Dear Boston Sweet Digs Readers, As part of changes already announced two weeks ago, Redfin is changing up Sweet Digs to focus the format on proprietary, leading-edge indicators of what is happening to home prices in Boston. We had initially tried to provide a personal review of individual homes for sale in the area, but… Read More
In the last year or so, I’ve seen a lot of ugly nonsense, but one of the recurrent themes I find most repellent is the idea that loans written to low-income and minority families, and loans that forgive past credit problems, are the cause of the mortgage scandal and the new depression. Dishonest and predatory… Read More
Now is a great time for prospectors and first-time buyers to look at properties that represent a more modest investment per square foot. These are also worth looking at before you pay just as much for a house that doesn’t fit you. The first one is a “short sale subject to third party approval.” That… Read More
What’s new in Brookline? Well, if you haven’t kept track, there have been a few culinary changes afoot in Washington Square in the last few months, including the opening of a new Rod Dee Thai restaurant, the Tamarind Bay dedicated to Indian food served in a sophisticated setting, and Roadhouse, which moved Texas barbecue into Vinny Testa’s… Read More
If you read the Somerville papers, or watch Fox25, you’ll know that during his law school days, Barack Obama called the Winter Hill section of town his home. Not that the neighborhood has a prestige that future presidential candidates find irresistible; quite the opposite, a young Obama lived there because it was—and still is—very cheap…. Read More
The W Hotel and Residences is topping out this week. [The Chinatown Blogger] Good news: The T is purchasing trains from an untested company. [Boston Globe] Smith Field in Allston seems to be under-used. [Allston Brighton Community Blog] Alan Greenspan feels pretty good about the economic recovery. [The Real Estate Blogger] If you live in… Read More
Taking advantage of the sunshine and warm weather, I spent much of Columbus Day weekend out on the streets, which got me thinking about sidewalks. Architecture and urban planning critic Jane Jacobs observed back in the 1960s that sidewalks are about a whole lot more than getting to or from somewhere. In the best circumstances,… Read More
Sunday, I’ll continue my indulgence in all things patisserie. A friend of Mr Alyk introduced us to the Chinese Pork Bun, and damn, if those things aren’t addictive. We’ve sampled pork buns from several Chinatown bakeries, and one of the best is Hing Shing Pastry at the corner of Beach and Hudson. The tiny bakery… Read More
This week, there are a lot of things on clearance sale, and I’m not just talking about stocks. Coldwell Banker is running a 10-day, 10 percent off sale on many listings … condos on sale like so many cotton socks at Walmart. Meanwhile, realtor John A. Keith reports that many people who would otherwise be… Read More
No question things have changed a bit in the past few months, but when I wrote in August that foreclosures in some of the city’s tonier neighborhoods could be right around the corner, I didn’t mean 60 days around the corner. And yet there they are, foreclosures in Beacon Hill (actually, this is in Dorchester)… Read More