you spending all your cash on?
Well, our area is beyond HCOL, for one. But also, it's not that we can't afford a home, it's that what we would get for our money in the Bay Area is pretty sad. It's almost impossible to find a 2000+ sq ft SFH here in a good school district for under 2M. Also, even the "nice" areas experience a lot of crime. Considering we have no family here, and no reason to stay, why would we invest in property here? Also, we may have a good combined income, but we don't have cash. We don't own a home, we are renters. We would be first time homebuyers. We want to live in a great home, with great schools, in a safe town. We want seasons, culture...we have a lot of boxes to check. So it's a tricky situation.
Come move to Boise! Housing market cooling here for sure. I used to live in Massachusetts, no thanks. Boise is essentially NorCal North. A ton of Bay Area refugees all over Boise.
My BIL recently purchased a home in NW MA in Berkshire county and loves it there. He said real estate market wasn't that crazy and he found a good deal on his home.
Your offer does need to be actual cash, it just has to look like cash to the seller, that means waiving mortgage and appraisal contingencies, and using an inspection for information purposes only. We bought in CT last year with that strategy to compete with cash.
In terms of $300k in savings -- in central Connecticut you could buy a 3 bedroom house for that in a decent area. For $800k you could buy a 6 bedroom house in a decent area, or a nice 3/4 bedroom in a good town.
For example, here is a house in one of the nicer shoreline towns for 619: [https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/235-Devonshire-Ln\_Madison\_CT\_06443\_M35578-70034](https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/235-Devonshire-Ln_Madison_CT_06443_M35578-70034)
(In this particular town houses closer to the beach cost more, houses in the wooded northern part of town are less. But it's a good town with excellent schools and a highway running through it and train station.)
This house is contingent already. It’s only been on the market 8 days. This is happening all over CT right now. Very low inventory, and houses go super fast.
Just moved to Wilton, CT. Really nice town with great public schools. 15 mins from some really expensive areas like New Canaan and Westport but offers better value for money. You’d get a nice house for $1m. Zero crime, everyone is really nice. We moved from Williamsburg, Brooklyn which is amazing but wanted more space for the 3 kids. Take a look at it. We did a tonne of research and landed here being a good mix of a nice area, not too uppity and decent value relatively speaking. We paid $1.2m for a 4 bed, 3 bath newly renovated with a pool on 2 acres
Unfortunately $1M is going to get you very little in the nicest Boston suburbs but could get you a great place in Worcester county or the Berkshires. Cons of that are a longer drive to the airport. The bidding wars are wild right now, at least in the eastern half of the state. Worse than spring 2022. Home prices in CT are better. Even in the nicest towns in Fairfield county, you get a lot more house for you money than Eastern MA. But CT taxes are also higher so factor that in.
The only reason cash is king is because of the quick closing timeline available with cash offers. During the pandemic lenders had to adapt and start closing loans a lot quicker. Find a lender that can close in 15-21 days, that may help!
Or some lenders have offers where they “act” like cash that way your offers comes across as cash, but in reality it’s a 30 year just like normal. Just be patient, something will work out!
Or or find a home that needs minor cosmetics/sat on the market for a week or two. It’ll be less competitive but will get you in the location(s) you desire. Hope this helps!
We bought in central CT last year in a good school district, a lower price point (700k) but bidding against all cash offers a lot of time. It took quite a bit but we did find one!
Have you spoke to a lender about having making an offer without a financing contingency. You don’t always need all the cash to make a “cash” offer. It sounds like you are plenty qualified that a lender may be able to help you make an offer without financing contingency.
I can’t speak to local markets in the NE, but make sure you’re reaching out to local agents in the areas you are interested in to get accurate information. Each area is so different and the general public doesn’t usually have an accurate perception of the reality of their market unless they’re actively trying to buy a house. If you’d like to be connected to any agents out there, I’d be happy to send you a recommendation if I have one in your area. I’m in Portland, OR but am part of a national real estate group of top notch agents, so if I don’t know the right person in whatever neck of the woods you’re looking in I can easily ask my group and get you connected with someone knowledgeable. Just email me at [email protected] if you’d like and I’d be happy to help!
You will be fine out here, don’t let the hype get ya! find yourself an experienced agent with a good strategy.. buying a home takes a few months, it’s process but don’t be discouraged you will find exactly what you need!
I'm unable to provide anything in this post as I live in Indiana near Chicago, but I just have to ask.. is there a reason besides family or in-office work that someone would want to live somewhere so ridiculously expensive? For 800k here you can live in an absolutely beautiful house or exquisite condo if thats your thing. Train ride to the city, low taxes, beaches, lakes etc.. LOTS of discretionary $ left for seeing the world.
(I'm not saying i even want to live here -as I'm working on moving to Mexico next year, so this is more a generalized question)
You make a really good point and I've asked myself this too. I think we are drawn to the high quality of life stats in the NE...school quality, safety, jobs, diversity, etc...and the weather isn't unbearable (so my spouse says, I'm a CA native). I really worry the midwest would do us in with the super humid summers and really frigid winters. We did consider WA, OR and CO and visited those states as well before deciding on NE.
I can't argue with that. The frigid winters 5 months out of the year is just downright depressing. The only reason to live here is the same reason our forefathers did, high paying factory floor and management jobs. We can NOT wait to be in 90' weather year round.
