Curbed Boston: All Posts by Tom AcitelliLove where you live2020-05-01T14:21:26-04:00https://boston.curbed.com/authors/tom-acitelli/rss2020-05-01T14:21:26-04:002020-05-01T14:21:26-04:00Curbed Boston’s greatest hits
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<p>We’ve closed up shop for the time being</p> <p id="bL0o8N">Dear reader,</p>
<p id="gynWJr">We’re writing with some news: <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2011/11/16/10424538/introducing-curbed-bostonthe-hubs-real-estate-hub">After nearly nine years</a>, we’ve closed up shop at Curbed Boston, at least for the time being.</p>
<p id="ARtlCT">In the meantime, we’re leaving our homepage curated with our best and most resourceful <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/expert-advice">explainers</a>, <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/how-to">how-tos</a>, <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/maps">maps</a>, and <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/26/21195657/coronavirus-boston-news-information-updates">a stream of stories on how the region is coping with the coronavirus pandemic</a>.</p>
<p id="mpYcs1">Want to know what’s happening outside of the Boston area? Our <a href="http://www.curbed.com">national site</a> will continue to report on <a href="https://www.curbed.com/2020/3/6/21163523/coronavirus-economic-impact-housing-market">how changes in the housing market could affect you</a>, feature <a href="https://www.curbed.com/2020/4/28/21239790/house-for-sale-historic-charleston">striking homes</a> from around the country, and distill the <a href="https://www.curbed.com/2020/3/27/21194747/tile-interior-design-trend">latest design trends</a>. You can also follow Curbed on <a href="https://twitter.com/Curbed">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/curbed/">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Curbed/">Facebook</a>—where we also host groups for fans of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/MidcenturyHousesInteriors/">midcentury modern houses and interiors</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/CamperVanRVsTrailers/">campers, vans, and RVs</a>.</p>
<p id="R6LZQO">For now, we’ll leave you with some of Curbed Boston’s greatest hits:</p>
<p id="j0pzpG"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/boston-development/2019/12/17/21010701/boston-neighborhoods-2010s-most-important">The Boston area’s 10 most important neighborhoods of the decade, explained</a></p>
<p id="HgAHL2"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/boston-development/2019/12/12/20994963/sports-biggest-stories-boston-2010s-olympics">How sports drove the debate over development in the Boston area this decade</a></p>
<p id="5qddTF"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/2/12/18221699/boston-traffic-why-so-bad">Why Boston-area traffic is so bad</a></p>
<p id="RlFkOp"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2018/5/9/17332360/boston-rents-why-high-expensive">Why Boston rents are so high</a></p>
<p id="0RLqM8"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2018/5/30/17404868/boston-housing-why-high">Why Boston housing prices are so high</a></p>
<p id="Kqdz82"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/4/22/18508095/boston-no-car">How to get around the Boston area without a car</a></p>
<p id="Gi6lqI"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/7/16/20696003/boston-t-debt-funding-problems">Why the T struggles, explained</a></p>
<p id="vjKHTm"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/15/21221859/renting-boston-coronavirus-information-news-updates">Renting in the Boston area amid coronavirus, explained</a></p>
<p id="TiFKx9"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/9/21206698/coronavirus-buying-house-boston-real-estate">What Boston-area homebuyers need to know during the coronavirus pandemic</a></p>
<p id="5yFlNx"><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/2/21/17821022/reasons-to-love-boston">101 things to love about Boston</a></p>
<p id="cX5bI9">And then there’s <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/critical-mass-boston-developments">our Critical Mass. archive of major development news and trends</a>. Cheers.</p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/5/1/21240089/curbed-boston-publishing-pause-acitelliTom Acitelli2020-04-30T15:41:52-04:002020-04-30T15:41:52-04:00Resources for Boston-area renters amid coronavirus
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<p>Where can I go for coronavirus-related housing help? Where can I find affordable housing? Answers to these and other questions here</p> <p id="jVy0vt">No doubt the novel coronavirus pandemic has spawned a lot of uncertainty for a lot of renters in the Boston area. (And there are many, many renters in the Boston area—<a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/26/21195279/boston-apartment-search-rents-how-budget">perhaps 60 percent of residents in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville alone lease rather than own</a>.)</p>
