Cambridge MA Real Estate

What Do You Get A Real Estate Agent For Christmas?

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:15:18 -0600

Why - a real estate agent Christmas ornament of course!!

I've collected Christmas ornaments for years and it's no surprise I guess that some realtor-inspired ornaments would make it into the collection.

These are two of my favorites - Santa Sells A House and Red Hatted Real Estate Agent.

Finding a good agent ornament is no easy task. I stumbled upon the Bronner's catalog (via a 9 Really Weird Christmas Ornaments blog post) which has an amazing collection of ornaments. Oddly enough, while it has a wide selection of occupational ornaments - including bus drivers, architects, baristas, mailmen, veterinarians - you name it - oddly enough it doesn't have any real estate agent ornaments.

But I did some digging and here are some I've found that you can add to your wish list - an ornament for an agent, a nutcracker agent, a personalized agent ornament, and another.

If you find a source for some great agent ornaments please do share.

Forgive the blurry picture - I took these photos last year as I was taking down the tree.

I had just discovered ActiveRain but had yet to figure out how to take photographs - granted something I'm still learning but at least I've figured out how to focus and how to reduce the size.

When I unpack the foot high of ornament boxes this year I'll retake the picture.

Holiday House Tour Season In Massachusetts

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:40:10 -0600

This coming weekend is the big one for house tours in Massachusetts. There are at least eight of them that I know of - and four more the following weekend.

I *love* house tours- they've been my hobby for years - and even though I tour houses all week for real estate I still can't resist a good house tour.

For some reason a lot of towns think they have to mix Christmas decorations in with the house tour - so they all pile up this time of year.

While I've certainly picked up some great ideas for holiday decor the decorations aren't what I'm interested in - I want to see houses!

Most of these tours are fundraisers and I firmly believe they'd make a lot more money if they switched things around and held their tour in the spring or fall. We house tour aficionados are always looking for a tour and we can only fit in two or three at most on these December weekends.

So I've got some thinking to do - which will be best? Will it be Salem? Should we hit Stockbridge this year? Will New Bedford have another stellar year? So many house tours, so little time...

Here's the list of holiday house tours in Massachusetts.

There are now 21 holiday home tours on the list and I'm sure I'll find a few more to add - so start making your weekend plans!

What Are the Odds You'll Have Snow for Christmas?

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:10:04 -0600

The Boston Globe ran an AP story in today's paper about why we want a white Christmas.

Bing Crosby, who firmly implanted the wish and the jingle in our heads, came from Spokane where there's a 70% chance of having snow on the ground on December 25th.

Turns out in Boston there's only a 23% chance of a white Christmas.

I like those odds! Sentimentality aside - the longer the snow holds off the shorter the shoveling season.

Here's a website that shows the odds for cities across the country.

The Last Foliage

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:15:15 -0600

This beautiful tree is in my neighbor's yard.

Unfortunately the last leaf collection is tomorrow morning. I snapped this in the middle of my marathon raking session this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to bandage up my blisters and head out early to see how much more I can get bagged before the truck shows up.

I think I'll make a card with this photo and send a note to the Mayor and the DPW. Leaf collection needs to last through November.

I'm still waiting to call the gutter cleaner. Every year I do this dance - trying to find the sweet spot when the leaves are down before the snow falls.

As I raked I just kept mulling over the idea that very soon I'll be out there shoveling again. Time flies!

Smart Growth - Too Little Too Late?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:42:47 -0600

I went to a great CE class this morning on Smart Growth. The fast paced class, newly offered in our state, went through about twenty ways in which towns and cities in Massachusetts are being encouraged to build in ways that reduces sprawl, encourages walkability, and conserves open land.

They were great ideas and Cambridge has already put a number of them into practice such as traffic calming, transit-oriented development, and greening up the parking lots.

But I couldn't help but think as I listened that perhaps all of this was too little, too late. While some of the ideas dealt with traffic either directly or peripherally, in the end we were talking about continuing to build. There was not nearly enough mention of the missing link - public transportation. We cannot grow without dramatically increasing our public transit infrastructure.

Unfettered growth has made much of our country a much less enjoyable place to live than it was twenty, forty or one hundred years ago. Automobile traffic is choking our towns and cities. There's too many of us and more importantly we have too many cars. Public transportation is far, far more limited than it was a century ago.

I've lived in a twenty of thirty mile radius for most of my life. I know what traffic used to be like. I see the long backups that never occurred before. I watch as the rush hour spreads to hours, as heavy traffic on the highway, once limited to special events like a Red Sox or Celtics game, becomes the norm at almost any hour of the day. I revisit the town I once lived in - where I was introduced to stop lights when the town's first traffic light was installed when I was six - and now the traffic down Main Street, where I once biked and walked unaccompanied as a seven or eight year old, is fast and unending.

