Housing question - Boston Forum

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Housing question - Boston

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:34 am

What's an appropriate amount to spend on rent on a BL salary? Married couple and a large dog, so roommates are out of the question and we do need more space than a 500 sq ft apartment. Boston area, working near seaport, would prefer to avoid the green line and have a short commute b/c of M&A life. I've been struggling a lot with finding a large enough place and still being close to the area without having to spend too much. Probably sounds like a whiny 1st world problem, but with so many firms moving to Seaport, I thought maybe some junior associates on here might have ideas.

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:59 am

Anonymous User wrote:What's an appropriate amount to spend on rent on a BL salary? Married couple and a large dog, so roommates are out of the question and we do need more space than a 500 sq ft apartment. Boston area, working near seaport, would prefer to avoid the green line and have a short commute b/c of M&A life. I've been struggling a lot with finding a large enough place and still being close to the area without having to spend too much. Probably sounds like a whiny 1st world problem, but with so many firms moving to Seaport, I thought maybe some junior associates on here might have ideas.
I live in the Waterfront (10 minute walk from most of Seaport) in a 750 square foot 1-bed apartment with nice finishes for $2950 per month. It really depends on how big of a space you want and how close you want to be. I have friends from law school spending anywhere from $2200 to $4000 for one-bed apartments in Boston.

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RedGiant

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by RedGiant » Thu Dec 07, 2017 7:56 pm

Anonymous User wrote:What's an appropriate amount to spend on rent on a BL salary? Married couple and a large dog, so roommates are out of the question and we do need more space than a 500 sq ft apartment. Boston area, working near seaport, would prefer to avoid the green line and have a short commute b/c of M&A life. I've been struggling a lot with finding a large enough place and still being close to the area without having to spend too much. Probably sounds like a whiny 1st world problem, but with so many firms moving to Seaport, I thought maybe some junior associates on here might have ideas.
This should help:
https://www.jefftk.com/apartment_prices ... 17-11-18&2

I live in Beacon hill in a 600ft 1 BR in a building with a doorman that's dog friendly (hint: there's only one big building with a doorman in Beacon Hill) and I pay $2750. The kitchen is tiny. I have an enormous balcony (like six feet by thirty feet) that's private, huge roof deck. No gym in building.

I previously lived in a Beacon Hill 2-BR with a roommate for $2800 and it was probably closer to 450 sq feet.

I really love Beacon Hill because it's fantastic for dogs and there's a lot of dog-friendly housing stock. The South End is really popular too, but it's hard to get to the Seaport/FiDi from there directly (you can take mainline trains to South Station, and then switch to the Silver Line, PITA). My walk to work is about 20 mins, and I enjoy it in almost all weather (really--it's fine when you bundle). The only time I hate it is when it's crazy humid, and then I can take a $10 Uber for sure.

In Boston, if you want more space, you pay for it. So you can either move to Southie (which is not cheap, may be unsafe for dog walking at night, depending on the area), way further South to Quincy or up to Cambridge (and stay on the red line, committing to a commute to Davis or Porter) or just decide to Uber.

I promise that you can nearly always bill your ride home, so it's really about your morning commute.

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Dec 07, 2017 8:43 pm

I work in the seaport and live in the City Point side of Southie. Wife and I got a 950 sq foot 2 bedroom for $3400, but looked at plenty of stuff a little cheaper. 15 minute commute by bus.

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by JustMe83 » Fri Dec 08, 2017 7:48 am

I know some people who live in Flats on D and I've heard good things - it's probably the cheapest luxury building in the area. The only downside is it's kind of in the middle of nowhere (between seaport and south boston), but it's a 10-15 minute walk to all the seaport office buildings.

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:46 pm

JustMe83 wrote:I know some people who live in Flats on D and I've heard good things - it's probably the cheapest luxury building in the area. The only downside is it's kind of in the middle of nowhere (between seaport and south Boston), but it's a 10-15 minute walk to all the seaport office buildings.
Same question, but for Summer Associate in Financial District. Wife and dog will only be visiting every other week or so, so size isn't an issue, and we'll all be going back to our current city after summer.

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by RedGiant » Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:28 am

Anonymous User wrote:
JustMe83 wrote:I know some people who live in Flats on D and I've heard good things - it's probably the cheapest luxury building in the area. The only downside is it's kind of in the middle of nowhere (between seaport and south Boston), but it's a 10-15 minute walk to all the seaport office buildings.
Same question, but for Summer Associate in Financial District. Wife and dog will only be visiting every other week or so, so size isn't an issue, and we'll all be going back to our current city after summer.
If you are only going to be here for a summer, I would look into joining the Harvard/MIT/BU housing groups on FB and seeing if you can't just sublet from a student who will be gone. H/MIT are on the red line, which is an easy shot downtown. There's also Boston Housing Network and a bunch of other FB groups too. Dog friendly sublet might be hard.

JustMe83

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by JustMe83 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:57 pm

RedGiant wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
JustMe83 wrote:I know some people who live in Flats on D and I've heard good things - it's probably the cheapest luxury building in the area. The only downside is it's kind of in the middle of nowhere (between seaport and south Boston), but it's a 10-15 minute walk to all the seaport office buildings.
Same question, but for Summer Associate in Financial District. Wife and dog will only be visiting every other week or so, so size isn't an issue, and we'll all be going back to our current city after summer.
If you are only going to be here for a summer, I would look into joining the Harvard/MIT/BU housing groups on FB and seeing if you can't just sublet from a student who will be gone. H/MIT are on the red line, which is an easy shot downtown. There's also Boston Housing Network and a bunch of other FB groups too. Dog friendly sublet might be hard.
As an SA in FiDi I think that you could live pretty much anywhere as it's a direct shot on the T from most locations and you'll probably be taking a car home like half of the nights anyways. FWIW I had a commute of almost an hour during my SA to save money and it was fine, though not ideal. I would just avoid living way out in somewhere like Brighton as commute times on the green line can be awful during rush hour.

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Re: Housing question - Boston

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:40 pm

This answer may come too late for you, but look at buildings on the red or orange lines, since they both stop directly in Chinatown so you can either walk to work from there or take a silver line if you'll be working in the Seaport. For example, some luxury buildings in Assembly in Somerville are only a 30 minute train ride from South Station, so not a bad option for much more space than luxury buildings downtown.

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