Archive for June, 2008
June 30, 2008
If you’ve been following the market here in Boston—or at least following those who follow the market—I think you’ll agree that in most of the city, we seemed to have reached a consensus opinion: nationwide, the market is down, but here in Boston, things aren’t so bad.
The reasons given for this are strong educational and biotech sectors, plenty of momentum from downtown condo construction programs, parents buying condos for student housing, and a tight, compact geography that puts lots of property in desireable locations.
Say what you will about the T, but I think it would be foolish to discount the role of an effective—if somewhat dysfunctional—transit system in Boston’s market survivability as well. After all, crude oil is up at $143 a barrel. Not driving saves cash, and if there’s one thing Boston encourages, it’s staying the heck out of the driver’s seat.
But for all these advantages, Boston has one thing lacking from other survivor markets, like Houston and Atlanta: winter. A cold, bitter, and unforgiving winter. On a sticky, muggy day like this, it might sound like heaven, but come November, those cold temps could cut us off at the knees.
Last year, with heating oil around $3 a gallon, tough decisions needed to be made. With the potential to reach nearly $5 this winter, heating oil prices could cripple the housing market here more deeply that even the most reckless NINA loans.
Weekend Stroll and 400k Open Houses On Comm Ave
Sweet Digs Boston 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 28, 2008
The Chinatown Blog offers a few suggestions for parking in Chinatown. Most apply to the rest of the city, too. [The Chinatown Blog]- Be sure to take the T to any of the North End feasts; The Chinatown Blogger’s parking suggestions don’t apply to festivals and sporting events. [The Beantown Bloggery]
- Forbes quoted our own Glenn Kelman in a discussion about online home-buying. [Forbes]
- What’s with the Clarendon’s new siding? [Boston Condos]
- Some talking points to stump your friends when they question your decision to buy. [John Keith]
- City Councilor Michael Flaherty accused the Mayor of being sneaky. I accuse the Councilor of not paying attention to his job. [Universal Hub]
- Brody Jenner is in Boston today looking for a new friend or a posse or something. [Loaded Gun]
- Life in the suburbs must be getting pretty boring; people are moving back to the city. [Boston Real Estate Blog]
- Mo Vaughn has a great reputation for giving back to the community. He continues to help by cleaning up some of Boston’s affordable housing. Thank you, Mo. [Boston Daily]
- Simon Property Group filed plans with the city to build it’s forty-seven story condo building at Copley Place. [Condodomain]
- The Harvard Bookstore changed hands after forty-six years. How long before it gets turned into condos? [MetaBoston]
- The farmers market at Barry’s Corner kicked off its season Wednesday. Let’s make it a point to support local farmers by visiting more farmer’s markets this summer. [Allston Brighton Community Blog]
- Massachusetts must have been pretty good to Mitt Romney if he can afford a $12 million home in California. [The RealEstalker]
Dine and Dash: A Tour of the Shore
Boston Sweet Digs Home
June 27, 2008
Here are 3 brand new listings that popped up. Enjoy!
The first is just a great, solid, extremely attractive house:
3 Somerset Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1600
$ 419,000
This bank-owned property is priced low enough to take the plunge:
36 Northey Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 1890
$ 235,000
I’m not a condo person, but even I would fall for this one:
71 Leech Street, #2
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths:2
SQ.FT.: 2962
$399,900
June 27, 2008
Today’s been hot and stormy, but the weekend forecast looks much more inviting, or at least less hot. Perfect weather to take a nice, relaxed stroll down Commonwealth Avenue, and take in a few open houses.
The Comm Ave Mall, with its Victorian-style benches, statuary and much-needed downtown greenspace, might seem like just another nice feature of Back Bay neighborhood. But it also serves as the third link (going outbound) on Boston’s Emerald Necklace, a string of parks running from the Common practically to Roslindale.
So while it makes for the nice urban equivalent of a front lawn, the Comm Ave mall also serves as on-ramp to a massive non-automotive thoroughfare. Want to take in a movie on the Common? Just scenic walk away. Game at Fenway? Another scenic walk. Heck, disco bowling in JP. Yeah–another scenic walk.
And to think there was once talk of turning it all into condos.
64 Comm Ave #9
Back Bay, MA 02116
0 Beds, 1 Bath
595 sq. ft.
$429,000
135 Comm Ave #1
Back Bay, MA 02116
0 Beds, 1 Bath
450 sq. ft.
