Hi my name is Dennis and I am the Redfin agent who specializes in the Metro-West area. From your post it appears that commute is one of your primary concerns. There are several other factors that will come in to play when choosing a home/town. However, given the information you provided I will do my best to provide some advice for you.
Based upon your budget and commute, I would advise beginning your search in the Natick/Framingham area. Both towns will provide home options within your budget with relatively short commutes to Brookline. Selecting which area to look at would be based upon your home preferences. For example: both Natick and Framingham offer several advantages and/or disadvantages, which may be relative to you. Natick provides great school systems and a quaint downtown, but many of the homes are smaller and/or older. Framingham is a larger town which provides amenities such as restaurants, shopping centers… It also provides many newer/larger homes. However, the town’s school system is not the best.
As you move west from there you will notice a trade-off between home and commute. Your dollar will go further with square footage, lot size, amenities, but your commute will be longer. Some other towns to consider would be: Holliston, Hopkinton, and Ashland.
Depending on which town you move to there are several routes you can take to get to work including Rte9, Mass Pike, Rte 16, Rte 20, Rte 30 or the commuter rail. Unfortunately, all these routes lead toward the city and everyone knows about them. It really just comes down to preference and exact locations. I would recommend doing a test run during rush hour to see how long it would take you to commute everyday.
I hope this helps. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any other questions or would like more information regarding towns within the MetroWest area.
Best,
Dennis
Dennis.McClosky@redfin.com
