July 23, 2008

New In Town? You Could Be! (3 New Listings in Beverly)

Every time a seller lists a new property, an angel loses its wings. Anyway, that’s what it feels like if you’ve been a seller for longer than is comfortable for you.

But if you’re buying, every one of these new listings (theoretically) dilutes the market value of every other one. And with low unemployment rates and an economy that looks healthy and wealthy next to (say) Pittsburgh, you’re going to see this market recover sooner or later.

Of course, most people that are listing now are (generally) realistic about the market they’re selling in. You probably have more leverage with stale listings than with new, as new listings get way more attention. But don’t let that stop you. I wouldn’t sell a house in this market unless I had to, and so some of these folks need to unload their casa. If you’re dreaming on a deal, one of these might be the ticket:

19 Melvin Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1400
$ 395,000

5 Porter Terrace
Beverly, MA
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1241
$ 289,900

60 Glidden Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1176
$275,000

July 18, 2008

Choice Open Houses for Saturday and Sunday, July 19-20

I’ve read more than one real estate agent’s online rant against open houses.  I like them, personally, but then I don’t have to sit there through the nicest part of a Sunday and get people to sign a guest register so I don’t look like a slacker to the clients whose house…just isn’t selling.

From what I gather, open houses don’t really sell houses.  It’s trawling.  Open houses are a way for players and potential players in a sale to meet — cards and phone numbers are exchanged, agents and brokers talk to each other about the most precious commodity in this market (qualified buyers).  And it’s something to do when you can’t think of anything else, and you have a million houses to unload.

For buyers, on the other hand, open houses are a chance to see what’s out there without dealing too much with salespeople.  In other markets, maybe, agents can afford to sneer at tire kickers.  In this one, we’ll be happy to see folks who are looking at having a down saved (or having repaired enough credit) by 2012 or so.

So go look.  You might learn a few things, get some decorating ideas, maybe some free pens or refrigerator magnets.
This one’s a GREAT location….

7 Foster Drive
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths:1.5
SQ.FT.: 1372
$ 409,714
Open House: Sunday, July 20, 11:00am-1:00pm
House floozy that I am, I have a thing for this one:

6 Story Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1217
$  279,900
Open House: Saturday, July 19, 3:00pm-4:30pm

I think this one is overpriced — it’s a good entry price, but no one is going to pay over $300 per square foot for just under 500 square feet.  But that doesn’t mean the seller won’t be reasonable.  Asking is only asking — a condo is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

81 Cabot Street #3R
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 1/Baths:  1
SQ.FT.:  449
$  139,900
Open House: Sunday, July 20, 1:00pm-3:00pm

July 17, 2008

Farmer’s Market Season!

One of our concerns, moving away from Cambridge and JP, was food. Would we be able to get Indian food? Brazilian BBQ? And how would we get through the summer without big CSA boxes full of veggies?

Beverly and Salem don’t disappoint — there’s no Moody’s falafel, but Maria’s has awesome gyros on homemade pita, and we love Anmal, Beverly’s Indian joint. And while we aren’t really in CSA range, we have farmstands, farmer’s markets, and local food.

Farmer’s markets are a great reason to get up before noon on summer weekends, and the Marblehead Farmer’s Market is exquisite: the baked goods are world class, and the cheeses — from small private creameries in Vermont and central Mass. — are rare treats. Add cheap veggies, super cheap fresh herbs and cut flowers, fair trade coffee, and handmade, natural casing lamb-and-feta sausages, and you can have a heck of a breakfast while you shop for dinner.

Bring a lot of cash and a cooler — you’ll want to stock up on artisan goat cheeses and local, organic meats.The Beverly and Gloucester markets are mid-week and much smaller, although the produce is great.

For information on North Shore farmer’s markets and farm stands, check out Blue Heron Local Cuisine.

July 16, 2008

New in Beverly in Mid-July

If you lived here, you’d be at the beach by now. Check out this serious New England charm.

We’ll start with the steal of the season…this is one heck of a starter home.

12 County Way
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1444
$ 243,900

The next one is a condo and reads “Just reduced $30,000″ and “Priced to sell this weekend.” Does something about being a condo make a place more desirable than a house, or do condo owners need to come to terms with this market? Condos are a necessity in the big city, but I’d rather have a yard to mow up here. Still, Montserrat is a great place to live.

47 Sohier Road
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.:1050
$ 229,000

Okay…townhouse on Tuck’s point for $279,900? The restaurants of downtown Beverly, including Marika’s, Cassis, The Atomic Cafe, and Anmal within walking distance? Um…okay.

115 Water Street #14
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 2
SQ.FT.: 1249
$ 279,900

Properties Under $250K in Salem
Boston Sweet Digs Home

July 11, 2008

Open Houses on Sunday the 13th

Have an early lunch at Galu Galu, then get hunting! Here are three open houses in Salem to add to your itinerary this weekend:

79 Flint Street, #1
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 940
$ 235,000
Open House: Sunday, June 13, 1:00pm-3:00pm

5 Saunders Street, #2
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 1/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 754
$ 179,900
Open House: Sunday, June 13, 2:00pm-3:30pm

5 Orne Square, #5
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1835
$ 439,900
Open House: Sunday, June 13, 12:00pm-1:30pm

July 10, 2008

Properties Under $250k in Salem

While there are deals to be had in Beverly, if you’re looking North to find something affordable, you’re going to want to check out Salem. More urban, more diverse, and (yes) more hip than Beverly, Salem draws more than the year-round Halloween crowd. There’s a burgeoning arts scene and the Peabody Essex Museum, and there are better dining options every day. If cafe life is your indicator (my girlfriend is hopelessly addicted to Expensive Bean Water), you won’t be disappointed, and Salem has a number of independent bookstores, and no big evil corporate ones. There’s an education crisis playing out in Salem, but there’s also an amazing community response to trying to solve it, and that speaks well for the future of Salem schools. This is a community that cares for its members, and I expect to see Salem blossom over the next 5-7 years.

