Affordable housing is not just a good idea. It is essential to a functioning economy. Eastern Massachusetts’s economy runs on hospitals, colleges, and businesses. They employ tech workers, building construction and maintenance workers, and many young professional workers. There is a chronic problem with recruiting nurses and entry level professionals because of the cost of
This summer, there were two community listening sessions in Somerville. The goal was to gather opinions about the city’s potential rent stabilization legislation. How could it be done? How could it be done fairly? How would it affect landlords, tenants, and business interests? There will be another session on September 12. How much rent? Let’s
The local real estate market looks a different from the national market snapshot, which I summarized two weeks ago. Eastern Massachusetts has an acute housing shortage, and that is allowing a seller’s market to remain despite the high interest rates that are reducing a buyer’s spending power. The bottom line is that prices are still
Ever since the Barbie movie came out, I have been tempted to rerun a post from Valentine’s Day, 2019. Then, a Facebook post on The Arlington list just knocked me over the edge. So, rerun it is! Posted February 13, 2019: Happy Valentine’s Day, Ken and Barbie. I know you wanted your dream home, but
A few times a year, the Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors ® prepares an economic review for Realtors ®. The report was aired on Zoom August 2nd. He does a really good job, especially because there are so many of us, and we have such a variety of backgrounds. He is accessible,
House hunting idea: two households band together and buy a two-family house together. Massachusetts allows owners of two-family and three-family houses to convert them into two or more condos. This is not typical in other parts of the country. There are lots of advantages to buying a two-family house, especially in our high-price condo market.
Summers in the real estate business used to be more smelly than they are in the current market. Sellers and their agents have gotten more diligent about getting summer smells out of the house before putting it on the market. Well, most of the time. But not always. Houses collect and hold odor in the
This week, we held a party for our clients. I have been doing this nearly every year since I opened my office in 2008. Part of our brand is that I (and my agents) strive to like and respect our clients. Most of the time that is easy. Other times, we have honed new levels
"If I don’t waive my mortgage contingency, I won’t get a house, right?" Wrong! Every 4 Buyers Real Estate client has either had a mortgage contingency, or they had funds to close without a mortgage. We believe the risk of losing 5 percent of a home purchase price is too high a risk. Our agents
When a stranger contacts our office looking for a buyer’s agent, we get only one chance to make a first impression. I get the feeling that the first impression that we make is different than other agents from other companies. One of our professional organizations, the Massachusetts Association of Buyer’s Agents, sent us a lead