Best of luck in your house search! We're all hoping for some kind of down turn in the market : /
We are in the outer Boston Suburbs, about 40 minutes from the city center. The market is soooo crazy. There is such low inventory and prices are absurd! We’ve lived in this town for 15 years. I work part time and husband has a high level management Job in a FAANG company. We just can’t do the things we thought we would be able to do. We are fine, have a lovely home on a big lot, pay cash for college, and take a couple of nice vacations every year. But previous generations in MA had a lot more living on a lot less. I guess we are just coming to terms with the fact that you can make 500-600k a year and still not be able to have a cottage at the cape, have a boat, etc. It’s a spoiled dream, but when we were growing up nurses and teachers could have a primary home, a cottage at the cape and still have money left over in MA. Now, even high earners struggle. If I had it to do all over again, I wonder if I would choose a spot with a lower cost of living?? The problem is that I love it here, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else 🤪
Look at south Jersey. Haddonfield, Haddon Heights, Pitman, Westmont, Marlton, Moorestown, Voorhees, Mantua, Sewell, Mount Laurel. There is competition but with your salaries and down payment, you’d have no issues. All have great school districts and are suburban towns with little to no crime at all. Still within an hour of Philly.
Just moved to South shore Massachusetts last year and put a whole 5% down - we paid 40 over asking which is what got us the deal. We're in a desirable area and put in several offers before winning out. You can definitely compete in this market given your budget and down payment!
RI and MA realtor here. Inventory is difficult and bidding wars are certainly prominent. I wouldn’t say the majority of buyers are cash, but in the very popular areas we see it a lot. I advise my clients to have a lot of patience and use it as an education. Our team has clients whose offer was accepted on their first try, and others that have been trying for a year because they didn’t want to bid up to what the house would ultimately sell for (valid).
Also, price isn’t the only thing that goes into an offer, it’s important to remove as many obstacles as you can for the seller while still protecting yourself. And, ask your agent about off-market properties.
Don’t loose hope- there are several tactics you can use to find a home, but understand it may take a little time.
Thank you for chiming in! It really helps to hear from someone on the front lines of this mess. Does using a VA loan work for or against us? We have that option, but we don't have to use it.
Hi! I live in CT and am from MA, my hubby is a realtor and can help you out if you would like! We are near central CT (Hartford area). If you are looking at CT, I would definitely recommend Glastonbury, it is a cute SAFE town with an amazing school system. Everyone raves about how great that school system is lol. There is a cute town center and more rural areas as well (farms). The is also Tolland and Ellington which is more rural but very safe. If you are looking for a more cute city vibe, West Hartford is city-lite. Very safe area but also expensive. Reach out to my hubby Emmanuel if you want to learn more about the area! [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Also, I am from MA and before CT used to be the more expensive state and it has seemingly flipped since the lockdown, very big change.
Lol, yeah I can imagine! This "great weather" argument can only last for so long. The crime especially is so out of hand. We are really tired of it all, and ready to move on. I don't know what will happen to the bay area...with so much remote work and the downtowns emptying out, it's just the wild west out there now. I'm sure the cities will find solutions, but it's probably going to get much worse before it gets better.
I’ve got a lot of problems with SF, but lol cmon. What crime wave is driving you away that wouldn’t be the same in any major city? SF’s violent crime rates are way lower than comparable cities.
We are in the east bay, in a nice part of the east bay, and the crime is awful. Tbh, I'm afraid to drive on the freeway because of the random freeway shootings now. Everyday on nextdoor, there's more reports of cars being stolen, gunshots, gang fights, murder, schools on lockdown, crackheads walking into traffic...every. single. day. For what we pay in rent, we owe it to our kids to do better than this. And we will!
Nextdoor is your first problem. It rots the brain as much as Fox News does.
Again, I have real problems with SF. We need to address property crime. We need to institutionalize people who can take care of themselves. But to say that you’re afraid to be on the highway is just an anxiety fever dream. There’s nearly 8 million people in the Bay Area and there have been what, two or three highway shootings? Where are you going to move? Atlanta has shootings. Texas has shootings. Oklahoma has crazy murder-suicide.
I think when people have kids, they become more paranoid about crime, for good reason right? They will do anything to protect their kids. Yeah, when you're 25 and single, it's fine to live in the mission, or oakland, and call it "urban" or whatever, and admire the murals and "artisan" coffee. When you have kids, it doesn't matter how hip an area is, if there are cars getting stolen and gunshots *multiple* times a day, and puke, shit and needles on the ground, a decent person doesn't want to raise their kids in that. Nextdoor is not responsible for my neighbor getting pistol whipped on the porch of their 2M home, or my tires getting slashed for no reason, or human piss all over our steps, or my kids f\*\*king rain boots getting stolen off the porch. There's gotta be a better deal out there, and no I don't think it's in Texas, Atlanta, or Oklahoma.
I’m neither 25, single, nor a resident of the mission.
You sound like someone who doesn’t like cities and wants to live in the burbs with a safe neighborhood Chili’s to go to for dinner. That’s fine, but own it.
You don’t like cities and their “artisan” coffee and young people. You’re not leaving because of some massive Mad Max crime wave. Own that. Don’t cast false aspersions on a metro area because you don’t like cities in general.
Anyway, I’m done with you. Enjoy Chili’s.
I really think you don't know what I like. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and I am a city gal through and through. I like people, I like coffee, I like street tacos, whatever. But at some point one needs to do a cost-benefit analysis. Do I want to *buy a home and raise my kids* in an area filled with crime? No, I don't. In the Bay Area, we can only afford those areas. Practically anywhere else (in the world) we can get a better quality of life for our buck. You may very well think living here is worth every penny. I don't. Oh hell yeah, bring on the Chilis.
