Rainbows over Savin Hill Ave

I hope the pot'o gold is nearby....

Beware on Craigslist

It appears that the Craiglist scammers have choosen one of our properties to use in their plot to extort money from unsuspecting renters. Please note that all of our rentals require a RHA Rental Application along with a form permitting us to check your credit, employement and landlord history. Without those items being complete, returned to us and presented to a landlord, we will not execute a lease. Anyone on Craigslist promising to rent out an apartment without having you fill out those forms is not acting on our behalf. If you have any questions about any of our rentals, please call us at 617-265-3500. Also, please call us and let us know what listings are being misrepresented so we can have them removed and reported to Craigslist's management.
Thanks!

Looking forward to the winter

I am sure that most of you have been reading the headlines and seeing that foreclosures are up and prices are down. I am asked quite frequently if that is hurting business. And it is definitely slowing down the arms-legnth transaction of undistressed sales. But, we are busier than we were last year with most of our transactions being foreclosures or short sales. We are receiving quite a bit of interest in multi-families under $200k. Condos are selling under $100k in some areas and every now and then a great single family comes up.

There is some discussion about whether or not it is a good time to buy. Only you can make that decision for yourself. Right now quite a few investors are contacting us and looking to purchase a deal. Rents are inline with prices, it's just gotten to the point where the rents will actually cover the expenses.

I think prices may still decrease in some areas and it will be impossible to call the bottom until we are on the way back up. As always hindsight is 20/20. Do what is right for your individual situation, speak with an agent who is intimate with the market you want to be in and make sure your financial house is in order.

I think there are some great deals out there and several of us in the office have personally purchased property this past year. There are some buyers however, that should not buy right now, as the market is not very forgiving at this point.

And I guess that is the difference between now and a few years ago. There are bad deals now and there were bad deals then, but the difference is how forgiving or not the market is.

Pricing it right

Right now we can find many examples of why pricing it right from the get-go is ever more important in today's market. With prices falling rapidly and lending getting tighter, the need to price it well and move it quickly is paramount.

Someone I know priced their unit too high about 6 months ago. I offered some advice and they decided that they would "try it out" at the higher price and they could lower it if after some time it did not sell.

Here's the problem. It was priced too high and no one was interested. Let's say it was $275k. At the time they listed it, they could have sold it for $225k according to local comps. But now, after the market has fallen apart and the listing has become stale I would guess it would fetch $190k. They are chasing the market down with no end in sight and potentially lost roughly $35k due to not pricing it right.

My advice to them now is to take it off the market and if they can and are willing, re-list it in the spring at an appropriate price.

Fraud of another kind

One of my clients has given me license to use a term I haven't heard in a while. "Carpetbagger." Having been born in the south and grown up with many southernisms, I should explain that this is one that is akin to a swear word. Used for the foulest of opportunists that don't care who they hurt. And they have started to rear their ugly head in Dorchester. Who are they?

They are agents from afar places such as Worcester, the 495 belt, the south shore, the north shore, etc... that are representing foreclosures and are pricing property at way below market value, not providing access to cooperating brokers and not presenting offers to the sellers in an effort to keep the deal all to themselves and/or turn these properties quickly. They do not normally work in this market and have only showed up when the easy money came. They have no clue what neighborhoods command value and which ones don't. Yet, they are determining the value of your neighbors' house.

It is truly the wild west and these carpetbaggers are decimating values and ruining other property owners chances of refinancing or selling at market value. Preventing an open bidding process to buyers other than their own. Or outright fraudulently withholding offers from their sellers who are 2000 miles away and their only contact is through a web-based management system.

The sellers(banks) of these properties are losing money and with lower property values the neighborhood is losing equity and the city is losing tax revenue.

Don't call your agent...but these may be great deals for some

The city of Boston has a first-time home buyer program that has some nice, new-construction homes. They have been advertising on Craigslist, but you won't see them on any of the MLS feed sites (such as Boston.com, Realtor.com or Ziprealty.com) as they are not looking to work with real estate agents, even those that have buyers that might be a good fit. In fact, when you call, that is the first thing out of their mouth. I am a little stunned at the City's unwillingness to work with a larger pool of buyers, but I understand. Their margins are tight and the city is laying out cash for downpayment assistance in an already tight budget.

The units are typically in slower to sell areas and are new construction with generic but decent amenities and fixtures. If you are interested check out the website.

50,000 foot view

The TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) launched by the government last week has come out with it's game plan and update. It is a large scale view (what the corporate world calls the 50,000 ft view) It is a broad and general overview and update of the plan.
I think everyone should read these updates and know what is happening with our $700B.