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…
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Added by April Warren on August 11, 2009 at 12:42pm —
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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…
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Added by April Warren on July 31, 2009 at 9:52am —
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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…
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Added by April Warren on July 21, 2009 at 5:30pm —
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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…
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Added by April Warren on July 20, 2009 at 11:39am —
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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…
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Added by April Warren on July 9, 2009 at 10:00am —
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The Boston Business Journal reported that since the Massachusetts Division of Banks began enforcing stricter regulations, it has denied more than 1,500 applications for mortgage broker licenses. The mortgage industry has been severely discredited for activities of subprime lending and fraud that are considered root causes of the nation's housing crisis.
More rigid enforcement began ro…
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Added by April Warren on July 4, 2009 at 9:30am —
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New York Times reporter Peter S. Goodman recently spent two days at a Los Angeles mortgage-modification company, listening in on calls to lenders. The conversations he witnessed expose a major obstacle to the progress of the Obama administration’s $75 billion anti-foreclosure effort: lender company incompetence.
The Administration’s plan pays lenders $1,000 for each loan they…
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Added by April Warren on July 2, 2009 at 9:00am —
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Almost a month ago,
Toronto became the first city in North America to pass a mandatory green roof bylaw. Effective next February, all new buildings boasting over 2,000 square meters--residential, commercial and institutional--will be required to have a 'green roof' on a portion of their rooftops.
My initial assumption was that 'green roof' referred to improved insulation or some solar panels, but these green roofs will act…
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Added by April Warren on June 25, 2009 at 3:00pm —
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With the first-time home buyer tax credit set to expire this November, legislators and interest groups are drawing-up plans to expand the credit. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), first-time buyers currently make up 40 percent of home purchases, about 5 percentage points higher than the historical average. Many are turning to this demographic, spurred by the tax incentive, to continue to bolster home sales, stabilize prices and hopefully drag the rest of the real estate ma…
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Added by April Warren on June 24, 2009 at 5:00pm —
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The number of condominium sales in Newton has varied during the months of May from 2006 to 2009. Over this time span, there was an average of 27 condos sold. May 2007 had a higher number of sales than May of any other year analyzed. May of 2009 saw only 20 condo sales, a drop of 35.48% compared to May 2007.
Looking at the months of May from 2006 to 2009, the median price of condos has neither consistently increased nor decreased. Between May 2006 and May 2009, the average median price of a cond…
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Added by April Warren on June 23, 2009 at 5:30pm —
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The May average median price for condominiums sold between 2006 and 2009 was $240,000. The highest median price was found in May 2006, at $304,900. Since then, May prices have consistently declined. Between May 2006 and May 2009, the median price of condos has dropped 43.78%. The largest decrease in median condo prices occurred between May 2008 and May 2009, when it fell by 25.55%.
The number of May condo sales in Revere has dropped significantly since 2006. During the months of May between 200…
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Added by April Warren on June 23, 2009 at 11:30am —
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Amidst the massive wave of foreclosures in past months, it's no surprise some mistakes have been made at various points of the foreclosure process. But, I was still surprised to read that last month, a man from Minneapolis and his cat were boarded up into his foreclosed home.
The Minneapolis Star covered the story and spoke to a representative of Castrejon Inc., the contractor responsible for boarding up…
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Added by April Warren on June 19, 2009 at 10:26am —
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The Boston Globe consulted Buyer Agent and Lawyer Rich Rosa for legal advice on Landlord-Tenant issues.
The question concerned a tenant's security deposit during tenancy--i.e., can the landlord deduct from the security deposit for repairs, and then require the tenant to repay the amount deducted into…
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Added by April Warren on June 18, 2009 at 10:55am —
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The
Boston Herald reported that yesterday an anonymous man purchased a $300,000 parking spot in the Back Bay area.
Located at 480 Commonwealth Avenue, this space is the most expensive parking space in Boston sold to date. “It’s all a question of supply and demand...Whether it’s a good market or a down market, you’re always going to get a good price for that space,” remarked Debra Sordillo, the listing…
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Added by April Warren on June 11, 2009 at 3:00pm —
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Although April foreclosure numbers declined in Massachusetts (
The Warren Group), national foreclosure filings increased 32% (
RealtyTrac) from April 2008. The foreclosure crisis spirals onward—with people forced from their homes and real estate values…
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Added by April Warren on June 10, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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An Op-Ed article on NYTimes.com outlined a number of valid concerns about the capacity of the Obama administration’s anti-foreclosure plan to slow foreclosures. With unemployment continuing to rise and home prices still falling, foreclosure numbers have been climbing at an alarming rate. According to the Mortgage Bankers Associate, the first quarter of this year counted around 5.4 million mortgages as delinquent…
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Added by April Warren on June 2, 2009 at 4:30pm —
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At least you can buy a mini apartment in India for that price...
A post on Business Week's Hot Property Blog described the next venture of Tata, the Indian company famous for it's $2,000 Nano car. The company now plans to build 1,000 apartments in Boisar, an industrial area outside Mumbai, which will start at $7,800.
The apartments will be quite small--with the cheapest units co…
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Added by April Warren on May 27, 2009 at 3:24pm —
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Bloomberg reported yesterday that for the first time in three weeks, fixed mortgage rates for 30-year U.S. home loans fell. This was attributed to a Federal Reserve program to buy mortgage-backed securities, which pushed rates down to a record-low of 4.78 percent twice last month.
Freddie Mac announced that the average rate for a 30-year loan dropped to 4.82 percent from last…
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Added by April Warren on May 22, 2009 at 10:52am —
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Yesterday, The New York Time's Economix Blog featured a post entitled
"Der Bubble Envy".
Carter Dougherty, a German national living in the United States, writes about Germany's position in the midst of all of the recently burst housing bubbles. He reflects on the non-occurrence of a housing bubble in Germany. The stable real estate prices can be explained in part by competition between rentals…
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Added by April Warren on May 21, 2009 at 9:00am —
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Last Thursday, the
Treasury Department announced the creation of Foreclosure Alternatives and Home Price Decline Protection Incentives, two new components to the Making Home Affordable program, in an effort to stabilize property values in areas hard-hit by foreclosures.
In Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s words:
"Today we are announcing a new program component to help homeowners obtain modifications in areas suffering from home price de…
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Added by April Warren on May 19, 2009 at 5:30pm —
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