Archive for April, 2008
April 30, 2008
CNN, one of the aggressive doomsayers in the recent housing downturn, brought us today’s harbinger the end is nigh: foreclosures spike 112%. This fact, by itself, is not a good thing, but it bugs me CNN focuses overwhelmingly on the negative aspects of changes like this.
Fortunately, other news sources, like the Wall Street Journal, show how drastically lowered prices from this oversupply of foreclosed homes can whip up a consumer frenzy, breathing life into the market.
So when you see that Boston’s real estate market dipped for the 23rd consecutive month, consider the state’s growing economy[pdf]. Eventually, the people churning up that income will find property prices drop to a level where they can’t resist buying.
How close are we to that point? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t steer clear of buying- I would just buy more conservatively. With that in mind, here are some price-efficient Back Bay homes.
274 Clarendon Street, #3
Back Bay, 02116
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 686
$519,000
Redfin rolled out an upgraded website, adding forclosures and FSBO’s (For Sale By Owner) to the search listings. We don’t have lot of the former in Back Bay and Beacon Hill, but this FSBO on Clarendon looks like a gorgeously refurbished way to check out the new feature.
10 Charlesgate E, #504
Back Bay, 02215
Beds: 2/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1155
$647,000
In terms of dollars per square feet and dollars per bathroom, it’s tough to beat this unit on the western fringe of Back Bay. While Back Bay purists scoff at the area, I’m a fan of this end of the neighborhood: it’s farther from traffic, closer to the Fens, and closer to Kenmore than the rest of Back Bay. And it’s closer to the Sox.
7 Hereford Street, #1
Back Bay, 02115
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 641
$359,000
I featured it before, but I love this gem in the western part of the neighborhood. Great price per square foot, and as the floor plan shows, a tidy little layout. I’d take an elegant, efficient setup over a roomy, sloppy one any day of the week.
More of Cosmo on Back Bay and Beacon Hill
Sweet Digs Boston Home
April 30, 2008
A Warren Group report on prices of single-family homes and condos set the internet a-buzz. The debate rages on among those who think we’re headed for a severe rock-your-socks crash versus those who think the current downturn is a mere blip on the housing screen.
Let’s face it, we all need a place to live. As long as buyers like their homes, don’t mind the neighborhood, and don’t overextend their budgets, they’ll probably be ok. Even those who bought in the last couple of years will be fine, provided they can afford it. The last housing downfall in the early 90’s burned me, but I lived to tell about it. I just wrote a check at closing, figuring that’s what I would have spent renting all those years.
According to the Warren Report data, Brookline experienced surprising price increases: up about 6.5 percent for condos and 13 percent for houses over the first quarter of last year. Brookline’s fundamentals are sound: good public schools, good city services, convenient public transportation, and an easily accessible downtown shopping district.
Let’s look at Brookline Village. Residents can pop into a bookstore, visit an art gallery, eat Tibetan food, and copy a key, all without using a car. While everybody’s property value plummet, people in Brookline get to enjoying life.
Here are a few properties on the market in Brookline Village, just a short walk from the T, good restaurants (go Village Smokehouse!) and the Brookline Town Hall.
18 Davis Ave, #3, $349K
BEDS:1/BATHS:1
SQ FT: 750
13 Linden Street, #3, $379K
BEDS:2/BATHS:1
SQ FT: 967
26 Linden Street, #1, $499K
BEDS:2/BATHS:2
SQ FT: 1226
33 Aspinwall Ave, #4, $439K
BEDS:2/BATHS:2
SQ FT: 1091
33 Aspinwall Ave, #1, $499K
BEDS:4/BATHS:3
SQ FT: 1576
6 St. Paul Street, #6, $849K
BEDS:2/BATHS:2.5
SQ FT: 1539
More from Pamela on Brookline and Brighton
Sweet Digs Boston Home
April 29, 2008
April 28, 2008
Fresh listings seem to get all the attention. And in an active market, an old listing may seem undesirable, but that could be an oversight in today’s market. Even though everything is sitting around, keep in mind we’re talking houses and condos, not fish.
Often, “stale” or dated listings indicate the seller is in a bad place. Financially, the seller may be strapped; psychologically, the seller may not value the place as much. That’s the recipe for a good bargain.
A buyer with good credit and pile of cash is the belle of the ball. While some sellers hold out until the cormorants come home, others willingly negotiate. If you’re going make a lowball offer on a property, a stale listing is a great place to start.
65 Palmer Street, #65-2
Salem, 01970
Beds2: /Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 895
$174,900
At $195/sq.ft. with some serious water views, 382 days on the market doesn’t seem right, especially in a trendy neighborhood.
65 Canal Street
Salem, 01970
Beds: unlisted /Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 3775
$299,900
This old church is cheap because the view from Canal Street isn’t pretty, but inside, there is enough room for a disco, a la Steve Martin in The Jerk.
52 Essex, #1
Salem, 01970
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 991
$244,900
A charming old thing, priced $60k below assessed value. Definitely a buyer’s market.