I really do think that we're a bunch of frogs in a big pot of boiling water who didn't notice that the water was heating up. Incrementally we've built and built, developing farm land, filling all the empty places, choked our roads, fouled our air, built endless swaths of ugliness - and we just didn't notice what we were losing.

It was a beautiful country. And certainly there are many pockets of beauty remaining (do your darndest to preserve all that you know of!) but too often many of my favorite places, while still beautiful, have to be endured with endless amounts of traffic whizzing by.

Smart Growth principles can help ensure that development is done better than it might have been. But we can't be satisfied with small, incremental steps.

We're already more than maxed out in terms of automobile traffic - any growth, no matter how smart, is going to make things worse unless we make a huge push for top notch public transit.

We've got to address better ways to get from Point A to Point B. One by one behind the wheel of our huge hulking automobiles cannot be the answer.

Search Engine Optimization Rap - SEO Rapper

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:20:40 -0600

I've been obsessed with search engine optimization for months. This rap song is music to my ears. It's actually full of excellent advice - and very catchy to boot. It's "Page Rank" by SEO Rapper m0serious.

If you click over to youtube and click on "more info" under his name you can read all the lyrics. He's got more SEO rap videos too - you can't watch just one!

Delayed Gratification

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:36:22 -0600

After months of mulling and limping along with my old phone I've finally made a decision. As much as the name gives me the willies, I'm going with the Droid.

Verizon started selling the phone today and this morning was the first time you had the opportunity to buy a phone - there weren't any advance reservations.

Turns out that my every-two-year discount kicks in next Tuesday.

Should I? Shouldn't I?

I thought the discount was $50 but it's probably $100. Hmmmm.....

My coworker and I have been planning to switch together and have been counting the days until the launch. We both have the same phone now and figure it will be better to have somebody to learn with as we get up to speed. When I called him it turned out that his anniversary date is Monday.

So we're both going to wait.

All I could think of was that famous experiment where children were promised more of their favorite candy if they waited rather than ate what was in front of them. Supposedly the ability to delay gratification played a large part in future life successes. I had always told myself that I would have been able to wait if given that choice.

But I was really tempted by that phone - my adult candy.

So I'm not sure if this is a shining example of our maturity and ability to delay gratification - or simply a chance to "stick it to the man" and keep our $100 from the grasp of Big Business. Not to mention a big helping of peer pressure.

I'm getting a Droid.... next week.

Lines At the Polls?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:11:35 -0600

Today was Election Day. Around here it was a low key election - just city council and school committee positions being filled. The big story was Boston Mayor Menino's reelection to an unprecedented fifth term.

My polling place holds a bake sale to raise money for the kids in the school that hosts the polls. It was a great twofer - I got to vote and buy a super lunch (and dessert!).

My coworker went to vote in her town this morning. When she got to the polls she noticed a long line. Surprising, since during work hours there typically aren't lines even in a presidential election.

Turns out it was the line to get a flu shot. There wasn't a line at the polls.

I'm really pretty sad about it - don't you think if the flu shots and the voting booths were at the same place that people could have made it over to vote?

Acorn Redistribution

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:53:31 -0500

There's a bumper crop of acorns around here this fall. Really it's a banner year for acorns - the ground is thick with them. A veritable carpet of acorns covers the ground anywhere close to an oak tree.

Turns out the squirrels can't keep up. I'm sure they're taking their share but vast quantities are being left behind.

There aren't any oak trees in my yard or the neighboring yards so my squirrels don't have access to the bounty.

I've decided to become an acorn redistributor. When I come across "excess acorns" I collect them. Come winter I'll put them out for the squirrels in my yard.

I can hear my father now, "Don't get too close to those squirrels". Translation: You're a nut and you'll look mighty tasty to a hungry squirrel.

Full Color In Cambridge - Fall Foliage

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:26:08 -0500

A couple of weeks ago I was on a tour in the suburbs west of the city. The foliage was beautiful, the farm stands picturesque.

Turns out we didn't have to go on a foliage drive to catch the color. It was only a matter of a week or two before we hit peak foliage in Cambridge. This year the display is about as good as it gets. Glorious colors at every turn. The brilliant foliage competes with the election signs for our attention.

Leaf peeping in your own backyard - you can't beat it.

Hi Rise Sign Takes A Hit

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:14:20 -0500

I've always given directions to our real estate office by using restaurants as landmarks - we're across the street from Sarah's and next door to Armando's. But the landmark that really rings a bell for people is the sign for Hi-Rise Bakery on Concord Ave. It's hard to miss and we're right around the corner.

