I recently started a job in Boston and am trying to save money on housing. When I first was looking into apartments, I was shocked to find studios renting for 900+ a month, even in bad areas! I later found out we're the 2nd highest cost of living city in the US according to a list I found.
However, I found an unmatched deal - 780 a month including electricity. The apartment is in a town outside of the city, at the very end of the subway line. According to my coworkers, this was a very good find.
Now, it seems that 780 is high from an ERE standpoint. I don't plan on EREing here, but it would be nice to be able to save more money as I work toward that goal. I can't think of any way to beat 780 without taking on a roommate in a bigger apartment. I have thought about the RV idea but we don't seem to have affordable campgrounds near the train system. I was wondering if anyone familiar with Boston housing had any ideas? Maybe you know of an affordable town near a commuter rail station?
FYI I work downtown and don't own a car
ERE housing solution in Boston
Housing is a huge expense (and a barrier to ERE) in big cities.
If you are absolutely set against having roommates, then $780 including electric might be the best thing going for you. I'm not terribly familiar with Boston as I live in Chicago. But $780 for a studio on a train line with electric included sounds pretty decent to me.
When I moved back to the city a few months ago, I moved into a larger apartment with several roommates. I have lived alone since graduating from college. I was expecting to HATE having roommates, but it hasn't been that bad. In fact, I just signed a year lease on a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 roomies. At $525/month including all utilities versus $925 for rent ONLY for a studio in the same neighborhood -- it seems worth it to me.
If you are absolutely set against having roommates, then $780 including electric might be the best thing going for you. I'm not terribly familiar with Boston as I live in Chicago. But $780 for a studio on a train line with electric included sounds pretty decent to me.
When I moved back to the city a few months ago, I moved into a larger apartment with several roommates. I have lived alone since graduating from college. I was expecting to HATE having roommates, but it hasn't been that bad. In fact, I just signed a year lease on a 3 bedroom apartment with 2 roomies. At $525/month including all utilities versus $925 for rent ONLY for a studio in the same neighborhood -- it seems worth it to me.
MikeBOS, how on earth did you get $325/mo?
http://lackingambition.com/?p=732
Roommates is the way to go. In grad school, I lived in an unremarkable 3BR place in Cambridge for $600 with 2 roommates. Moving to an unpopular neighborhood and having roommates could get you under $500. If you're willing to consider camping, you should be okay with roommates. Consider it urban camping.
You can check the Park Street Church web board. It's pretty active.
http://rededicate.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=5
The only other thing I would consider is buying... and then renting out your spare rooms, preferably to people you know well. I've seen a handful of cheaper properties pop up and then get snatched up. I saw a 2BR house with a yard in a sketchy part of East Boston for $100K. It was on the market for maybe 3 hours. Hunting for those deals are low probability but high payoff, and you have to be really careful.
A fixer upper?
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Medford/281-Fu ... e/11779897
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Revere/9-Glady ... me/9058897
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Boston/265-Mar ... e/39990653
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Revere/80-Calu ... me/9015981
I now have a family, so I bought, at a reasonable price for the area, but it's still really expensive. I might have to work longer if I stay here.
http://lackingambition.com/?p=732
Roommates is the way to go. In grad school, I lived in an unremarkable 3BR place in Cambridge for $600 with 2 roommates. Moving to an unpopular neighborhood and having roommates could get you under $500. If you're willing to consider camping, you should be okay with roommates. Consider it urban camping.
You can check the Park Street Church web board. It's pretty active.
http://rededicate.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=5
The only other thing I would consider is buying... and then renting out your spare rooms, preferably to people you know well. I've seen a handful of cheaper properties pop up and then get snatched up. I saw a 2BR house with a yard in a sketchy part of East Boston for $100K. It was on the market for maybe 3 hours. Hunting for those deals are low probability but high payoff, and you have to be really careful.
A fixer upper?
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Medford/281-Fu ... e/11779897
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Revere/9-Glady ... me/9058897
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Boston/265-Mar ... e/39990653
http://www.redfin.com/MA/Revere/80-Calu ... me/9015981
I now have a family, so I bought, at a reasonable price for the area, but it's still really expensive. I might have to work longer if I stay here.
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BeyondtheWrap
- Posts: 598
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:38 pm
- Location: NYC
For some reason, Trulia seems to have a lot more low-cost options than other sites. Check there:
http://www.trulia.com/for_rent/Boston,M ... ice;a_sort
http://www.trulia.com/for_rent/Boston,M ... ice;a_sort
Yeah, housing's expensive. My solution was to make my school schedule so I only have to be on campus 2 days a week, then I moved to Worcester next to the commuter rail 
Wouldn't want to be taking that train ride 5x a week though.
I couldn't find anything below about $575/month in the city and that was WITH roommates.
There are some year round marinas where you could possibly live aboard a houseboat or old sailboat. But the monthly costs on a slip get up over $400-$500/month and I'm not sure how comfortable it would be in January.
I guess I should change my name to mikeWORC
Wouldn't want to be taking that train ride 5x a week though.
I couldn't find anything below about $575/month in the city and that was WITH roommates.
There are some year round marinas where you could possibly live aboard a houseboat or old sailboat. But the monthly costs on a slip get up over $400-$500/month and I'm not sure how comfortable it would be in January.
I guess I should change my name to mikeWORC