<p id="6vcaSY">Chief among their worries is making rent at a time of rising unemployment and loss of income. Also on the list: finding housing and/or moving to new apartments. Curbed Boston has answered—and will answer—a lot of these questions in <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/25/21194233/boston-renters-coronavirus-covid-19-moving-evictions">this running post on what Boston-area renters should know</a> (and please feel free to write in with your own questions to <a href="mailto:tom@curbed.com">tom@curbed.com</a>).</p>
<p id="RWezei">There are other resources too that tenants can utilize—and that, in many cases, <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/24/21192158/tenant-rights-boston-massachusetts">they have a <em>right</em> to utilize</a>. Here’s a rundown of renter resources as the coronavirus outbreak unfolds (we’ll be updating this too):</p>
<h4 id="iQgdzk">Commonwealth<strong> of Massachusetts</strong> </h4>
<p id="EkNwFi">For starters, the state <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/tenant-rights">provides a solid online clearinghouse of tenant rights</a>, including links to relevant statutes. The state attorney general’s office also <a href="https://www.mass.gov/guides/the-attorney-generals-guide-to-landlord-and-tenant-rights">has a rundown of tenant rights that might be more easily searchable</a>.</p>
<p id="ktXcEa">Massachusetts also oversees the <a href="https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-assistance-to-keep-your-family-housed">Residential Assistance for Families in Transition</a> program. RAFT is meant to prevent homelessness by providing short-term financial assistance to lower-income families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The state has added millions of dollars to RAFT in the wake of coronavirus.</p>
<p id="uYElAZ">Moreover, <a href="https://www.mass.gov/topics/affordable-housing">the state’s affordable housing website</a> serves as a hub of information on subsidy programs, including federal ones and ones that individual towns and cities operate (an overview that can be helpful <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/10/31/20906078/how-to-pick-boston-neighborhood">due to the many individual municipalities that comprise the Boston area</a>). </p>
<p id="KDPBdp">Finally, the state <a href="https://www.massaccesshousingregistry.org/">maintains a database of physically accessible apartments</a>, including ones that are subsidized and ones that are no-barrier.</p>
<h4 id="wSudZH"><strong>City of Boston</strong></h4>
<p id="uoC3ZC">Boston has launched <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/neighborhood-development/office-housing-stability/rental-relief-fund">what it calls the Rental Relief Fund</a> for tenants based on income and on the nature of their unemployment benefits—namely, if the tenant does not have access to expanded unemployment benefits and if the benefits represent a significant reduction in income. Applications for the $3 million fund will be available starting April 6. </p>
<p id="Cg7TdK">Also, like the state, New England’s largest city <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/neighborhood-development/know-your-rights-when-you-rent-boston">has its own clearinghouse of information on tenant rights</a>, including for college students. There’s also the Office of Housing Stability, which is exactly what it sounds like: an arm of the city’s government designed to prevent the displacement of Bostonians. It can be reached at 617.635.4200. </p>
<p id="etOTfs">Also, if you’re worried about finding affordable housing or even how to get started on such a search, <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/neighborhood-development/metrolist">Boston maintains what it calls Metrolist</a>. Users can search it via four affordable opportunities, including available rental listings. And landlords and other owners can list their properties through Metrolist.</p>
<p id="3MRdvo">Once through one of these four portals, <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/neighborhood-development/metrolist">there are further search options</a>, including via neighborhood and price points—and, crucially, the incomes necessary for securing affordable housing.</p>
<p id="OwATB2">And one important note on Metrolist and Boston affordable housing in particular: The city uses “affordable housing” as what it describes as “a relative term.” The properties listed and searchable through Metrolist can vary from what seems like downright market-rate, the sort only mildly subsidized—apartments with free months of rent, for instance—to units that the city or the state genuinely subsidizes via vouchers and artificially low costs.</p>
<aside id="JTbaOG"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"10 tenant rights every Boston-area renter should know","url":"https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/24/21192158/tenant-rights-boston-massachusetts"},{"title":"How to find a Boston-area apartment","url":"https://boston.curbed.com/2020/2/4/21122366/boston-apartment-search-sites"}]}'></div></aside><h4 id="grGZIJ"><strong>City of Cambridge</strong></h4>
