aileverte

Thank you, Jerseygirl!

philbrown901

Flying out tomorrow for a house hunting trip. Looking at rentals and for-sale properties. We have not been overly impressed with a lot of the rental properties in our search area so got mortgage pre-approval and are now thinking about buying, seems to be a much better market.

It's clear to see that you get more for your money the further west you head from Boston. Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions on Marlborough? Its the furthest out we are considering and in the northeast of the area there are some nice new-ish build houses. Have ruled our Framingham/Ashland but Marlborough looks a bit nicer (http://images.businessweek.com/slide...2011/slides/22). My wife's company offices are on Boston Post Road/I-20 in Weston so commute wouldnt be too bad.

Thanks
Phil

garyrozanski

Hi Phil,

Let us know how you get on - my partner has an interview at the British School of Boston next week so fingers crossed we'll be looking for places for her to live come late spring.

Gary

janj

Hi Phil,
Good luck with your reccie trip. I live in Weston and would be happy to help in any way I can. I'd strongly recommend renting for a few months before committing to buy - and everywhere looks so different in the winter! Also, many landlords and owners delay advertising their homes until March or April when the weather is a little better.
Route 20 can be extrememly slow in the mornings with traffic headed east. We stayed in a hotel in Marlboro when we first arrived and it took an eternity for me to get the kids along route 20 to school each morning.
I would have a good look at Newton in your situation - it's a fun, vibrant place with easy access to Boston. Or Needham or Natick? Can't recall if you have kids or not?
Shout if I can help.
Jan

philbrown901

Good to know. We are moving over at beginning of April and have 2 months furnished accomodation and storage as part of our relocation so we have a little time to play with. This is a recce trip more than anything, we have a few nursery/childcare places to view (we have a 2 year old) and a few days of viewings and driving around getting the feel of different places.

What is your idea of a bad/slow journey on a Greater Boston road? In morning traffic what's the minutes per mile roughly (if Marlborough to Weston is 12miles say)?

Thanks for helpful post.

janj

Phil,
I recall it took me 40 mins from Marlboro to Weston - painfully slow thru Sudbury and Wayland. And that was 15 years ago - far more traffic around now!

By the way, I'm an ex-teacher too - have you tried contacting the various Charter Schools ( I know there's a Math one - AMSA I think it's called - in Marlboro). They will not be so stringent on the local experience/certifications. Just a thought.

philbrown901

I was looking at the AMSA Marlborough website this morning (and British School). I'm still getting my head around the PRAXIS requirements and papers that I might have to do to teach in public school, my current thinking is its not worth contacting anywhere until I am over there and can be seen in person. I have 10 years experience, a good CV and excellent references so fingers crossed. I am looking to pick up permenant work after the summer leaving time to get house/kid/fishing sorted out.

garyrozanski

hi Phil,

not sure if this will help but the British School of America (that encompasses the Boston british school) have just closed their application period for September 2011 job starts.

Not sure about the other schools in the boston area though.
Gary

janj

More thoughts about housing, Phil (can you tell I'm wasting my morning at the computer!).

Be sure you're going to be in a home at least a few years if you decide to buy. Selling costs are high - you'll pay a realtor 5 or 6% of the selling price.

Property taxes vary from town to town - 10 to 14 dollars per $1,000 of assessed value per year. You don't pay these as a renter.

Also, when you find a house you like do the commutes both ways at the times you'd be travelling.

If you plan to be in the area when the little one starts school the school district is very important - you have to reside in the town.

Hope this helps a little, have a great trip!

Jan

Bob

Marlborough in morning traffic is a good hours drive, more in the winter. It's also a shit hole.

Framingham, unless it's the north, it's also a shit hole. Ashland is lovely, but there's not much there.

Anywhere west of I-495 will be cheap...Northborough, Westborough are great areas to look into.

Rt 20 and Weston, it's a car park, we were doing that drive daily to the hospital recently, it's a 40 min drive without traffic and in the evening drive back it was 1.5 hours.

You will be paying a fortune in property tax, easily paying $8-15K a year on decent houses, and don't forget it's a lot more expensive selling a house over here than it is in England.

Bob

That school is lovely, in Jamaica Plains... definitely a fun area, the nice area is gorgeous, the not so nice area is a hole though.

Bob

I'd go with Newton or Needham....not Natick.

Not much childcare choices in Natick and those were charging $1500 a month for 3 half days a week...there's also bugger all to do there, but a lot of good free kids programs.

Rt 9 is a nightmare and I'd rather drive a rusty nail up my urethra than have to deal with the traffic there again.

Also the kids school buses cost $400 a year if you want your kids to use them in town....but the town beach, Dug Pond at Memorial Beach is really cute...Wayland is probably bigger and open longer though.

Edit: if you are looking at Natick, look further out to Sherborn, Holliston and those towns, much cheaper property taxes and houses as they're off the main roads, but really don't take much to hit the pike etc and they have great schools.

Jerseygirl

I would strongly advise you to rent and not buy a property straightaway. At first we wanted to buy but that would have been a huge mistake. You need time to suss out the areas...take your time and buy the right property. Rushing to buy can be a very costly mistake for several reasons.

Apart from the fact that you need time to get to know the area and pick out a good location...selling is very costly if you decide to move on. Also we have had members who for one reason or another have had problems with their job...or their visa has expired before they have received the new one...they have had to leave the country pronto. You do not get time to hang around in the US until you sell your house.

There are many things to consider before jumping straight in and buying a property here.

janj

Phil,
I was just wondering how your recce went? Did you have a successful trip in terms of finding housing and daycare?
Let me know if I can be of any help.
Jan

JAJ

You should apply for your British citizenship before you leave, if not already done. Spouses of British citizens do not have to intend to remain in the UK, as long as the residence requirement is met. As long as everything is in order, you can even do your citizenship ceremony in the USA (at a British Consulate).