Archive for the ‘Brighton, Brookline’ Category
July 14, 2008
New in Brookline and Brighton in the last few weeks…a new Finale kitchen open in Allston, a new bakery open in Coolidge Corner, and a new upscale grocer open in Washington Square. And speaking of delectable offerings, three new one-bedroom condos on the market that seem pretty tempting as well…
2039 Commonwealth Avenue,#2
Brighton, MA
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
SQ.FT:660
$259K
25 South Street, #3
Brighton
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
SQ.FT:$299k
1454 Beacon Street, #B42
Brookline
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
SQ.FT:N/A
$318K
Appraising the Appraisal Websites
Boston Sweet Digs Home
July 11, 2008
People are always carping about the inadequacies of Zillow, the home valuation website that consistently seems to undervalue property by several thousand dollars if you’re a seller. (If you’re a buyer, on the other hand, Zillow home values seem insanely high).
If you check out the Zillow website, you’ll find comment after comment from sellers enraged because Zillow appraises their homes at $500 less than the guy with the same house across the street.
But is all the rage worth it?
I would suggest that relying on Zillow, or any of the other popular home valuation websites, (Cyberhomes.com or Eppraisal.com to name two) is folly. The only way you can really know a home’s value is to do a whole lot of looking yourself, so that you can practically recite a neighborhood’s home values in your sleep.
At the time that we bought our Brighton condo, the Zillow estimate was laughably out-of-date. Zillow’s “zestimate” was about $70,000 less than asking price — ridiculously low in comparison to everything else on the market. So I ignored it. Today, Zillow estimates my condo’s value at around $329K ($3,000 less, by the way, than the exact same condo one floor below) while Cyberhomes says its worth $308,050 and Eappraisal says something between $269K and $364K. Bank of America says anywhere between $160K to $366K. How’s that for a range?
Why so much variation? Different algorithms, I guess. But next time you check on your home’s value on one of these sites, pay close attention to the comps, not just the big round number at the top of the page. A comp that has nothing to do with your place (because its a different kind of housing stock, or actually located in a different nearby town) throws everything off. And of course, there are all those factors that Zillow and the others don’t know anything about — your renovated kitchen, your beautiful view, the private outdoor space that you’ve got while your neighbors don’t. In other words, you’ve got to keep these home valuation sites in perspective.
Here’s a look at three houses open for showings this weekend, and their various appraisals, according to the websites:
7 Bagnal Street, #1
Allston
BEDS:2/BATHS:1
Sq. Ft: 1,117
$329K
O.H. Sunday, July 13, 2008 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Zillow: $307K
Cyberhomes: $299,079
Eppraisal: $338,535 ($287K-$389K)
Comment: Considering the space and condition of the property, this asking price seems pretty fair. What the home valuation websites can’t factor in is that this condo is nowhere near the T.
14 Browne Street, #1A
Brookline
BEDS:2/BATHS:2
Sq.Ft:1,405
$575K
O.H. Sunday, July 13, 2008 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Zillow:$561K
Cyberhomes:$565,701
Eppraisal: $509,875 ($433K-$586K)
Comment: This condo is in a basement. Do the appraisal sites take that into consideration? At these estimated values, it doesn’t seem so!
551 Brookline Ave, #2
Brookline
BEDS:3/BATHS:1
Sq.Ft:1213
$459K
O.H. Sunday, July 13, 2008 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Zillow: $465K
Cyberhomes: $395K
Eppraisal: $436,269 ($370K-$501K)
Comment: This price is a good one for a condo of this size in Brookline. No doubt a busy road keeps the price down, but this time, Zillow seems to have it just right.
On the Market on Cummings Road
Boston Sweet Digs Home
July 9, 2008
Cummings Road is another quiet, tree-lined street in Brighton that feels a bit like an unpolished gem. It has great potential — some nice Victorians and Tudors, close to Brookline, and more on-street parking than your average Brighton street.
Yet, the street never quite gets the same respect as shady and elegant Kilsyth Road, just around the corner. My guess is there may be too many student parties on Cummings. Still, this modest little road, though a bit uneven in housing stock, is worth checking out. Many large large homes make the area perfect for families; there’s even an elementary school around the block.