$349,000
183 Comm Ave #2
Back Bay, MA 02116
1 Beds, 1 Bath
677 sq. ft.
$435,000
Mount Vernon Street for a Mere Six Figures
Sweet Digs Boston Home
June 27, 2008
Our Dine and Dash this weekend is a departure from our usual walk around the city. This Sunday we’re hitting the beautiful South Shore for some sun and seafood.
Boston’s South Shore holds a special place in my heart; I grew up in Hingham, and every single member of my family still lives near its beautiful beaches. Growing up, I was lucky enough to have the most beautiful playgrounds in Massachusetts as my disposal; nearby Wampatuck State Park offers forested trails for hiking and biking, and the soft sand and cool waves at Nantasket Beach make summer a whole lot of fun. I still have access to these recreation opportunities, they’re just not as convenient as when I lived in Hingham.
I was also lucky enough to grow up with the Hingham Lobster Pound. The Lobster Pound serves up some delicious fried clams and scallops, but my favorite is their lobster roll. Much like the town itself, the lobster roll is understated: a scoop of lobster, easy on the mayo, served with a piece of lettuce on a small bun. It’s not a greasy, two pound, quantity-over-quality sandwich to choke down with a Big Gulp. These sandwiches are best enjoyed on the beach or deep in quiet shade of Wampatuck.
I haven’t figured out the logistics of grabbing a lobster roll and visiting open houses all over the South Shore yet, but I think we can do it:
205 Samoset Avenue
Hull, 02045
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1053
$399,00
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 12pm-2pm
Just two blocks from the quiet part of Nantasket Beach.
32 Fairview
Hingham, 02043
Beds: 4/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 1625
$555,000
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 1pm-3pm
I’m a proud graduate of Hingham High School. Go Harbormen!
76 East Street
Hanover, 02339
Beds: 3/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1229
$385,000
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 12pm-2pm
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit I’m good friends with the owners of this home; I’ve spent many weekends relaxing, grilling, and enjoying a few glasses of wine in the back yard. Unfortunately, the pictures don’t show how big that yard really is.
Hitting the Links
Sweet Digs Boston Home
June 27, 2008
For better or worse, it can sometimes be a little tough to find an “adult” condo in Brighton — especially if your budget is under $300K. The lower price ranges seem to be dominated by small, investor-owned units that are often rented to students. Needless to say, the few of them you would dare to live in would quickly lose their appeal once you’ve moved beyond the days of Coors posters on the walls and beer bottle collections on the mantle.
So here’s the conundrum: what do you do if you want to live in Brighton but you’re craving neighbors who know your name and a condo where you can really settle in for a while? Happily, there are a few units on the market right now in the under $300K-range that seem to hold the promise of making a house a real home.
9 Saybrook Road, #9-3
Brighton
BEDS: 2/BATHS:1
SQ. FT: 960
$299K
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 2008 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
An active condo association keeps the building spruced up.
158 Kelton Street, #7
Brighton
BEDS:3/BATHS:1
SQ. FT: 1020
$299,900
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 2008 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Architectural details such as paneling in the livingroom and built-in cabinets suggest this spacious condo could become a showhouse with a little stylistic flare.
92 Gordon Street, #206
Brighton
BEDS:2/BATHS: 1.5
Sq. Ft: 809
$285K
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 2008 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
The kitchen and bath have been updated, which shows that this condo has felt a little love at some point in its past.
Boston Sweet Digs Home
Moving Up in Brookline Ain’t Easy
June 26, 2008
I know that not everyone is into hauling boulders, and planting herb gardens, and — well — really landscaping. Some people are into lawns, and a nice lawn makes a house look good. Others think that four Home Depot yews and a bag of hosta chunks are okay. They aren’t.
But the very worst is orange mulch. Nothing says “I’ll get to live in a place that looks like the parking lot of WalMart” like spreading orange mulch everywhere.
Real cedar mulch isn’t great — it robs the soil of nitrogen as it decomposes — but at least it looks natural, and if you want to keep weeds down, it’s okay. But you see this other stuff everywhere, in giant orange mounds that dwarf nursery fences. God knows what it really is — but it’s been dyed red, and it might well be made of plastic and shredded tires. It’s toxic, and if you don’t care about that, it’s ugly. And ugly doesn’t sell your house.
You don’t have to be a gardening enthusiast to add curb appeal to your home, but you should try to make it look like a pleasant place to be from the outside. Condo association take note: lousy landscapes make your building look like a housing project as prospective buyers approach. Institutional is bad when people are looking for a home.
