Movin' On Up

[dougo]

Here's some news: I am moving out and getting my own place, possibly as soon as May 1st. Nothing against my roommate, but it feels like it's time to live on my own again, now that I can afford it. I'm also getting tired of the daily commute to work; it's only 25-30 minutes each way, but it's a somewhat stressful drive, and I have better ways to spend that 4-5 hours a week. So I'm looking in the Burlington/Lexington/Bedford area.

The prudent thing to do would be to stay here until I have enough money saved up for a decent-sized down payment on a house. But that's probably still another year or two away, and I don't want to wait that long to move out (nor do I want to borrow from my 401k or get a "no money down" mortgage). Besides, everyone says the real estate market is going down, or at least not going up, so I don't think I'm missing out on anything by waiting. Fortunately my roommate has a friend who's willing to assume my share of the lease, so I won't have to break the lease (though I will probably end up paying double rent for at least part of May).

The other main reason not to buy now is that I'm not yet sure I want to settle down in the Boston area. I'm reasonably happy at my job (and I just got a nice raise) but right now I don't see myself staying there long term. If some great opportunity comes up on the West Coast a year or two from now, I'd like to have the flexibility to think about moving. So I'm feeling like a holding action is the right choice.

I'm a little apprehensive about moving to the suburbs. It will be weird not being able to walk to a restaurant, cafe, convenience store, bank, dentist, doctor, auto mechanic, movie theater, game store, friend's apartment, or the T. On the other hand, I can get a single-family house, which means a garage, a yard, no upstairs or downstairs neighbors, and maybe even a quiet street. I think it will be a net win, but it will take some lifestyle adjustments.

It's somewhat slim pickings for single-family rentals in the area I'm restricting myself to (less than 10 minutes commute time), but I've been to two decent candidates so far and I just replied to two craigslist ads. The one I'm leaning towards is a 2-story 3BR/2Ba on the north edge of Lexington, in a quiet, woodsy area. It has a big patio and a stone grill, so I'd be having some barbecues this summer. That's sounding pretty nice.

Comments

[mattsnaps.livejournal.com]

I moved from Seattle to the burbs a few years ago. There was some culture shock. Instead of being surrounded by UW students, I suddenly felt surrounded by 40 year old women in Adidas track outfits and too much makeup, pushing $300 designer strollers or driving their $50,000 SUVs five blocks to Starbucks.

Of course, we moved five blocks away from a shopping area (including the aforementioned Starbucks), so at least we can walk to stuff. And I was pushing a stroller too, so now I can sit down next to the rich bitches at the park and say hello, which took some doing for me.

Oh, and we moved to be closer to our jobs at the Borg, and then we both quit within a year or two. Good times.

If you're used to getting to things on foot, try hard not to give that up. It's too big a lifestyle change.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

I've lived in places where I have to drive everywhere, it's just been a while. I think I can get used to it again. I may even start cooking for myself for once. I might also get a bike.

[(Anonymous)]

As you could predict, I’ll throw a pitch in for Arlington. If you lived in the Heights near Mass Ave you could still have the walk to the 77 Bus (every 5-10 minutes up Mass Ave to Harvard), and there are some restaurants, but not as good as in Arlington Center. The gaming in the Heights is limited to Comikaze, which is mostly kid-oriented CCGs and Miniatures. The drive for you would be <20 minutes up Middlesex Turnpike (or you could carpool with David K ;-) ).

As far as Lexington goes, there is an ok gaming scene at Hit and Run Sports (which just moved a bit out of the Center to a site off Rte 2A), but again mostly CCGs and Miniatures.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Is that you, pfranzosa?

[dkuznick.livejournal.com]

The prudent thing to do would be to stay here until I have enough money saved up for a decent-sized down payment on a house.

Not necessarily. The prudent thing might be to buy a house/condo with a lower down payment. It's somewhat of an economic fallacy to try and save 20%. For us, we did around a 5% down payment, and had a second mortgage, which wound up being cheaper than paying PMI. Then we fairly soon refinanced into a single mortgage as rates came down and the minimum to qualify for a single conventional mortgage came down. Of course that was when home values were rising and interest rates were falling, so YMMV.

Besides, everyone says the real estate market is going down, or at least not going up, so I don't think I'm missing out on anything by waiting.

"Everyone" doesn't always know what they are talking about. It's really only important if you are trying to make money on selling a house, otherwise, you should not try to time the market.

IMO, the ONLY valid reason you give for renting vs. buying is possibly needing to move in 2 years (though you still would need to run the numbers; the tax savings on the mortgage and property tax may still make your effective yearly outlay on a house smaller, even after factoring in costs to sell the house). I agree you shouldn't borrow from your 401K, or take a no money down mortgage, but you should consider a 5% down mortgage.

Have you actually run numbers on rent vs. own, figuring in the tax consequences on owning (and of course possible home maintenance expenses)?

[dougo.livejournal.com]

5% is still $15-25k, which I don't have. Even if I did, it would still take me at least 2-3 months to find a place and settle the deal, and I don't want to wait that long to move.

And I'm not trying to time the market, I'm just saying that today is not a don't-miss time to buy, and it probably won't be in the next year or two, so I shouldn't factor that into the decision.

your own place

[talking-sock.livejournal.com]

Yay you! I don't mind the suburbs at all it turns out. I like the space and privacy. Houses that are two close together get close to ruining that, but I'm in a good big yard area.

Have BBQs, definitely. If only the summer would come. Summer here is so nice.

West Coast is great, but man, talking about problems affording... I'd go back for the good job market and good jobs, but there's no way to get a reasonable place there for a reasonable amount of money.

[(Anonymous)]

That is an awesome move. When I moved from Fenway, Boston (a stone throw to everything) to Arlington Heights (a drive to everything), it took a while getting used to the lifestyle. It was weird waking up to sparrows chirping rather than cars honking. But I love it. It is probably one of my better decisions in life.

I was a bit apprehensive about being 'tied down' to owning a home, because I was (am) not sure that this where I want to live for the rest of the life. But it is great for the moment, so, why not. Besides who knows what tomorrow brings.... perhaps another state, another country.