laelialudisia

but i have done some searching online and found some apts. in brighton or east boston from $900-$1000. are those going to be complete dumps? most of the "affordable" 2 bdrms are listed as being rented by a family that wants to rent out a floor of their home to a quiet person(s). would you recommed getting a broker? how does taht work b/c we don't have those here b/c affordable housing is not an issue. thanks for your suggestions and help.

to add to this (i am the girlfriend ) i read where the rents in allston, brighton, charlestown, dorchester, east boston and jamaica plain are down 5% WHY IS THIS? i would really like to get a sense of the safer, nicer areas of boston and the surrounding towns in addition to the not-so-nice areas as well as what we can expect to pay for rent. let me reiterate what i am trying to accomplish i need to be able to go to my company with information that will back me up in asking for a significant salary increase in what they want to pay me to move up to boston. currently they have the base salary on par with cities like nashville and omaha when it really should be comparable to san fran, silicon valley, etc. so i need to be prepared to say i'm not moving there unless i can be compensated for the cost-of-living difference for my base salary. thanks.