Archive for August, 2008
August 17, 2008
Have your locally grown, organic food delivered to your home. [Bostonist]- Speaking of locally grown, it’s Massachusetts Farmer’s Market Week. Go buy some fresh produce and support local businesses. [BostonZest]
- It turns out I’m not the only one who doesn’t like smelly neighbors. [The Real Estate Bloggers]
- I didn’t even know the Boston Renaissance School building was for sale. [John A Keith]
- I love the rebirth of Dorchester. New houses, new restaurants… [Lower Dot]
- Donald Trump is selfless, but only when the press is around. [CelebWarship]
- $650 a month in Boston? I don’t buy it. [Craig's List]
- Another odd rental listing that sounds too good to be true, which means it might be a scam. [Craig's List]
- More on the Macallen Building and Court Square Press. [Boston Condos]
- What is a decent expiration date for a purchase offer? [Boston Real Estate Now]
- I can’t hide my love of rapid transit (not to be confused with mass transit.) I’d support a rail line under Beacon Street or Storrow Drive. Perhaps we could extend the Blue Line to Kenmore Square. [Universal Hub]
Dine and Dash: South End and South End Buttery
Boston Sweet Digs Home
August 15, 2008
South End Buttery, one of my favorite breakfast and sandwich places in the South End, announced its expansion months ago; however, those months felt like years. After all the planning and preparation, Buttery finally opened its new, thirty-five seat dining room Thursday. I haven’t been in yet, but I plan to stop by Sunday to check it out. I hear the dining room expansion is just a small part of the change they’re going through; they also extended business hours and expanded the menu to include dinner items.
I found three open houses Sunday within a couple blocks of the Buttery. One is at the far end of the same block on Shawmut Avenue, and the others aren’t much farther.
603 Tremont Street, #4
South End, 02118
Beds: 3/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1380
$935,000
Open House: Sunday, August 17 11:30am – 1:00pm
79 Waltham Street, #5
South End, 02118
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 802
$499,000
Open House: Sunday, August 17
298 Shawmut Avenue, #1
South End, 02118
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 590
$415,000
Open House: Sunday, August 17 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Hitting the Links
Boston Sweet Digs Home
August 15, 2008
So rather than just toss out open houses on a theme this week, I’ve decided to prepare a little circuit for you. I mean, why spend what’s likely to be the first sunny day in a week stuck at a single house when you could spend it strolling the tree-lined boulevards of Back Bay?
Not to mention all the fun places in between. I mean, you could head into the neighborhood for brunch, hit the first open house at noon, cut out a little early for quick bit of food to some window shopping, then stroll across the neighborhood to the next one 1:30.
Even if you don’t have it in you for a third listing at 3pm, you’ll be perfectly poised for any number of other afternoon activities, from a caffeinated pick-me-up to a cocktail hour indulgence. And if the home-hunting is motivation enough, you’ll be all the more rewarded by the areas many fine dining establishments.
254 Comm Ave #2
Back Bay, MA 02116
2 beds, 1 bath
1,081 sq. ft.
$875,000
Open House: Sunday, August 17, 2008 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
34 Comm Ave #3
Back Bay, MA 02116
1 (2?) beds, 1 bath
1,086 sq. ft.
$749,000
Sunday, August 17, 2008 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
338 Comm Ave #4
Back Bay, MA 02115
2 beds, 2 baths
1,064 sq. ft.
$859,000
Sunday, August 17, 2008 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Who is Clark Rockefeller and the Allure of Back Bay
Boston Sweet Digs Home
August 15, 2008
Well…yes.
When I first saw this option, I brightened up. In coastal New England, we have an economy that continues to defy national averages, and a rental market buoed by the number of foreclosures. Paradoxes. Housing here still isn’t what you’d call cheap — I just posted a 500 sq. ft. condo that is selling for the same price as a 5-bedroom in great condition a friend of mine just sold in Pittsburgh. Will 40 year loans be the ticket out of the Adjustable Rate Mortgage and Interest-Only loan mess that seems so anomalous when we look at the relative economic health of greater Boston?
A 40-year ARM alternative sounds really good. But as a recent Bankrate/MSN Money article points out, the interest rates on these loans could save you a couple of hundred bucks a month and cause you to pay tens of thousands more for the loans. Moreover, if the interest rate is high enough, a 40 year loan might not even give you much of a break. And that’s a real sore spot, because the Banking industry has the power to put the market back on the rails if they play fair with people caught in the clinch by bad policymaking and under-regulation.
