http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/ en-us Copyright 2008 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:00:40 -0500 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:00:44 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=1.53 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss I was told to brace myself. My client called to say her parents were coming to town and they wanted to see the house. Brace myself? My fellow brokers have been known to say that the parental visit is “the... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/meet_the_parent.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/meet_the_parent.html Buying and selling Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:00:40 -0500 There were some intriguing responses to yesterday’s entry about “fixing” the nation’s mortgage mess and the foreclosure epidemic, such as giving a tax break to people who are upside down on their mortgage –- but requiring them to use it... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/give_a_home_buy.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/give_a_home_buy.html Buying and selling Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:58:32 -0500 I read an appalling story in In These Times. It was a little bit like a “News of the Weird” piece about a landlord. When I looked a little farther into it, I was even more appalled: A man from... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/broker_gone_wil.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/broker_gone_wil.html Legal issues Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:52:57 -0500 The folks at the Democratic National Convention held a housing forum yesterday featuring former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros, according to a press release issued by the organizer, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. Cisneros, who served in HUD under... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/how_would_you_f.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/how_would_you_f.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:59:05 -0500 Late August reminds me of a concept from junior high science class: Brownian motion. It’s the random movement of molecules in a liquid or gas due to their thermal energy. This movement continues because molecules bump into one another, causing... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/theyre_here.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/theyre_here.html Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:13:55 -0500 Boston and Denver were the best-performing markets on the Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June. Now, that doesn’t mean we’ve seen an overnight turnaround, it just once again means that among the suffering, the Boston region is suffering slightly less.... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/still_hovering.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/still_hovering.html Markets Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:49:37 -0500 BubbleBoy asked me: Here is a good topic to blog on: How do you do comps for homes when so little is selling? The comps from 07 or even 08 before the big mortgage meltdown are a whole different planet.... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/the_myth_that_n.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/the_myth_that_n.html Buying and selling Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:13:12 -0500 Existing-home sales in the Northeast were down nearly 12 percent last month when compared with July 2007, according to the latest figures from the National Association of Realtors. At the same time, the median sale price, or midpoint price, was... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/foreclosure_pre.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/foreclosure_pre.html Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:36:38 -0500 Congratulations! Yesterday M_ and M_ announced their wedding date in August, 2009. A little while later, they told me their house hunting plans. They want to start looking in January and move into the new place before they are married.... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/wedding_bells.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/wedding_bells.html Buying and selling Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:15:35 -0500 Many people who responded to the "Great first-time buyer expectations" entry mentioned their concerns about buying a fixer-upper and having to shell out big bucks on repairs when they would already be tapping their savings to buy a house. It’s... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/budgeting_for_r.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/budgeting_for_r.html Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:30:31 -0500 I am pleased to say that this cooler weather has lessened the overwhelming smells that plagued my house-hunting in early August (this year and last year.) The results of the smell survey I set up on August 8th are here.... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/what_readers_th.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/what_readers_th.html Buying and selling Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:35:21 -0500 The number one priority of most first-time home buyers these days is affordability, according to a survey of Coldwell Banker brokers. That finding doesn't really seem like news. However, the survey had one sort of interesting finding: 81% of the... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/great_firsttime.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/great_firsttime.html Buying and selling Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:40:23 -0500 Termites really scare people. The idea of bugs that do nothing but eat wood seems like the ruin of a good house. What I have been told by home inspectors and termite inspectors is that these buggers eat very slowly.... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/thank_you_termi.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/thank_you_termi.html Buying and selling Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:11:37 -0500 According to the National Association of Home Builders, Indianapolis is currently the most affordable major US housing market. During the second quarter, 91.6% of the homes sold in that city were affordable to families that earn the area’s median income... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/the_cheapest_pl.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/the_cheapest_pl.html Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:56:20 -0500 Today, I met a contractor who will do a “contractor’s inspection” for people who are about to be homeowners, but don’t own the house yet. Great service! This is not a pre-purchase inspection; it is more a life-of-the-house estimate. Because... http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/advice_for_the.html http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2008/08/advice_for_the.html Buying and selling Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:02:02 -0500