Just In Boston Properties

Good news!

Nadine — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:06:00 +0000

We put two properties under agreement with buyers that attended the first open house this month. One of the listings was only on the market for 3 days. And we have back-up buyers that are chomping at the property hoping it doesn’t close so they can get in on it. Very rare and great news for the market. I hope all my other listings sell as quickly!

I truly think it is a great time to sell, the best in over a year. There are some great buyers out there and very few properties that are priced well. Right now, when you have great pricing, marketing and amenities, we are seeing strong offers and quick sales.

Looking up

Nadine — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:13:00 +0000

A promising article from Business Week on the stabilization of home prices. The Boston area is number 8. Check out the article here.

FHA! FHA! FHA!

Nadine — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:15:00 +0000

So finally, HUD has released their update for FHA financing and it is GREAT news! Condos in associations of 2 or more units will be eligible for FHA insured financing.

We will have to wait a few months for this to become active. It will cover all loans with case numbers assigned after October 1st, 2009. Stay tuned!

Happy Dorchester Day!

Nadine — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Very Exciting News!

Nadine — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:16:00 +0000

Months of hard work are paying off. Our new website is almost ready for launch. It exceeds expectations!
One of the best new features is our search page with map-based searching and filtering for foreclosures and short sales.
Keep an eye out for it soon at www.justinboston.com.

Sunday, Sunday, Sundaaaayyyy!

Nadine — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:20:00 +0000

If you are new to Dorchester, an important fact to know is that the first Sunday in June is Dorchester Day. There is a big parade that takes over Dot Ave, and everything pretty much grinds to a halt. For us in the real estate business, it is one of the few days that we can truly take off. There are no open houses and getting from point a to point b becomes a wild goose chase as you try to weave around Dorchester Ave running into road blocks and one-way streets.

So this year, we said why not join the parade too?

And we are. We will have an excellent display of orange. All week we have been gearing up for this and our new website. Add that on top of a busy market and it’s been a bit crazy.

So look for us in the parade, you can’t miss us, just look for all the orange and grab a limited edition JIB lollipop!

Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!
Above is Justin modeling our new parade Ts.

FHA Changes

Nadine — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:45:00 +0000

My last post was somewhat depressing if you are a condo buyer but on the bright side, I just met with Sarah Valentini, President of Radius Financial Group. During our meeting she did mention to me that HUD was reviewing their lending criteria and it is rumored that they will be doing away with their restrictions on condo associations with less than 4 units for FHA loans. Not sure when, but it appears to be coming down the pike.

A big Yay! for that.

Sigh…..

Nadine — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:05:00 +0000

The proverbial other shoe has dropped on us in the condo market. Lenders in the past month have tightened up lending criteria again. This time, not on the borrower, but rather the property. We are hearing that low owner occupancy rates are requiring buyers to put 25% down. The same owner cannot own more than 10% of the units or in small developments more than 1 unit. And some other restrictions, making it pretty difficult for low-down-payment buyers to purchase a condo. This of course affects sellers too.

Typical sales that are adversely affected are:
Foreclosures where more than one unit is foreclosed/owned by same entity.
All low-down-payment buyers that want to buy into a new development.
New Developments
Developments that went rental that are still trying to sell some units.

I will have more news to about this to come…

Dorchester Ave Project

Nadine — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:15:00 +0000

I had a chance to attend Mass Highway and Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development’s(DND) meeting presenting the proposed plan to upgrade 15 intersections on Dorchester Ave. There was an overall consensus of support for the project and I am eager to see it implemented.

Some notes from the meeting:

The project has been fast-tracked due to the money being sourced from the federal stimulus package. Project bidding will start this summer and will be abbreviated. The reason explained at the meeting is that the money will expire if not acted upon within a certain time frame.
Mass Highway has become the administrators of the project because of the way the money must be directed, DND will still have major influence.
They realize that the plan is not perfect, but they have made the best effort to compromise to make as many positive changes as possible.

I am particularly excited about the revamping of the Fields Corner (intersection of Adams and Dorchester Ave.) and Glover’s corner (Freeport, Dorchester and Hancock St intersection) receiving some major overhauls.

Of course, this means traffic and construction but I am willing to live through that for the time being. I really think this will be a major catalyst for positive change along the avenue.

Check it out here.

Very busy

Nadine — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:04:00 +0000

It has been a great spring. Lots of activity in both the rental market and sales. This past week my buyers were caught up in a bidding war! And it wasn’t a foreclosure. Sales have certainly been brisk and as I have said before it is limited to certain price points and locations. We are seeing an uptick in foreclosures too, more are coming on the market after a government and self-imposed moratorium this past winter/spring.

We are also seeing occupied foreclosures. It seems that banks are not evicting tenants/squatters/former owners after foreclosure. I think banks have realized two things, it’s far too expensive in Massachusetts to evict and a vacant home attracts trouble and vandalism. At least with a tenant the copper is not being stripped out and squatters/trouble makers are kept away.

This of course presents a problem for the foreclosure buyer as it becomes the buyers’ tenant at closing. Usually, this tenant has not been paying rent to the bank and is reluctant to start, meaning the buyer will then have to evict. I haven’t run into this while representing a buyer yet, but I will update you if I have to and how it goes.

Cheers!