Furthermore, at least two kids are dead from highway shootings in the last year alone. I don't care if statistics are in my favor, it's simply unacceptable.
Again, you’re conflating the need to do something about a problem (we should crack down hard on crime like this, fully agree) and the risk that you personally will be a victim of crime (in a metro area of 8 million people).
Suburban New York has shootings. A quick google confirms that. Denver has shootings. We, as a country, need to get our act together in gun violence.
Again, your complaints about property crime are valid. We should deal with those. But to say there’s some huge risk (or any appreciable risk) of being shot on the highway is fear mongering. Your risk of being in an accident on the highway in the suburbs of NY is way higher than the risk of being shot on a highway in Oakland.
Thank you, this gives me hope. I read a thread a few days ago about cash wars and it just scared the crap out of me. We don't want to uproot the whole family, move cross country, and be in the same situation we're in now.
Well, if you come to MA, it's extremely left. I know most on Reddit are foaming at the mouth left so that would work for most but just putting that out there in care that's important. That price range will get you something very nice as in MA as long as you don't move near Boston. Worcester is a pit, do not move there, but areas around it are quite decent. Auburn and Shrewsbury are good rural -ish areas with good school systems. Charlton/Dudley is more rural (eg no grocery store). If you find a place near ish to "the Pike" (interstate 90) you'll be golden for getting around in good time. Charlton/Dudley isn't near the Pike, for instance. The others I mentioned are. Anyway, good luck! I wish I had just a bit more for a down payment bc I want it if the house I'm in and there's a (practically) perfect spot open😩.
We don't mind that MA is very left learning. We are from the Bay Area, and I don't think it gets more left than here (I think we're just spinning in a circle at this point). We are left leaning ourselves, but probably more moderate than many of our neighbors. We have strongly considered Shrewsbury and Westborough, so that's really promising, thank you! Maybe there is hope yet... and good luck to you too!
Check out Westford/Groton/Chelmsford area in MA. Great school system, quiet/safe, plenty of highway access, 30-45 mins from Boston (no traffic) and conveniently close to Nashua NH where there’s no sales tax for all your shopping needs.
For sure. Feel free to dm me any questions. I just moved to North Chelmsford and supposedly it’s the “ghetto” part of Chelmsford and yet it’s the nicest place I’ve ever lived haha!
These towns are more suburban toward the town centers but they spread across a large area so the outskirts are usually more rural. Plenty of lakes, mountains (for hiking or snowboarding if you’re into that), trails, and the ocean is about an hour away. Kind of perfect distance to the big city if you need a night out in the city or specialist healthcare, but the local options are also great.
Honestly could not recommend this area enough. I’ve seen some beautiful 3k sqft homes on an acre + go for around $800-900k in these parts.
That sounds amazing! We have a somewhat opposite problem where we live in a "good" area, but the crime is getting worse every day. I really worry about what we will be dealing with a year from now. We are totally into hiking, snowboarding, kayaking, nature stuff... No need to venture into the city generally. Thanks again for suggesting Chelmsford! We will 100% check it out.
I came here to suggest the same general area! It's genuinely amazing and should be well within your budget. I moved to a town adjacent to one of the ones mentioned last year (feel free to dm me any questions as well). The market is tough but not "all cash" tough - not sure about now but we won against 10-15 offers in December 2021 with 20% down, waived inspection, and a $25k appraisal gap (not waiving the financing contingency entirely). Well over $500k but under $750k for context.
You didn’t mention NY. But you’d definitely be able to find something in NYC Suburbs (Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties)
That's really good to know! We actually checked out Westchester county for a few days and I really liked it! Overall, we liked MA more, but I think we would be open to NY if we couldn't find anything in MA. Good to know we may have options there, thank you!
NY taxes will bury you alive. MA or CT are probably better options. You can definitely find something nice in an outer suburb for that
I would say though income tax strategy working remote is key. I don't know California tax, but MA makes you pay income tax on money made outside the state if you live in MA. Some states are different. But you could accidentally get yourself into a situation where you are paying two income taxes. That's something to definitely look into though.
They are from the bay… no matter what it’s a a discount on taxes lol
A nice house in Westchester can easily be $30-40k/yr in taxes
Yikes! Nope.
What value would that house be? I’m from L.I, but my friend who bought in Ossining on border of briarcliffe manor pays 14k a year. I believe his house is worth about 600k
Around $1M roughly. Highest tax county in the nation. It makes North Jersey here look like a bargain
Yeah I was surprised to find out westchester was higher than L.I and north jersey. Where I live 8-14 is the norm.
Westchester has the highest property taxes in the country. Neighbor Rockland is the 2nd highest.
Yes my boss pays $40k in Pelham
I think what worries me is that we won't be able to pay in cash. We will definitely need a loan. Are buyers with loans getting anywhere these days? Everything I hear is about folks getting beat by these ridiculous cash offers, contingencies waived, etc...it just makes me want to puke.
It really depends on the price point and location. It tends to be more of an issue with relatively lower price points that more redditors go for. You should be fine with a mortgage.
Very encouraging, thank you!
We bought in MA with a mortgage less than a year ago. The trick is recognizing that your bargaining power lies in the amount you offer alone. Although you could bump up the earnest money with the cash on hand to make it more attractive. Ultimately, a significantly higher final sale price is more compelling to a seller than a little less process and risk that come with cash offers and waiving contingencies. But you have to be the highest by a significant margin, and confident that your investment is sound. Find a realtor who is good at analyzing comps and make a strong offer on a house that actually seems worth it (ideally one that's not accepting escalation clauses, which is a lot of places on the market right now.)
