pigtales

You are probably better to move to the North Shore. The nearer you get to Boston the more expensive it becomes. Or you could move near the 495 going along route 3. You can get 2 bedroom apartments for 1300 dollars the more north you go with swimming pool, gym and club houses. The more north you go the nicer the beach is. A place like Danvers, Salem, Manchester by the sea is on 30-45 minutes from Burlington. If you go near Boston you will be driving in traffic every day. The Burlington mall is good.
Two years is quite short to buy a house and the real estate agents will rip you off if you are not careful. You really need to take a class in it before you do it so that your eyes are wide open to the 'money hungry sellers and buyers'! It is harder than buying in the UK.
Where about in England are you from?

gmdale

Brill ! Thank you very much ! Building up a picture rapidly.

Do you normally pay for the pre-K programs?

gmdale

Many thanks for the info!
Our office is in Burlington, so a half hour radius from there is where we're looking. We're going to keep a place in the UK since the 2 years is such a short time and therefore just rent a place whilst we're there. The company I work for gives an allowance for this under the deal.

The purchase side of things sounds like a real pit, is it the same when renting?

We'll be moving from london so traffic and parking will feel home from home.

gmdale

Ok - had heard about the the 1 year license thing. Is a no claims bonus letter enough? or is there something specific we should ensure we have?

janj

Hi - we've lived a few exits down the I-95 in Weston for the past 11 years. I think you'll find a rental easily at this time of year (not at all true in the depths of winter!). Individual towns vary in cost enormously, mostly because of the reputation of the town's school district. You shouldn't have that worry with a pre-schooler, though, as you don't have to live in the town to attend one of it's pre-schools. I'd opt to live near to work to maximize family time. If you've lived in London you won't be fazed by the traffic at all! I regularly drive into Boston.

Maybe look at some of the large apartment/town house complexes around Bedford or Winchester or even Acton where they'll have a pool (a must in our muggy summers). Further out is pretty but you might feel isolated in the winter. Can't help much about cars - probably leasing is your best option - the license is needed after a year but is no big deal, just a formality.

I'd be happy to help in any way I can - let me know and good luck!

Jan

gmdale

Jan thanks for your response, that is really helpful and encouraging.
We have seen those complex's but didn't know if they'd be a good bet over a normal house / flat etc..?

thanks again.
Glenn

blaze

I have to say that I'm not sure on whether a pre-k program costs or not. My child has down syndrome so his schooling is free. At present he attends a brilliant daycare which has approx 500 children. They charge $177.00 per week for 28 hours and up. If they attend for less hours than that then they go to an hourly rate of $6.70. Again, these are New York prices. I know that Mass is pretty expensive but I can't think that daycare would be a whole lot more than that (as to me , that is quite expensive already! ).

janj

It will cost a lot in MA I'm afraid. I don't think there are any free programs, but there are 'co-op' type deals where the mum helps out on a rota - I'm a bit out of touch though as my kids are older.

blaze

Wow, I didn't think it could get much more expensive! Daycare can be a little cheaper here (not much though) if you go to a daycare that is run from someones home, I wouldn't do that though for many reasons.

TRPardoe

If you can afford the lump sum go for a 24 month pre-paid lease. It is the way to get lowest "cost of ownership". The rates are about 2 points less than normal leasing.

Get the "Wearcare" insurance, or whatever your manufacturer calls theirs, instead of doing a security deposit. Then when you turn the car in, unless you have trashed it, you will have no surprise turn-in charges.

If you ever need Ford-specific information, including locating a specific car, please PM me.

Bob

you pay for it, and anything half decent wont' be cheap.

Bob

don't bother, it's a marketing ploy, they really don't look at your UK driving history, and if they say they do, it's a lie....the best you'll get is a slightly cheaper rate for not having a driving history if your over 25.

Bob

Weston....one of the W's that sounded possibly affordable...I'm looking into it myself as it ain't to far from Wayland....so what's the town like?

Framingham looks like a dive, but it does have the RMV...hmmm....Marlboro sounded nice...just basically looking for any town that's worth looking into that's a doddle to get to Wayland, perhaps with trains to Boston...not bothered by schools...and want to avoid a steaming dump like Lawrence *lol*

janj

Weston is very overpriced because of its schools. We moved here for the schools and will leave when our youngest finishes high school. Wayland is a little more affordable, or Sudbury or Acton maybe? Will you be working in Wayland?

Bob

okay, that's another town scratched off the list *lol*

Thought Wayland was a tad pricey for an apartment rental, so only had a quick look, but yeah, that's where the job is.

Sudbury is on my list of places to checkout, but not found much in apartment rentals so far...not tried Acton yet, so i'll give that a google, cheers