Real Estate Search Blog

Boston real estate is hoppin’! There comes a time in life when an abrupt change can turn life completely around, in a good way. When looking to settle down and purchase real estate, most people do not stay within the limits of the town they grew up. Relocating to a different city can be an exciting, life-changing move.

The city of Boston has been opening its arms to newcomers since the first immigrant arrived at the Port of Boston long ago. Things have changed a great deal since then (though Boston has retained its soft spot for cobble-stoned streets and brownstones).

Here are a few highlights of exciting things that happened in Boston over the past year:

Boston residents and others were invited to skate on the ice at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. First Skate at Fenway Park was arranged in preparation for the NHL’s Winter Classic Game on January 1st.

The 2nd annual Boston Greenfest took over Boston last summer with music, art, seminars, workshops, and activities.

What would a major city be without a Restaurant Week? Boston area residents enjoyed the delicious cookery of over 200 restaurants.

Though not quite up there with Paris or New York, Boston Fashion Week has grown over the years to become a press-magnet and party-fest. All the better for its guests!

Renee Zelwegger and James Franco won the annual Harvard Hasty Pudding Award.

(Not a killer bee attack) Surrogates Filmed in Boston, along with many more movies:

• The Women, starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Eva Mendes: September 12.
• My Best Friend’s Girl, starring Dane Cook and Kate Hudson: September 19.
• Bride Wars, starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway: January 9, 2009.
• Paul Blart: Mall Cop, starring Kevin James: January 16, 2009.
• The Pink Panther 2, starring Steve Martin and Andy Garcia: February 6, 2009.
• The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden: March 20, 2009.
• Real Men Cry, starring Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke: June 2009.
• Ashecliffe, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Martin Scorsese: October 2, 2009.
• The Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis: November 20, 2009.
• The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones.

There is an extremely helpful Boston Globe article offering loan-securing tips for new and seasoned home buyers. Buying Boston real estate and Massachusetts real estate in general is not as hard as many think it is.

• First-time buyers have plenty of options when it comes to securing a loan. The homebuyer tax credit is a good example that even extends to repeat buyers. Conventional loans for relatively smaller mortgages, which can be secured for as low as 3% down, are another example.
• Veterans, surviving spouses, and active duty members can secure a loan for 0% down.
• Massresources.org offers 30 and 40 year mortgages for 3% down. There are income requirements but they are not nearly as strict as Section 8 housing restrictions.
• Bostonhomecenter.com is a great resource for people looking for similar programs catered to Boston real estate.
• Contact your town or city offices to find out if there are additional programs available for your use.

For more great resources on Boston real estate, visit Prudential Prime Properties on the web.

In 2009, 54% of people that bought real estate in Massachusetts said that they believed their new home was a better financial investment than stocks. The statistic comes from a study published on February 9th, 2010 by the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®. An additional 29% of buyers said that their new home was as good as an investment as stocks. For sellers of property, the feelings were positive as well. Sellers in Massachusetts typically sold their properties at 94% of their asking price.

Why buy property in Boston? Massachusetts property, particularly in-demand Boston real estate, is an excellent opportunity to invest. Right now there are hundreds of condos in Boston, single-family homes in Boston, and multi-family homes in Boston that are on the market — and offered at a great value. Rental property in Boston will always be in demand due to the large number of students and working professionals entering the market at any given time. Buying real estate in Boston is a great opportunity to earn extra income, and hold onto a valuable asset for your future or for the future of your children and loved ones.

A proposed ban on texting while driving in Boston could make buying real estate in Boston even more appealing for families looking to plant roots in a safe city. The ban on texting while driving passed through the House on February 4th, and will head to the Senate.

Described as “one of the toughest laws on texting in the nation,” the ban would punish first and second-time offenders with fines, and drivers who cause an accident while texting could be faced with prison time (under reckless driving laws) and a fine. It would also require drivers to use hands-free devices when talking on the phone, and would ban junior operators from using their cell phones in any way while driving.