Shopping’s easy — there’s a Whole Foods and Star Market within walking distance, parking here isn’t much of an issue, and the B and C lines are just a few blocks away. For prices considerably less than other parts of Boston, you get a great location, beautiful greenery, and lots of space.
It just may be that Cummings Road is worth a second look.
36 Cummings Road, #3
Brighton
BEDS:2/BATHS:1.5
Sq. FT.:1080
$389K
40 Cummings Road, #1
Brighton
BEDS:4/BATHS:2
SQ.FT: 1720
$475K
24 Cummings Road,
Brighton
BEDS:5/BATHS:1
SQ.FT:3180
$799K
Five Home Improvements with Big Emotional Payoff
Sweet Digs Home
July 7, 2008
People constantly talk about home improvements that boost a home’s value. For example, housing experts say a remodeled bathrooms will recover 78 to 94 percent of their costs on resale. New kitchens, much like bathrooms, recover much of their investment. But be careful; according to a design manager at Whirlpool, stainless steel is out, while warmer appliance finishes are taking off. (Whew, that’s a trend I never even got a chance to be a part of!) Meanwhile, new swimming pools will most likely lose money. Turns out, nobody wants to spend their lives cleaning leaves out of a pool.
Well, enough about money. My question is, what are the top home renovations for the biggest emotional payoff? Here are my top five:
- New Rooms. We knocked out walls to create more room and more light twice in two different houses and the results were life-changing. Rooms changed from cramped and dark to airy and light-filled. I don’t care what the housing experts say, it’s a renovation that will have a much bigger impact on your psyche than you can imagine, and it’s worth the dust and fuss.
- New windows. We’ve done this renovation twice as well — and again, great results. In one case, the house went from drafty and uncomfortable to toasty warm in the winter. In the other case, we replaced windows that hadn’t been cleaned in literally 70 years (because they couldn’t be —not because we were lazy.) With energy-efficient flip-in windows, I can finally see what’s outside.
- New hardwood floors. This is an upgrade I’ve done, but I would if faced with a lifetime of dismal, malodorous wall-to-wall. Hardwood floors are resistant, classy and easy-to-clean. Carpets aren’t any of these things and they always end up looking ratty, even if they happen to be the right color, which they never are.
- New paint job. Simple and relatively cheap, but with the ability to completely change a room’s character, nothing beats a bucket of paint.
- New lighting. If you’ve ever felt wretched and woebegone under an overhead bulb, you’ll know what I’m talking about. We installed recessed lights on a dimmer switch and new pendant fixtures recently, and the change was warm and thrillingly upscale.
Sweet Digs Boston Home
July 4, 2008
Like a lot of people in town, I’m a Zipcar girl. For those who haven’t heard of Zipcar (where have you been, stuck under a SUV?) you can check out Alyk’s fine explanation of the service in an earlier blog.)
You might think of Zipcar as strictly a hardcore-city phenomenon — a last resort for urbanites living in tiny walk-ups in the North End, for example. Actually, that’s not the case at all. As mentioned in a recent NBC report, even in suburban Brookline, where some people have garages, it’s quite possible to live happily without a car and with a Zipcar lot across the street. There are Zipcar lots at Cypress and Franklin, 110 Babcock, Beacon and Dean, and even in Hancock Village. In fact, checking out the Zipcar website, I counted at least 30 lots in the Brookline area.
So I thought it might be a nice idea to visit a few houses in close proximity to Zipcar lots. Just think: life with nary a worry of gas prices or car insurance rates — that’s TRUE independence on Independence Day!
7 Hart Street
Brookline
BEDS:2/BATHS:1.5
SQ.FT.:960
$439,900
This detached single-family house is near the Zipcar lot behind 105 Franklin. You can find a Scion xA and a Mini-cooper here.
73 Walnut Hill Road
Brookline
BEDS:4/BATHS:3
SQ.FT: 2,964
$1,425,000
You wouldn’t expect a Zipcar lot in this area of large, detached single family homes, but there’s actually a lot across the street from the Chestnut Hill Realty offices on Independence Drive. You can find a Honda Civic and Mazda there.
