Archive for the ‘Beverly, Salem’ Category
August 29, 2008
It doesn’t strike me as the best use of a seller’s agent’s time, but Salem’s a great place to spend a holiday weekend.
Check out these digs:
2 Riverbank Road
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 1755
$ 414,900
Open House: Sunday, August 31, 2008 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
55 Ocean Avenue, #1
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1168
$224,900
Open House: Sunday, August 31, 2008 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
92 Derby Street, #3
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 992
$262,000
Open House: Sunday, August 31, 2008 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
New Listings and Beverly Afternoons
Boston Sweet Digs Home
August 28, 2008
We just had lunch yesterday at the What’s Brewin’ Cafe, a little coffee shop with some great sandwiches and even better salads. It’s on Cabot Street, about two blocks from the Beverly Common, the Beverly Library, and Montserrat College of Art, which explains all the piercings and guitars and skateboards. I love those nutty kids.
The common is two blocks from Dane Street Beach. Dane Street isn’t the Caribbean, or even Wingaarsheek in Gloucester, but when when it’s right down the street, it’s kind of hard to complain about.
It could be yours, too.
216 Common Lane
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths:3
SQ.FT.: 3024
$735,000
8 Devon Ave, #2
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 583
$149,900
17 Sumner Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths:2
SQ.FT.:2000
$ 330,000
5 Best Labor Day Mini-Vacations In (or near) Salem
Boston Sweet Digs Home
August 27, 2008
How do you save gas and still get that much-needed R&R?
Vacation closer to home.
The price of gas is down, but it isn’t good, and I’m still thinking really hard about building a biodiesel reactor and getting an old VW —I have my eye on one of the tiny little pickup trucks. And what’s the point of riding your bike to work when you burn a dinosaur driving — or, worse, it turns out, flying — somewhere?
- Stay at the Hawthorne in Salem, or find a B&B in Magnolia (Gloucester). The Hawthorne will put you right near Derby Wharf and the Common, and directly across the street from…
- The Old Spot. Think Matt Murphy’s in Brookline, except they let you sit down to drink, and you don’t have to sell a kidney to get an order of pate. And there is no greater force for good on this earth than the artisan chocolate cake at The Old Spot.
- Derby Wharf is as nice a slice of touristy-historic New England as you’re going to get anywhere else, only Salem is a 25 minute train ride from North Station. I’m including the House of the Seven Gables and the ship Liberty anchored there. Look at the little streets of tightly-packed homes and pricey condos with bad parking while you’re there, and try not to get homesick for Boston.
- The Willows. I have to admit, we haven’t made it over there in the summer. We’re the kind of artsy weirdos who prefer the stark emptiness of a little seaside amusement park in winter, Icelandic murder mysteries, and black t-shirts. But many of our friends who grew up around here are a little bit in love with the Willows. So buy the kid an ice cream cone and walk around for a while.
- Gloucester and Newburryport. One of the great things about doing Salem is that Manchester’s Singing Beach—and upscale downtown shopping area— is right near the depot, and Gloucester is a 30 minute ride. At the Beverly Depot, the Newburyport/Rockport lines diverge, and while they are less frequent than trains to the city, you can easily get to both places. And both places have amazing beaches and restaurants and plenty to do if you’re up for some aimless wandering.
Fannie, Freddie, and the Glorious People’s Revolution
Boston Sweet Digs Home
August 22, 2008
Okay; not exactly. But I’m a little geeked about this week’s Economist.
In a post last month I talked a bit about what I’m beginning to see as the Fannie/Freddie Scandal. Stephen Colbert, I’m trademarking “FanFredScan” right now. Also Fredgate, Fangate, and Scangate, just to be safe.
I’ve been interested in the recent history of the upstate NY real estate market. After September of 2001, real estate prices outside of New York City rose county by county as New Yorkers (who had no intention of fleeing the city permanently) bought up parcel after parcel and house after house. The stock market was in the toilet because of Enron and 9/11, and real estate prices as far north as the Adirondacks were fed by a) people’s needs to stash investment money and b) fear of another catastrophe leaving them homeless. And what’s a $75,000-$250,000 mortgage to a successful New Yorker? The payment for a lot of people was a small fraction of their rent.
