Recommendations for towns to invest in Massachusetts

[Farouk El Khatib]

I moved to Massachusetts a couple of months ago for a new job and that was also the same time I decided to educate myself on REI and found biggerpockets! I'm looking to invest in my first property within the next year (around 10months). The reason for that timeline is saving more money, getting to know which areas I want to invest in and that's when my lease ends.

My wife works in Needham and I work in Foxborough, and I'd like to buy a multifamily that is within 30-40mins drive to both places since we're going to live in one of the units. I'm asking for recommendations from people who've lived and invested in the area for quite a bit to give some recommendations for towns that will be good (low vacancies, good returns, potential for appreciation etc.) for an investor. One of the priorities is safety since my wife and I are going to be living in it, and since she's not completely onboard with the REI idea, I'd like her to be comfortable for the first couple of years (before we repeat the process), and hopefully by then she'll realize how beneficial REI can be. So which towns with that criteria are good to invest in?

Some info on our financials that might help in giving recommendations: We currently pay $1700 in rent (which hopefully we won’t have to pay anymore when we house hack), we save a little bit more than $1000 a month (not counting 401K), and will have around $25K as capital by the time we want to buy a property.

I have not ruled out investing in Boston yet but I'd like to hear where people invest outside Boston (within the area I've already described).

Looking forward to hear people’s input!

[Steve Huston]

I live in Franklin, and I like it, there are values that come up. It's a safe town to live in.

Bellingham can also be good - historically it's been a  bit troublesome but in the last decade has continued to improve - I would definitely consider that - stay on the northern half to keep the drive to Needham manageable and it's the better side, IMO.

Norfolk is a good one also. It's a bit upscale and closer to both Needham and Foxboro. Medfield (next to Norfolk) works well also.