Retiring in a lower-priced town? (Boston, Framingham: houses, buy, schools)

[Guineas]

I would stay put. There are lots of costs to moving and re-establishing a new residence, and with the way the market is currently, it’s not that much cheaper in the towns you mentioned when you are also looking at an upgrade to your house. Secondly, if you ever need to give the house to your kids, you would be better off in a more central location.

[johngolf]

I just do not see "cheaper" towns close to Boston. The entire area is expensive. Sure one could move to Lynn or Chelsea but I do not think the OP is thinking along those lines.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

You haven't said where you live now, but those towns aren't terribly far from Boston. So, I'm guessing not a ton further out than where you live now.

For real! I thought OP was talking about something like at least Sterling in term of lower-priced towns more remote town.
Instead OP is talking about areas that to me are basically Boston .
Different perspectives.

[Boston_Burbs]

I always viewed ashburnham as a great value for something like this. You can still get to Boston on the weekends and off hours but live more remotely or on a lake that somewhat resembles a place 3+ hours away.

[Williepaws]

Originally Posted by Strannik33

OK, some clarifications are in order. We like walking but not necessarily hiking, so the typical "outdoor activities" listed in the Best Places lists are of little interest. Raising chickens? No, thanks. Sitting at home on the internet and watching TV or writing is typical for us. The potential problems we see with the move to a lower-priced town are:
1. Being farther away from the major hospitals. In case of a heart attack one needs to be in a hospital within and hour. In case of a stroke the meds must be administered within 3 hours of the onset of the symptoms, and these could take hours to determine. This might be problematic with some outlying towns.
2. Being farther away from relatives in Brookline.
3. Living among less educated people. We are typical middle class -- by no means snobs, -- but being surrounded by someone we cannot relate to is a factor, of course.
4. Probably paying more RE taxes than in our town.
5. Difficulty selling later if we are stuck in a less-than-popular town.
6. Yes, missing some of our neighbors and our excellent service providers, from auto mechanics to doctors, all of which took years to find.

Again, we are not planning to move to the real boonies, more likely to places like North Framingham, some areas of Walpole, Natick, or even Ashland. Maybe farther, even Cape.

As to why our former neighbors regret their move, it's probably because they did not go through an excruciating research and thinking things through that we are trying to do now. That's why I'm asking for real-life experiences with a move like this.

read the above. you will have your answers.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Lampert

For real! I thought OP was talking about something like at least Sterling in term of lower-priced towns more remote town.
Instead OP is talking about areas that to me are basically Boston .
Different perspectives.

From the "is it worth it?" perspective it's really hard to say about the OP's situation because we don't have any data to go on in that area of the decision making process. This being said, it wouldn't be entirely crazy to imagine they live in a teardown worth $1.5M-$2M and if they moved to say Holliston they could have a really nice house for maybe $800K-$1M. From my perspective, the idea of sticking $500K-$1M in your pocket sounds great. This being said they also could be living in a $500K teardown. We have no idea and we'll just have to trust that the OP is doing their due diligence in this area but of course this is one of the largest factors in the decision of whether to go through with this or not.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Lampert

For real! I thought OP was talking about something like at least Sterling in term of lower-priced towns more remote town.
Instead OP is talking about areas that to me are basically Boston .
Different perspectives.

Precisely my thoughts as well. When first posted I was thinking some "podunk" town like Winchendon, Middleboro or even Uxbridge, but I just don't see a huge shell shock arriving from affluent Metro-Westville to gasp...NORTH FRAMINGHAM!

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Precisely my thoughts as well. When first posted I was thinking some "podunk" town like Winchendon, Middleboro or even Uxbridge, but I just don't see a huge shell shock arriving from affluent Metro-Westville to gasp...NORTH FRAMINGHAM!

I actually grew up in North Framingham.

Regardless, depending on where the OP lives there can be a significant difference in RE values between their current home and the places on their list. Teardown properties can sometimes be worth multiple millions. I know someone who recently sold their home in Weston and the roof was literally falling in (in a tree fell on the house years ago) and the house was completely uninhabitable. Even before that it wasn't a jaw dropping, amazing house. They still got $2M just for the land. You could get a REALLY nice house in some of the towns the OP listed for half that.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Boston_Burbs

I always viewed ashburnham as a great value for something like this. You can still get to Boston on the weekends and off hours but live more remotely or on a lake that somewhat resembles a place 3+ hours away.

One of my best friends moved from Stowe there and they love it.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Precisely my thoughts as well. When first posted I was thinking some "podunk" town like Winchendon, Middleboro or even Uxbridge, but I just don't see a huge shell shock arriving from affluent Metro-Westville to gasp...NORTH FRAMINGHAM!

+1

Though I was thinking even farther out. Like Wilbraham where MGH or Brigham are 1 hour 20 minutes off-hours. Outside the Boston metro. Not somewhere you can Uber to a commuter rail station with a 45 minute ride to South Station.