<p id="5i3mXt">Find a complete rundown of resources for Cambridge renters <a href="https://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/housing/forrenters">at this city-maintained website</a>. The site includes links, too, to groups such as HomeStart, a nonprofit that aims to prevent homelessness, and different entities that can provide renters legal advice. </p>
<p id="0LMk0P">Cambridge has also launched an effort dedicated to helping residents deal with housing issues during the pandemic. <a href="https://www.cambridgema.gov/covid19/Housing">There’s a website for the effort</a>, and the phone number is 617.349.9777.</p>
<h4 id="a9cA95"><strong>City of Somerville</strong></h4>
<p id="ES1ndS">Somerville’s <a href="https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/office-strategic-planning-and-community-development-ospcd/office-housing-stability">Office of Housing Stability</a> is aimed at providing tenants and landlords information and advice as well as aid on and in applying for housing-related financial assistance. The agency also helps in housing searches and in referrals for free legal assistance for especially at-risk tenants; and will try to find alternate affordable housing. <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6_48lgwfG8vwtmQ3R7hXLCzpuR9zbxMBLvVSeqQ0YpTxDig/viewform">Here's the online referral/self-referral form</a>. The office’s referral line is 617.625.6600, x2581. </p>
<p id="YYWtGs">Tenants should also check <a href="https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd/housing">Somerville’s Housing Division website</a> for information re: renters and landlords as well as affordable housing opportunities in the city. </p>
<p id="bz1tkG">Somerville’s coronavirus response directs residents to <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-dhcd-website#residential-assistance-for-families-in-transition-(raft)-program-and-covid-19-state-of-emergency-">the state’s RAFT program, including information on how to apply</a>. </p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/27/21196797/resources-boston-renters-coronavirus-covidTom Acitelli2020-04-29T14:18:33-04:002020-04-29T14:18:33-04:00Big reveal: The rent on a renovated East Boston three-bedroom
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<p>Not too many Curbed Boston readers guessed correctly here—did you? </p> <p id="pdSxyK"><strong>Address:</strong> <a href="https://carltonswharfre.com">135 Paris Street, #3</a></p>
<p id="48s68c"><strong>Rent:</strong> $3,500</p>
<p id="A1GDV7"><strong>The results:</strong> Only 19 percent of Curbed Boston readers guessed the correct rent for this 700-square-foot three-bedroom, two-bathroom in <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/boston-development/2019/12/17/21010701/boston-neighborhoods-2010s-most-important">Eastie</a>. </p>
<p id="H3kzU6">The biggest vote-getter by far was $3,200 with 31 percent, and second place went to $2,800 with 26 percent. The sum $3,800 was fourth with 16 percent. Thanks for playing.</p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/29/21241610/rent-renovated-east-boston-three-bedroomTom Acitelli2020-04-28T20:14:54-04:002020-04-28T20:14:54-04:00What Boston homebuyers need to know amid coronavirus
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<p>Will prices come down? How do I tour a home? Have closings changed? </p> <p class="p--has-dropcap p-large-text" id="ItneFl">The Boston area has long been a difficult place to buy a home. Prices <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2018/5/30/17404868/boston-housing-why-high">are high compared with most of the country</a>, and the competition for condos and houses is fierce. Bidding wars and purchase prices well over asking <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/2/7/21128074/boston-bidding-wars-over-asking-price">have been features of the market for years</a>. All-cash offers in the high six figures and beyond <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/real-estate/2016/08/25/tips-for-surviving-today-bidding-wars/ruJnSK14P0vFqxDtgPCbgN/story.html">are not uncommon</a>. </p>
<p id="UyPcVd">Now <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/26/21195657/coronavirus-boston-news-information-updates">the novel coronavirus pandemic</a> has made everything that much more difficult—and has added an immense dosage of uncertainty to boot. The overarching thing to know, though, about the Boston-area housing market is that any gains for buyers—whether in the form of lower prices, fewer bidding wars, or less competition—could prove fleeting. It all depends on when the economy comes back.</p>
<p id="aNm585">As more than one analyst that we talked to noted, the last recession in 2008 and 2009 caused but a maybe months-long blip in the local housing market. Prices were soon marching upward again and the competition grew as vicious as ever. If you’re looking for a deal this go-round, you maybe have a window of a month or two—though, like so much these days, that could change. </p>
<p id="giAIaQ">To help prospective buyers navigate these uncharted waters, we’ve asked industry professionals to answer key questions about what it’s like to buy a home in the Boston area right now. </p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="eXRTjW">