Here are 10 things you can do to dress up a house:
- Redraw the lines of beds — instead of rectangles, make blobs and curves. Round it out.
- Plant FLOWERS. Try to find perennials that will establish themselves and fill in the bed over time.
- Ask questions at the nursery — find out what’s easy to grow and what will grow in the light and soil conditions in your yard. Things don’t die because they hate you, they die because their conditions are wrong.
- Fill in bald spots and weedy areas with native wildflower seeds. Just seed the heck out of an eyesore and watch it turn into an attractive feature. Wildflowers are grasses — they’ll take over where many other things won’t grow.
- Don’t mess with lawn ornaments — forget the little dutch boy and girl, or the much more politically incorrect stuff one sees in people’s lawns. Water features are nice, but cement and plastic fountains are a waste of money. Likewise the cheap gazebos and stuff they sell at Target.
- Real estate agents may warn you against using stone inside your home, but natural rock is always impressive outside a house. Cinder block is ugly. Brick is okay, but those you-stack-’em retaining wall blocks are cinder block, and that’s what they look like. Dry-lay stone retaining walls — the kind that don’t use cement — are almost as easy to build, and they look much better.
- Prune and trim. Cut back the weeds in that ditch. Get rid of the old Volvo that has become its own superfund cleanup site in the side yard.
- Don’t show a house with a tree than needs tree work. It’s expensive, but not as expensive as buyers will perceive it to be. If it’s close to the house, and it’s big, you need to make it look tended and healthy, or cut it down.
- Use natural bark mulch, or partially decomposed wood chips. Buckwheat hulls and muscle shells make pretty, organic mulch, too. Good, dark mulch holds moisture, controls weeds, and provides contrast to your colorful plants.
- Deal with drainage issues before you try to sell your house. Regrade the lawn (it’s easier than it sounds), dig a French drain (un hole filled avec les gravel), or re-route the gutters so they spill out farther away from the house. Don’t blow the deal when potential buyers come to see the place in the rain!
Newly Listed in Beverly
Boston Sweet Digs Home
June 26, 2008
Were I a man of unlimited means, the sort who could live anywhere Beacon Hill, without a doubt I’d choose to live on Mount Vernon Street.
Say what you will about the cachet of Louisburg Square–I find the combination of cobblestones and speed bumps redundant, I hear the neighborhood association is something of a beast, and c’mon: it used to be called “Mount Whoredom” (bawdy pun no doubt intended by the coiner).
Mount Vernon Street has plenty of things that the Square simply can’t offer. The option to drive in either direction, for example. Off-street parking. Driveways. A lawn. Gardens. Shade trees that aren’t confined to a silly little park.
But what really seals the deal for me is the architecture. The brick bowfronts in Louisburg Square look OK, but are fairly anonymous; they turn up all over Boston (Back Bay, the South End, Charlestown) and once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
Mount Vernon, on the other hand, is a veritable feast for the eyes. The novelist Henry James called it the most beautiful street in America, and it samples the full range of styles employed by one Charles Bulfinch; you might remember him from such buildings as the Massachusetts State House, Faneuil Hall, and the US Capitol Building.
The downside is that, of course, is such real estate is prohibitively expensive. But a few opportunities do occasionally arise for mere equestrians to buy in. Here are three properties on that Street of Streets asking less than one million dollars:
93 Mt. Vernon St. #A
Beacon Hill, MA 02108
Beds:1 /Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 654
$479,000
57 Mt. Vernon St.
Beacon Hill, MA 02108
Beds:1 /Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 913
$635,000
80 Mt. Vernon St.
Beacon Hill, MA 02108
Beds:2 /Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1,206
$849,000
Making the Delivery: Lowball if you Dare
Sweet Digs Boston Home
June 25, 2008
They just keep coming. That means that prospective buyers have a great selection, aside from all of the other perks to buying in this market. If the seller’s agent hasn’t listed pics yet, try back a bit later.
Here’s some jargon for you: a FSBO is “For Sale By Owner.” Most sellers are honest, but there are concerns when buying a FSBO, especially concerning who keeps your deposit while the rest of the deal is worked out.
111 Cross Lane
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds:2 /Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1850
$ 609,000
34 Jordan Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths:1
SQ.FT.:1800
$ 269,500
Low price per square foot on this one; even better if you like Dairy Queen.
2 Ash Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1193
$329,000
Open Houses in Salem This Weekend…and Summer Storms!
Boston Sweet Digs Home