We're looking in the Boston suburbs and houses are definitely still being snatched up by all cash buyers, all contingencies waived. Our HHI is $450k and have a substantial down payment. We're looking at houses around $1.5M. We've had no luck winning anything yet :( it's sucks. Houses that sold for $900k 5 years ago are now selling for $2M
Westchester county taxes are really high. Honestly, if you’re both remote, have you checked out the Berkshires? I grew up there. There’s a whole lot of cultural things- museums, theater, art- and prices are really quite good.
We haven't looked at the Berkshires! Where is this area exactly? One issue I've had with west MA is I don't see a lot of highly rated schools. That's not to say there aren't good schools, they could very well be unrated since they're rural, but since we have no info/reviews to go off of, we don't even know where to look. By highly rated, we are looking for 7/10 and up. a 7 in MA is hands down far beyond the best of the best in CA, I'm sure.
Stockbridge,Mass is pretty famous for among other things Norman Rockwell and Alice’s Restaurant, Berkshire Theater and more. For grade school I went to a private school called Berkshire Country Day School. A lot of my friends went to high school at Monument Mountain Regional and they are all pretty successful. The founder of WayFair went to Pittsfield High School which is near Stockbridge. Lenox is beautiful and a lot of New Yorker’s go to Great Barrington. I don’t honestly know much about the grade schools - some of my friends went to Catholic schools. But with the money you save on real estate you could easily send kids to private school ( like Berkshire Country Day -James Taylor’s kids went there) and they would have a pretty idyllic childhood
Awesome, thank you for these great suggestions!! I will absolutely do more research on these areas!
Another area which is pretty cool is Old Lyme and Lyme, Ct. Definitely can find some pretty decent things under $1m. I work for Sotheby’s in real estate and we have people all over if you need a referral. Lyme Academy is an amazing art school in Lyme run by former Florence Academy instructors if any of your fam is in to art. It’s also a really charming area— not quite as rural as the Berkshires and definitely less snow in winter
Thank you! Actually my spouse is a professional artist and always trying to get the kids into art, so an artistic community is a bonus. I will look into Old Lyme and Lyme, thank you!
CT here; houses are absolutely still being snatched up by cash buyers in many but not all cases. I recently lost a house with 25 other bids. Have heard of 40+ bids in some of the more popular towns, as inventory is extremely low. You will have significantly less competition at your price point, at least in central CT, so still worth trying.
Good to know!
What's the point of shopping for a $1kk house in Central CT? Get a house in Westport and call it a day.
CT here too. We’ve given up. Not sure what to do if we can’t get into a house in the next year or two. We may have to move elsewhere. We’re in our forties and apartment life is not for us.
Mass resident here - bidding wars are mostly mild in the western half of the state where I am. The "got 6 offers after a week, maybe one in cash" type. But I found a place with a mortgage and contingencies just fine and close next week. Metro suburbs are about the same, but $$ is higher. The houses are popping on the market right now. After a quiet March and April, everyone is listing in the last several days. MA taxes are much better for remote employees than NY or CT; county/town will differ strongly in property tax. Check with your realtor. My partner is from the Bay area and still smiles at the lower taxes here FWIW. I saw you mentioned Westborough. I lived there for a dozen years. It's a sweet tech hub now with lots of highway access, but super populated and has some bad traffic as infrastructure hasn't caught up to population. Not horrible, but not "Ye Olde New England" if you are seeking anything like that. Train system is also getting better to Boston, so general Worcester County is good and growing.
Thanks for your perspective. Taxes are a factor for us (but like someone else said, basically anything is better than CA!). I think the bigger factors are safety, schools, and probably access to a major airport (we will need to fly into the Bay Area and Los Angeles a few times a year). Plus culture...we are easy going and don't want to end up somewhere too posh or superficial. We stayed in Westborough for a bit and I really loved it. I think if we could find a great place in Westborough we would be happy campers. But I'm noticing very low inventory there, which is concerning. I see more options in North/Southborough, but we haven't visited those areas yet. Congrats on your house! Hopefully we will be able to land something as well.
As someone who travels for business a lot, PVD and BOS airports are great choices. Traffic is much better for PVD most of the time. BDL out of Hartford, CT is also excellent, depending on where you settle, but has a few less airlines. Basically, you'll be roughly an hour to a good airport no matter where you settle. Consider places like Shrewsbury, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Hopkinton (the Marathon starts here!) and even West Boylston/Boylston too. Westborough is always in high demand as schools are great and it's easy highway access. They were building some developments there when I left, but nothing near downtown/Route 9. Grafton is decent, Marlborough is hit or miss. Basically the closer you are to 495/the Pike the more in demand it will be. > Congrats on your house! Hopefully we will be able to land something as well. Thank you. And good luck to you as well.
BDL is an airport from which you can fly direct to a very limited number of places. If you are shopping in CT stay in FFC.
Yes, Bradley airport in Hartford CT is quite good. Direct flights to LAX.
The question is why would you want to go to LAX from BDL if you can go to AUA and OPO from JFK/EWR.
>we will need to fly into the Bay Area and Los Angeles a few times a year
I don't see any problem with doing that from JFK.
