. . . or even buying property there? There are bargains in the upscale Berkshire hills and dales only two and a half hours' away from Boston and New York, writes Rose Doyle
BOSTON MIGHT have the political clout but you're more likely to find the civilised and kindly beating heart of Massachusetts in the state's Berkshire hills, dales, rivers, lakes, historic towns and picket-fenced homes.
You wouldn't be the first to make the discovery either; the rich and famous, as well as the wise, discerning, have been beating a second-home path to this always lovely, sometimes ridiculously pretty, western edge of the state for more than a 100 years now.
Early aficionados, such as writer Edith Wharton and industrialist Andrew Carnegie, have been followed over the years by friendly hordes of Bostonians and New Yorkers seeking summer refuge and winter skiing. They're still coming, in ever increasing numbers.
That may, or may not, be the undoing of the Berkshire idyll. Anita Schilling is a Realtor (estate agent to you and me) with Barnbrook Realty in Great Barrington, a Berkshire town which is 135 miles west of Boston and about 150 miles north of New York that neatly manages the trick of being both old-fashioned and hip.
She's been selling property for 25 years now - 10 of them in Florida - and worries that Berkshire natives may be priced out of aspects of their own market.
"I see it coming; it's very sad when this happens in a community. Even though prices aren't falling here in the way they are in other parts of the country buyers are listening to the media, telling themselves that now is the time to buy in the Berkshires. It's not the case. People from out of town make seriously low offers which sellers won't even countenance, telling them to come up with something realistic and they'll consider.
"Low-priced houses and the very high priced are selling. It's the middle group who can't afford to buy: those who would be likely to trade up.
"You've got to beat the bushes a bit more to sell these days, not like in the years after 9/11 when everyone wanted to buy out of town."
She's speaking on a day when the New York Times declares that the nation's "bursting house bubble" and an "era of free-flowing credit and speculation" has led to a "far-flung empire of vacant, unsold homes - 2.1 million or about 2.6 per cent of the nation's housing stock".
On a day too which has economists announcing that US house prices need to fall by at least 15 per cent from the peak reached in the summer of 2006.
All worrying, and worryingly familiar, to anyone watching market trends here.
But the Berkshire market has always set its own agenda - and has the Berkshire Board of Realtor figures to prove it.
In a survey taken between January 2006 and January 2008 these show the average "sold price" coming to within 6 per cent of the asking price. Primarily what Schilling calls "a second-home economy", the housing market in the Berkshires is not really representative of the US market as a whole but is, especially given euro/dollar exchange rates, good value for the Irish buyer.
There's a seemingly endless number of period (New England Colonial, Cape, Georgian) and new houses for sale by lakesides and river banks, in sheltering forests and quiet towns.
Luxury, in the Berkshires, comes at a price but delivers value. Close to Great Barrington, on 77 acres and custom-built to fit the landscape, there's a six-bedroom, six-bathroom house on its own hill with incredible 50-mile views from every window.
The doors are 8ft high, ceilings are 10ft high, the state-of-the-art kitchen is huge, the library has a marble fireplace, a media room allows for viewing and listening and there are separate guest quarters. There's a heated garage too. It's on the market for $2.9m (€1.9 million).
Or you might want a bit of history and the modesty of a New England farmhouse dating from 1840. On two acres outside Great Barrington it has 301sq m (3,242sq ft) of space, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, new fitted stainless-steel kitchen, livingroom with fireplace and formal diningroom.
Windows everywhere look over fields and trees and the floors are of hardwood throughout. This one has a separate guest house too - which could be rented. Built to look like a barn, this has original beams, wooden flooring, two bedrooms and a full kitchen. It's priced at $558,000 (€364,000).
Also good value, in euro terms anyway, is a three-bedroom remodelled house by a lake close to Lee (just north of Great Barrington) for $325,000 (€212,000). Part of a lakeside development, it has a state-of-the-art kitchen, stone fireplaces, loft with balcony, wrap-around decking and a stream running through its own 0.75 acres of land. There's a goose pond nearby, and beaches and boating.
"People move here because of the arts and culture and the beauty of the place," Schilling says. "Tanglewood, the summer quarters of the Boston Symphony, is nearby, as is the Shakespeare Festival at The Mount. Here in Great Barrington we've got the Mahaiwe Theatre. The Berkshires are a really wonderful place to live in and the people are wonderful and, if you dig a bit, you'll find affordable housing."
