Archive for the ‘Beverly, Salem’ Category
August 7, 2008
There’s a bunch of new stuff out there this week. The first one has me curious — a 3 bedroom single-family that is a) tiny and b) $189k. Not a lot of info at the time of this posting, but it should fill out as they upload pictures and what have you. It’s FSBO, and cheap — which is a good sign.
11 Read Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 814
$189,000
A plain house, but with major eye candy at The Willows — for under $300k!
78 Memorial Drive
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3 /Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1240
$ 299,900
Last, a nice, well-situated condo at a very reasonable price:
31 Symonds Street, #8
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 740
$ 154,800
Happy Hunting!
(Image links to source; this is Salem after the 1914 fire.)
Boston Sweet Digs Home
The Wingaersheek Inn and Motel
August 6, 2008
Now really is the time to fall in love with the North Shore and Cape Ann. The weather’s warm enough to make swimming in the briney North Atlantic downright sensible, and on clear days the views up here are as dazzling as they are anywhere on the East Coast.
The jewel of the beaches in my immediate area is Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester. Picture huge sand-smoothed rocks, tidal pools, grassy dunes, white sand, gulls and cormorants and acre after acre of shallow surf. Wingaersheek was voted the best beach in New England for children in Yankee Magazine’s 2003 issue.
The Wingaersheek Inn & Motel is just off of rt. 128, at about the point where the last of the traffic disappears, and might be a nice place to use as a base of operations if you’re looking to move to the area. The Inn is a bit far from the actual beach, but you can’t get any closer unless you rent a house somewhere. Parking for non-residents and residents alike is very limited, and you even have to pay if you walk or ride a bike. But Wingaersheek is heaven.
In the off-season, the beach is very accessible. We go up on warmer winter days and kick around the rocks until we’re too cold, gather shells, get scolded by seagulls, threaten to throw each other in.
Romance.
Fresh Condo Listings
Boston Sweet Digs Home
July 31, 2008
Here are some condos that just hit the market; the first one is as cheap as real estate gets in these parts!
15 Lynde Street, #31
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 1/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 518
$69,900
This one is empty — it seems to have been part of someone’s estate, and the listing says the estate is settled and the property is ready to go.
9 Majestic Way, #9
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 1/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 1460
$239,000
I love this last one; I’m a sucker for hardwood floors….
35 Ocean Avenue, #9
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1014
$229,900
3 New Listings Show The Diverse Character of Beverly
Boston Sweet Digs Home
July 30, 2008
Beverly is a real melange, from the blue-blood of “The Farms” to working-class Rialside. These 3 listings are an eclectic mix. The first is one of the least expensive nearly-4,000-square-foot waterfront houses you’re likely to see anywhere around here, the second is a high-rise condo, and the third is a masterpiece of understatement.
30 Roderick Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 4/Baths: 2.5
SQ.FT.: 3988
$539,900
60 Rantoul Street Address, #209N
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths:2
SQ.FT.: 946
$219,900
114 Colon Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.:1128
$275,000
Sad News on the Wicked Local Blog, and San Diego Plays Hardball With Irresponsible Lenders
Boston Sweet Digs Home
July 29, 2008
According to Chris Biondi’s post from the 23rd, a Taunton woman killed herself as her home was approaching auction, saying she wanted her son and husband to use her life insurance to keep the house. I know I sound like a bleeding heart — but this is the reason we have things like bankruptcy laws.
It would be nice if the less-government crowd were right — if banks would take a breath, self-regulate, realize that foreclosure is bad for all of us, and come up with plans for refinancing, interest reduction, and outright debt forgiveness for homeowners who are in trouble. But according to the July 19 issue of The Economist, banks spent millions to lobby to have themselves deregulated; that’s how we got here.
It’s also true that bankers — the people, not the institution — hate bankruptcy. I used to work in a bank, and the dominant attitude — one you were expected to mirror if you worked there — was that people who overspend and then can’t pay should be ruined. Bankruptcy is legal stealing. People who can’t pay are deadbeats. Looking down on them had the air of a moral obligation. The intimidation of the bill collector is what holds the banking system together, after all — only, right now, it’s particularly bad for business.
It’s true that homeowners got greedy; but the “Twin Twisters” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t the fault of imprudent buyers.
Essentially, The Economist says that taxpayers are paying for the bailouts of these two mammoth companies. But the taxpayers didn’t reap the rewards of any of the profits made by these leviathans — they aren’t actually socialized. The article seems to say that no one ever believed that the feds would let mortgage mega-banks perish, and that we’ve been had — bailing out these institutions means irresponsible businesspeople are being rewarded for intentionally seeking deregulation, marketing the heck out of a really, really bad idea, keeping their jobs and houses, and sticking us with the bill.
