City of Boston Home Buyer Programs

The City of Boston is recipient of some of Obama's stimulus money and it looks like they are putting it to use. Last week I met with Tony from the Department of Neighborhood Development to learn a little bit more about two programs designed to help first-time buyers and low-down-payment buyers afford a home.

Each of these programs requires some education in the city's Homebuyer 101 class. I do recommend these classes but also warn buyers that the service providers also use these classes as business lead generators. For the most part they are good, but you must remember that you are getting one person's point of view and every agent, attorney, inspector and insurance agent brings their own experiences and that might be broad or limited depending on the topic.

The two programs that are of great interest are the Cash-to-Close programs providing down payment and/or closing cost assistance to eligible buyers. I have completed sales using this program and it has it's high points and low points (it is a government program so be prepared for lots of paperwork).

For more information on these and other programs visit the Boston Home Center's website at www.bostonhomecenter.com.

Congratulations to our team!

We just got some great news! Check out our current stats from MLS.

Recovery?

The raw data suggests that the market is normalizing. I wouldn't solely rely on the MLS numbers as it is more looking backwards rather than forwards. What we don't have clear access to is future REO sales, people in pre-foreclosure and REO owned property that is not on the market. There are reports from RealtyTrac.com that there is a shadow inventory of REO that has yet to hit the market. I know of a few properties that have foreclosed but have yet to reappear on the market. So I think there is some truth to that.

What I am seeing - properties in prime locations are selling well and quickly. There have been some multiple bids on properties. I won't say bidding wars, but what is happening is a property has had a few buyers circling, buyer 1 finally puts in an offer and then the seller lets everyone know they have an offer and then buyer 2 either walks away because they don't want to enter a bidding war, or they put in a very competitive offer. Now that offer may be for the same dollar amount or maybe even slightly less, but if one has 20% down and the other doesn't, the seller will invariably accept the larger down payment because that buyer is more likely to get financing. This puts low down payment buyers at a clear disadvantage when looking at prime locations.

I have also seen appraisal issues. Pricing by appraisers are experiencing downward pressure. They are deducting value from the comps based on time passed since sale date. So even if you see comparable properties selling in December, a deduction needs to be made from their sale price to get to where an appraiser is going to be. This is critically important for sellers trying to price their property based on comparable sales.

The good news is the number of condo listings is down significantly and the days on market are slightly down.

 

Price Range	Number of	Number of	Number of	Number of	Number of	Number of
	Listings	Listings	Listings	Listings	Listings	Listings
	4/11/2008	7/11/2008	10/11/2008	1/11/2009	3/11/2009	4/11/2009
Under $50,000	1	2	8	4	2	1
$50,000 - $99,999	13	33	32	25	15	22
$100,000 - $149,999	43	42	32	17	23	18
$150,000 - $199,999	83	68	37	25	31	32
$200,000 - $249,999	49	54	47	39	30	29
$250,000 - $299,999	76	54	59	36	29	41
$300,000 - $349,999	46	29	26	20	20	16
$350,000 - $399,999	21	14	14	16	18	14
$400,000 - $449,999	16	9	2	4	3	5
$450,000 - $499,999	2	2	4	-	2	3
$500,000 - $599,999	1	3	4	-	1	3
$600,000 - $699,999	7	2	3	-	2	2
Total Properties	358	312	268	186	176	186
Ave. Days on Market	130	141	128	136	147	121
Lowest Price:	$43,000	$45,000	$39,900	$31,000	$45,000	$49,900
Median Price:	$243,461	$219,461	$239,000	$237,000	$244,950	$249,000
Highest Price:	$699,000	$639,000	$679,000	$439,000	$614,900	$614,900
Average Price:	$250,817	$224,547	$228,750	$224,759	$237,532	$240,419
Total Market Volume:	$89,792,545	$70,058,679	$61,305,265	$41,805,320	$41,805,719	$44,717,944

Flying off the shelf

A welcome sign this spring is the rental market is picking up. Our rental business has been busier than ever. We are having a hard time having enough listings for everyone. Our Savin Hill listings have rented quickest followed by Fields Corner/Melville Park. We are about to list a bunch of new listings and they should go quickly as well.

While this is true for our prime locations. There are other areas that are still harder to rent. A good measure of rentability in Dorchester is distance from the Redline or Mattapan Trolley. The further away, the harder to rent.

Tenants: One thing to keep in mind when requesting a showing is to show up on time. At the very least, call to let us know you are running late. Usually if we don't hear from you after waiting 15 minutes, we move on to our next appointment. So please call and let us know what is going on. The other item is credit. Bad credit hurts your chance at the best apartments. Get a copy of your credit report and make sure it is accurate before you put in that application.

Landlords: Promised repairs mean nothing to renters. If your hallway, roof, back decks, etc... need repair, most renters are not going to wait or agree to live through a renovation. Don't be surprised if renters are turned off by unfinished work or needed repairs. Fix it first, then the renters will come. Also, right now most of our renters are looking for fully applianced units (fridge!), gas heat and laundry in the building.