Tips for Using Zillow to Buy in Cambridge, MA
Zillow is a popular online marketplace for buying, selling, and renting a home. Zillow’s wide variety of search filters and a customizable map view make it a useful tool for finding rentals, condos, and houses. On the Zillow homepage you can search for listings by city, zip code, neighborhood, and address, which is especially helpful if you are searching for a home in Cambridge, MA.
How to search by Cambridge, MA zip code
You can enter “Cambridge, MA” in the search bar for all listings in Cambridge, or you can narrow your search by zip code. Cambridge is divided into five zip codes:
02138 contains West Cambridge, Fresh Pond, and Harvard Square
02139 contains Cambridgeport, Central Square, and Inman Square
02140 contains North Cambridge, Alewife, and Porter Square
02141 contains East Cambridge and Lechmere
02142 contains Kendall Square and MIT
Enter any of these zip codes in the Zillow search bar to see all listings in that Cambridge, MA area.
How to search by Cambridge neighborhood
You can also search Zillow by neighborhood. Cambridge, MA has eleven searchable neighborhoods, running from east to west:
Cambridge, MA Neighborhoods:
East Cambridge contains Lechmere Station and Kendall Square and is close to Charlestown and Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood.
MIT contains the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its southern border is Memorial Drive which runs along the Charles River, and it is divided by Massachusetts Avenue which crosses the river into Boston’s Back Bay.
Wellington-Harrington contains part of Inman Square, a section of Cambridge Street with several restaurants, and the King Open School, an alternative learning public high school.
The Port/Area 4 contains many popular stores and restaurants in Central Square and along Massachusetts Avenue, Broadway, and Hampshire Street as well as Technology Square which is home to several biotech companies.
Cambridgeport is mostly residential, although its northern border includes part of Central Square and its southern border contains a shopping plaza along Memorial Drive with a couple grocery stores. It also contains Magazine Beach, a large park on the Charles River, and several MIT student dormitories.
Mid-Cambridge is home to the Harvard Yard section of the Harvard University campus and the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, a public high school. It contains Massachusetts Avenue, Broadway, and Cambridge Street as they converge on Harvard Square.
Riverside is bordered by Harvard Square, Memorial Drive, Massachusetts Avenue, and River Street coming from Central Square. It contains a number of city parks and three bridges across the Charles River to Boston’s Lower Allston neighborhood.
West Cambridge lies between Harvard Square to the east and Belmont and Watertown to the west. It contains Mount Auburn hospital and portions of the Fresh Pond Reservation and the Mount Auburn Cemetery.
North Cambridge is a major transportation hub with subway stations at Porter Square and Alewife, Route 2 (Concord Turnpike) headed west into Belmont, and Route 3 (Alewife Brook Parkway) headed north into Arlington and south toward Watertown and West Cambridge. It contains many retail business and office buildings.
Cambridge Highlands is one of the smaller neighborhoods and contains the Fresh Pond Mall along the Alewife Brook Parkway and much of the Fresh Pond Reservation. It borders Belmont.
Strawberry Hill contains the southern quadrant of the Fresh Pond Reservation, including the Fresh Pond golf course and a soccer and softball field. It also contains the Haggerty School, a public elementary school, and some preschools. Watertown is directly west.
You can even search by address if you know of a specific listing on the market.
What to look for in a Zillow listing
Zillow listings include everything you’ll want to know about the property, from basics like address, price, square footage, and number of rooms of what type, to details like construction materials, appliances, heating and cooling systems, and other unique features such as fireplaces or parking spots.
You’ll also find neighborhood information like walkability, transit accessibility, nearby schools, estimates of monthly costs like property taxes and insurance rates, and how the property compares to others in the area. Zillow also tracks price and tax changes over time to illustrate market trends, as well as how long the property has been on the market and how many times the listing has been viewed and saved by other people. Most importantly, there will be plenty of photos.
What to do if you like a property
Zillow includes a few different ways to learn more about a profperty. It lists any upcoming open houses and allows you to schedule an in-person or virtual tour with a Cambridge, MA real estate agent. You can also message an agent to request a phone call.
Why you shouldn’t just rely on Zillow
While Zillow has a lot of great listings, it shouldn’t be the only place you look. Local real estate agents will often have more up-to-date listings and may be able to show you properties that aren’t online. Information on Zillow could also be inaccurate or out of date, so be sure to double check everything with agents and owners before moving forward.