Advice about Moving to Massachusetts

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  • Buying condo 2-3 unit bldg - Cambridge or elsewhere - pitfalls?

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    Feb 25, 2021

    Hi we are looking to buy a condo in Cambridge MA or Boston and know many in the Bay Area have lived in this area - or have experienced small unit buildings here in the Bay Area.

    It seems that most of the condos for sale in Cambridge are in 2-4 unit buildings. We wondered if anyone has experience with this and what things we might want to be aware of.

    For example, what if you buy a place you love only to find you don't get along with the owner of the other unit?  What if you do like them, but they move and now you have to worry who they sell to as you have to manage things together like sharing the yard, snow removal and other maintenance issues? It seems so intimate in these small buildings.

    What if there are issues about maintenance or expenses you can't come to agreement on? What if they rent out their unit and you feel uneasy about the tenants and because these buildings are so small, you feel now like you are sharing a home with them?

    I am wondering if we should just avoid these smaller but charming buildings and only look at the largely condo buildings with professional management.

    Or anything else that comes to mind that may be useful?

    Also any suggestions at all for buying something close to Harvard (walking, or less than 25 min public transport) or Boston (near the main Boston Public Library) would be welcome.

    I searched for experiences about owning a condo in a small association in Cambridge but didn't find anything but surely sometimes it goes wrong. I know that there are many similar 2-3 unit buildings in SF & Berkeley so experiences here too would be very welcome!

    Feb 25, 2021

    I grew up in Cambridge in a three unit building but we lived with my aunt and uncle and cousins and only had one unit occupied by non family. As a kid, it was amazing to live in a multi-family house like that. As an adult with a small child, I wish I had that here in Berkeley. The people I know in Berkeley who live in multi-unit situations are excited when there are other families that they can connect with. The most challenging situations I've experienced have been when families with children and those with no children have different needs around noise. My cousin is still in Cambridge and is a real estate agent if you'd like to speak with someone with professional experience/advice, let me know and I'll pass along contact info.

    Mar 3, 2021

    All condos have CC&Rs which are the rules the condo association works by. But as my lawyer once said, the moment you really have to use the CC&Rs in a small condo, is the moment your relationship has failed. In small condo buildings, as you've indicated, personal relationships are paramount. So if you are serious about buying a condo in a small building, meet the other condo owners. Your agent and the sellers agent probably won't be helpful setting this up because it's an extra reason for you not to make an offer. Also most of your questions about maintenance, expenses, renting, etc should be covered in the CC&Rs. Before making an offer, READ the CC&Rs carefully. The CC&Rs should be part of the disclosure packet. If you feel uncomfortable reading them on you own, ask a knowledgeable friend who owns a condo or better yet, a real estate attorney to review it and walk you through it. The other items to READ carefully are the financial statements, maintenance schedule and the minutes to the board meetings. In particular look at the reserves. If there is little money in reserve you may be on the hook for replacing the roof or furnace despite not having had benefit of those items for the past several decades.

    Mar 3, 2021

    We just moved from Somerville(right next to Cambridge) in January of 2020.  We owned a condo in a 2 unit building and we never had any issues.  We were the bottom unit and our upstairs neighbor put his place on the market about half way through our time were there.  We were lucky in that the people who bought it were an older couple who were our parents age.  He also told us that he wasn't interested in selling to someone who was an asshole and luckily for us there were no problems with the new upstairs neighbors.  

    Most condo associations have bylaws/rules regarding a lot of the things you have questions about.  For instance, we had something about no short term rentals (less than 6 months).

    With regards to location, are you going to be working near Harvard/Boston Public Library?  I'm assuming since you're posting on BPN that you have one or more children? Boston Latin is a great public highschool and is in the Brookline type area.  Cambridge has excellent public schools too.  Somerville isn't quite as good as cambridge but is still strong.  Somerville is more affordable then Cambridge.  Depending where in Cambridge you're looking, it's probably on par with the Brookline neighborhood of Boston.

    Also, our real estate agent was amazing and I'd highly recommend him if you're looking to buy in the Cambridge/Somerville area or even some of the surrounding neighborhoods: https://www.denmanproperties.com/

    Mar 3, 2021

    My sister in law lived in a 2 unit condo building in the Boston area, and their experience turned out to be a nightmare. There were foundation issues that really needed to be fixed that the other owner refused to contribute to, the other owner was hostile and rude to my SIL's family, they had to consult lawyers, and all of this caused her a great deal of stress while she was pregnant. They sold 2 years later for a loss and moved to an apartment building nearby. I'm sure most folks don't have this experience, but the worst case scenarios here can be pretty bad, and if someone is determined not to work with you on issues that arise then trying to compel them to do something might not be worth the stress. Best of luck and hope the situation I outlined here is very rare, but it can happen!