The bursting of the bubble, because of gross mismanagement and under-regulation, stopped this market in its tracks just like everywhere else. Real Estate was no longer a sexy investment, so that sweet New Yorker money dried up. Buddy, it’s tough all over.
The more I learn about this mess, the more I see it as the second major economic scandal of this presidential administration. It isn’t as sexy as a cigar and a blue dress, but there’s a trail of lobbying and pandering and political influence behind it that makes one wonder why we aren’t all a bit more upset. It’s Enron II, but this time it wasn’t illegal.
I’m trying hard not to be too partisan; my Nana is a lifelong Republican, and even she’s fed up with it.
What geeks me is that the folks at the Federal Reserve — some of the stodgiest, most conservative suits around — have taken a break from their project to bring back the monocle and the celluloid collar, and one (Jeffrey Lacker, head of the Richmond Federal Reserve) is actively advocating nationalization of the mortgage behemoths if recapitalization (i.e. massive bailout) is necessary. And it looks like it will be, as the first attempt to prop them up hasn’t gone all that well:
“This is not what Hank Paulson, America’s treasury secretary, envisaged last month when he announced an emergency plan to rescue the twins. By pledging to invest in them if needed, he had hoped to calm markets and thus reduce the likelihood of a bail-out. That gamble looks ever less likely to pay off, however.”
Last month, The Economist pointed out that a bailout of the mortgage giants will allow the mis-managers to profit because there never was any risk — Fannie and Freddie took risks and paid like private companies, but we can’t afford to let them fail. So imagine being able to take your life’s savings to Atlantic City, knowing that someone will replace it if you tank. What incentive would you really have to avoid outlandish risks?
The article (“American Markets: Still Bleeding” from the August 20th issue) cites that investor (especially foreign investor) confidence in Fannie and Freddie’s debt is waning, and a lot of that debt is due to mature soon. Fannie and Freddie are F’d.
I’ve heard back from my readers on this — the “less government” crowd weighs in heavily against the bailout (any bailout) because we foot the bill. But (well) what do you folks think of nationalizing the damned thing? Isn’t that like socialism? Won’t it make us all play with dolls and do drugs and worship Satan?
Sure enough, we’re going to foot the short-term bill for any bailout; but these are historically very profitable institutions, considered by many experts to be too important to our economy to be left in private hands.
Case in point: right now.
So…can the government screw it up worse?
First, we’re in this mess because of under-regulation, not government interference. That said, I’d also have to say that deregulation (and the resulting consumer free-for-all) was partly due to political corruption; not as Sopranos-esque as HUD, but just as devastating, and a pattern we can easily see repeated down the line whether they remain private or are nationalized.. So, um….
Second, I feel like if I have to pay for it, I should be buying something. I lean hard left when it comes to Energy and Housing, but I can also be very personally conservative; it weirds me out that guys like Lacker and Paulson might be going my way.
At the very least, there ought to be some house-cleaning going on at F&F. I wouldn’t mind hearing about, you know, the responsible parties getting the sack. I’d even be up for some Enron-style scapegoating.
Image links to source.
August 21, 2008
Driving through Salem right now is arguably worse than driving in Boston or Cambridge, because pedestrians in the Hub know the rules. While the weather remains nice, Salem gets colorful and pleasantly rowdy — lots of kids in Wizard hats, because it’s Halloween all year round….
Salem seems to be a day trip every kid in Mass gets taken on. The Witch Museum, The Wharf, coffee at Galu Galu for dad, The Willows, The House of the Seven Gables, scotch at the Old Spot for mommy, wizard hats all around, and back in the car. Quiet down back there.
This tourist trade, which does a fair bit to tie up 114 going into the city from Danvers, brings a lot of perceived prestige to Salem. Look at Derby Wharf, the beautiful and historic houses and condos that go for big money in Salem’s affordable market. The Wharf is a tourist center, and the tourist centers are convenient places to live in just about every other way.
