My featured post in Curbed this week focused on an actual incident that occurred when a buyer of mine said he was considering either buying a condominium or continuing renting and buying a car.
I did some numbers and incredibly, if he became a homeowner, not only would he he actually own a bigger and better place, but with the money saved over renting, he could throw in the cost of the car and still have a lower monthly payment than renting. Incredible!
Check out the numbers in my post!
Wouldn’t it be cool if when you bought a condo, they threw in the car of your choice as a bonus? Maybe, they are. Check out my post in Curbed and find out why.
My featured column on Curbed this week focuses on the benefits of buying now.
In the post, I discuss how buying now = comparative savings.
I show how through acquisition costs, monthly mortgage payments, and building equity faster, a tremendous amount of comparative money can be saved if you buy now.
How much money?
Check out my post and find out!
If real estate is all about the Benjamins, check out my post and find out why now is a great time to buy.
My column for Banker and Tradesman focused on the new real estate world, a world in which newly listed homes are greeted as if they are visiting teen idols.
What new situations do agents find themselves in?
How prevalent are multiple offers in our market?
What are the circumstances behind a seller’s unusual counter offer for an offer that was already over-ask?
Become a member at B and T and find out.
This Beacon Hill multifamily garnered 42 offers. Your read that right: 42 offers.
My featured post in Curbed this week focuses on how prolific over-ask offers have become in the Greater Boston Condominium Market.
It’s the new normal.
There are six Greater Boston neighborhoods I identified where more than half of April condo sales closed for over-ask. Where are they?
How much more than the asking price were buyer’s willing to offer?
Which price range garnered the highest percentage of over-ask offers?
Check out my post and find out!
They asked $1.495 million for this condo on Francis Street in Brookline. They got more! How much more? Check out my post and find out!
My featured column on Curbed this week (Lies, Damn Lies, and Boston Real Estate Statistics) focused on real estate statistics.
Why do the statistics I use paint a completely different picture of the market than the statistics used by the The Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the blog Boston Real Estate Now?
This post shows some absolutely incredible market times in many of Greater Boston’s best neighborhoods, including Brookline, Jamaica Plain, South Boston and the South End.
The numbers many sources use show the local market’s pace is about as fast as your dad’s minivan, while the numbers I use show a speed that would make NASCAR proud. What’s the difference?
Check out my column and find out!
How fast is the Greater Boston real estate market going?
( This is the first story in a new theme. I see a lot of cool houses out there, so I’ve decided to write about them whether they are on the market or not. If you see a cool house and you want to know its story, just email me)
This former firehouse on Ashland Street in Malden is currently being used as a single family home.
A number of years ago, Jonathan Beckemeier and Lisa Sulda, were renting in Cambridge.
Like a lot of buyers, when they started their home search they had dreams of buying something a little out of the ordinary. Having marketing and advertising backgrounds, they weren’t afraid to take on something that challenged their creative spirit. They considered buying an old home and renovating it. They also considered buying a gas station and turning it into a living space.
Then a friend in Malden who owned a firehouse told the couple that another firehouse was coming up for sale on Ashland Street. Designed by Tristan Griffin, an architect known for the Queen Anne style, the firehouse had been built in 1898. It was not on the historical record, but the firehouse had impressive curb appeal and more than 6,000 square feet of space.
It took eighteen months and a host of public hearings, but in the end the couple was able to outwit, outlast and outplay a number of developers and secure the firehouse for single family living. Over time, they have renovated much of the space — and the space they have renovated is beautiful. Jonathan comes from a family in the business of antiques, and everything which adorns the interior, from the Stickley Furniture to the fire extinguisher lamp, adds to the classic feel of the space. Lisa picked out some amazing paint colors that synergize and soothe. Friends tell them the only firehouse accoutrement they don’t have is a Dalmatian, the dog often considered a firehouse mascot.
Much of the interior has been beautifully renovated.
In addition to classic firehouse features, like the firepole–one of which is still in the house– the owners adorned the home with many themed accents like the lamp in this picture.
What’s the surcharge you are paying for real estate safety?
My featured column in Curbed focused on the decisions people make to be safe in real estate.
They choose amenities such as safer neighborhoods, upper floors, doorman buildings and long term fixed-rate mortgages.
What are the costs associated with safety?
Check out my column and find out!
In real estate, there are costs associated with hitting the panic button. What are the costs?
The lead for my column at Banker and Tradesman this month was about a veteran Beacon Hill agent who told me he could list a dog house and get five offers on it in 24-hours. Of course, I wondered if the offers would be just a few percentage points in excess of the list price or if the bidding for the dog house get even crazier?
I also pointed out that recently, by my count, there were fewer than five hundred Boston condos available to buy. That total included all the condos available in every Boston neighborhood. In the column I noted that on the same day just two Aprils ago, Boston had around 2,000 condos available for sale. What happened? I speculated, “Did Jillian Michaels yell at the city and force it to radically trim its condo waistline?” My response: “I don’t know, but take it easy Boston, your condo market is looking kind of, well, anorexic.”
The column focused on the low inventory’s impact on prices. I also reviewed inventory for the last five springs and found only one year that Boston condo inventory was even 10% higher on June 1 than it was on April 1. My response to that critical piece of trivia: “Uh,oh”
Check out Banker and Tradesman, the paper of record for Boston real estate. Unfortunately it’s a membership only publication, but if you email me, I will send you the article.
Did this trainer impact Boston’s condo supply?
The night before the race, I took my son down to the finish line. Little did we know, the site would soon be the focus of world’s attention.
My featured post on Curbed this week ran a day early.
That’s because it focused on the incredibly tragic events at the Boston Marathon.
My office is so close to the site, that many news reporters now surround it.
The day before the Marathon, I took my son to the finish line, where we made this picture.
Check out my post in the South End Patch where I reviewed key numbers concerning March Sales.
The sales numbers showed that the amount of marketing time needed to find a ready, willing and able buyer had plummeted.
Even more revealing was days-on-market number for “under agreement” condos.
Get the skinny on South End market times.
Contact Us
Dave Bates
Cell: 617-413-6345
DavidBatesSothebys@gmail.comDavid Bates is a realtor in Greater Boston. In addition to this blog, he writes for various publications about the real estate market, including www.Boston.Curbed.com and Banker and Tradesman.
If you like Dave's insights about the market, then--obviously--you should consider doing business with him.
When you consider doing business with Dave, contact him by email or cell.
