April Warren's Page

The Boston Globe featured an article yesterday about some supersticious moves real estate agents and their clients swear by.

One agent and her client inserted the number "18" as the last two digits of their offer after that client had lost bids for condos for 4.5 years. In Judaism, the number 18 is considered lucky because it symbolizes "chai," the Hebrew word fo… Continue

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced an $18 million “Homeownership Stabilization Campaign” this past Wednesday, July 29th. The 12-month initiative aims to retain existing homeowners and stabilize prices in the housing market.

According to RealEstateRama, the two-pronged strategy will:

“1. Protect existing homeowners that need to… Continue

In a follow-up to my previous post (on endless paperwork, phone calls and fraud spoiling attempts at loan modification), I thought this Boston Globe article was particularly illustrative and frustrating. The article describes how a particular company switched from selling bad mortgages to negotiating loan modifications for the homeowners who possess those bad mort… Continue

Charlie Allen, of Charlie Allen Restorations, told the Boston Globe about 10 problems common to older homes, and gave some ideas for fixing them. See the whole feature (with a photo for each fix-up)--the first five are summed-up below.

1. Lack of Storage Space: Consider adding cabinets or window storage in unexpected places.
2. Lack of Natural Light: Try transom windows along the ceiling and frosted gla… Continue

This week Bloomberg reported that with the conclusion of the second quarter, U.S. apartment vacancies haven risen to their highest level in 22 years.

Apartment vacancies grew to 7.5 percent, up from 6.1 percent this time last year, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc. This increase comes during a traditionally high leasing period, and is attributed to the high unemployment rate (which… Continue