real estate

You find the most-interesting things in a barber shop.

Here are a couple photos of pages from the April 1925 issue of Real Estate News newspaper, "Dedicated to the Development and Welfare of Boston and New England and to those who Own, Occupy, Sell or Manage Real Estate".

On the cover is a story on plans to completely rehab an existing building on Newbury Street. The renovation did take place, as Bostonians know, as the property was the location of Kakas Furs fur for many years. In the left-hand corner of the page is a photo of the building as it existed circa 1925.

Inside the newspaper is a short article entitled "WHY BOXES REMAIN ON THE STREET" regarding trash receptacles in the Back Bay.

John Keith ponders the case of some couple that put their house up for auction, then refused an $830,000 bid as too far under their $1-million starting price:

... Dude, you've already received the right offer. If you want to sell your home anytime this year, or possibly, next year, take the $830,000. Your property isn't worth $1.25 million, it isn't worth $899,000. It's worth $830,000 - what someone was willing to pay you for it. ...

It's a condo cat fight on the South Boston waterfront!

881 E. First St. doesn't like 9 W. Broadway:

... If you like Ct. Sq. Press/ 9 West Broadway but don't like the high price (or paying for a big advertising budget), the high common fees (& paying for a concierge you might never need or use), having to ante up $38K for parking (& having to wait going years to get it) and want a loft that is really in the Seaport (and not at the end of West Broadway's less than desirable neighborhood), then come visit us at 881. We're cooler. They're not and we know it! ...

9 W. Broadway (in the form of bloggin' Realtor John, who lives there), returns fire:

... Our condo fees are higher than the typical South End / South Boston condos, because our fees include the concierge, daily common area cleaning and trash removal, maintenance of a landscaped courtyard, and a fitness center. Plus, the fees cover most of our heat and hot water charges (and covers the cost of natural gas for cooking).

"West Broadway's less than desirable neighborhood"? Um, this is the neighborhood that the Boston Globe called "Boston's hottest". Your building is in a neighborhood ripe for what they used to call "urban renewal".

Wait, you didn't hear what I just said? That's because there are planes landing less than a 1/4 of a mile from your building, and they are reversing their engines as they land from 5:30 AM to midnight, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. ...

Meow!

In attending a meeting of one of Fort Hill's dueling neighborhood associations, eeka learns that there are two ways to buy a house - and one is a lot cheaper:

... The system in which people use real estate agents, or even craigslist, is distinctly separate from the system in which people sell homes through word of mouth without any sort of advertising. Several neighbors last night mentioned having purchased single-family homes for half of the price of mine during the same time period. These purchases seem to have been made from either known individuals or through informal connections, but without any sort of formal listing. ...