What’s worse is that we’re spending money to bail out the banks and doing very little for homeowners faced with foreclosure. There’s some hope on this front, however. According to a Reuters article, “San Diego’s city attorney said on Wednesday he filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp … and its Countrywide unit to prevent the mortgage lenders from foreclosing on homes in the city, which he aims to make a ‘foreclosure sanctuary.’” We need to see more than this — we need to see lenders propose a workable plan to get this market back on the rails. And we need our legislators to get tough on the industry until that happens. High-five San Diego.
The smartest thing for banks to do is to rehabilitate customers. They lose a pile of money on almost every foreclosure, and they’re removing families from the pool of potential buyers just when the real estate market needs them most.
Image links to source.
July 25, 2008
No beach town worth its salt (fear my puns; your groans feed my soul) is without some serious INDEPENDENT ice cream parlors. Beverly has some great ones.
My friend Liz visits us once in a while from Tennessee, and claims I’m one of the few Yankees she can stand. But, she extols the superiority of “Yankee Ice Cream” every chance she gets.
On the high end, no one is going to beat Christina’s in Innman Square, and Toscanini is pretty fantastic. Captain Dusty’s on 128 in North Beverly (right near the candy store at Pride’s Crossing, in case you’re lactose intolerant) is surprisingly close, though. I can get my signature dark chocolate and ginger combo, and they make a heck of a malt. They are at least as good as JP licks in 90% of what they do, though with a smaller menu.
More often, I tend to go to Dick & June’s on 62, near “The Shoe,” which is what the locals call the Cummings Center. It’s just a quick jaunt over the hill, and they do rock, so they tend to get my trade.
Treadwells on 114 on the way into Salem is pretty great, too. They’ll put extra, extra, extra malt in a shake and not charge more.
Just, wash the sticky off your hands before you mess up other people’s houses:
First, a slightly pricey, but really gorgeous, condo in North Beverly:
38 West Street #3
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 936
$299,000
Open House: Sunday, July 27, 2008 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
9 Guild Road
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 4/Baths:1.5
SQ.FT.: 1558
$ 309,999
Open House: Sunday, July 27, 2008 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
30 Budleigh Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 1052
$ 279,900
Open House: Sunday, July 27, 2008 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Image links to source.
July 24, 2008
So you found the perfect starter home or upgrade, and you’re ready to move. It looks like a responsible thing to do — you’re not a gambler.
But things just don’t go the way you were told they would.
Sometimes, jumping ship is the only realistic choice you have. The following are inspired by true stories; only the names have been changed….
- Bank Owned Properties. Say you’re in love with a house — or even just a deal. Then you go to home inspection, and they won’t let you turn the water on…or the electricity…or the furnace. To my mind, once the bank has shut a property down, and there’s no way of verifying that the pipes aren’t split, that the furnace doesn’t leak gas, or that the house won’t burn to the ground when the electric company throws the main breaker — that house is worth its market value less whatever it would cost to fix all of those things. If your deal doesn’t leave you with enough money to address major issues, it may not be a good idea at all — it may not be much of a deal. Shutting down utilities is no way to sell a house, and is the cause of so many houses becoming derelicts. If enough people walk away in this market, maybe banks will stop doing this.
- Properties in foreclosure. I’m still bitter. We offered on a house, the seller accepted, and then we waited for her bank to approve the offer. Meanwhile, they charged her a pile of fees and interest and other made-up money, and she owned less of the house than she did when she accepted. She couldn’t or wouldn’t cover the spread (what incentive did she really have at that point?), the bank didn’t seem to care, and we sat in limbo for weeks. We even haunted open houses where the seller’s agent was sure to be, and the poor guy (he hadn’t sold a house in 6 months at that point) was at a loss. We had no choice but to walk. The bank sold the house, eventually, for about $50,000 less than we offered. Like I said: bitter.
- FSBO — For Sale By Owner. There’s nothing wrong with FSBO sales, and lots of people really can’t afford to reduce price AND pay a seller’s agent (that’s one way Redfin is making a niche for itself). But be careful. Once you offer, who is going to hold the hand money? What guarantees do you have? Real Estate agents and brokers are licensed for a reason, and that licensing buys you insurance. To do an FSBO right, you need a lawyer. That’s probably as expensive as a seller’s agent. And…well…watch out for kooks. A lot of FSBO properties are owned by people who live in a different universe, and you may find these places are more trouble than they’re worth.
