How Big Should Your Next Beacon Hill Condo Be? Boston Condos For Sale Ford Realty

Boston Beacon Hill condos

Boston’s Beacon Hill condo market is anything but cookie-cutter. From studio’s to huge luxury townhouses, we have it all. Beacon Hill condo buyers entering the market in 2020 may be wondering what size home they need to live comfortably in downtown Boston

Buying a home is a process of deciding and compromising on a lot of lifestyle elements. As a Boston real estate agent, I notice that a lot of buyers come in with a square footage number on the tip of their tongue, only to find that as they start to look at homes, other factors become more important. Let’s take a look at why.

1. In Boston, neighborhood often determines home size.

According to the Census Bureau’s “Characteristics Of New Housing” annual report, the average size of a new home built in the US in 2018 was nearly 2,700 square feet. But those are new homes, and about half of the Beacon Hill’s housing stock was actually built before the turns of the century. At that time, the average home size was today what would almost be small enough to be a “tiny house”! These homes are not evenly dispersed though the city; most are in Northeast and Southeast Boston. Most new homes for sale are in the outlying suburbs, and they are more likely to be in the 2,000 – 3,000-square-foot range. Depending on where you want to live in Boston you may be settling for a house that is smaller or larger than what you had in mind.

2. It depends on whether you’re looking for a condo or a detached home.

Most of Beacon Hill real estate for sale are condos located in 3-5 unit buildings..

3. Design matters.

Once you have toured four or five Beacon Hill condos, you’ll notice how the numbers on paper don’t match up to how you would expect the home to feel. A 1,100 sq. ft. open layout with vaulted ceilings with a tall windows and a beautiful view can feel spacious; a bloated new home on a tiny lot with not enough windows may feel claustrophobic even if it has double the square footage. It matters a lot how that space is dispersed — is there a huge rec. room while the bedrooms are tiny? For some families, this may work just fine. For others, who prefer to retreat to private spaces and don’t need much shared space, another 1,000 feet of basement isn’t going to help anything.

4. Your needs matter.

We can’t emphasize this enough. Need office space? Need large bedrooms? Have kids and want their bedrooms close to yours and on the same level? Whatever it is you need in a Beacon Hill condo, we know the layout that will work and where those homes are and how much they cost.