More of Mike on Beverly and Salem
Sweet Digs Boston Home
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April 28, 2008
A lot of people ask me why I think it’s a good time to buy. After all, now that unbridled faith in the market has fallen out of vogue, prevailing opinion is that we’re supposed to be on the brink of the biggest housing plummet since the Great Depression.
Though I think this might be a bit of an overstatement, it’s true that nationally, prices are likely to continue falling. But I think the effect will be less in areas with a lot of inherent value in their locations (near services, low crime, good schools), and no matter what the drop, unless your home value reduces to nothing, you’re still building equity.
People were foolish to buy into the idea that the value of a home doubles every 10 years. But while apartment prices - like most other things - continue to be pumped by inflation, the current market drop is a rare opportunity to escape a trend that has spiked dramatically as of late.
So here are a few Back Bay and Beacon Hill units for sale that have recently undergone some, shall we say, “reverse inflation”:
8-16 Garrison St #204 - $244,900
0 beds, 1 bath, 305 sq. ft.
Yes, it’s cramped and a little dark. But it’s also cleverly armed with nearly any amenity your heart could desire, and a short walk from the Back Bay T stop, just up the Acela Express from NYC, Philly, Baltimore and DC - all without having to take your shoes off. All this plus three price drops in 54 days on the market could make this the perfect pied à terre.
108 Mt. Vernon St. #1 - $1,695,000
3 beds, 3 baths, 1,640 sq. ft.
Here’s a seller stubborn seller if I’ve ever seen one. 231 days on the market and just now a price reduction. The good news? It’s a $125,000 slash. The bad news: the property still costs over $1000 per square foot. My guess, though, is that after months of denial, the seller is finally fed up and willing to deal.
145 Pinckney St #416 - $319,000
0 beds, 1 bath, 455 sq. ft.
Roomier and sunnier than the other studio profiled above, yet still on the market after 355 days; I think this place really highlights the impact of nice kitchen fixtures on buyer perception. Don’t be fooled, folks: white refrigerators keep food just as cold—if not colder—than stainless units. Shop for your condo accordingly.
April 27, 2008
I took up a friend’s offer take the kids to Codman Farm in Lincoln for the morning. Codman Farm is a family-friendly farm full of animals and gardens. They even have a little self-serve store on the grounds selling local meat. After some playtime on the farm, we visited our favorite park at Lincoln Elementary school.
Only ten miles from Somerville, Lincoln’s bucolic landscape and quaint New England charm make it seem much farther from the city.
Sometimes I yearn for the nature of Lincoln and the fishing villages of the North Shore. I love the open spaces and grassy fields. That beautiful day, I briefly thought it would be neat to live in a place like that. And the hippie-foodie in me thinks I would enjoy raising my own chickens, however…
An older couple we met at the park brought me back to reality. They abandoned the quiet of Lincoln for a life more convenient. “Four miles to EVERYTHING” she warned. “You need cough syrup, four miles there and four miles back. It gets old really quick.”
I agree. If I need milk or eggs, I walk three minutes to Star Market and the whole trip takes 15 minutes, even with a line. On my walk to work in Harvard Square, I can drop my kids at day-care. Life without driving four miles for basic necessities is unbeatable.
We don’t have Codman Farm in Somerville, but ten really cool playgrounds sit within walk distance. The journey to your destination is part of the kids’ fun. They get to look at blooming flowers, earth moving equipment, construction sites, fire trucks, trains, and all sorts of stuff.
Here are a few places around Somerville that involve more exploring and less car-seat:
57 Chandler Street
Somerville,02144
Beds: 4/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 3484
$818,000
It’s one of the most fabulous listings in the Somerville, right in Davis Square. I drooled over that kitchen.
16 Freemont
Somerville,02145
Beds: 3/Baths:2
SQ.FT.: 1612
$449,000
It’s a couple of blocks from Ball Square, home of the Somerville Breakfast Wars. This Mansard-topped Victorian (you know, the Dracula-style roof!) is a diamond in the rough, but the bones are there to create a spectacular home.
88 Ossipee Road
Somerville,02144
Beds: 4/Baths:2.5
SQ.FT.: 3484
$839,000
In West Somerville, not far from Tufts University, we have a fully renovated single-family house. The unassuming exterior hides a glorious interior with a new, light filled kitchen and beautiful woodwork. Try getting that in Lincoln for under $1.5 million!
More of Margaret on Somerville and Cambridge
Sweet Digs Boston Home
April 27, 2008
A few years ago, during headier times in the real estate market, we were all checking Zillow every 15 minutes to find out how much our housing values had increased. But in a sign of our strapped times, with gas prices skyrocketing and global warming a looming concern, another website is set to become a national obsession: Walkscore.
The idea is this: we’re all fat, cash-strapped, and concerned about rising sea levels, bat fungus, and the disappearance of the bees. In times like these, we have learned to look beyond whether a house has central air-conditioning or a heated garage. Now we’re thinking about environmental sustainability, minimizing our gas usage, and reducing our expanding waistlines. Nothing makes a house more sustainable than being located in a walkable neighborhood where you can park the car and use your feet. (Hey, you can also dump that expensive gym membership, too!)
