I'm the poster who just bought a condo in Brookline. I should have added that my adult child just bought a 1100 square foot condo in a triplex in Cambridge for $1.1 million. This place was originally listed for $850,000 and there was a bidding war with one person offering a $15K escalation clause over anybody else's price. Fortunately, the seller didn't go for that option. Just saying - real estate prices are crazy.

We first moved to Boston two years from upstate NY. We rented in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston but have since bought in Brookline ($825,000 for a 1,000 square foot condo). Brighton and the neighboring Allston neighborhood have more affordable housing than Brookline and Cambridge. Allston is right across the river from Cambridge with a lot of recent expansion there by Harvard University. A big reorganization of the Mass Pike is also planned along with a new communter rail station in Allston. Allston does not currently have good access to the T, but there are bus routes and street parking is not hard to get there if your child has a car. Single family homes are still very expensive. The most common options will be a larger building with condos or a single family home that has been split up into a duplex or triplex.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents did this when I graduated. They bought a 2 bedroom condo. My roommate paid for one bedroom/bath and I paid the rest. It appreciated greatly and allowed me to get my feet on thr real estate ladder. I am forever grateful and would recommend it. For a first time buyer or remote owner (however you want to view it), it’s hard to beat the ease of a classic condo in the Back Bay.

The Back Bay is one of the most expensive areas in the city. As a recent college graduate with a new job it would probably be better to buy in a neighborhood that’s being built up. Prices are still reasonable but will be going up.

Any insight into which neighborhoods this might be?

Anonymous wrote:My parents did this when I graduated. They bought a 2 bedroom condo. My roommate paid for one bedroom/bath and I paid the rest. It appreciated greatly and allowed me to get my feet on thr real estate ladder. I am forever grateful and would recommend it. For a first time buyer or remote owner (however you want to view it), it’s hard to beat the ease of a classic condo in the Back Bay.

The Back Bay is one of the most expensive areas in the city. As a recent college graduate with a new job it would probably be better to buy in a neighborhood that’s being built up. Prices are still reasonable but will be going up.

My parents did this when I graduated. They bought a 2 bedroom condo. My roommate paid for one bedroom/bath and I paid the rest. It appreciated greatly and allowed me to get my feet on thr real estate ladder. I am forever grateful and would recommend it. For a first time buyer or remote owner (however you want to view it), it’s hard to beat the ease of a classic condo in the Back Bay.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks pp. For now we are thinking a maximum of 1M but of course it would be nicer if we can find a good place for less, maybe around 700-800k. Ideally not a condo. Any suggestions for where we should start looking?

https://www.archpaper.com/2023/07/boston-dorchester-bay-city-once-radical-dream/?amp=1

This is an interesting article about dorchester section of Boston. There are sections of Dorchester worth investing in.

We looked at that a few years ago. To get something for $700-800k that's remotely in Cambridge/Boston it will definitely be a condo and most of the condo fees are expensive. We were also concerned that if DC moved away we wouldn't be able to rent it because some buildings have limits on the number of renter occupied units.

DC still rents in Boston and pays about $4000/month for a 1 bedroom. It's an expensive market.

Anonymous wrote:Prices will probably go up long term as most things do but rapid near term growth seems unlikely. There are also of course a lot of expenses associated with owning. It's very expensive to get work and repairs done in the area. You are probably better off socking your money in the S&P 500 unless you want to own for other reasons.

Most people thought prices would continue to keep going up in 2008 and look what happened.

Look in Watertown.

You can't get a house in a desirable part of Cambridge for $1m.

Prices will probably go up long term as most things do but rapid near term growth seems unlikely. There are also of course a lot of expenses associated with owning. It's very expensive to get work and repairs done in the area. You are probably better off socking your money in the S&P 500 unless you want to own for other reasons.

Thanks pp. For now we are thinking a maximum of 1M but of course it would be nicer if we can find a good place for less, maybe around 700-800k. Ideally not a condo. Any suggestions for where we should start looking?

What’s your budget? Can’t decide anything without knowing that.


These are currently the most expensive cities to buy a home.

1 San Jose, CA $1,502,362
2 San Francisco, CA $1,132,315
3 Los Angeles, CA $925,783
4 San Diego, CA $876,056
5 Oxnard, CA $844,806
6 Honolulu, HI $696,729
7 Seattle, WA $692,195
8 Boston, MA $648,108
9 New York, NY $579,117
10 Denver, CO $573,090
11 Riverside, CA $556,490
12 Bridgeport, CT $556,266
13 Sacramento, CA $554,354
14 Washington, DC $537,361
15 Portland, OR

The most expensive cost of living
NYC, LA, San Francisco, Honolulu, DC, Boston, San Diego, San Jose

My daughter rents a Boston one bedroom apartment for $4,500 / month. It’s near everything, convenient.

I think housing prices might be at their peak.

Real estate prices in Cambridge have soared to be on a par with inside the Beltway DC. That said it's a great place to be.

My recent graduate will be taking a job in Boston soon, and we're wondering if it's a good idea to buy instead of rent, as an investment even if work takes my child to other places. Currently thinking of either Boston or Cambridge, but which neighborhoods would you recommend? Do you think the close in suburbs are better? I am not that familiar with either city so any suggestions are welcome. TIA!