Looks like we might be a bit more difficult to find - the big blue landmark sign is gone. A few days ago a truck pulled up on the sidewalk in front and took out the sign.

Nobody got hurt but the sign's vanished. Let's hope for hungry patrons' sake and for ours that it comes back soon.

The Huron Avenue office of Coldwell Banker is located at 171 Huron Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Taxi Cab Inspiration

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:02:38 -0500

Who knew you could get your daily inspiration from a taxi cab slogan? This one is particularly appropriate for city drivers since traffic (and pedestrians, road construction, and other drivers!) can challenge your peace of mind - not to mention your schedule.

Inspiration - I'll take it where I can get it.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:56:11 -0500

Yesterday we had early snow - preceded by pouring rain. But what a difference a day makes! It was a beautiful blue sky autumn day.

Good thing too - I had a tour scheduled for the Back Bay in Boston this afternoon. It's a park-and-walk kind of place so bad weather would have nixed our tour. Instead, it was a glorious day - no need for a jacket - and the perfect weather to soak in this beautiful neighborhood.

"One of the brightest gems in the New England weather is the dazzling uncertainty of it. There is only one thing certain about it, you are certain there is going to be plenty of weather." -- Mark Twain

Say It's Not So - October Snow In Cambridge

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:46:18 -0500

We had to wonder if the heavy rain this afternoon would keep buyers away from open houses. Happily that wasn't so and attendance was good.

I grumbled while setting up signs in the pouring rain but consoled myself that I wasn't on the Charles River where unfortunately it was Day Two of the Head of the Charles Regatta. Ugh!

Lo and behold by late afternoon the temperature had dropped and these big fluffy flakes were falling. This is not acceptable! It's waaay too early for snow in these parts. Half the trees' leaves haven't turned color yet - and those that have are just glorious.

Please - can't we have Fall before we're immersed in Winter?

When Do You Turn On the Heat?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:05:14 -0500

Every year I try to last as long as I can before turning on the heat. My old house is a bit shy on insulation and those big heating bills are nothing to look forward to. I look forward to the "free heat" at the office or in my car.

We've had a beautiful fall but we're in for a chilly week. I'm sitting here at the computer in my winter jacket. The thermostat is just shy of 52 degrees and the temperature is supposed to go down to the 30s overnight at some point this week. My resolve is being tested.

But I'm shooting for November 1st to jack up the heat. The cat huddles on my lap and I really look forward to crawling diving under my down puff.

How about you? Have you turned on the heat?

Wordless Wednesday - The View From Cambridge

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:16:57 -0500

Ok - maybe a wordy Wednesday. This is the view across the Charles River of the Boston skyline. East Cambridge has a number of luxury condo buildings along the river and I was in the neighborhood to take some photographs. What a view! That's one of the things I love best about all this blogging - it gets me out of the car and checking out all sorts of places I normally just drive by.

Changing A Light Bulb

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:27:03 -0500

I've always wondered how homeowners change light bulbs, dust shelves, or wash windows in those huge soaring entries popular in some newer houses.

Today I got one answer - at least for a commercial building with a multi-story atrium.

Seems like a lot to go through to change a light bulb. You have to wonder if it's worth it. Dramatic - yes. Practical - probably not.

An Unwatched Pot

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:16:30 -0500

This morning for the first time in days I had a soft boiled egg. It's a usual part of my breakfast - it's even part of the cat's routine. Champ and I call it "egg plate" - when I'm done he gets to lick the egg yellow off the plate.

Neither of us is enthused about a hard boiled egg. But that's what's been on the menu for weeks.

Why? Because my normal routine is to turn on the computer, put the pot on the stove, and settle down for a quick first look at ActiveRain.

Turns out there's no such thing as a quick look at ActiveRain. No matter how I try to discipline myself, to promise myself I'll catch that pot as it starts to boil - the minutes fly by and it's hard boiled egg for breakfast again.

Today I disciplined myself and did the dishes while the burner heated up. No computer - no endless online attractions in the blog roll - presto - a nice runny egg - just what we like.

I have an electric stove and so many people complain that a burner takes too long to heat. And I've waited impatiently for plenty of pots to boil. Now I know the secret to making time fly by.

It's right here - whoosh!! Time flies when you're reading posts.

Serendipity and the MLS Search

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:51:58 -0500

One of my favorite ways to amuse myself is what I call the "serendipity search" in MLS.

I really love houses. I admit it. It's one of the reasons I got into real estate and a big part of why I love my job so much.

