It’s true that many people take their property off the market during the holiday season and hope for a better result when the spring market rolls around. But the sellers that hang tough and keep their properties on the market during the holidays are generally serious about selling. They’re not concerned about the days on market racking up – they want out. …
Blog Posts
A common refrain we hear over and over from the realtor community is that the value of real estate always goes up. While it’s true that the value of most assets increases over longer time periods, it’s not an iron clad rule when it comes to real estate. Just ask the seller at 73 Mount Vernon Street, unit 1. …
It’s critically important that buyers understand that just because the seller sets the fee, Massachusetts allows “rebating.” Rebating allows the buyer’s broker to rebate a portion of their part of the fee to the buyer at closing. In other words, buyers can, and should, negotiate a rebate with their broker. Saving a point or so on a large transaction is real money. …
According to the Japanese government, the “useful life” of a house is officially 22 years. This isn’t some non-cash accounting gimmick, houses (not the land) become completely worthless in Japan after 20 – 30 years. When a property changes hands, new owners demolish the existing structure and start from scratch. While this may seem odd to us, we need to recognize that in the U.S., commercial property is fully depreciated over 27.5 years. …
High quality outdoor space is well worth a premium, and having any outdoor space is always a positive. But paying a premium for marginal outdoor space is ill advised. Realistically, it’s only practical to use outdoor space about 10% of the year in our area, so we advise clients to buy property based on how they will live in it the other 90% of the time. …
While stubbornly high commission rates clearly harm consumers, in our view the real damage the oligopoly inflicts on consumers is in the actual pricing of real estate. It’s important to recognize that unlike the financial services industry, where it’s illegal to offer securities that are being grossly inflated, in the unregulated buyer beware world of real estate brokerage, this is the life blood of the industry. …
There is a myth in the marketplace that co-ops are more expensive than condominiums. Setting aside the obvious point that the co-op fee includes things like property taxes, co-op fees, in fact, offer a more realistic snapshot of the true cost of ownership. …
This will be one of the few “hotel service” buildings in Boston. Interested in hearing more? Get out your check book because it’s going to cost you $2,500 just to get the sales pitch. …
Value, on the other hand, entails some actual analysis and due diligence that goes well beyond the meaningless “comps” that the brokers' sales agents cherry pick to justify the inflated price. We routinely see properties sell 20%, 25%, and 30%+ below the original prices. Knowingly inflating the price of securities on Wall Street will land you in the hoosegow. So how do real estate brokers get away with it? …
Ten years ago, buying and flipping new development condominium units in Boston was somewhat rewarding. Developers were happy to leave a little financial meat on the bones for the flippers because they were able to sell out their projects quickly. Flippers today are learning the hard way that this has become a very crowded trade. …
In the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, when developers convert properties that were originally intended for single family use, they need to make use of every available square inch in order to maximize profits. The result is that living space gets extended into the deep space. …
We come from the investment business, where if you churn out fictitious research or manipulate market data, you’ll be lucky only to get banned from the industry for life. …