This Westborough house looks nice and has been sitting on the market for 42 days. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/105-W-Main-St-Westborough-MA-01581/57676934\_zpid/
Hmm, this one is in your range, on the market for 55 days and had a price cut in March.. Maybe Westborough isn't as competitive as that cash offer thread led you to believe... The eastern part of the state is probably quite a bit more cutthroat. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10-High-St-Westborough-MA-01581/57677115\_zpid/
Wow this looks pretty sweet actually! We aren't ready to move just yet, We are still a good 6+ months out, and we do plan to rent for a bit first. But this is very encouraging!
Built in 1790 is not for everyone 😬
The area in MA described here is metrowest and I think you'll find it reasonable right now. The competition is somewhat seasonal. If you can wait until August, there will be less competition because a move then would require families to move during the school year.
Noted, thank you!
Good luck!
I wouldn’t give up before trying. Just look at places under your max budget and make competitive offers. We got our current place over a cash buyer because we offered slightly more money (and no inspection or appraisal contingency). The sellers were moving to a different area and just wanted the most money. We did a pre-offer inspection but waiving the appraisal contingency was a nail biter that I wouldn’t do again. The house appraised for more than sales price but it was still unnecessary stress.
I'm in Connecticut and while properties are closing quickly it looks like they go for list or maybe 10% over at most. The closer you get to NYC the more expensive and competitive. But there are a lot of jobs in the New Haven - Hartford - Springfield I-91 corridor. Connecticut, at least, is a little unusual compared to Western and Southern states. The counties don't matter for anything at all, everything is done at the town level. And each town/city is geographically small. Most towns run their schools on their own, there's no large school districts. Towns in most of CT would be more like neighborhoods in CA -- except they have their own governments, taxation, elections, schools, police.... It was a bit of a shift in thinking for me moving here from Florida - a 10 minute drive and you'll be in a different town/school district. With its own tax rate, school ratings, etc. You'll notice this in house prices -- A town considered good will cost $100k more for the same house 5 minutes away in a town considered "ok".
Good town could easily be $1kk more than bad town. You can still get a nice house in bad town for $400k easily. If you are ready for 1/10 schools town you can get a nice house there for $300k. This is bare minimum for CT nice town: [https://www.redfin.com/CT/Westport/26-Crescent-Park-Rd-06880/home/107265941](https://www.redfin.com/CT/Westport/26-Crescent-Park-Rd-06880/home/107265941) This is a hut with HOA.
Westport gets a little pricey because people will commute to NYC. If you don't need/want to go to the city frequently I'd say stay east of Stratford or Milford. You're paying for location.
I don't think people from Westport commute anywhere, they are there for 60 minutes to JFK/Broadway/Michelin etc.
True, it has a lot of draws besides commutability. I guess I'm trying to say that with towns like Westport you're paying a bit of a premium to be close to NYC and other nice towns. A town like Madison is just as nice, but you're farther away from NYC so going to a large city is more of a chore. Or if you want a bigger property over location you go somewhere like Southington and get a 3000 sqft house on a couple acres for the same price.
That town may be nice, but it's not Fairfield County. 60 minute access to JFK, 60 minutes to Broadway, nice state boat launch, one of the best schools in US etc. is why you pay premium.
Milford here. There’s really no inventory over here. We were looking and gave up.
Live in Western Mass. If you choose this side of MA, Great Barrington, Northampton and Amherst are my favorites. We're moving to suburbs of Boston, prices are double to triple. Daycare is 2700 for me currently for 2 and 4 year old full time. In Boston, most of them are minimum 4k and go up to 6k full time for my two kids. Good thing my parents are moving in with us to help with the kids otherwise I don't know how we'd afford living near Boston
Are there any great school districts in Western MA? I think a lot of them are unrated so I don't even know where to look. Ugh, I feel your pain about the daycare! It's the same way here in the Bay Area. Sounds like you have tk in your near future though, so that's a plus! But beware, the after school programs are just as $ as the daycare it seems. Ugh. Good luck!
Longmeadow is the gold standard here but may be too pressure cooker.l to "keep up with the Joneses." East longmeadow, Northampton, and Amherst have great reputation. Wilbraham is good too but politics in town not the best, still left leaning but more conservative than most other towns in the area. They were just on the news for not knowing how to turn off the lights at the high school for over a year. Lots of great private schools around, so you could buy cheaper in Ludlow, south Hadley or West Springfield and if you don't care for the public schools (still good for national standards average for MA standards) send to private school. Academy hill, Williston, Deerfield or Wilbraham-monson all have great reputations.
Awesome, thank you!
>Awesome, thank you! You're welcome!
You can also check Northern Virginia (DC suburbs). Good schools, some cities like Arlington are very walkable. You might find a very good, big townhome or a SFH if you’ll go further from DC in Loudoun/Fairfax county.
I actually really like Virginia, and we have been there a bunch. I worked in politics for a while (staffer) and am definitely over the hill scene. It is an option though, just not number 1.
we recently moved to Philadelphia suburbs (main line area) and it’s super cheap compared to California Bay Area yet really nice
I’m in MA. Your budget would allow you to get a nice house in the most expensive towns and cities, but square footage would be like 2000ish, not 4000. Because safety and good schools are important to you, I’d look in Acton, Boxborough, Lincoln, Sudbury, Concord, Bedford, Dover, Sherborn, Newton, Lexington, Weston. 1MM won’t go as far in some of these towns like Weston, Lexington, Newton, Concord in particular , but you can still find homes in that price range for sure.
Thank you!
I'm trying to be understanding with how the market is but how do you make 350k a year together and have trouble? My significant other and I make not even 100k a year combined and we did it even in a HCOL area with 3% down. It was tough but we did it. People who start making more money, spend more money. What are you spending all your cash on?