<h3 id="XPcYuB">Are prices coming down?</h3>
<p id="pAXimA">Maybe—but only over time and probably not by much. Prospective buyers could be forgiven if this is their biggest question. After all, prices have been so high compared with much of the rest of the U.S. that the tags have become the salient feature of the Boston region’s housing market. <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/2/27/21156023/types-buyers-boston-housing">It’s all anyone talks about</a>. </p>
<p id="8SwTDF">It looks unlikely, though, that prices will come down by that much due to any economic fallout from the pandemic. And any decline will likely only be temporary, just like the last recession. “I think prices will begin to decline gradually until employment numbers are up and consumers are confident about the future,” Tim Warren, chief executive of <a href="https://www.thewarrengroup.com">the Warren Group</a>, a local research firm, said. </p>
<p id="TXR7cZ">Warren also <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/18/21178097/millennial-homeownership-boston-area">told Curbed Boston in mid-March</a> that it was important to remember what happened to Boston-area prices during the last recession in 2008 and 2009. Prices didn’t budge by all that much, and, by 2013, they had started a years-long ascent that lasted into 2020. </p>
<p id="c46vq9">Finally, the latest statistics suggest that prices aren’t exactly going to plunge. They were up for March, for instance, even though much of the region began shutting down in the middle of the month due to the pandemic. The median sales price for a house in Greater Boston was $640,000 in March, up 6.8 percent from the same month a year before, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. And the median price of a condo was $619,950, up 12.7 percent annually. </p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="y2W8sK">
<h3 id="gTRBin">How’s the competition?</h3>
<p id="TBVbd7">Steady but not as stiff as usual. The Boston housing market has long been full of high demand amid relatively low supply (a.k.a. inventory). That demand, though, appears to have dropped a bit, at least early on, and that may stay the case through the spring. </p>
<p id="OHjW1G">“People are still looking,” Tina Bacci, a principal at brokerage <a href="http://www.resisrealestate.com">RESIS LLC</a>, said over email on the last day of March. “There have been 68 units marked pending for the Boston market (Charlestown to Fenway to South Boston) since March 15.” That is 52 percent off last year’s late-March figures, she noted, but that drop had more to do with brokers and condo associations reacting to the virus. For instance, some buildings have temporarily banned non-residents, including brokers and prospective buyers, from entering. </p>
<p id="uq7LuT">As the local economy rumbles back to life, brokers and analysts expect the regular level of competition to return to the Boston-area housing market. But that could take several weeks, or maybe months. Potential buyers will sit on the sidelines in the meantime and sellers might not be as eager to list. “We will undoubtedly see a decline in the number of homes sold and of new listings until everyone feels safe being out in the world again,” Warren said.</p>
<p id="vK10ov">Warren’s firm saw a 12 percent decline in new listings across Massachusetts in March. That followed an 11 percent <em>increase </em>in February. That February figure foreshadowed a strong spring sales market, Warren said—which, of course, means that the March decline suggests the pandemic upended things. “I expect April to see a steeper decline,” Warren said, “since in the first half of March we were not under <a href="https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-charlie-baker-orders-all-non-essential-businesses-to-cease-in-person-operation">a stay-at-home order</a>.” </p>
<p id="guJFT0">The signs are already there of that April decline. The number of new home listings in the Boston area <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/10/21215618/homes-for-sale-boston-coronavirus">was down 26.2 percent from March 1 to April 5 compared with the same period last year</a>. That’s according to listings and research site Zillow, which compiled data for metros across the country using its own database. </p>
<p id="nHkZbn">The compilation found that new listings in Greater Boston were down not only since March 1—<a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/26/21195657/coronavirus-boston-news-information-updates">about two weeks before the pandemic began to disrupt the region in so many ways</a>—but 46.6 percent for the year to April 5 compared with the same span in 2019. </p>
<p id="gbCYxm">To put the 26.2 percent March decline in perspective, there are typically 105.6 percent more new listings from the start of March to early April in the Boston area. That’s because the spring market is traditionally the busiest time of year. Sellers dive in.</p>
<p id="xD3Qrt">And they might just again—though after April. </p>
