Boston Suburbs - where to live with work at Burlington? (Cambridge: new house, safe neighborhood)

[ploom]

Hello,
We're a family of 4 and are looking a possibly taking a job in Burlington. Where should we live?

Who we are:: Family of 4, adults (mid 40's) and two kids (10/12), and one dog. Love outdoors.

We're active: Both kids do outdoor sports (soccer, baseball, softball, etc). We like being around other families of the same age and socializing. Like great tasty restaurants. We're not interested in being very remote and like a neighborhood where we could get to know our neighbors, ideally same ages (mid 40's).

Wife and I: Wife and I are both professionals.

What we like: We like neighbors would want flat property that we could play outside on -- eg volleyball, soccer, etc. (not too much) -- ideally 1/2 acre.

What's really important: Safe neighborhood, excellent schools, not remote. Love community events, festivals, etc. Excellent public schools most important.

We're looking for a home with a max price of $1M -- where should we look? Is our budget acceptable?

[MikePRU]

My first thought is Lexington. It has top notch schools, a town center with lots of great sgops/restaurants, some lovely parks, and tons of community activities. Plus, it should be a pretty quick ride to Burlington. Your budget is not going to buy you a mansion but it should get you a house you'll be comfortable in and in a good neighborhood.

[Malishka]

There is also Bedford, Belmont, Arlington...Bedford would be the cheapest I think of these 3

[AtkinsonDan]

With a budget up to $1M for housing take your pick: Lexington, Weston, Concord, Carlisle, Bedford, Reading, Andover, Winchester, Lincoln and Sudbury among many others.

[Allharv]

I think Lexington and Winchester would both be good choices, but based on my experience looking in these towns for 6 months earlier this year, you may find it hard to get 0.5 acres of flat land and a house that's move-in ready in those towns for under $1M. If you were willing to go with 0.25 acres or so, you'd have more options. In my opinion, Bedford comes in about 10% cheaper than those towns for an otherwise fairly comparable property, also has very good schools, and may also be worth a look.

[Beantown_mama]

Concord is also a pretty town with great schools and it wouldn't be too hard a commute to Burlington. However, if you think your work would ever bring you to either downtown or Cambridge it could be a long haul from there. I like Concord because it has a really pretty downtown.

[495neighbor]

Level yards with space for soccer and backyard volleyball games are rare in Eastern MA. I go with Lexington too.

[MikePRU]

$1M certainly gives you a number of options in that you can buy a house at that price in most any town around here. The questions are:

1. Will you be happy with the house that budget buys you in that town?
2. Will you be happy living in that town?

I think the OP has done a decent job giving some details about the town they're seeking, but what about the house? If you could give us more details about what you'd like as your next house that would help a lot. Do you want a brand new house? Are we talking about a 2K sq ft house or a 5K sq ft house? Do you want each of your kids to have their own bedroom and bathroom or is one bathroom for the whole family OK? $1M is a good size budget but in some towns it's going to buy you a whole lot less house than in some others. People relocating from other parts of the country often have an idea in their head of what that will afford them and then they arrive here to find that in many towns you can't buy that house for $1M.

I've worked with a lot of people who are relocating from around the country and unless they're coming from NYC or San Francisco there's almost always some level of "sticker shock" that they deal with.

[ploom]

Hi MikePru (and others) -- thank you very much. Interesting on lot size.

I'm looking for a 4,br 2 1/2 bath with an area for an office (ideally its own room). Ideally 3,100sqft (ish). Not less than 2,700.

Age of home is less of a factor if its updated. Though would like <20 yrs old if possible.

Is that helpful?

One more question for you: is it common to buy old, run-down home for the property, tear it down, then rebuild?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by ploom

Hi MikePru (and others) -- thank you very much. Interesting on lot size.

I'm looking for a 4,br 2 1/2 bath with an area for an office (ideally its own room). Ideally 3,100sqft (ish). Not less than 2,700.

Age of home is less of a factor if its updated. Though would like <20 yrs old if possible.

Is that helpful?

Extremely. I think you could find what you're looking for in Lexington which is a very lovely town.

Originally Posted by ploom

One more question for you: is it common to buy old, run-down home for the property, tear it down, then rebuild?

Very common. There is not any developable land remaining in many towns located inside of RT 128 so it's the only way one can build a new house in many places. It's hard to do that in many towns mentioned here for $1M though as tear down homes can sell for $500K or more.