The same article talks about 40-year mortgages getting “Fannie Mae approval.” I wonder if Fannie Mae has a new loan program for buying swampland in Florida, or a great rate on a 30-year note on the Kernwood Bridge.
Dan Green has a much different take on this, however, and his position is worth listening to if you’re faced with foreclosure or ridiculous New England rents (interest on a 40 year mortgage is a big tax deduction; rent, not so much). And he’s even talking about 50-year loans as ironically a “short-term borrowing strategy.”
I’d like to see less inventory in the market, so I’m willing to listen. I have one friend who is going to pay $1300 a month for an apartment (she’s tired of roommate drama) when she could afford a 40 year mortgage easily; but she gets a $10,000 gift from her elderly father each year at tax time, and could make large payments against principle every year and effectively cut the loan down to 30 years anyway. She can’t get a 30-year note on anything she likes because the bank won’t count her dad’s distribution as income.
She is not the norm.
What might make even more sense for all parties concerned is if banks wrote 40 year notes at interest rates that, frankly, ignore the recent past of near-foreclosure homeowners. If they took these ultra-long-term loans and were happy with the great profit to be had long-term even at reduced rates, and considered the very tangible benefits of an appreciating market to the banking industry.
Yes, homeowners effed up. Yes, there should be consequences for your actions, young man. Maybe new lower-interest longer-term notes could stipulate Hail Marys or trips to bed with no supper — whatever. We need a real solution from Fannie Mae, not more snake oil. In their current incarnations 40-Year home loans look like a mostly bad idea for everyone but the folks who are pushing them.
Image links to source.
Boston Sweet Digs Home
Buy-In Condos In Salem You Can Afford Right Now
August 15, 2008
What’s new in B and B real estate in mid-August?
And here are the newest listings to be hosting open houses this weekend:
145 Babcock Street, #4
Brookline
BEDS:2/BATHS:1.5
SQ.FT:1034
$539K
O.H.: Saturday, August 16, 1:00 – 3:00 PM
39 South Street, #6
Brighton
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
SQ.FT: 760
$269,500
O.H. Sunday, August 17, 12:30 – 2:00 PM
11 High Rock Way, #3
Brighton
BEDS:2/BATHS:1
SQ.FT: 1204
$395K
O.H. Sunday, August 17, 12:30 – 2:00 PM
What I Learned About Price Reductions on Redfin
Boston Sweet Digs Blog Home
August 14, 2008
Luxury condos in the Seaport? [Condo Domain]- John Keith tells us why agents fear home inspectors. [John A. Keith]
- Rona Fishman shows us why we need home inspectors. [Boston Real Estate Now]
- Interesting… The Boston Redevelopment Authority wants to save something they would never have allowed in the first place. [Universal Hub]
- Homes for one dollar each. Not a bad deal if you want to live in Detroit. [Zillow Blog]
- No-fee parking spaces right here in Boston. [Boston Condos]
- Pedestrian and automobiles sharing the streets? That would be nice, but I don’t see it happening in my lifetime. [Bostonist]
- Some Russian dude bought a $750 million dollar home. [The Real Estate Bloggers]
Hitting the Links
Boston Sweet Digs
August 14, 2008
You’re not going to make a million dollars flipping mini-condos in Salem.
But if you see yourself sticking around the area for a while (7 years is my guess; enough time for all of these foreclosures and bankruptcies to fully dissipate, when we hopefully get a whole lot of qualified buyers back in the market) you should consider buying a cheap little condo. Your payments might be lower than your rent on a 30 year mortgage, and even if the property doesn’t appreciate — well, it’s been compared to “forced savings.” It beats paying a landlord.
And no more of Steve’s hair clogging the drain, or Rachel’s dirty dishes.
Here are three to think about:
Dropped from $125k! Needs works…but how much work can a condo use? This is a lot of square footage for the price.
…Oh. Looks like fire damage to the property. There’s another unit available in the same building, #3.
4-4A Ropes Street, #1
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1007
$49,000
This one looks great, but also needs some “renovation” — the outside is pretty, but it irritates me when selling agents post lousy MLS pics. It doesn’t sound as extreme as the last one, though. Remember that asking price is what the seller hopes to get….
