Not Your Dad’s Apartments
Philip Koether, an architect for 30 years, told me that before the recession rental properties were different than condominiums, that they were ”quite a bit lesser.” But post-recession, Koether who designed the common space at the new Batchyard apartments in Everett,...Property Managers Try To Stay One Step Ahead Of Record Snow
When I passed 53 State St., its sidewalk was pristine. It didn’t look as if record snow had fallen over the past 30 days. And there wasn’t a head-high barricade of the white stuff separating the street from the sidewalk. Instead, the pavement next to the downtown high rise looked like my house after the cleaners had come: a happy place to be.
The Future Of The Cambridge Single-Family Market: A Riddle
The bad news: I recently surveyed MLS for Cambridge single-family homes and found only five on market.
A Tool To Instantly Understand Price Per Square Foot In The Hub Condo Market
Some condominium development folks recently asked me about mid-market opportunities, so I decided to create a tool for them to quickly understand the price per square foot competition in the Hub’s condo markets. I reviewed more than 2,300 Hub condo sales occurring in...A Tool To Instantly Understand Price Per Square Foot In The Hub Condo Market
Some condominium development folks recently asked me about mid-market opportunities, so I decided to create a tool for them to quickly understand the price per square foot competition in the Hub’s condo markets.
Black Market Real Estate Rentals Thriving In Greater Boston
An advertisement to rent a Boston condominium for a vacation rental never shows photos of the front of the building: it’s a mystery. The precise location of the building also is undisclosed: it’s an enigma. Who owns the condo is a riddle. If Boston has a black market...Grading The Hub’s Condo Market Performance
In honor of my kids returning to school, I graded the performance of the Hub’s major condo markets in the first seven months of the year.
Thoughts On A Risky Business
“Real estate is like musical chairs: You just have to make sure you have somewhere to sit when the music stops playing,” said a client of mine at the beginning of his real estate investing career.
Insights From Boston’s Largest Apartment Rental Network
Demetrios Salpoglou was a Boston rental agent as far back as 1995, but it was a hiatus in high tech that provided a skill set that eventually helped him separate a network of Boston rental companies from the typical rental office you see just about everywhere in the city.
Real Estate Timing Is No Joke
Like good comedy, successful real estate buying is often the result of excellent timing.
When The Market Goes Wild
On Feb. 25, a Brookline agent put a Beacon Street condo on the market and later lamented that she received only three offers, the highest of which went only $5,000 over ask. So much for the old real estate adage about pricing: Leave some room for negotiation. In the market the Hub is currently in, only three offers and only $5,000 over ask is a letdown.
Dreaming Of Spring
On April 2, I dreamed I was allowed to take the helm of the Hub’s spring condo market – that I alone was charged with the responsibility of making the spring market hum with the precision of a high-performance automobile. It was an awesome responsibility, yet having been through so many spring markets myself, I felt up to the task.
Boston Condos Are On the Map For Chinese Investors
Last March, the National Association of Realtors didn’t consider Massachusetts one of the top destinations for Chinese buyers; but by June the Realtor organization had the commonwealth in a three-way tie as its second-most preferred destination.
The Right Recipe For Real Estate In Greater Boston
While not record-setting everywhere, 2013 could definitely be given a five-star rating.
Small Multifamily Prices Surge
Are you thinking about buying a small multifamily (two to four units) building for investment in one of Boston’s most enviable markets? Good luck. The last listed two-to-four family sold in Beacon Hill on March 17, 2011. That’s right, for over two-and-a-half years the tony Boston neighborhood has pitched an MLS shutout for small multis.
Ageless Investors Moving The Greater Boston Market
Some time ago, I was representing for sale a 33-unit Brookline building. Potential buyers would inevitably ask, “Why are they selling?” My reply was that the owner was 95 and holding the building wasn’t part of his five-year strategic plan. It was true. He was probably the most ambitious 95-year-old I’ve run across.
Why Sales In Boston’s Best Neighborhoods Are Down
Are Boston’s best condominium neighborhoods losing their luster? Is that why transactions in Back Bay, Beacon Hill and Brookline are all down this year compared to 2012?
Spring Sales Have Sprung, But Now What?
I called the Greater Boston real estate market several weeks back, but nobody picked up.
Greater Boston’s Hottest Condominium Markets
When much of the real estate region feels like it is in the midst a heat wave, how do you tell which condominium markets are truly the hottest? I picked 10 key geographical markets that I thought should compete. Then, I used MLS to complete many calculations, comparing this year’s first half numbers to the first half of 2011 to see how much each market had changed. Then I compared the markets and their changes to each other, to see which had become hottest.
