Opinion
Columnists, guest columns, op-eds and editorials published in Banker & Tradesman and its special sections.
Guest Columns and Op-Eds
From high officials to lone operators, read a diverse cross section of perspectives on the issues facing the Massachusetts real estate and banking industries today.
Pitches for op-eds and special section guest columns should be directed to managing editor James Sanna at jsanna@thewarrengroup.com.
How to Move Mass. Transit Forward in 2024
Gov. Maura Healey’s made significant progress on her initial transportation goals. She now has a foundation to help Massachusetts build a better transportation system next year if she can keep up this drumbeat.
Boston’s Cherry-Flavored Rent Control May Cost Your Town a Teacher or Two
Research shows rent control hurts the value of all property in a city, and the way state school aid is distributed means other communities will lose some of their education funding if rent control returns.
Rampant Insurance Increases Are Stifling Housing Production
There’s a new threat to affordability that is jolting the rental apartment real estate industry, especially those in market-rate and affordable multifamily housing: insurance premiums.
Forget the Fruit Basket – Give Gifts of Culture, Curiosity and Community
What does an overflowing fruit basket, especially one ordered from a big national chain, really say about a company and its values? Especially when your community is overflowing with opportunities to expand your and your contacts’ horizons.
Housing Everyone Adds to the Greater Good
Efforts to keep people in their homes not only benefit the individuals at risk of homelessness, they also contribute to the overall well-being of our communities.
FHFA’s Federal Rent Control Proposal Would Be a Disaster
In its attempt to address the dire housing crisis, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is considering a policy that would surely make it worse and reduce the use of federal housing dollars.
Artificial Intelligence Creates a New Frontier for Real Estate
Real estate professionals now have myriad new tools that can be used to assist in day-to-day business activities and help streamline work, leading to more effective agents.
Transfer Taxes Won’t Increase Competitiveness in the Commonwealth
Instead of focusing on reforms that will boost our economy, the Healey-Driscoll administration is pursuing a policy that will further damage the state’s competitiveness: a new tax on home and building sales.
Bankers’ Help Will Be Key to Downtown’s Next Chapter
Retail vacancies are dropping and the number of restaurants and new, diverse businesses are rising, but downtown property owners need lenders’ help to confront broader headwinds.
The Transit Zoning Rules that Matter
What rules to municipalities have to follow in complying with the MBTA Communities transit-oriented zoning law? What deadlines matter? Who decides if a town is doing the right thing?
Office Construction Slows, But It’s Still a Tenant’s Market
For the foreseeable future, occupiers will have the advantage. Companies considering relocation or lease renewal can leverage the highest amount of vacant office space ever recorded to their benefit in negotiations.
Life Science Market Fundamentals Show Advantage Lies with Users
Dour-sounding statistics about the state of Massachusetts’ life science real estate market should be put into context. Yes, the market has short-term challenges, but it will normalize over the coming years.
Scott Van Voorhis
Commercial Interests
Columnist Scott Van Voorhis analyzes the commercial real estate market, state politics, housing and more with the perspective of a journalist with 40 years’ experience covering businesses in Massachusetts.
Watch Out: Real Estate Slumps Bring Recessions
On paper, the economy couldn’t look finer. But little if any attention is paid to an iceberg looming ahead – the massive and growing real estate slump – the kind of iceberg that typically prefigures a recession.
Boring Predictions? Not with 2024 Around the Corner
Writing a column about the big stories to watch for the year ahead is typically a fairly tame exercise. Not this time. Here are my bets for the big stories are likely to make 2024 a memorable year.
It’s the Housing, Stupid
The housing crisis has gone national, spreading from Boston and a few other blue cities to states and markets across the country. And along the way, it is helping poison the nation’s political mood by deferring or killing the dreams of a generation.
Boston Looks to NYC to Get Construction Moving
With housing construction stalled across Boston, the Wu administration is thinking big when it comes to ways to get apartment and condominium projects moving again.
Lew Sichelman
The Housing Scene
Syndicated residential real estate columnist Lew Sichelman has been covering real estate for more than 50 years. He is a regular contributor to numerous shelter magazines and housing and housing-finance industry publications.
Study Says Agents Still Steering Buyers
It has long been suspected that some agents engage in “steering” – guiding their buyer-clients away from low-paying listings. And the authors of a new, large-scale study say they’ve unearthed proof.
Vets Have Plenty of Housing Help
I am old enough to remember how the soldiers returning from Vietnam were “welcomed” home. Fast-forward 50 years or so, the country – and the housing sector – can’t seem to do enough for our fighting heroes.
Most Can Raise Their Credit Scores
The common wisdom is that would-be homebuyers with lower credit scores benefit the most from improving them. But that’s not the case, says a new survey.
Don’t Put Your Earnest Money at Risk
Attaching a check to the offer on a house you hope to purchase is the right way to signal your intentions to the seller. But that means you need to keep your side of the bargain, too.