Here are some buy-in priced properties in Witch City:

29 Japonica Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.:910
$245,000
198 North Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 882
$ 199,900

25 Liberty Hill Avenue, #3
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 800
$134,900

July 8, 2008

Vacation Home Living

I know a woman who works on Wall Street. She bought a beautiful house on a magnificent piece of property in upstate New York, and kept an apartment with several long-time roommates in the city. The house in the mountains was a more modest investment than a Manhattan condo, and a lot of people who could afford the Big Apple were looking towards country retreats in late 2001 and 2002. Prices in Woodstock, NY, almost tripled as waves of urbanites gobbled up property.

In Boston, the rising markets outside of the city were certainly driven by the soaring market within it, and Boston’s affluence rippled through surrounding counties and states. Our house tripled in value, then doubled again, according to the sales history. But this bubble was fed less by the flight mentality of people scared of Fox News’ coverage of “the next attack” and more by economic necessity. There are probably a large number of you living in Boston who fit my friend’s profile – young, with a good deal of disposable income, attached to a 5-minutes-from-home lifestyle. At least some of you aren’t ready to buy that million-dollar condo, and a lot of you are wringing your hands, wanting to take advantage of the down market with your whole HGTV-addicted hearts.

It’s a little irregular to be talking about property outside of Redfin’s sales regions, but I want you to grab a piece of ground as early as possible. If that means a little place in Stowe, or Brattleboro, or Dummerston, or outside Portland, or even in the untamed wilderness of New Hampshire, and an apartment in The City, so be it. It might not make the most economic sense, but it is a tax shelter, and it will send your credit score through the roof, which will benefit you later when you apply for a giant mortgage on a relatively little condo. A cheap property can also be a way to grow your down payment. Remember, you have to think in longer terms – if you’re 5-7 years from being able to buy anything in Central Square, you might think about a smaller and more remote investment.

To those of us who aren’t willing to consign the family’s last Botticelli to Sotheby’s, this might sound nuts. But consider Gloucester, which is accessible by train, a working-class port city sandwiched between two remarkably affluent towns. You can have a house there for a fraction of what a city condo costs – maybe enough to keep living with your college roommates, so you don’t have to decide custody of the shag-carpet-and-plywood bar you built sophomore year.

Of course, practicality might dictate that you split the difference. That’s why we chose to look in Beverly and Salem in the first place. I waved to my neighbor yesterday afternoon as he kayaked out to his sailboat. I took a lot of pictures, and watched the fireworks display my neighbors put on in the little cove across the peninsula. I ate nothing but fried fish and onion rings and roast beef sandwiches all weekend, and my eyebrows are turning blonde.

Carve off these slices of juicy goodness:

41 Front Street, Rear
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 1190
$ 289,900

38 West Street, #3
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.:936
$ 299,000

19 Melvin Avenue,
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1371
$369,000

July 4, 2008

Movement in the Market in Beverly

The market may be wounded, but it isn’t dead. Check out these recent sales… no good news here for sellers, I’m afraid, but the more of these properties that get slurped up (I’m craving oysters, and this is the right town for that!), the better off we all are. Welcome these folks to the neighborhood:

19 Lovett Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 1522
$ 232,500
Sold on 6/6/08

9 Mechanic Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 3/Baths: 1
SQ.FT.: 810
$ 236,000
Sold on 6/4/08

1 Crosby Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 1080
$ 246,500
Sold on 5/1/08

July 3, 2008

Bang For Your Buck In Beverly

As it goes, it’s getting harder and harder to find anything at the bottom of the barrel, and that might be good news in and of itself. Still, these are relatively low cost per square foot properties:

1-3 Bailey Avenue
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 2/Baths:1
SQ.FT.: 973
$ 184,900

246 Essex Street, #2
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 4/Baths:3
SQ.FT.: 2800
$ 379,900

23 Grant Street, #23
Beverly, MA 01915
Beds: 4/Baths:1.5
SQ.FT.: 1584
$ 239,900

July 2, 2008

Very Recent Sales in Salem (Thank goodness)

Despite some issues — the plight of Salem’s schools in particular — buyers seem to notice Salem’s potential. Conspicuous movers are the bargain and rehab properties (low $/sq. ft.), which means either landlords or first time buyers. I hope it’s the latter, but any property that leaves the market right now is a welcome change. Here’s some food for thought.

16 Glover Street
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 5/Baths:3
SQ.FT.: 3411
$237,000
Sold on 6/4/2008.

6 Loring Ave, #3E
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: ?/Baths: 2.5
SQ.FT.: 2232
$240,000
Sold on 6/6/08

4 Gallows Hill Road
Salem, MA 01970
Beds: 3/Baths: 1.5
SQ.FT.: 1631
$ 250,000
Sold on 6/6/08

Photo is from the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, and shows Gallows Hill in 1898.