48 Loveland Road, #1
Brookline
BEDS:2/BATHS:2
SQ.FT:1090
$488,888
This condo in a two-family house is near the Zipcar lot at Newbury College where a Mazda is available for your use.
9 Francis Street
Brookline
BEDS:7/BATHS:5.5
SQ.FT: 5,468
$1,364,000
This Victorian is just around the corner from the Zipcar lot at 187 Kent Street, across from the Parsons Field. You can rent a Toyota Matrix or a Volvo here.
147 Salisbury Road, #14
Brookine
BEDS:2/BATHS:2
SQ.FT:1823
$699,000
This condo in a Victorian home is located just steps away from the Beacon and Corey Road Zipcar lot where a Nissan Versa is available for rent.
What’s Hot and Cold in Brighton, Brookline
Sweet Digs Boston Home
July 2, 2008
Normally, nothing happens in July. This year, though, seems like life’s awhirl in Brighton:
Meanwhile, on the residential side, houses are going on the market, and coming off the market, and sellers are lowering their prices and sometimes they’re even raising prices. Here’s what’s new this week:
New on the market:
36 Cummings Road, #3
Brighton, 02135
BEDS:2/BATHS: 1.5
SQ.FT: 1080
$389K
374 Chestnut Hill Avenue, #33
Brighton, 02135
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
SQ.FT.:568
$215K
104 Westbourne Terrace
Brookline, 02446
BEDS:2/BEDS:2
SQ.FT: 1414
$569K
And two recent price changes:
45 Harvard Street, #1
Brookline, 02446
BEDS:2/BATHS:1
SQ.FT: 1,195
Original asking price: $375K
Today’s asking price: $369K
323 Boylston Street, #102
Brookline, 02445
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
SQ.FT: 1,099
Original Asking Price: $439K
Today’s Asking Price: $489K
Green and Clean in Allston-Brighton
Boston Sweet Digs Home
June 30, 2008
Once the snow melts and the grass starts growing, it becomes painfully obvious a whole lot of green spaces around town need some attention. Some parts of the city get that attention— like the median strip above the Mass Pike along Boylston Street in the Back Bay. But Brighton is a whole other story.
As inevitable as summer mosquitoes, the medians along Commonwealth Avenue fill with trash and weeds. Even the small park on the eastern half of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir looks abandoned — a real shame because it could be a gem.
But finally, some good news: the Lincoln Street Green Strip, the one-acre abandoned lot between Lincoln and Cambridge streets, is getting a much-needed renovation. The artist team of Legge Lewis Legge, through funding from the Boston Department of Neighborhood Development and the New England Foundation for the Arts, designed raised steel planters and vertical sculptures for the site. And while they’re at it, they’ll be pruning some of the overgrown plants back to civility.
Neighborhood activist Harry Matison says he hopes this project inspires neighborhood improvement and more public art in other nooks and crannies around Brighton. I agree; clean, well-tended green spaces dramatically improve a neighborhood’s image.
Once the Lincoln Street Green Strip is finished, I’m calling for a concerted effort to clean, upgrade, and maintain the green spaces along Commonwealth Avenue. A little bit of care might improve the area and maybe even the value of condos like these:
1706 Commonwealth Avenue, #11
Brighton, 02135
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
Sq. Ft.:515
$224,900
1641 Commonwealth Avenue, #8
Brighton, 02135
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
Sq. Ft.:541
$194,900
1629 Commonwealth Avenue, #6
Brighton, 02135
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
Sq. Ft.:545
$203,000
Boston Sweet Digs Home
Open Houses in Brighton Under $300K
June 25, 2008
There’s a frustrating conundrum Brookline residents face: once they claw their way into an “average” two-bedroom condo, they’re stuck.
Why?
Because the “average” two-bed condo in Brookline costs about $475K while the “average” three-bedroom single-family costs $1.1 million — more than double the price. Not an easy transition for second-time buyers.