The new ban makes Boston an even more appealing city for individuals and families interested in relocating to a safer city. In some Boston neighborhoods, it’s possible to do without a car because of Boston’s convenient transportation options such as “the T” (the subway), buses, designated bike paths, and of course, sidewalks. Pedestrians should feel even safer after the ban on texting while driving is put into place.

For more information on Boston real estate, please visit Prudential Prime Properties on the web. Prudential Prime Properties is your source for only the most knowledgeable and professional real estate agents in the Boston area.

Thinking about relocating to Boston? Why not? The Travel Channel thinks Boston is one of the country’s most exciting places to visit — and we think Boston is one of the most exciting places to live. Here’s a list of Travel Channel highlights:

Man vs. Food: Adam visited Eagle’s Deli and challenges a customer to a giant hamburger-eating duel.

Samantha Brown: Sam competed in a sausage-eating contest in East Boston.

Family Travels: The show took viewers on a historical walking tour led by costumed colonials.

The first step in the relocation process is visiting the city you’d like to live in. Visit Boston for a week and try out its restaurants (see the previous entry on Restaurant Week), museums, and shopping areas. Unsure of which neighborhood you’d like to buy in? Do you love one particular neighborhood, but are you interested in researching comparable areas? Visit Prudential Prime Properties on the web to learn all about Boston real estate and look at the homes for sale in Boston.

When shopping for homes you should keep in mind the future value of your home, whether you plan on one day selling it for your retirement or leaving it to your loved ones. Whether your plan is to purchase a home as an investment or to make it your family’s first home, there are several things to research before you buy. You can find the answers to the questions below on the Internet and by visiting the neighborhood and dropping in on its local businesses.

What is the state of the neighborhood?

• Basic needs for future buyers include a low crime rate, parks and recreation facilities, transportation routes (bus stops or train stations), and nearby shopping areas.
• Neighboring homes should be well-maintained.

Visit the schools!

• You can look at public schools on the Internet, but you’ll never know the actual school environment until you visit the school itself.

Are people moving in or moving out?

• Do a Google search for the street you’d like to buy on to see if any of the nearby homes are for sale.

How’s business?

• Aside from checking out the local businesses, you can also visit the town hall or city hall to find out future developments in or around your neighborhood. Developments can increase or decrease surrounding property value and taxes.

Before doing any of the research above, make sure you like what you see in your future neighborhood. Will you enjoy spending time in the area, taking walks with your kids, visiting the local restaurants or cafes? Or area you simply focusing on the best bang for your buck, and not taking the local area into consideration?

For help on browsing Boston real estate, consider the real estate agents at Prudential Prime Properties. Prudential Prime Properties has years of experience helping people find homes in Boston. The firm has years of experience helping residential, commercial, and rental clients find properties. For additional insight on buying real estate in Boston, refer to the Categories list on the right column of this blog.

Tourists visit Boston during the holidays each year because the city offers dozens of fun things to do during the holiday season. The city of Boston is arguably one of the best places to live in America purely for its abundance in arts and culture.

First, there is the famous Boston Symphony Orchestra, which puts on several Holiday Pops concerts each year. Many elementary schools both in the city of Boston and in its surrounding suburbs purchase discounted BSO tickets and offer annual field trips for students. Looking at real estate in Boston could offer your children the chance to appreciate music at a young age. And then there is the nationally acclaimed Blue Man Group, which puts on several performances just for Boston. The Boston Ballet’s performance of Nutcracker is always worth seeing, followed by a starlit skate on Boston Common’s Frog Pond.

Boston is certainly not short of opportunities for holiday shopping. There’s Downtown Crossing, Harvard Square, the Prudential Center, Boylston Street, Newbury Street, Copley Place, and the CambridgeSide Galleria, just to name a few places for festive holiday shopping.

