Real Estate Search Blog

Walking around a new city can only show you so much. For a little guidance, there’s a new tool provided by HGTV.com that can help you see all that Newton real estate has to offer before you hit the streets.

HGTV’s Frontdoor.com provides a user-friendly guide to your future city, condensing information from sources such as City-Data.com, Yelp.com, and Eventful. With this tool, you can easily get to know the basics about your new city by visiting one website instead of several.

As shown above, click the “Reviews” tab to be shown a list of the most frequently reviewed businesses on Yelp.com. This is great because Yelp.com can be extremely helpful for residents who know the area, but a bit confusing for someone who doesn’t know Rialto from McDonald’s. A person new to the area can see what his new town is known for. The “Explore” tab allows users to choose a point of interest, like “Schools,” and a map shows pinpoints of all local schools. There are many more helpful facets to this tool, which you can explore for yourself here.

For a more in-depth analysis on Newton real estate and all that it has to offer, visit Christine Norcross and Partners online. Find out if relocating to Newton would be a good choice for you and your family, and browse the homes for sale in Newton and in the surrounding towns.

If you’re looking to buy real estate in Cambridge or you’re simply new to the city, there are plenty of ways to get to know the neighborhood. “Explore the Neighborhood” is a great tool on HGTV’s Frontdoor.com that allows users to virtually explore their city. Below is a screenshot of the tool.

By using the menu bar to the right of the map, you can choose what you’d like the map to show you. For example, if you just bought a home on Harvard Street and you’d like to see if there are schools nearby, check off the “Schools” box and the map will show your pinpoints of all schools in Cambridge. Because the map is powered by Google, you can zoom in to view residential street names.

For more detailed information about the Cambridge area, visit CharlesCherney.com. Charles Cherney is a top Cambridge real estate agent who has years of experience assisting buyers and sellers of homes in Cambridge. If you are a student or working professional who is thinking of relocating to Cambridge, take the first step by visiting CharlesCherney.com.

Considering relocating to Cambridge, MA? One of the many benefits of purchasing real estate in Cambridge is that there are plenty of parks and recreational areas within the city. Below is a small selection of places to run and play in Cambridge.

Dr. Paul Dudley White Path

Above is a picture of the Dr. Paul Dudley White Path, the 18-mile long bike path and walkway lining the Charles River. On any given day, the path is populated by runners, dog-walkers, bikers, walkers, and people-watchers.

Fresh Pond

Popular with runners and dog walkers is the 2.25 mile pathway encircling Fresh Pond, where wildlife is abundant in all seasons of the year. For the golf enthusiast there is the Fresh Pond Golf Course, which is open to the public and even offers lessons.

Danehy Park

For bocce and horseshoe courts, playgrounds, picnic areas, and sports fields, make a visit to Danehy Park. It is the largest park in Cambridge and holds frequent events geared toward families and children.

New playground at Cambridge Common

Located near Harvard University is Cambridge Common. Once an important site during the American Revolution, today it is a pleasant park and the site of the new Alexander Kemp Playground.

Charles River Canoe & Kayak

Not satisfied with just admiring the Charles River? Learn how to kayak or canoe by taking a class with Cambridge’s Charles River Canoe & Kayak. Once you learn the basics you can sign up for an exciting trip out to any location you’d like to explore, like Walden Pond, Sudbury River, or simply right down the Charles. The company recently opened a new location in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, right on Third Street.

For a full map of Cambridge’s public parks, recreation areas, and reservations, visit this website. There are plenty of reasons to browse the beautiful homes and condos that make up Cambridge real estate. Browse the drop-down Categories menu on the sidebar of this blog to look at past entries spotlighting various aspects of moving to Cambridge.

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.

Part of the allure of relocating to Boston is being able to take a walk through the city streets and relive the past. Boston has retained much of its original architecture, and is well known in other parts of the country for its charming brownstones and cobblestoned streets.

The South End of Boston is a neighborhood marked by its brick bowfront townhouses and London-style squares. Hunting for homes in the South End presents a unique piece of Boston real estate where one can live in a charming brownstone and have the luxury of being steps away from the newest restaurants, bars, and shops of Tremont Street.

What might you find on a walk through the South End? The following are some notable sights.

Cathedral of the Holy Cross

The South End on a snowy day

SoWa Open Market in the South End

The next time you are in Boston, take a day to explore the South End and you might just fall in love with the neighborhood.