    Mar 14, 2021

  • Northampton, MA, or...?

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    Dec 7, 2017

    hello everyone, we're shopping for a new place to live. anyone out there have experience living with kids in either northampton, ma, or boston area? pros/cons vs. berkeley? we're east coast parents with a 100-percent california kid. looking for a good arts scene, fresh air, middle class affordability and great schools. sincerely, family in flux

    Dec 7, 2017

    We have friends who moved to Northampton from a large East Coast city a couple of years back. They enjoy it, but find it starkly different from their former urban neighborhood and miss the walkability and amenities of city living. It's a tradeoff in that they could afford to buy a house, though. They like but don't love the schools, which apparently recently went through some cuts and restructuring, so definitely do some research there. It's far less diverse racially/ethnically than Berkeley. Many Boston/Cambridge/Somerville neighborhoods will feel more like Berkeley (assuming that's a plus), but when we looked at a move there recently, we found that the cost wasn't markedly less than the Bay Area, sadly. Good luck!

    Dec 13, 2017

    Hi!

    I grew up in Northampton and lived in and around Boston for 10 years before we moved to Berkeley in 2010 when our kids were little. My parents are still in Northampton. I love Massachusetts and miss it. Though I don't miss winter at all. You don't say your reasons for moving, but here are my perceptions:

    I can't really speak to what it's like to live in Boston right now and raise kids as I lived there 10 years ago. My understanding is that it's expensive, though not quite as much as the Bay Area. When I lived there I loved the northern suburbs along 128/route 2 of Arlington, Lexington, Winchester, Acton, Concord etc. Good schools, nice families etc.  I very much liked Cambridge too with it's academic vibe. It reminds me a lot of Berkeley but a bit more buttoned up. Brookline is great with good schools though it's expensive. The more affordable urban areas are JP, Roslindale, parts of Dorchester etc. They are all part of Boston Public Schools though and that can be a bit to negotiate. (I don't know how old your kids are.) There are some incredible private schools around Boston too if that's in your budget.

    We still visit Northampton every summer and I love it. I'd move back there in a heartbeat if we could figure out careers. The economy there is very academic and really centered around the 5 colleges in the area. Most of my friends still there either work at one of the colleges or have moved back after figuring out a way to telecommute to jobs elsewhere. There are some ties to Boston or NY, though both commutes are long when raising kids. The word on the street is that Northampton is getting too expensive for middle class people who are moving to Easthampton, Greenfield, Holyoke or the "hill towns." It's unclear, when looking at that comment from the lens of the Bay Area if we'd feel the same way.

    Friends of mine raising kids there love it. There seems to be a nice balance of work and family with lots of things for the kids to do. I think the schools are fine. None of my friends gush over them, but compared to public schools in the bay area they seem remarkable. Massachusetts as a state is very, very, dedicated to education and I think for the most part the public schools reflect that. There are also some excellent private schools in the area. 

    There are good restaurants, great yoga, nice shops etc. There's a cute farmer's market in the summer and a great coop that sources local food. Whole Foods is close too. Historically there's been good arts scene in Northampton, but I think recently many artists are moving to the towns listed above. The entire area has a very bohemian vibe. 

    Winter in Western Ma is no joke. I think that would be the biggest challenge compared to living in Berkeley. It's really hard to be outside on a regular basis from November to Mid April. There are hardy types who will run in 15 degrees, go snow shoeing in blizzards, etc, but for the most part, there are a lot of long winter days inside with kids in New England in winter. That can sound romantic from California, but February and March can be really really depressing and bleak. 

    Overall there is a soul to Western Ma that is really special to me. It's still a place I love to goto and feel very very rooted too. When I get together with friends from the area who have moved away we all seem to keep it in our heart. 

    Hope that helps!!

    Dec 13, 2017

    I'm a Bay Area native with east coast kids who just moved back to CA from Providence, Rhode Island. I would say Providence has all of your requirements except "great schools," though we were happy with ours. I also have friends who live in Brooklyn and have a vacation house in Northampton because they love the community there. The good news is that almost everywhere will have "middle class affordability" compared to the Bay Area! good luck.