15 Lynde Street, #31
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 1/Baths:1
SQ.FT.:518
$ 69,900
This last one looks like a much simpler deal, but you can also look at the lowest priced properties in Salem on the Salem Neighborhood Page.
44 Prince Street Address, #2
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1109
$90,000
Boston Sweet Digs Home
The Three Most Expensive Homes In Beverly
August 13, 2008
If the trail pieced together by law enforcement, eyewitnesses, and family members is correct, the man known to the black ties at the Alogonquin Club—where he really did serve as board director—as Clark Rockefeller is, and has always been, some unpronounceably named German guy.
So what possess a man to cross continents, possibly commit murder, and con everyone from internationally renowed newspapers to a fathers’ rights activist to an equity partner at McKinsey to an apparently homophobic SUV driver into thinking he’s the stuffed-shirt prole of the most storied American Robber-Baron?
I’m willing to bet it’s the same intangible cache that props up numbers like these through the most epic housing crisis in the history of the nation. Back Bay has plenty to offer in terms of location, services, safety, and style, but the price can’t *quite* be justified in quantifiable terms alone.
Maybe it’s the massive estates. Maybe it’s the famous neighbors. Maybe it’s the sweet wine tours. Whatever it may be, there’s just something about Back Bay.
August 13, 2008
We’ve all been playing with the new Redfin features, like the neighborhood pages, and I thought it would be fun to show you the top of the pile in my little seaside town.
Beverly doesn’t have individual neighborhood pages yet, but I hope we get them eventually. All of these houses are pretty much in “The Farms,” or Beverly Farms, where John Updike lives. Swimmin’ pools. Literary stars. Very, very polite cops.
I’ve already talked about my own Ryalside (or Rialside) elsewhere in this blog, and mentioned Goat Hill, Monserrat, and Porter Terrace. North Beverly is another designation, as is The Cove. And Downtown, of course. I’m sure there are more, but not being native to these waters, I haven’t heard their names yet. And I don’t really know where they begin and end.
Beverly just celebrated Homecoming this weekend — any of you olde tymers, move-aways, or Beverly buffs want to shed some light on the boundaries between neighborhoods? What is the area behind The Shoe (Beverly’s enduring name for what is now The Cummings Center) called?
The most expensive house in Beverly boasts views of Misery Island.
I want views of Misery Island….
75 West Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 7/Baths: 6
SQ.FT.: 8,000
$6,900,000
This one says “Pride’s Crossing”, which might be splitting hairs. Great candy store, though. It’s like Versailles with central air.
57 Paine Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 5/Baths: 6
SQ.FT.:8200
$ 6,100,000
This last one has an actual name: Skerryvore. It looks like you could pour boiling oil on the rebellious peasants from up there just fine.
357 Hale Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 6/Baths: 7.5
SQ.FT.: 10,000
$ 4,995,000
Boston Sweet Digs Home
Game Day: How To Throw An Open House During Peak TV Hours
August 13, 2008
I’ve been playing around all morning with Redfin’s newest feature — the new neighborhood trends pages. For those of us following the harrowing twists of the housing market as if it were an Olympic Sport, there’s a lot to chew on. Not only can you see new listings, reduced listings and recently sold homes in one neat package, but there’s lots of market data too. Here’s what I’ve learned:
- In Brighton, there are 316 properties currently on the market — only two of those properties are foreclosures.
- Interestingly, even in this down (or at least flat) market, few house sellers are dramatically reducing prices. Only about 17 percent of houses underwent a price reduction in Brighton before they went off market, compared to almost half (47 percent) of condos.
- When condo owners dropped their prices, they didn’t drop much — a median of only 4.8 percent. House sellers were willing to give a little bit more — 12 percent.
- In Brookline, there were about 441 properties up for sale —none were foreclosures.
- About 28 percent of sellers with houses in Brookline reduced their prices, while 42 percent of condos dropped their prices.
- Again, price reductions in Brookline weren’t shockers. Sellers with houses cut prices a median of 5.3 percent, while condo owners lowered their prices by 4.4 percent.
- In both Brighton and Brookline, if you found something on the market for less than 90 days, it’s probably not worth holding out for a huge price reduction–it’s probably not coming. On the other hand, if a property has been sitting around on the market for four months, there’s an excellent chance of future price reductions, so bargain hard!
Hitting the Links
Boston Sweet Digs Home