Whenever I search online I tend to use fewer, rather than more, words. I simply prefer to sort through the results myself (and completely cannot relate to the average searcher who only looks at the first few results on the page - I dig through page after page).

But I've made it into a game on MLS.

Whenever I need to look up a property address I enter only the street name - no number, no town. Then I scroll through the results looking for interesting houses in towns all over Massachusetts. It's a super way to discover all sorts of great houses that you would never have come across otherwise.

Sometimes for fun I'll enter street names just to see what's out there.

Around here there are certain street names that can be found in many towns and tend to be old streets with cool old houses - Elm, Union, High, Hancock, etc. You'll almost always find some beautiful, old houses for sale on those streets.

Or you can search on River, Shore, Ocean, etc. to find really beautiful waterfront homes.

My colleague at work is as much of a property hound as I am so sometimes we'll go and take a look at one of these treasures - road trip!

An online spin of the wheel - you never know what you'll find.

Teele Square Condo - 65 Newbury Street Somerville, MA 02144

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:42:37 -0500

65 Newbury Street in Somerville, MA is a two-bedroom, two bath condominium close to Teele Square and Davis Square priced at $469,000.

Measuring 1293 sq. ft, the condo is on the top two levels of this renovated two-unit home. The rooms are unusually large with an open layout. There's a spacious bedroom on each floor and a full baths on both levels as well. Gleaming hardwood floors, central air conditioning, plenty of closets, a huge kitchen with adjacent in-unit laundry, a small deck, basement storage, garage parking plus an additional parking space outside - there's lots to like here!

The backyard patio is common and exceptionally well landscaped.

This is probably the sunniest home I have ever sold. Every time I visit I plan to turn on lights until I open the door and realize the rooms are already as bright as can be.

Can't find space for your bedroom furniture in the cramped bedrooms you're seeing? You'll be delighted at the size of both of the bedrooms here - there's really no second best - both bedrooms are huge by city standards.

Another one of my favorite features is the siding (we real estate agents take pleasure in seemingly obscure things I guess!) - it's attractive wood clapboards on the front, street facing side of the house, and low maintenance vinyl siding on the other sides of the house. Wood siding is much easier on the eye and presents a much more attractive view to the street. Here you've got the best of both worlds - an attractive facade and far fewer maintenance headaches on the sides of the house that aren't as visible. That's brilliant I think and a super solution for a condo building.

Newbury Street is a one-way street that starts in the heart of Teele Square and runs to Mass Avenue in Cambridge - just opposite the new Dunkin' Donuts. #65 is approximately .6 of a mile to Davis Square where you can hop on the Red Line or alternatively, you can walk down the street to Mass Ave and grab the 77 Bus to Harvard Square.

This Teele Square condo at 65 Newbury Street, Somerville, MA 02144 is listed by Elizabeth Bolton of Coldwell Banker in Cambridge. Call Liz at 617-504-1737 for more information or to schedule a private showing.

An Accidental Farmer

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:41:10 -0500

Confession here - I'm no green thumb. Gardening doesn't hold a lot of appeal to me - I don't like being outside in the summer heat and there are other ways I prefer to fill my time. Happily though, I've become an accidental farmer.

Several years ago I bought a house that came with a grape vine and a pear tree. I've done virtually nothing to either - I tried to prune the grapes with little success but that's about it. This is my kind of farming!

The other pleasant surprise garden-wise is a tomato vine that's grown outside my two-family two years in a row. We never planted it and can only guess that somehow a pizza tomato on its way to the trash barrels ended up aside the house.

There's something very satisfying about eating from your own land - especially when so little work is entailed.

Everything has come out at once - my grape vines are dripping with clusters of grapes, the pear tree - practically barren the last few years - is covered with pears (and so is the ground beneath unfortunately), and we're at a loss as to how so many tomatoes can come off of one plant. Sauce, anyone?

i'm eating as fast as I can and trying to find takers for the grapes and tomatoes. The jury is still out on the pears - my experience with pears is pretty much limited to the canned variety in that sweet syrup and truthfully I always enjoyed the canned peaches more. Picking up fallen pears had been on my to-do list and now the ground is covered with pears, half eaten by squirrels, that are now swarming with bees. Ugh! My neighbor tells me the squirrels regularly drop pears in her yard that her pot bellied pig is delighted to find when he's out for his morning constitutional.

The trend toward backyard gardens makes more and more sense to me as I munch on my harvest. The amount of fruits and vegetables that can be produced in a city garden is amazing. Our dear family friends (and blog readers!), June and Roland Despres, sent the photo you see here of Roland's plot. Roland is clearly a purposeful gardener and has the bounty to prove it. Two apple trees result in a year's worth of applesauce and they've got bumper crops of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and corn.