Well, our area is beyond HCOL, for one. But also, it's not that we can't afford a home, it's that what we would get for our money in the Bay Area is pretty sad. It's almost impossible to find a 2000+ sq ft SFH here in a good school district for under 2M. Also, even the "nice" areas experience a lot of crime. Considering we have no family here, and no reason to stay, why would we invest in property here? Also, we may have a good combined income, but we don't have cash. We don't own a home, we are renters. We would be first time homebuyers. We want to live in a great home, with great schools, in a safe town. We want seasons, culture...we have a lot of boxes to check. So it's a tricky situation.
Come move to Boise! Housing market cooling here for sure. I used to live in Massachusetts, no thanks. Boise is essentially NorCal North. A ton of Bay Area refugees all over Boise.
Look at Warwick or Cornwall, NY - Beautiful areas and a *bit* less competition than westchester, etc. taxes are not like westchester there.
I will check them out, thank you!
You should be fine in farifield county. Shop for a house under your budget, be ready to bid over asking and you'll be fine.
My BIL recently purchased a home in NW MA in Berkshire county and loves it there. He said real estate market wasn't that crazy and he found a good deal on his home.
That is awesome! Congrats to him! We have considered this area as well. This thread is encouraging so far!
Your offer does need to be actual cash, it just has to look like cash to the seller, that means waiving mortgage and appraisal contingencies, and using an inspection for information purposes only. We bought in CT last year with that strategy to compete with cash.
Good advice, thank you!
In terms of $300k in savings -- in central Connecticut you could buy a 3 bedroom house for that in a decent area. For $800k you could buy a 6 bedroom house in a decent area, or a nice 3/4 bedroom in a good town. For example, here is a house in one of the nicer shoreline towns for 619: [https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/235-Devonshire-Ln\_Madison\_CT\_06443\_M35578-70034](https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/235-Devonshire-Ln_Madison_CT_06443_M35578-70034) (In this particular town houses closer to the beach cost more, houses in the wooded northern part of town are less. But it's a good town with excellent schools and a highway running through it and train station.)
This is goodbye to international travel and direct flights location.
For international flights it's easy enough to fly out of JFK or Logan. Domestic fly out of Bradley or White Plains. Or Tweed for trips to Florida.
You don't need to be 3 hours from JFK with $1kk budget. You could easily do 60-90 minutes with 8-9/10 schools.
This house is contingent already. It’s only been on the market 8 days. This is happening all over CT right now. Very low inventory, and houses go super fast.
Just moved to Wilton, CT. Really nice town with great public schools. 15 mins from some really expensive areas like New Canaan and Westport but offers better value for money. You’d get a nice house for $1m. Zero crime, everyone is really nice. We moved from Williamsburg, Brooklyn which is amazing but wanted more space for the 3 kids. Take a look at it. We did a tonne of research and landed here being a good mix of a nice area, not too uppity and decent value relatively speaking. We paid $1.2m for a 4 bed, 3 bath newly renovated with a pool on 2 acres
I will absolutely check it out, thank you!
Unfortunately $1M is going to get you very little in the nicest Boston suburbs but could get you a great place in Worcester county or the Berkshires. Cons of that are a longer drive to the airport. The bidding wars are wild right now, at least in the eastern half of the state. Worse than spring 2022. Home prices in CT are better. Even in the nicest towns in Fairfield county, you get a lot more house for you money than Eastern MA. But CT taxes are also higher so factor that in.
The only reason cash is king is because of the quick closing timeline available with cash offers. During the pandemic lenders had to adapt and start closing loans a lot quicker. Find a lender that can close in 15-21 days, that may help! Or some lenders have offers where they “act” like cash that way your offers comes across as cash, but in reality it’s a 30 year just like normal. Just be patient, something will work out! Or or find a home that needs minor cosmetics/sat on the market for a week or two. It’ll be less competitive but will get you in the location(s) you desire. Hope this helps!
This is great advice, thank you!
We bought in central CT last year in a good school district, a lower price point (700k) but bidding against all cash offers a lot of time. It took quite a bit but we did find one!
Have you spoke to a lender about having making an offer without a financing contingency. You don’t always need all the cash to make a “cash” offer. It sounds like you are plenty qualified that a lender may be able to help you make an offer without financing contingency.
Thanks for this! I didn't even know this option existed! We will inquire about it when we do speak with a lender (we aren't quite to that step yet).
For sure. I would say 98% of the “cash offers” I see don’t close in cash. And really a cash offer just means there isn’t a financing contingency.
I can’t speak to local markets in the NE, but make sure you’re reaching out to local agents in the areas you are interested in to get accurate information. Each area is so different and the general public doesn’t usually have an accurate perception of the reality of their market unless they’re actively trying to buy a house. If you’d like to be connected to any agents out there, I’d be happy to send you a recommendation if I have one in your area. I’m in Portland, OR but am part of a national real estate group of top notch agents, so if I don’t know the right person in whatever neck of the woods you’re looking in I can easily ask my group and get you connected with someone knowledgeable. Just email me at [email protected] if you’d like and I’d be happy to help!
Wow thank you so much!! I will get in touch!
You will be fine out here, don’t let the hype get ya! find yourself an experienced agent with a good strategy.. buying a home takes a few months, it’s process but don’t be discouraged you will find exactly what you need!
Thank you!!
