I’m very concerned about the future of Boston condominium sales. The amount of debt being accumulated to acquire a college degree is mind boggling.
The FinAid clock below is fast approaching $1 trillion, ratcheting up at the pace of nearly $3,000 per second. Americans now owe more on student loans than they do on their credit [...]

Joe Nocera knocks down the idea that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae caused the housing-market collapse. The two FMs actually followed the private sector over the cliff; they didn’t lead the private sector over the cliff, Joe says
It’s a persuasive argument. But here’s the thing: Can’t we all agree that the blame game isn’t really [...]

We’re presently seeking two real estate rental agents for our Boston real estate office. Generous commission splits avail. For more information please call John Ford at 617-720-5454.

In the Boston Real Estate Blog post below, if you weren’t outraged by the housing-scams committed by others, perhaps this SNL skit making fun of Boston and our cherished sports teams will upset you, or make you laugh.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
File Under: Thank God the Patriots [...]

Think all the housing-market scams went away after the market went bust in 2008? Wrong. The scammers have merely adjusted to the times.
Our favorite scam (in terms of intricate ingenuity) is the “credit enhancement” trick, in which “credit enhancement” companies effectively set up bogus bank accounts for people, making their balances look bigger and impressing [...]

Rona looks at some studies showing how housing prices in Boston, Cambridge and other parts of Massachusetts are still too expensive for the average wage earner, despite price declines in recent years. It’s not just the price of homes. It’s also the cost of rents.
High housing prices are one of the reasons why it’s so [...]

For the fourth straight month, the confidence of local Realtors has increased in Massachusetts, reflecting a small pick-up in homes sales.
Compared to the little girl in the post below, at least someone’s happy these days.
File under: Holiday spirts, redux

Here’s a heart-warming story for Christmas.
A young Las Vegas girl has written to Santa threatening to kill him if she doesn’t get an iphone 4S Apple, a new dress – and Justin Beiber.
The 11-year-old also threatened to “hunt down” Santa’s reindeer and serve their meat to homeless people on the Vegas strip.
Of course, she’s from [...]

News flash: Boston is listed as one of the least miserable cities in the U.S. when it comes to economic performance.
But you do have to question the validity of any survey that lists Buffalo, N.Y. ahead of most other American cities, whether they’e miserable or non-miserbable.
Here’s the most miserable list.
File under: Les Miserables, ou [...]

Now here’s bad news: This week the National Association of Realtors admitted it has been reporting overly optimistic home sales figures for several years.
How can that be? Well, the NAR has been counting contracts to buy a condo or a house as “sales.” So, naturally, it counts people’s intentions to buy a condo as a [...]