One of the things you might be looking for when searching for a new place to live is the quality of the area’s culture. Stated plainly, some cities are not up to par when it comes to the quality of their museums and performance art. The city of Boston offers some of the nation’s best museums and performance groups. Take a look at some of the real estate in Boston, and have no worries when it comes to the quality of your child’s, and your own, life. Whether you are hunting for condos in Boston, townhomes in Boston, brownstones in Boston, or single family homes in Boston, Prudential Prime Properties may have exactly what your looking for.

Boston, MA may be one of the best cities to raise a family. Aside from being recently named one of America’s safest cities, the state of Massachusetts has also been named one of the top ten states for health care needs.

In October, 2009, Forbes.com reported the ten states with the best health care systems, which included Massachusetts. The report was based on a study performed by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund. Health care in Massachusetts was ranked highest among the fifty states.  The report ranked the states across five areas: access to health care, prevention and treatment, potentially avoidable hospital use and costs, health care differences among ethnic and income groups, and “healthy lives.”

If you’re looking to relocate, consider taking a look at the interesting properties that Boston real estate has to offer. It’s no surprise that Boston has ranked one of the healthiest cities in America. Patients from all parts of the country travel to Boston’s Mass General Hospital for the most advanced medical care in the country. The city is small and manageable enough to be known as “the walking city,” yet it is certainly not short of fun things to do for all ages. In any neighborhood in Boston, one can find several parks and playgrounds, such as Downtown’s Boston Common or South Boston’s own Castle Island. The city also continues to grow more and more bicycle-friendly as the years pass.

If you are interested in living in the heart of one of the nation’s healthiest states, there are plenty of homes in Boston and condos in Boston that are worth taking a look at. Whether you are after a small condo, brownstone, or home in the Boston area, browse some of the gems that real estate in Boston has to offer.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explores the growing trend of parents buying property in college towns for their son or daughter to live in while attending school. In today’s real estate market, a mortgage for a single-family home in Boston can be cheaper than the cost to rent an apartment or to live in a dorm. The Boston Globe even noted that housing prices continue to fall while “renters feel no relief” – rents remain the same or increase. At public and private universities nationwide, room and board has increased 5% since last year, averaging $7404 per school year for public universities and $8595 for private. With many families struggling to pay rising college fees, a change in housing options can provide huge relief on monthly expenses.

A search through Boston real estate listings pulls up a three-bedroom, one bath condominium on Grant Street in Boston. Close to the UMass Boston campus, this listing would be ideal for a student and a few roommates. A monthly mortgage payment could cost under $2000. To compare the benefit of owning a home to renting an apartment, parents could use Google Maps’ rental search feature to browse apartments listed around UMass Boston. It can cost anywhere between $1500 and $1800 for a 2-bedroom rental, or between $750 and $900 to rent one of the bedrooms. By purchasing a condominium, parents could rent out the two other rooms and cover part of the mortgage each month. The cost to house their son or daughter would be less than the area’s average monthly rent. The parents would be saving money in the short term. Thinking more long-term, a college town has a recession-proof demand for apartment rentals. After graduation, the family could continue renting out the property to college students or to a family.

Buying property in Boston offers relief for families struggling to keep their student in college. The short-term advantages are just as valuable as the long-term benefits.

When you’re looking for the best Boston real estate, you need to be sure that you’ve got the best Boston real estate agent going. And to ensure that you get the one that is best suited to your needs, you should be sure that you’ve got one that has the best credentials. Here are a few quick tips on checking the reputation of these professionals.

1. You need to know what their track record is like. It’s important to be aware of how many homes an agent has sold for the Boston real estate agency that she works for, and that number will give you some indication of their success in their chosen field
2. You’ll also want to have a look at the training that the agent has received. Remember that the best Boston real estate agents are the ones that have the highest level of real estate education and that means that they continually upgrade all of their skills. Remember that you need to find the agents that have a dedication to the profession
3. Last but not least is the fact that you’ll need to get along with the agent that you choose. Remember that there should be some sort of personal connection between you and your agent.

Looking at all that Boston real estate has to offer means that you’ll need to look be selective in your choice of real estate agents.