Brookline realtor Greg Kiely wrote about this problem recently, remarking that only 10 to 20 percent of his upwardly-mobile Brookline clients stay in Brookline. Presumably, they moved up to communities like Newton, where they could get a single-family home for significantly less. Or maybe they made peace with life in a two-bedroom condo; it’s not the worse thing in the world.
I conducted my own search of three-bedroom single-family homes in the transitional $475K to $800K range and the results were not encouraging.
A handful of Brookline houses popped up, mostly bordering Brighton, Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury (isn’t Brainerd Road actually in Brighton?). Past sales show about 10 houses sold in this category in the last three months, many of them in the Westbrook Village area.
By contrast, more than two-dozen single-family homes in this price range are currently on the market in Newton. And since Newton has good schools and better rail and T connections than Westbrook Village, it isn’t surprising that second-time buyers trade up to Newton.
And what if you’re a second-time buyer who wants to buy for less than a million dollars, yet stay in Brookline? Here are three options:
145 Grove
Brookline 02467
BEDS:3/BATHS:2
Sq.Ft: 1980
$699,000
716 Newton Street
Brookline 02467
BEDS: 3/BATHS: 2.5
Sq. Ft: 2621
$699,900
122 Grove Street
Brookline 02467
BEDS: 3/BATHS:3
Sq. Ft.: 2501
$799K
Yearning for a Greek Omelet
Sweet Digs Boston Home
June 20, 2008
Mostly, I love my little two-bedroom condo that requires nothing more than a comfortable futon and a quick vacuuming every now and then. Let’s just say I don’t spend much time dusting chandeliers and polishing marble floors.
Occasionally, though, I wonder what it would be like to live in a real mansion — you know, 10,000 square feet, a two-acre front lawn, a new bathroom for every day of the week. What would it be like to forget what I’m doing to the earth’s scarce resources for a moment and live in a place that costs a fortune to furnish, heat, and maintain?
Sigh… I guess I’ll never know. But if I get really curious, I might just visit these open houses in Brookline this weekend:
18 Hallwood Road
Brookline, 02467
BEDS:5/Baths:6.5
Sq. ft.: 7,425
$3,250,000
Open House: Sunday, June 22, 2008 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
83 Lee Street
Brookline, 02467
BEDS:5/BATHS: 4.5
Sq.Ft: 4,732
$1,850,000
Open House: Sunday, June 22, 2008 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
18 Atherton Road
Brookline, 02467
BEDS: 7/BATHS:4
Sq.Ft: 4.747
$1,895,000
Open House: Sunday, June 22, 2008 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
June 18, 2008
When you think about Oak Square, you think about, well, Oaks. Why is that? Simply, because this established Brighton neighborhood feels solid. Like Oak. And of course, the square was named for a great White Oak that stood 30 feet at its base at the time it was destroyed in 1850.
Way back in 1647, Oak Square was settled by the English. Before that, it was a Native American settlement. The area eventually became an important horticultural center, but remained sparsely populated until the introduction of the electric street car in 1890, then it became a real town square, attracting businesses and growing numbers of middle-class Irish, Italians and Jews.
Over the years, Oak Square has seen its ups and downs, but these days it’s mostly up. There’s nothing fancy here, but it has the YMCA, the library, the bank, and a Starbucks down the street. Though Brighton Center attracted more in the way of interesting restaurants, a Thai restaurant opened opened a few years ago, signaling that Oak Square’s culinary offerings are expanding beyond Chinese take-out and greasy pizzas.
Houses in this part of town are often underrated since Oak Square maintains a low profile. In fact, there’s not a lot of turnover in this part of town and inventory remains low. But when you do stumble across a place, you usually get a lot of space for your money, whether you choose a single-family home or a condo. Oak Square may not have the pizazz of other parts of Brighton, but it’s a great option for families who want a yard.
15 Brayton Road
Brighton, 02135
Beds:4/Baths: 1
Sq.Ft: 2156
$395K
(bank-listed foreclosure)
29 Bigelow Street, #3
Brighton, 02135
Beds:1/Baths: 1
Sq.Ft: 950
$339K
14 Montfern Ave, #1L
Brighton, 02135
Beds:1/Baths: 1
Sq.Ft: 480
$189K