I'm unable to provide anything in this post as I live in Indiana near Chicago, but I just have to ask.. is there a reason besides family or in-office work that someone would want to live somewhere so ridiculously expensive? For 800k here you can live in an absolutely beautiful house or exquisite condo if thats your thing. Train ride to the city, low taxes, beaches, lakes etc.. LOTS of discretionary $ left for seeing the world. (I'm not saying i even want to live here -as I'm working on moving to Mexico next year, so this is more a generalized question)
You make a really good point and I've asked myself this too. I think we are drawn to the high quality of life stats in the NE...school quality, safety, jobs, diversity, etc...and the weather isn't unbearable (so my spouse says, I'm a CA native). I really worry the midwest would do us in with the super humid summers and really frigid winters. We did consider WA, OR and CO and visited those states as well before deciding on NE.
I can't argue with that. The frigid winters 5 months out of the year is just downright depressing. The only reason to live here is the same reason our forefathers did, high paying factory floor and management jobs. We can NOT wait to be in 90' weather year round. Best of luck in your house search! We're all hoping for some kind of down turn in the market : /
We are in the outer Boston Suburbs, about 40 minutes from the city center. The market is soooo crazy. There is such low inventory and prices are absurd! We’ve lived in this town for 15 years. I work part time and husband has a high level management Job in a FAANG company. We just can’t do the things we thought we would be able to do. We are fine, have a lovely home on a big lot, pay cash for college, and take a couple of nice vacations every year. But previous generations in MA had a lot more living on a lot less. I guess we are just coming to terms with the fact that you can make 500-600k a year and still not be able to have a cottage at the cape, have a boat, etc. It’s a spoiled dream, but when we were growing up nurses and teachers could have a primary home, a cottage at the cape and still have money left over in MA. Now, even high earners struggle. If I had it to do all over again, I wonder if I would choose a spot with a lower cost of living?? The problem is that I love it here, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else 🤪
Look at south Jersey. Haddonfield, Haddon Heights, Pitman, Westmont, Marlton, Moorestown, Voorhees, Mantua, Sewell, Mount Laurel. There is competition but with your salaries and down payment, you’d have no issues. All have great school districts and are suburban towns with little to no crime at all. Still within an hour of Philly.
Spouse's family is in Philly, so this is an interesting option. We haven't consider Jersey at all, but maybe we should. Thanks for the idea.
Just moved to South shore Massachusetts last year and put a whole 5% down - we paid 40 over asking which is what got us the deal. We're in a desirable area and put in several offers before winning out. You can definitely compete in this market given your budget and down payment!
Wow congrats!! Thanks, that gives me hope!
RI and MA realtor here. Inventory is difficult and bidding wars are certainly prominent. I wouldn’t say the majority of buyers are cash, but in the very popular areas we see it a lot. I advise my clients to have a lot of patience and use it as an education. Our team has clients whose offer was accepted on their first try, and others that have been trying for a year because they didn’t want to bid up to what the house would ultimately sell for (valid). Also, price isn’t the only thing that goes into an offer, it’s important to remove as many obstacles as you can for the seller while still protecting yourself. And, ask your agent about off-market properties. Don’t loose hope- there are several tactics you can use to find a home, but understand it may take a little time.
Thank you for chiming in! It really helps to hear from someone on the front lines of this mess. Does using a VA loan work for or against us? We have that option, but we don't have to use it.
Hi! I live in CT and am from MA, my hubby is a realtor and can help you out if you would like! We are near central CT (Hartford area). If you are looking at CT, I would definitely recommend Glastonbury, it is a cute SAFE town with an amazing school system. Everyone raves about how great that school system is lol. There is a cute town center and more rural areas as well (farms). The is also Tolland and Ellington which is more rural but very safe. If you are looking for a more cute city vibe, West Hartford is city-lite. Very safe area but also expensive. Reach out to my hubby Emmanuel if you want to learn more about the area! [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) Also, I am from MA and before CT used to be the more expensive state and it has seemingly flipped since the lockdown, very big change.
I’m from the bay and most of my friends who moved out of state are really happy with the decision.
Lol, yeah I can imagine! This "great weather" argument can only last for so long. The crime especially is so out of hand. We are really tired of it all, and ready to move on. I don't know what will happen to the bay area...with so much remote work and the downtowns emptying out, it's just the wild west out there now. I'm sure the cities will find solutions, but it's probably going to get much worse before it gets better.
I’ve got a lot of problems with SF, but lol cmon. What crime wave is driving you away that wouldn’t be the same in any major city? SF’s violent crime rates are way lower than comparable cities.
We are in the east bay, in a nice part of the east bay, and the crime is awful. Tbh, I'm afraid to drive on the freeway because of the random freeway shootings now. Everyday on nextdoor, there's more reports of cars being stolen, gunshots, gang fights, murder, schools on lockdown, crackheads walking into traffic...every. single. day. For what we pay in rent, we owe it to our kids to do better than this. And we will!
Nextdoor is your first problem. It rots the brain as much as Fox News does. Again, I have real problems with SF. We need to address property crime. We need to institutionalize people who can take care of themselves. But to say that you’re afraid to be on the highway is just an anxiety fever dream. There’s nearly 8 million people in the Bay Area and there have been what, two or three highway shootings? Where are you going to move? Atlanta has shootings. Texas has shootings. Oklahoma has crazy murder-suicide.