- Dishonest Sellers. We looked at a house my girlfriend absolutely loved. They disclosed asbestos shingles, but I’d bet a shiny nickel they didn’t disclose all of it. I looked behind a dresser in the bedroom and saw a giant water stain that couldn’t have been anything but a leaky roof. When we asked we were told it was caused by varnish drying on the dresser. One lie makes another more likely, right? Pull the other one. See you later.
- Nearby Construction. We looked at one place where the water view was going to be temporarily obstructed by a new public works project. We weighed the information we got from the city engineer’s office, and the studies of traffic patterns, and decided that it was risky. I’m 82.4% sure that the folks who bought it will reap the benefits of a super cute property blocks from the commuter rail in Salem. But I wasn’t certain that I wouldn’t end up living near a freeway. So, with regrets, we walked.
A Pair of South End Price Reductions Under Half a Mil
Boston Sweet Digs Home
July 23, 2008
Every time a seller lists a new property, an angel loses its wings. Anyway, that’s what it feels like if you’ve been a seller for longer than is comfortable for you.
But if you’re buying, every one of these new listings (theoretically) dilutes the market value of every other one. And with low unemployment rates and an economy that looks healthy and wealthy next to (say) Pittsburgh, you’re going to see this market recover sooner or later.
Of course, most people that are listing now are (generally) realistic about the market they’re selling in. You probably have more leverage with stale listings than with new, as new listings get way more attention. But don’t let that stop you. I wouldn’t sell a house in this market unless I had to, and so some of these folks need to unload their casa. If you’re dreaming on a deal, one of these might be the ticket:
19 Melvin Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1400
$ 395,000
5 Porter Terrace
Beverly, MA
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1241
$ 289,900
60 Glidden Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1176
$275,000
July 18, 2008
I’ve read more than one real estate agent’s online rant against open houses. I like them, personally, but then I don’t have to sit there through the nicest part of a Sunday and get people to sign a guest register so I don’t look like a slacker to the clients whose house…just isn’t selling.
From what I gather, open houses don’t really sell houses. It’s trawling. Open houses are a way for players and potential players in a sale to meet — cards and phone numbers are exchanged, agents and brokers talk to each other about the most precious commodity in this market (qualified buyers). And it’s something to do when you can’t think of anything else, and you have a million houses to unload.
For buyers, on the other hand, open houses are a chance to see what’s out there without dealing too much with salespeople. In other markets, maybe, agents can afford to sneer at tire kickers. In this one, we’ll be happy to see folks who are looking at having a down saved (or having repaired enough credit) by 2012 or so.
So go look. You might learn a few things, get some decorating ideas, maybe some free pens or refrigerator magnets.
This one’s a GREAT location….
7 Foster Drive
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths:1.5
SQ.FT.: 1372
$ 409,714
Open House: Sunday, July 20, 11:00am-1:00pm
House floozy that I am, I have a thing for this one:
6 Story Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1217
$ 279,900
Open House: Saturday, July 19, 3:00pm-4:30pm
I think this one is overpriced — it’s a good entry price, but no one is going to pay over $300 per square foot for just under 500 square feet. But that doesn’t mean the seller won’t be reasonable. Asking is only asking — a condo is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.
81 Cabot Street #3R
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 449
$ 139,900
Open House: Sunday, July 20, 1:00pm-3:00pm
July 17, 2008
One of our concerns, moving away from Cambridge and JP, was food. Would we be able to get Indian food? Brazilian BBQ? And how would we get through the summer without big CSA boxes full of veggies?
Beverly and Salem don’t disappoint — there’s no Moody’s falafel, but Maria’s has awesome gyros on homemade pita, and we love Anmal, Beverly’s Indian joint. And while we aren’t really in CSA range, we have farmstands, farmer’s markets, and local food.
Farmer’s markets are a great reason to get up before noon on summer weekends, and the Marblehead Farmer’s Market is exquisite: the baked goods are world class, and the cheeses — from small private creameries in Vermont and central Mass. — are rare treats. Add cheap veggies, super cheap fresh herbs and cut flowers, fair trade coffee, and handmade, natural casing lamb-and-feta sausages, and you can have a heck of a breakfast while you shop for dinner.
Bring a lot of cash and a cooler — you’ll want to stock up on artisan goat cheeses and local, organic meats.The Beverly and Gloucester markets are mid-week and much smaller, although the produce is great.
For information on North Shore farmer’s markets and farm stands, check out Blue Heron Local Cuisine.
