An April article in the Globe Magazine surveyed some of the miseries that neighbors can inflict: Noiseness, nosiness, boundary encroachments, failures of upkeep and sanitation… The common theme is that the quality of your neighbors matters greatly. Particularly for people…
I began seeing this about three years ago. Now I see it much more frequently: Sellers who cut corners when they market their homes for sale. Back in the last huge seller?s market, these mistakes were less costly, but now…
Since the sellers and buyers make their own decisions, based on advice from the brokers, sometimes they do not act in their own financial interests. The process of buying real estate can be seen as a competition between the buyer…
This is not an easy time to sell a home. I was curious to speak with someone trying it without a real estate agent. FSBO.com, a listings site, is coordinating a “National Open House Day” both days this weekend for…
Hi, I’m Rona Fischman. From June 2007 to February 2008, I was on this blog with a host of other people. Then Binyamin took over as the solo voice. I’m back and happy to be here. Binyamin will continue to…
The report on gas prices I wrote about yesterday includes an interesting chart, based on a measurement called Core Vitality. The basic idea is to compare the average education of residents in the “urban core” with the average education of…
The latest edition of The Economist includes a fascinating comparison of home prices with the estimated annual cost of renting the same home. Basically, this price-rent ratio is a way of describing the premium that people will pay to own…
Two fresh examples of square footage inflation in real estate listings, provided by a woman shopping for a home in Bay Village. The first property is a townhouse at 22 Shawmut Street. City records list the living area as 1,116…
A 74-unit condominium building in Everett has become, with a generous dollop of state funding, a 74-unit apartment building with 47 affordable units. The building, Parkway Heights, sits on Chelsea Street. The skyline views from the sixth floor are said…
Why is spring such a great time to sell a house? Because everything looks better after the leaves, grass and flowers come out. From an energy conservation point of view, it is also easier to avoid demonstrating the cold spots…