Searching for Silver Linings on Beacon Hill
By any standard, it was a tough week on Beacon Hill. First, The Wall Street Journal announced property values fell 33% between the Hill and the North End (thanks to Avi Rome for the link). I’d like to see some detailed data, as I’ve already noted list prices in Beacon Hill tend to be more reasonable, but still, it could reflect a disquieting trend.
Then, the awful news about Ted Kennedy. I included a photo of him in his youth to match his current vigor. Nobody can deny Kennedy served his country well, without ever forgetting where he came from.
Both cases hold silver linings: Kennedy’s strength [pdf] gives him a better than average shot at beating cancer; and Beacon Hill prices are more affordable than they’ve been recently, and with gas prices skyrocketing and I-93 tolls looming, more valuable than ever.
6 Goodwin Place, #B
Beacon Hill, 02114
Beds: 0/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 235
$185,000
This is a good place to start, not just because it’s the cheapest property in Beacon Hill, but because movies about unknowns who are about to become wicked successful always start in places like this. It’s a pad for underdogs, or as much of one as you’re gonna find here.
13 Lindall Place, #2
Beacon Hill, 02114
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 667
$415,000
This unit and the next are all about negotiating. You might look at this and say “dang, $622 per square foot isn’t bad”. But you can take it lower. There are T tracks right outside. The market is weak. And prices are way down, according to a WSJ article you just read…what’s that assessed value again?
5 Strong Place
Beacon Hill, 02114
Beds: 2/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1188
$889,000
Could you have the tender bits of an overreaching speculator any more in a vice? 252 days on the market? Bought for $673,000 at the peak of the bubble, currently assessed at just $683,000 but originally listed for $990,000? Patch your offer together from sound clips of that cooing phone voice lady and leave it on the seller’s answering machine—a gentle coercion to acceptance is all that’s needed here.
Econ Cat Sez: In the Future, We’re All Rich
