I don’t know. Several weeks ago, I wrote a post, based on an article in the Boston Herald: [I]f you took out a new loan so you could free-up some cash, getting what’s known as a “cash-out refiâ€?, and ended up using that money to pay down your credit card debt, take a vacation, or [...]

Is it better to put down 20% (if you can) or finance 100% of your purchase price, and invest that 20% somewhere else? Apparently, it’s better to put 20% down. You’ll get a better rate on your 80% loan, if you don’t take out a second, “piggyback” loan (or, if you get the same rate, [...]

I’m not a cranky person. I only get annoyed at things that are annoying. Like, noisy neighbors. If you live in a condo, you probably have an upstairs neighbor, a downstairs neighbor, and perhaps a neighbor or two on your own floor. A potentially disastrous situation, all around. We had a very noisy neighbor, downstairs, [...]

Here is an undated release from the architect of the new Lovejoy Wharf development, currently in the permitting process. No word on planned ground-breaking, yet. Located on the waterfront where The Charles River meets Boston Harbor, the site is presently occupied by two brick structures. The proposed design involves the adaptive reuse of the existing [...]

Three residential developments look ready to go, having broken ground over the past several days. Russia Wharf: a series of three buildings, the tallest is 31-stories, with office space and a small number of residential condos – 200 units was the last count, plus a boutique hotel. The Clarendon: a 32-story building, with 178 apartments [...]

The following information is from the local MLS database, as of December 16, 2006, compared to (last week’s numbers). Total # of condos for sale in the city of Boston: 2,189 (2,324) Average # of days on market: 146 (143) Median price of all condos for sale in the city of Boston: $399,000 ($395,000) Average [...]

Suppose your mortgage loan payment is low enough, and you’re rich enough, that you have some extra cash on hand, every month? Should you make extra payments on your loan? Or, should you invest that money, somewhere else? Some people think you should pay off your mortgage loan as quickly as possible, the idea being, [...]

I was curious as to what the average seller is doing, in the city. My guess was that sellers were being stubborn, that they weren’t lowering their prices. I assumed this was a big reason why buyers were pulling back. I based this on the FACT that the number of sales has dropped 20-25%, while [...]

I haven’t had a chance to read through all the press about the proposal to build a new City Hall in the Seaport District. I think it’s a good idea, if it gets us out of the current City Hall. Of course, it makes the seat of city government just about inaccessible to everyone. Is [...]

The city of Boston recently chose Steve Belkin’s Trans National Properties to build an 80-story, 1000-foot tower at 115 Winthrop Street. Belkin has retained architect Renzo Piano. Other buildings designed by Piano include the New York Times tower, in New York City. And, people are wondering how the actual building ended up looking nothing like [...]