Ask and you shall receive. We did and you are responding. Here are two more vignettes via the always-discreet Curbed Boston Tipline about the Thunderdome that is the Boston-area housing market right now. (For the one that sparked the whole shebang, click here.) Our first tale comes courtesy of a listing in the South End:
Just another comment on a crazy bidding war. We put a bid on 146 Worcester Street this week. It was on the market for $849K. It has a shared roof deck and a strange shared tandem parking situation. We offered $860K as a first offer. There ended up being 12 offers on the unit and our broker told us it went for $975K. I echo the sentiment "this is just stupid."
Our next vignette comes from Allston:
This is just a response on the "This is Just Stupid" article written about the condo in Charlestown that was listed at $629K that the person lost out on as there is a similar situation going on in Allston right now at 85 Brainerd Road, #506 [pictured]. It is now under agreement, however it was listed at $449K in an effort to bring in traffic. The open houses were not only packed but there were additional showings after the two open houses. I did overhear an agent explaining to his clients that even at this point an all-cash offer would probably not cut it unless they went well over-ask.
I am very interested to see what the unit does sell for. I am very familiar with this building as I have been in a bidding war at this building, only to lose to all-cash offers well over asking with no contingencies, and what that unit sold for was more than what 506 was listed at. It is so hard to know whether the listing price is a marketing attempt to bring people in or what they think the unit is worth. Given that the Lancaster pre-sales have started, the madness in Allston is about to continue as those units are well above other units that are similar but just in older buildings.
I too have said the market is stupid and all cash is stupid. It is even worse seeing great places get scooped up only to end up being rented out, which hurts owner-occupancy rates and it wasn't because there weren't people who wanted to live in these places.
If these stories sound familiar, perhaps you want to share, too? Email us. We're 24-7.
· A Boston Buyer on the Current Market: 'This Is Just Stupid' [Curbed Boston]
· Boston Affordable: Condos at the Lancaster Will Start at $400K [Curbed Boston]
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