If your investment instincts are tickled by Boston MA real estate’s falling prices, there are some things you should do before you even begin talking to a real estate agent. Knowledge is power. To be well-informed about investing in Boston real estate is to be prepared for any surprises that might occur along the way. The following tips are provided by The National Real Estate Investors Association.

1. Buy your own home first. This is the best practice in the real estate investment process. You could eventually use your first home as an investment and rental unit for when you purchase an “upgrade” property later on down the line.
2. Read up. The original tip here is “go back to school,” but there are plenty of free resources out there that offer more flexibility. Browse the latest books, build an RSS feed of real estate blogs, take an online course, join a local investment group. Sometimes, the best way to learn is by talking to other people, so joining a group may be the most helpful option. You can learn from others’ stories of success (and failure.)
3. Learn your investment market. Again, joining local groups may be your best bet here. Even if you have lived in the Boston area your entire life, you may be unaware of the habits of renters and students. By talking to others with more experience, you’ll learn what to expect when investing in real estate in Boston.

Countless families purchase homes in Cambridge MA because of the city’s top-rated schools. Home to some of the nation’s top universities, it’s no surprise that its public schools are at the forefront of technology in the classroom.

Blogging at the Cambridgeport School

First graders at the Cambridgeport School post weekly blogs about things they have learned. Dozens of teachers are able to explore the advantages of Smart boards in the classroom. Keypals is a program at the Kennedy-Longfellow School which links sixth grade students to volunteers at MIT and IBM, for an email-based mentorship designed to help students sharpen their writing skills. Authors and illustrators regularly visit each school to share their work and connect with the students.

Cambridge public schools are made up of 12 schools and one high school. The schools each have their own distinct, unique identity – and parents are free to select their top three choices of schools for their child to attend. For instance, the Baldwin school is home to a renowned music program and offers many programs based in arts and design. Fletcher-Maynard Academy offers an eight-hour school day for students to spend extra time on projects in assorted academic areas. The high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, is one of the top public schools in Massachusetts.

There are many reasons to look for a home in Cambridge MA real estate, and the city’s cutting-edge public schools is just one of them.

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.

In Boston, a renter’s average payment is about $1700 per month. Year after year, rents have gone up while housing values fall. Sometimes, making the transition from renter to homeowner makes the best financial sense – especially now that the real estate market is a buyer’s market. Cambridge MA real estate can offer a simple way to go from renter to homeowner.

In this buyer’s market, now is the perfect time to make that transition. The city of Cambridge is an excellent place for a young professional in Boston to transition from renter to buyer without sacrificing any facet of his or her city lifestyle. Cambridge is home to some of Boston’s most cherished restaurants serving an array of world cuisines, from Indian to East African. The city’s intellectual pulse is reflected in the rotating independent films shown at its famous theaters. Some of the best shopping in Boston can be found in the small, eclectic shops around Harvard Square, and of course there’s always the CambridgeSide Galleria. The close-knit community of Cambridge celebrates is diverse cultural roots through annual performances and parades such as its African street carnival and its own world’s fair.

Take advantage of the buyer’s market and browse some of the condo and home listings in Cambridge real estate.

Moving into a condominium can be one of the most enriching experiences that you will have. The Brookline Condos for sale that you’ll find with the other fine Boston homes for sale in the Massachusetts area combine a certain elegance and space efficiency that you won’t find anywhere else. In these times where people are continually downsizing and looking for ways to be more efficient, reorganizing your condominium space with some quick tips is a great idea.

Remember that all the experts suggest that organizing doesn’t need to be an expensive proposition. Before you go out and buy anything new, make sure you have a good look around your house for things that can be reused and given new designations.

-A good example is those egg cartons that usually found their way to the landfill. With a little creative thinking they can be repurposed to organize earring sets, hair accessories or even cuff links. Remember that egg cartons take up a lot less space than that dresser drawer that sat in the corner of your home.
-There are a variety of other areas where what was once discardable can be given a new life that will organize and save space in a new condominium environment. Even baby food jars can be saved and cleaned out to store repair paint, screws or nails.

Taking a serious look at the Brookline condos for sale usually means that you are ready for a change in lifestyle. And making sure that you use your new space more efficiently will increase your enjoyment of it.