It truly is important to understand the logistics of owning a condo. Depending on the market value of your property within the association, you might be in a majority or minority position on making decisions for the households. The last thing anyone wants is your neighbor telling you that a new roof is needed and $10,000 needs to be delivered immediately.
So when purchasing that new condo, it is a necessity to investigate the condo docs. The reserves, meetings, and general operation of the association can either help you sleep easier at night, or keep you up with stress.
Proper Agents and our support team are experts at helping you not have a horror story like those 2 unfortunate parties in the article.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Now, we’re back with a new article!
Roseland Property Co. began its development at East Boston called the Portside at East Pier in 2005. It had to halt its work in 2007 as the real estate market began to slow down.
The construction of this massive 176-unit apartment building complex plus retail space for restaurants, shops, etc. will resume in Spring 2011 if the company can convince its lenders. This is great news for the locals since business will be revived and this will attract more people to this potentially booming area.
Although the economy is moving at a snail’s pace, the Boston City Council recently set up more stringent energy-efficiency rules for new buildings. In the long run, this will be a beneficial move for Boston because the total consumption of energy will go down significantly. Both public AND private surplus. What saves you money saves the planet. Check out the rest of the article below.
“The Boston City Council yesterday approved tougher energy-efficiency rules for new buildings, casting aside arguments from developers that the measures are expensive and make it harder to build in the current economic climate.
Set to take effect in July 2011, the rules require new homes and commercial buildings be designed to consume 20 percent less electricity than properties built under existing standards. Builders can decide how to achieve the reductions, choosing among options such as more efficient heating, ventilation and lighting, thicker insulation, and more advanced materials.
‘This gives flexibility for the developers and saves money for property managers and homeowners,’ said Councilor John Connolly.
The rules will also apply to major home renovations that require city permits.
Connolly said the city will consider waiving the requirements for projects that already have permits but have not yet begun construction. However, such a waiver is not written into the new law, so developers will have to negotiate with the city.
Boston is the 59th Massachusetts community to adopt the rules, which were proposed as part of a 2008 state energy reform law.” – Boston.com/realestate (Casey Ross, Globe Staff)
Very Interesting article this morning about major developers getting their feet wet again with luxury apartment buildings. Avalon Bay will be constructing (hopefully) a 28 story building right in the heart of the Back Bay. Units are going to be ranging in size from studios to 3 Beds, from $2000 to $8000 penthouses.
The Back Bay could definitely use more units and Boston should build as high as the sky. We love the 4 story brownstones, but we were never a fan of walk-ups. I enjoy looking out the window at the Prudential and the Charles.
More housing in one of the nicest areas in the country? Yes, please.
The article can be read here: http://bit.ly/cX0qhb
With the home buyers’ tax credits expiring in Spring, the Boston housing market has experienced stagnancy until now. Another real estate crash is unlikely, but the future outlook does not seem too promising. Even record-low mortgage rates have not moved home buyers to act, and like the economy, the recovery of the housing market will be gradual and uneven.
“‘We’re in the choppy bottom, improving, but at a slow pace,’ said Rick Loughlin, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage New England, which has 70 offices in Massachusetts. ‘The real key issues are jobs and consumer confidence; when jobs come back, you’ll see more of a recovery in housing.’” – Boston.com/realestate
To read more about this issue, click here! Robert Gavin, part of the Globe staff, delves into more details about why this is the case.
Mayor Menino had a vision of revitalizing Downtown Crossing utilizing the local business owners’ tax money. However, some of the largest property owners of the area are refusing to chip in to this new organization founded to revitalize the shopping district, which takes off about 25% of the budget allotted for improvements. About 80% of the area’s property owners have signed onto the effort, but it seems like the other owners will not help.
To read more of this interesting article, click here!
This is a really good blog piece from Boston.com/Realestate on the current situation of the Boston housing market and the reason for its lackluster performance. Although it is a day after Election Day, definitely give it a read!
Eagle's Eye View of Wellesley, MA
“Head to the polls – do your great civic duty.
But don’t feel bad if you are wondering where the candidates stand on some basic bread and butter issues.
Much hot-under-the-collar rhetoric has been expended on such crucial issues as nonentity Paul Loscocco’s decision to jump ship as Tim Cahill’s running mate and endorse Charlie Baker.
Yet there has been little serious discussion of what if anything is to be done with the Bay State’s messed up real estate market.