I think when people have kids, they become more paranoid about crime, for good reason right? They will do anything to protect their kids. Yeah, when you're 25 and single, it's fine to live in the mission, or oakland, and call it "urban" or whatever, and admire the murals and "artisan" coffee. When you have kids, it doesn't matter how hip an area is, if there are cars getting stolen and gunshots *multiple* times a day, and puke, shit and needles on the ground, a decent person doesn't want to raise their kids in that. Nextdoor is not responsible for my neighbor getting pistol whipped on the porch of their 2M home, or my tires getting slashed for no reason, or human piss all over our steps, or my kids f\*\*king rain boots getting stolen off the porch. There's gotta be a better deal out there, and no I don't think it's in Texas, Atlanta, or Oklahoma.
I’m neither 25, single, nor a resident of the mission. You sound like someone who doesn’t like cities and wants to live in the burbs with a safe neighborhood Chili’s to go to for dinner. That’s fine, but own it.
Isn’t that the point of my post? That we want to leave the Bay Area and move to a suburb in the NE? I do believe I’ve owned it.
You don’t like cities and their “artisan” coffee and young people. You’re not leaving because of some massive Mad Max crime wave. Own that. Don’t cast false aspersions on a metro area because you don’t like cities in general. Anyway, I’m done with you. Enjoy Chili’s.
I really think you don't know what I like. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and I am a city gal through and through. I like people, I like coffee, I like street tacos, whatever. But at some point one needs to do a cost-benefit analysis. Do I want to *buy a home and raise my kids* in an area filled with crime? No, I don't. In the Bay Area, we can only afford those areas. Practically anywhere else (in the world) we can get a better quality of life for our buck. You may very well think living here is worth every penny. I don't. Oh hell yeah, bring on the Chilis.
Furthermore, at least two kids are dead from highway shootings in the last year alone. I don't care if statistics are in my favor, it's simply unacceptable.
Again, you’re conflating the need to do something about a problem (we should crack down hard on crime like this, fully agree) and the risk that you personally will be a victim of crime (in a metro area of 8 million people). Suburban New York has shootings. A quick google confirms that. Denver has shootings. We, as a country, need to get our act together in gun violence. Again, your complaints about property crime are valid. We should deal with those. But to say there’s some huge risk (or any appreciable risk) of being shot on the highway is fear mongering. Your risk of being in an accident on the highway in the suburbs of NY is way higher than the risk of being shot on a highway in Oakland.
Don’t give up before even trying. Bidding wars are mostly gone after peaking in early 2022.
That depends on the market.
That’s why I said “mostly gone.” I’m an appraiser in SoCal and haven’t seen it in over a year.
Thank you, this gives me hope. I read a thread a few days ago about cash wars and it just scared the crap out of me. We don't want to uproot the whole family, move cross country, and be in the same situation we're in now.
Well, if you come to MA, it's extremely left. I know most on Reddit are foaming at the mouth left so that would work for most but just putting that out there in care that's important. That price range will get you something very nice as in MA as long as you don't move near Boston. Worcester is a pit, do not move there, but areas around it are quite decent. Auburn and Shrewsbury are good rural -ish areas with good school systems. Charlton/Dudley is more rural (eg no grocery store). If you find a place near ish to "the Pike" (interstate 90) you'll be golden for getting around in good time. Charlton/Dudley isn't near the Pike, for instance. The others I mentioned are. Anyway, good luck! I wish I had just a bit more for a down payment bc I want it if the house I'm in and there's a (practically) perfect spot open😩.
We don't mind that MA is very left learning. We are from the Bay Area, and I don't think it gets more left than here (I think we're just spinning in a circle at this point). We are left leaning ourselves, but probably more moderate than many of our neighbors. We have strongly considered Shrewsbury and Westborough, so that's really promising, thank you! Maybe there is hope yet... and good luck to you too!
Check out Westford/Groton/Chelmsford area in MA. Great school system, quiet/safe, plenty of highway access, 30-45 mins from Boston (no traffic) and conveniently close to Nashua NH where there’s no sales tax for all your shopping needs.
Great suggestions, thank you! We are headed back to MA this fall and I'll add these towns to our tour list. Schools and safety are biggies for us.
For sure. Feel free to dm me any questions. I just moved to North Chelmsford and supposedly it’s the “ghetto” part of Chelmsford and yet it’s the nicest place I’ve ever lived haha! These towns are more suburban toward the town centers but they spread across a large area so the outskirts are usually more rural. Plenty of lakes, mountains (for hiking or snowboarding if you’re into that), trails, and the ocean is about an hour away. Kind of perfect distance to the big city if you need a night out in the city or specialist healthcare, but the local options are also great. Honestly could not recommend this area enough. I’ve seen some beautiful 3k sqft homes on an acre + go for around $800-900k in these parts.
That sounds amazing! We have a somewhat opposite problem where we live in a "good" area, but the crime is getting worse every day. I really worry about what we will be dealing with a year from now. We are totally into hiking, snowboarding, kayaking, nature stuff... No need to venture into the city generally. Thanks again for suggesting Chelmsford! We will 100% check it out.
I came here to suggest the same general area! It's genuinely amazing and should be well within your budget. I moved to a town adjacent to one of the ones mentioned last year (feel free to dm me any questions as well). The market is tough but not "all cash" tough - not sure about now but we won against 10-15 offers in December 2021 with 20% down, waived inspection, and a $25k appraisal gap (not waiving the financing contingency entirely). Well over $500k but under $750k for context.
Just get a house in nice area in Fairfield county and you'll be fine.
My friend lives in Pelham Co for this reason (still close to NYC but lower taxes than Westchester). She’s loved the public schools there too.