Over the weekend, one of the agents in my office was looking for  a one-bedroom apartment in the price range of $2,400 per month, another agent was looking for a furnished short-term rental, both on Beacon Hill. On an average year, even in mid September, this wouldn’t be a tough task to find these apartments. This [...]

Keith Jurow argues that all-cash purchases of homes, via investors and the rich, are perhaps becoming a new norm, not just a downturn-era trend. Jurow:
Recent articles have indicated that all-cash buying is picking up in markets beyond the three I’ve mentioned. The New England real estate news website, Banker & Tradesman, reported in mid-August that [...]

The New York Times Real Estate Section this weekend provides a discussion of the advantages of using a buyer’s agent when purchasing residential real estate.
The following excerpts are from the NYT on why you shoud use a buyers agent for real estate transactions:
In a nutshell: to protect his or her interests in an expensive, often complex purchase”
“The buyer clients who [...]

The average rate for a 30 year mortgage is 4.12% – the lowest in at least 40 years.

Sales of single-family homes soared last month by 19 percent, while condos sales also jumped 17 percent.
Not bad. Sure, they’re comparing the numbers to a weak 2010. But an improvement is an improvement. Prices continued to fall, which we’re not sure is such a bad thing. It will keep buyers in the game.
“These numbers [...]

This is a great idea: Babson College is opening satellite classrooms in Boston’s Seaport District.
Babson’s move should be handy for Financial District workers seeking MBAs and general business classes. Mayor Menino is hinting other colleges may be on the way.
One suggestion: Old-fashioned liberal arts classes, such as in history or arts or languages. Why not? [...]

Oh yeah! This will be interesting. What are your thoughts Boston Real Estate Blog readers on the above real estate video?
File Under: No controversy here.

In the September issue of Travel and Leisure, you can view how Boston ranks compared to other American cities for various categories from intelligence to athletics.  I conducted a city face-off between Boston and Providence RI. The result – Boston lost. We even lost in one of my favorite categories, “Best restaurants/neighborhood cafes.” Click on the link [...]

This might surprise you,  I had coffee this morning with a Boston South End real estate broker, and he told me that he lost out on two deals because he was out bid by another agent.
Out of curiosity, I looked into Boston South End condo sales for the last month. Guess how many condos sold at or above asking [...]