Sure, the sales tax issue is important, and what to do about state government – slash and burn or hold and expand – is hardly inconsequential.
Yet the cost of buying a home, especially in perpetually overpriced Greater Boston, still looms as an even bigger long-term challenge, not just for frustrated buyers, but for the health of the state’s economy as well.
In fact, it’s hard to find what if anything our candidates have to say on this. Searching for statements and stories on this issue, I stumbled across this incredibly out of touch press release put out by the Patrick campaign last November touting a temporary jump in home sales as a sign that the state’s economy was moving again. Anyone check those numbers lately? Not so good since the home buyer tax credit expired last spring.
If I am missing something, feel free to set me right, Patrick, Baker and Cahill supporters out there.
That said, we are faced with an ever deepening housing crisis here in the Bay State, one that has been building for decades and is likely to get worse over the coming years, no matter which candidate for governor wins.
After a 15-to-20 percent drop from their bubble years’ peak, Boston area home prices are still out of reach for many home buyers.
Now of course home values are likely to drop again, with sales having fallen off a cliff since the federal $8,000 home buyer tax credit expired this spring.
But these kinds of home price declines are likely to be temporary – and often very difficult for many buyers to fully take advantage of. After all, falling prices right now are accompanied by a crackdown by banks on lending standards and high anxiety over job security.
After the dust clears, we are still left faced with a long-term – and growing shortage – of reasonably priced homes for those making middle income salaries.
Since the 1980s, new home construction has steadily declined in Greater Boston – not even the crazy prices of the bubble years were able to spark a revival. That is in part or even mainly due to zoning barriers and inane building restrictions thrown up by dozens of towns across the Boston area.
And that long-term imbalance could get even worse after the polls close today.
Question 2, if passed, would repeal the 1960s era affordable housing law that developers have used to cut through all that local red tape and build new apartment and condo developments in the suburbs.
The old Chapter 40B law is far from perfect, but without it practically nothing would have been built over the past two decades.
Of course, that’s part of the problem here as well. Towns have gotten so good at scaring off new housing that developers have to rely on a law designed to promote construction of subsidized apartments and condos to get anything built.
But it’s better than nothing.
Happy voting!” – Scott van Voorhis (http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2010/11/election_day_an.html)
Condo prices are the highest within this decade, but sales are not.
“The median price of a downtown Boston condominium hit a 10-year high in the third quarter while the number of sales dropped to a new low for the decade.
That’s the conclusion of a housing report set to be released today by the Boston company Listing Information Network that shows the median selling price of downtown condominiums increased 9.2 percent to $475,000 during the third quarter of 2010 compared with the same period last year.
Sales volume, meantime, sank by 24.5 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. Only 677 properties sold, marking the smallest number changing hands during the third quarter over the last 10 years, according to a decadelong survey provided by the Listing Information Network. The private company tracks condos sales in 12 Boston neighborhoods, including Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and the South End. It doesn’t include the more moderately priced areas of Allston, Brighton, Mattapan, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain.
The juxtaposition of lethargic sales and an increase in median price is an indication that many of the properties selling are in the upper end of the market, not that home values overall are on the rise, local real estate agents say.
Indeed, median prices in the luxury condo market — defined as full-service properties with valets, concierges, and other services — swelled by 16.6 percent to $680,000 in the third quarter compared with the same time last year. At the same time, sales volume fell less dramatically than the overall market — by 14.6 percent in the third quarter — with 135 units changing owners, according to the new data.
“The higher end has picked back up, which drags the median prices a bit higher,’’ said Michael DiMella, a managing partner at Charlesgate Realty Group in the Back Bay. “Buyers are being real choosy.’’
Debra Taylor Blair, president of Listing Information Network, said that the downtown market has largely held its values because of low inventory, which increases competition among buyers. There were 1,037 homes on the market in September compared with the 1,039 during the same month in 2009.
“We are not in a situation of [having a] glut of properties,’’ said Taylor Blair. “We are still in an appreciating market.’’
John Ranco, a Boston real estate agent, said that even if the number of condos for sale has not changed much since last year, buyers are finding fewer properties that they want to purchase. Many homes have been on the market for long periods of time and are overpriced, he said.
“There isn’t a great selection,’’ said Ranco. “What is out there can be very expensive and tends to sell at a higher price than you would expect in a down economy.’’ ”