Outdoor exercise, money savings, and food as local as you can get - backyard gardening might just be the next big thing.

MLS Gone Wild - Whose Interests Are Being Served?

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:06:13 -0500

Last night I was playing around with the IDX on my website. I was startled to see that my listing search results didn't include the Description field - just photos and the little snippets of info about size, etc. No matter how much I fiddled I couldn't get the Description to show.

I was stumped - why would anybody want to use a website without getting to see the Property Description? Not me that's for sure.

I emailed my IDX provider and was dismayed to get an email today that said the problem stems from new regulations on the part of the Massachusetts MLS, MLSpin.

Dismayed doesn't really describe how I feel. Enraged is more like it.

It turns out that MLSpin, at the end of August, instituted new rules that require registration to view the description on a property listing.

While I know there are varying views regarding whether or not to require registration I have decided from the beginning to not require registration to view listing information. And a post by Greg Smith about his results with registration vs. no-registration convinces me that I'm on the right track.

As far as I'm concerned this is a huge step backwards. We can't pull back. Buyers and sellers want access to information and trying to keep it close in a misguided attempt to maintain control just doesn't make sense.

Right now the descriptions are still on Zillow, Trulia and Yahoo - and those are just the ones I checked.

It's an outrage.

Tell me why that makes any sense? Who are MLSpin's constituents? Who pays MLSpin dues? Who provides the content that MLSpin needs to survive? What were the Board of Directors thinking?

In a day and age where lead aggregators are constantly trying to get a slice of our pie why on earth are we being hobbled by our own MLS?

Even if MLSpin creates a level playing field that's not the answer. What are we all doing this for? Aren't we trying to sell properties for homeowners? Isn't that what keeps us all in business? To make an online experience far less meaningful is not doing the job for anybody - agents or home sellers. Information wants to be free.

I am confident that online buyers are not going to register at dozens of sites. This is not a move that will benefit individual agents that's for sure.

This isn't the first time that I've been hugely aggravated by an arbitrary rules change from MLSpin. Once again I find myself asking who are these people making these decisions? How did they become the decision makers? Why aren't our voices heard, our opinions solicited? Can we have an election?

It's 2009 - not 1989. Bring back the Property Descriptions.

Presentation Is Everything - Staging Success Story

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:58:09 -0500

A colleague told me this story about a listing and it's an excellent illustration of the value of staging.

The house came on the market, furnished with the seller's possessions, and quickly went under agreement.

Just days before the closing the deal fell apart.

The house went back on the market.

Meantime, the sellers had moved out leaving the property empty.

Unfurnished, the home's minor flaws loomed large. Buyers' feedback was "needs work".

The agent convinced the seller to stage the house.

There are two showings shortly after the staged property comes back on the market.

Both buyers make an offer.

Under agreement again. Success!!

PS: I know that "pricing is everything" initially - but that's a topic for another post. Once priced, presentation is key. Staging works.

Spending Too Much Time Online?

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:19:40 -0500

Not to make light of addiction or treatment but I had to chuckle when I came across this AP story in the Boston Globe.

Turns out there's a new treatment center for online addicts. The center, called ReSTART, opened in Seattle as a residential treatment facility for internet addiction.

I think that the brain operates in similar ways no matter what the focus of compulsion is - alcohol, gambling, drugs, food, spending, cigarettes - or the web. Treating compulsive use of the internet strikes me as a tricky one. It's getting more and more difficult nowadays to stay completely offline. Like recovering compulsive eaters, recovering "addicts" will have to find a way to use their computers in a noncompulsive manner.

If they start a twelve-step group for Spider Solitaire I may have to attend some meetings.

The Bumper Sticker I Want For My Bumper

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:07:19 -0500

We've got really good bumper stickers around Cambridge and I've started snapping photos of them for my blog. As a real estate agent I don't have bumper stickers (well I finally put one on my car last year for the election) on my car as much as I would like to.

I'm sometimes tempted to put my all time favorite bumper sticker on the car - it's one that sums up my philosophy of life in this day and age - "If You're Not Outraged You're Not Paying Attention." Outrage is my middle name - I've got a long list of things I'm outraged about and that bumper sticker says it all.

But I was driving around the other day and by chance discovered what I think is a really important bumper sticker right now. I didn't notice it at first - I was taking a picture of this bumper sticker that really tickled my funny bone:

Above it though was this one - sorry it's so fuzzy - I hadn't even noticed it initially and then traffic started moving:

In case you can't read it it's a quote from Voltaire: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. You can buy it here.

This sums it up for me and it's going on my car.