What causes heartbreak to a new homeowner? Walking in the door an hour after closing and realizing that the seller has taken 1) all the drapes; 2) all the floor lamps and hanging chandeliers; and, 3) the refrigerator. Legal? Most definitely (the chandeliers are the only items up for debate …). What’s a fixture? Something [...]

Don’t forget, I’m running the Boston Marathon to benefit Pine Street Inn. And, I need your help. Your sponsorship helps thousands of homeless men and women get back on their feet, through Pine Street’s services. If you’d like, you can also send me a check. Thank you very much.

Boston, nowhere to be found. The presence of a nurturing art community is often a good sign that a community is vibrant in other ways, according to BusinessWeek.com and Sperling’s Best Places, which collected a list of the best places for artists in the United States. In compiling the list, they identified the metro areas [...]

In Watertown, Quincy, Medford, Brookline and beyond, developers are selling the upscale loft lifestyle to buyers, often at prices that are half the cost of similar units in the city. “A lot of people like the loft concept but aren’t able to afford the prices lofts command in downtown neighborhoods,” Richard Kimbal Greer, a principal [...]

The elderly used to hold onto their primary residence, mostly so they could tap into the equity to pay unforeseen medical expenses, I assume. But now, with government-sponsored healthcare, and with more of us setting up 401(k)s and other retirement plans, other options are available. It can be a case of having your cake and [...]

I’m betting I beat “The Track” to this piece of gossip, not that I’m bragging. Not only has New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick won the Super Bowl three times, he’s also smart enough to invest in some Park Slope real estate. The “Mad Genius” (okay, only when he’s playing against Jets coach Eric “Man [...]

A couple years ago, we bought our first piece of “real” art (meaning, we didn’t buy it at “Posters Plus”). It cost north of $2,000, but we liked it a lot and thought it fit in well with our living room’s decor (of course, we’ve moved twice since then, which negated the justification). Is art [...]

I would assume very few of us are able to plunk down half a million dollars cash for a new home. However, you might be in the situation where you could take the money out of your retirement fund, or some other way. Should you? Or, should you borrow as much as you can, seeing [...]

Ha ha. Housing prices were too high, according to Time Magazine, circa 1969: One of the articles (not the cover story) WHY HOUSING COSTS ARE GOING THROUGH THE ROOF told the story of the nation’s housing. In three years, the average sales price of a house had risen by $5,800 or 28.9%. Finding a place [...]