Come up and look around this weekend.
10 Everett Road
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 2200
$469,000
Open House: Sunday, August 24, 2008 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
17 Cliff Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths:1.5
SQ.FT.: 1495
$319,000
Open House: Sunday, August 24, 2008 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
4 Essex Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 4/Baths:2
SQ.FT.: 1747
$ 279,900
Open House: Sunday, August 24, 2008 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
24 Essex Street, #2
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 4/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 2202
$ 279,500
Open House: Sunday, August 24, 2008 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
11 Looney Avenue
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1,568
$ 349,900
Open House: Sunday, August 24, 2008 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Salem Under $300k — With A view!
Sweet Digs Boston Home
Image links to source.
August 20, 2008
Salem is a city on hold real-estate-wise, but I still believe in it. If I owned property there that I bought 5 years ago, I’d be frustrated and bummed out. But if I were a hub dweller wishing for a cheap, cool place to live within T range of downtown, I’d look at this slump as some sort of divine gift.
Imagine if you grabbed a piece of Cambridge in the days of rent control, or a house in The Haight when it was all crash pads and hippies. Salem might not ever be Haight Ashbury, but it has something that cities positioned to boom often have: a large population of artsy types and intellectuals, and prices low enough to attract the get-a-haircut crowd. More and more of Salem is young and up-and-coming, and the city has a lot to offer. Not the least of all, places with water views for less than you’d imagine. They’re often urban, partially obstructed views, but that doesn’t mean you won’t love watching the snow fall or the sun set from these purty windows.
27 Lemon is so, so close to the commuter rail — what you’re looking at in the pictures is the bike/walking path to the Salem Commuter Rail depot.
27 Lemon Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1398
$229,900
Even Derby Wharf is feeling the bite of a bad market; this is too cheap for that neighborhood, and I don’t expect it to last:
39 Daniels Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1120
$299,000
This barely a water view, but it’s a great place for an artist or small businessperson — a live/work space under $200k with no condo fees! The square footage is only the living area, not the shop space on the first floor.
19 Bridge Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 1/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 672
$199,000
Photo (of the ship “Friendship” permanently anchored at Derby Wharf) courtesy of Jenn Marcelais and A Very Grave Matter, a site dedicated to the beauty and history of New England graveyards.
Redfin Sweet Digs Home
Are 40-Year Mortgages the New ARM? Or Our Way Out Of This Mess?
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 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
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 8, 2008
Don’t. People are going to be glued to their sets, or installing HDTVs, watching Romanians yell at teenagers or whatever. I’m not really into sports. But I did see a number of open houses during football season when we shopped for our house. We were often the only ones out on game days. The conventional wisdom that Sunday is a better open house day than Saturday goes out the window when men in helmets go chasing after balls. But with 24-7 feeds of the Olympics…good luck, sellers.
I did notice, however, that when agents made a house into a sort-of-party, the place generally felt — well, like home. The sellers turned on the plasma screen, and put out a little party food, and people spent time in the space. It became warm and friendly. This kind of touch is part of what sold a really nice, but incredibly small, “condo alternative” in my neighborhood. I think the agent used a bag of chips, a Trader Joe’s salsa tub, and a couple of bits of Patriots kitsch, and the house seemed like a place where your friends would gather. I’m a nerd from Pennsylvania, and even I liked the atmosphere this created.
Anyway, here are some sellers and sellers’ agents who are braving the Olympics Week couch gravity; give them some love, and go get some personal attention.
21 Proctor Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 5/Baths: 3
SQ.FT.: 2300
$ 349,900
Open House: Sunday, August 10, 2008 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
23 Station Road
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.:842
$259,021
Open House: Sunday, August 10, 2008 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
24 Davis Terrace
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 4/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.:1728
$334,900
Open House: Saturday, August 9, 2008 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Boston Sweet Digs Home
New In Salem In Early August