    Dec 13, 2017

    I have this internal debate everyday :)

    For context, my husband and I are both born and raised in MA, both came out here for grad school and never left. We are now raising a little one (7.5mo). Both of our families are back east and the pull to return is strong... but.. California is so wonderful in so many ways... I digress. Here are the main things I've considered:

    Cost: In general terms I think you would save $ by heading east, however MA is expensive as well so the sum difference would not be huge. This is especially true if you want to be in one of the towns with the best schools Newton, Lexington, etc (I think Northhampton is also in this list but I am not as familiar). However, MA has many of the top schools in the country so even if you are not at the absolute best town in MA, I think you are still miles ahead of many districts here. So housing, slight savings maybe, and cost of living definite saving but potentially lower salaries as well.

    Diversity: This one is a big sticking point for me. I love how diverse and accepting CA is. Growing up in MA my suburb of Boston town had essentially zero diversity. We had 3 students of color in a high school of 800+. I want my daughter to have more exposure to different cultures and ideas than I did growing up.

    Weather: CA has made me a softie..  I fully accept this. You can't beat this weather. It's perfect.

    Outdoors: If we won the lottery my husband and I would 100% become ski bums and live in Tahoe. East coast just can not compete with the mountains we have out here and I would miss them dearly. I grew up skiing in Vermont and when I took my first powder turns out west in a wide open bowl.... ahh bliss. 

    Conformity: Not sure this is the right term, but I get a sense in MA that everyone sticks tightly to social norms, in CA I see a greater expression of individualism. 

    Schools: As I said before, MA wins on schools.

    Family: MA for the win on this one. It would be so wonderful to be closer to family so that my LO could have a closer relationship with them. Friends are the family you choose and we have an awesome tribe here in CA...but those family back east are only able to visit a few times a year and that will never be the same as living close by. We have already encountered the issue of LO being kicked out of daycare for a fever and one of us needing to stay home from work. I can see how if that were to happen frequently it could have a negative impact on one or both of our careers. Thinking long term, my husband and I are both oldest children and will likely need to take a big role in caring for aging parents (they are all in great health currently). Caregiver role would be super difficult 3k miles away.

    Friends: Very few of our friends are fully committed to the area and it seems everyone is a bit of a "flight risk". It's tough to afford a house here and most of our friend group is transplanted from other states so they have similar pulls back towards family. It would be hard to envision staying if many of our close friends left.

    Art Scene: Can't say much here as I have an engineer's brain :) I will say my much more artistic sister has thrived in MA and now NYC. So there is that. 

    So what to do? That is the question I spin and spin and spin on. I hope my pro/con list at least helped you consider some of the issues. I wish I had a better answer for you (and for us). 

    -Katie

    Dec 13, 2017

    Northampton is quaint and beautiful, best known as the seat of Smith College. But---it is 200 miles from Boston. So, while there are lots of places to live outside Boston with good schools--Brookline, Weston, Cambridge etc. you might want to decide on how close or far from Boston you want to be first.

    Dec 13, 2017

    Hi, my brother lives in North Hampton (3 boys: 6, 4, 1 1/2) and loves it!  He is a stay at home dad and his wife is a nurse practicioner and they are able to support themselves there.  Housing is obviously mush cheaper than the Bay Area... you can probably look online; I think they bought their 3 bed room for around $300-400K 8 years or so ago.  North Hampton is a great community (liberal, artsy, etc...), with tons of free community events for kids.  The YMCA has free day care, etc...  if you have specific questions, feel free to email me at andrealodi [at] me.com, and I will see if I can get my brother to respond.  Hope that helps!

    Dec 14, 2017

    Loved reading this post and responses, especially the parent moving to the East Bay from Providence. We are getting ready to move to Providence in the next few weeks (seriously, in the dead of winter, insane!) but just love the area, have family within a 1-2 hour drive, and spent time there before for grad school. Our children are no doubt 100% California as well (they complain when it is 55 but then again so do I). We are building in a travel budget for the months of February/March when as someone else said it is pretty bleak. There is a wonderful community, gorgeous homes, public schools vary greatly but we found an independent school that we love, something we could never swing if we were to stay here. Summer and fall cannot be beat and it is close to Boston (I used to commute there from Providence via the commuter rail or Amtrak) . Check it out! 

    Dec 29, 2017