If you go to Walk Score and type in your address, you come up with a score for your home’s “walkability,” along with a street map of nearby businesses. Scores run from 0 to 100, with 90 to 100 being a walker’s paradise, where it’s possible to live without a car. On the other end of the scale is 0 to 25, meaning driving only. (My Brighton condo came in at 82, by the way, which means it’s possible to get by without a car — which I do.) A neighborhood is considered walkable if it’s got a discernible center with a shopping center, is fairly dense, and if schools and workplaces are close enough that most people can walk from their homes. Naturally, once I heard about this little toy, I spent my whole weekend rating the “walkscores” of all my friends. (My folks’ Las Vegas home had a pitiful score of 23.)
Will this site (debuting last summer) take off as a new real estate tool? Hmmm.. not so sure about that. I think most people have a really good idea of a neighborhood’s walkability when they begin a housing search. For example, I wouldn’t even THINK of living in the suburbs, and didn’t look at any houses there, even though I could have bought three times the amount of space. I realized several years back that I could live more happily without a car and have organized my life accordingly. Others, meanwhile, are choosing neighborhoods based on school districts or proximity to I-495, and are organizing their lives accordingly. In the long run, however, maybe this site will help raise awareness among the suburban set about the high costs of living in a place where you are completely car-dependent. (Housing prices are dropping most precipitously, by the way, in these sorts of places.) Maybe it will encourage developers to build mixed-use developments that don’t force people into cars.
But whether this comes to pass or not, at least worrying about your home’s walk score is a whole lot healthier than worrying about your home’s property value!
29 Bigelow Street, #2, $359,000
BEDS: 2/BATHS: 1
SQ FT: 1000
WALK SCORE: 66 (Some walkable locations)
147 Kelton Street, #510, $330,000
BEDS: 2/BATHS: 2
SQ FT: 1000
WALK SCORE: 82 (Very Walkable)
2 Priscilla Road, #1, $374,000
BEDS: 2/BATHS: 1.5
SQ FT: 1144
WALK SCORE: 77 (Very Walkable)
46 Broadlawn,#B, $499,900
BEDS: 3/BATHS: 2.5
SQ FT: 1730
WALK SCORE: 23 (Driving Only)
April 26, 2008
Maybe bad for sellers, but good for those of you on the prowl. Here are a couple of gems in Salem for night owls.
20 Loring Avenue #3 in Salem is only $108 per square foot — I know, I know, Mike, but look at it! It needs paint and paper, but it is really something else. Plus, you’re within a stone’s throw of Bagel World and Salem State. 3 Bedrooms for $189,900 is a condo that makes sense when you rack it up next to the market price for houses around here. And I love the subtle turrets (or bays). Those fireplaces could be turned into radiant gas heaters for way less than you might think. Candles are nice, too.
26 Summit Avenue is a “colonial in pristine condition.” What I wouldn’t do for a little garage, and 1/4 acre. There’s an open house from 12-2 tomorrow. $334,900 for over 1200 square feet, and enough land to grow a serious vegetable garden to feed yourself after the Zombie apocalypse, Shorty.
Image links to source.
April 26, 2008
It seems odd to me that fans of a lineup as hard-hitting as ‘08 Sox would wish a return to the tactical baseball of the 19-teens, but if the Dropkick Murphys think it’s a good idea, who am I to judge? Yes, in case you’d been living under a rock for the past week, Nuf Ced McGreevy is shipping back to Boston.
The reincarnated 3rd Base Saloon (last stop before home, get it?) will finally put the Foggy Goggle out of its misery, and on a sadder note, absorb the Pour House—who recently sold their 2am liquor license to Fenway Park for lordonlyknowshowmuch—as well. Try and get down to 907 Boylston one of the best tasting, best priced brunches around before the place closes shop for good.
Anyway, the good news for well-heeled Sox fans is you no longer have to live in the hubbub, squalor and constant construction of Kenmore Square for the full Red Sox experience. Here are some Sweet Back Bay Digs that’ll let you beat that relay as you round 3rd and head for home.
228 Comm Ave #9 - $419,000
1 bed, I bath, 576 sq. ft.
For the budget-conscious (by Back Bay standards) member of the reincarnated Royal Rooters, this one-bed skimps on the kitchen, but provides ample floorspace throughout the rest of the unit. Might be a bit sunny on Sunday mornings after late games, though.
295 Newbury St #PH - $5,000,000
3 beds, 3 baths, 2,844 sq. ft.
For those of you hoping to make the Sox starting line-up as well as the late-night rounds at McGreevy’s, this Newbury St. penthouse brings it all together for you in style. And the list pirce is a mere quarter of Manny Ramirez’s 2008 salary. How could you pass it up?
360 Newbury St, #604 - $745,000
1 bed, 1 bath, $864,000
Might want to lay off the first few pitches on this place, as condo prices across the city are dropping faster than Justin Masterson’s sinker, but a still a great location for a quick stop between Fenway Park and the Boylston Street bars. Just in case a Pedroia jersey doesn’t quite go with your Brooks Brothers collared shirt.
April 25, 2008
