May 3, 2008

New Listings, and Little “Open” Tags!

I’ve been laid up the last few days, and wanted to drop an off-peak post into the mix before the week came to a close. As predicted, new houses are popping up on the market like crazy.

All of a sudden, there are little tags that say “open” on the Redfin search page — which means it just got easier to find open houses. Open houses are great because you can nose around and not feel overly obligated — you aren’t wasting anyone’s time, and everyone is cool and comfortably distant until you have a pre-approval letter anyway. In this mortgage market, agents and sellers want to see financial credentials before they get too excited about tire kickers.

Check out these listings, and watch for open houses next weekend — or, what the heck, take a rainy drive up and look at some houses.

156 Hart Street in Beverly doesn’t scream charm and taste — it politely implies. $359,900 for over 1500 square feet in Beverly Farms? It’s cute, and that’s a neighborhood — well, they have Updike, for Pete’s sake.

I just can’t get over the half-million dollar condos my fellow bloggers post in Brookline and the Back Bay — look at 5 Sargent Avenue for $420,000!

72 Dane Street has views that can only be called “dramatic” in weather like this. Ocean views for $324,000!

John Singer Sargent was a famous American portrait painter; the image above links to it’s source.