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I'm from Wrentham, which is south of Boston and actually borders Rhode Island. My sister just bought a home in the town next to Wrentham - Norfolk - which has a train station.

Beautiful colonial style home, perfectly placed between Boston, The Cape, and Providence, great schools...I loved growing up there. My sister is a whack job though, so you should avoid her, hahaha.

Houses are expensive though. And most homes are OLD homes. The house I grew up in was built in 1735 and is protected by the Historical Commission. The house my sister just bought is an 1800's home, but she loves it.

I think you'd have a ton of options in Boston 'burbs!
Woburn, Arlington, Waltham, Natick, Norwood, Dedham, Braintree, Quincy.

@rachiecakes: my house... well, my mom's house, lol... is less than a mile from the outlets.

It varies SO much. There are tons of towns with good schools but the prices can be crazy different depending on the town. Generally, of course, the towns with the easiest commute into Boston (on the commuter rail or the T) and with the best schools will be the most expensive. We are still living in the city (in a rented condo) but we know we will move to a suburb and buy a house in the next few years. We just have no idea what suburb that will be. For us we feel like we will need to buy a house that's over $750K for it to be a long term home though, based on our requirements (less than an hour commute, good size (3-4 bedrooms), good schools, good neighborhood with interesting things to do...) But we really haven't looked at all yet, that's just the number we feel like we'd need to get what we want.

You'll also want to factor in major traffic if you plan to drive. The farther out from Boston you are the cheaper, but you could easily have your "45 minute commute" turn into 2 hours during rush hour.

All that said, I my impression is that Boston and the surrounding area is more expensive than Philly and less expensive than NYC area. If I was moving here, I'd rent for a year or two while you figure out where you want to settle down.

@Foodnerd81: I would say take the train. There's a station in Norfolk

@Foodnerd81: I would think that depending on where in boston the jobs were and if 93 and 128 could be mostly avoided but could be an hour-ish without traffic. I used to commute from Falmouth to Needham and Lowell to Needham, so traffic to me was just a way of life! It's the Boston way

Oh man. I think you need to come visit and drive around a bit - there are so many choices of neighborhoods and so much variation in price - but expect this to be one of the most frustrating real estate markets in the country (think NYC or SF) - everything is listed as crazy expensive, then you get outbid by someone who wants to pay cash only, etc. Anywhere within an hour of the city will be expensive, yes more than $400K if you want a yard and near a 'downtown' and the train station. But if you're willing to be an hour away you should be able to find something more affordable (ie driving to the train station from a more remote suburb).

ETA: Agree with @navy_mommy about things being old!! Most of the affordable options in nice neighborhoods closer to the city (like $600K) were built in the 1800s! So you have to expect to completely remodel kitchens, bathrooms etc if you find a good price on a home. I have a friend that bought a BEAUTIFUL 3K sq foot house in a nice neighborhood - cost $900K to start, they still did $60K worth of work and the house doesn't even have central air!! They have units in the windows!

I'd pick some zip codes and just search remax.com and get an idea of what's within your budget in the area, too. Lincoln is 02865, Cumberland is 02864, Attleboro is 02703. North Attleboro is 02760, 02761.

here's the link for the attleboro station - http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/stations/?stopId=193

I think this question is impossible to answer without knowing where you're going to be working. Boston is small but not that small! There are affordable towns right next to expensive towns, and the commuter rail radiates out from downtown Boston in all different directions. That said, the real estate market is very tight right now, bidding war-level tight. Good luck!