Every year, the Somerville Fair Housing Commission creates educational programs to help people in Somerville understand their rights in regard to Massachusetts Fair Housing Law. Fair Housing Event 1 This year, the Commission is taking on the controversial issue of tenant screening. What can a landlord ask? What kinds of questions can lead to legal
It is not typical for our agents to be out showing properties all day during January. But this year, most of them are! In the normal seasonal flow of New England real estate, the period between Thanksgiving and the middle of February is the slowest time of year. The "January thaw" this year bodes well
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
Weeds are not just plants in the wrong place! Last week, I wrote about Japanese Knot Weed. It’s a bad, bad weed that damages buildings. There’s another baddy that has been plaguing local gardens for years. It grows very fast. The thing that matters the most is that it is harmful to pollinators, especially monarch
One of the hardest things for prospective buyers to figure out is what town to house hunt in. This is especially true for relocating buyers and buyers who are making a lifestyle change, such as urban condo to suburban house or vise versa. Before Covid, I recommended that people “test drive” their potential new town.
Lest it be forgotten in our virus-obsessed state, April in Fair Housing Month. I have been on the Fair Housing Commission in Somerville for seven years. This year, our events were cancelled. There are two things that need to be said: Fair Housing and affordable housing are interrelated in our communities. That is why I
A tried and true Somerville, MA political move is to publish something damning on the weekend before the election, so that the target of the slander doesn’t have time to get a rebuttal out. It’s tried and true, and it was tried again this year. But.It.Didn’t.Work. The current City Council was reelected in its entirety.
The Boston Globe published an article about the possibility of a slow-down in local real estate. “... houses are taking longer to sell, and when they do, they’re more likely to sell below listing price than they did a year ago. Also, the number of homes on the market, particularly condominiums, is up. The market
From a buyer’s perspective, the Somerville Condo Ordinance changes are a win. For renters, it is a major victory. I discussed these changes in last week’s blog post. The ink wasn’t dry on the Ordinance when the backlash began. Owners in Somerville received calls and letters urging them to sell now, before the new ordinance
Two-family house Condos for sale Everyone knows what condo conversion is, right? It’s when an owner changes a multi-unit building from a one-owner property to condominiums deeded by multiple owners. Typically, this would be taking an apartment building and selling off each unit, separately, as condos. In Somerville -- the land