I was going to say Worcester too. I do think it has a good mix of things to do without a completely outrageous COL (compared to places more east). But yeah.. not on the list so I'm guessing it's not an option.

When we bought our first house we specifically opted to pay taxes and insurance ourselves. I already pay other bills and our car insurance and home were bundled anyway. On our current house, we're paying insurance ourselves. We had to be at a higher percent down in order to pay taxes ourselves (we already put 20% down but I believe the bank required 30%). If you feel you can handle it then sure but you still need to discuss the specifics with your bank.