Moving to Massachusetts a few years back I wasn’t sure what to expect neighbor wise.
When I lived in Washington state I had no idea who my neighbors were and it was honestly probably best that way I lived in my mother’s townhouse that I inherited the payments on when she passed away. It was a lovely home but it had an HOA that was constantly in my business no love was lost between myself and that meddling HOA.
When I moved my only request was that we not look at or entertain the idea of looking at properties that had an HOA. I had pretty much 48 hours to look and find a place I liked before I left for Tokyo/Osaka for 8 weeks.
I found a lovely home 3 blocks from a private beach about 35 miles south of Boston so close enough but not too close to family and a place to make a living. The realtor for the seller was not at all fun to deal with but my realtor took all that stress off me, I made an offer and we were off and running, I set up a POA with my sister so she could sign the closing paperwork if it hopefully got that far.
Lucky for me it did, I got a lovely home close to the beach and no dreaded HOA. Well come to find out there is a neighborhood association, to pay for that private beach and public meeting space called the COOP, I was not pleased to find this out after the fact. Until I found out the cost $200 a YEAR, not $400 a month that I was paying in WA.
When I got back from Japan and started moving in it was like something you see on TV or in the movies, neighbors were stopping by introducing themselves welcoming me to the neighborhood exchanging phone numbers and generally just being amazing people.
I feel as though I hit the neighbor lottery when it comes to my neighborhood, people looking out for each other and taking care of each other.
When I got home from the hospital this time I had at least 4 neighbors stop by to see how I was doing and demanding I give them grocery lists.
The old saying goes “fences make great neighbors” while true in some instances I’ve found that just being good people make the best neighbors. I wouldn’t trade my neighborhood family for anything. It’s not all puppies and kittens but compared to where I moved from it’s my own little slice of heaven.
The slang term for Massachusetts residents is massholes, if my neighbors are what a masshole is I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m very thankful to be surrounded by these folks with family nearby as well.
Other than the health bit, it’s the best move I’ve ever made and I love my home and the people who surround it.
Very very thankful for these folks, my toddler buddies next store, the seasonal folks and the year rounders. I pulled that winning lottery ticket on this joint!