<p id="l74R43">One final note regarding the competition in the housing market, based on listings and pending deals: These figures reflect publicly available listings. They do not reflect what brokers often call “quiet listings.” These are deals between brokers for properties not listed on the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS. </p>
<p id="OKmKkg">“The reason some agents and sellers are choosing the off-MLS approach is to limit the number of people coming through the home to serious buyers who have agents, are pre-approved, and are actually prepared to make an offer,” <a href="https://www.cambridgeville.com/post/what-covid-19-means-for-local-home-buyers-and-sellers">said Lara Gordon Caralis</a>, a broker with Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty with a particular focus on Cambridge and Somerville.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="b8LV1q">
<h3 id="q7PTpi">So it’s not a buyer’s market right now, okay. But how much leverage do buyers have? </h3>
<p id="E2uz7F">A little more than they used to, but probably not much—and it won’t last. By the end of March, the number of sales were down across the region, which obviously suggests fewer buyers. In some places, too, the decline is quite marked: Bacci said the number of Back Bay condos under agreement was down 54 percent this March versus March 2019; but, in places such as Jamaica Plain and Charlestown, the number was down under 5 percent. </p>
<p id="VSJlQv">Still, down is down. Fewer buyers means fewer offers, which might give current buyers more leverage with sellers. Though, to be clear, would-be buyers aren’t opting out because they <em>want</em> to. Many who would leap into the spring housing market are instead being forced to sit it out. That will change when the economy bounces back and the stay-at-home order is lifted, analysts say (and those two events will probably go hand in hand). Things looked wobbly for a bit during the last recession—and then up, up, and away went prices amid heightened competition.</p>
<p id="rncWfw">“In a recession, when unemployment is high and [there’s] concern over layoffs and stock market losses, it seems likely that people will be more careful about any offers they make and may face less competition for homes,” Warren said. </p>
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<h3 id="IEqHZM">What about bidding wars and purchase prices above the asking price?</h3>
<p id="ByKBca">They’re both still around. Sellers might be more reticent, but there is still enough demand out there in the short-term, and recent figures suggest that bidding wars are still happening. Add to this the historically low supply and the more recent decline in new listings due to the coronavirus, and there you have it: Buyers will still offer over asking in a lot of cases rather than risk losing a home they want. </p>
<p id="E2zRmO">“I have had multiple offers over asking price on two homes that went under agreement in March,” Kurt Thompson, a broker with Keller Williams in the Leominster area and president of <a href="https://www.marealtor.com">the Massachusetts Association of Realtors</a>. “We are still seeing a significant shortage of homes available for sale, and the COVID-19 crisis is likely to cause some sellers to delay bringing their homes on the market, making that shortage even worse.”</p>
<p id="Rn2fzD">The proof is in the recent figures. Boston’s Brighton neighborhood had 22 condo sales go under agreement in March. The average number of days these condos spent on the market—from listing to offer—was just five days, according to Bacci at RESIS LLC. “There are likely going to be some bidding wars in those sales,” she said, “but we won’t see those details until closings occur.” </p>
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<h3 id="ipu7Dv">Should I come in under asking and see what happens? </h3>
<p id="0O90mk">Sure, but it probably won’t help. “While I understand a buyer’s desire to want to get a good deal,” Thompson said, “they need to understand that they are not in that market right now. We are still sitting at about 1.6 to 1.7 months of inventory. A balanced market would have five to seven months of inventory, and a buyer’s market typically starts at about seven months of inventory on the market.” </p>
<p id="jcFzoe">Then there’s that statistical evidence of bidding wars and fast sales continuing through March, even after the novel coronavirus began to disrupt things. Buyers coming in under the asking price risk wasting time and allowing competitors bidding at or over asking to get a jump on them.</p>
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<h3 id="UFtZ2k">What about open houses? Can I still easily visit the homes I’m interested in?</h3>
<p id="n0NWV1">No. Public and government health officials across the Boston region <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/17/21183733/boston-open-houses-coronavirus-cancellations">are encouraging brokers and sellers <em>not</em> to host conventional open houses</a> (though homeowners “in the middle of buying a house” are still explicitly allowed to conduct showings so long as they maintain proper social distancing and crowd guidelines during showings, <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-essential-services-faqs">per Gov. Charlie Baker’s directive re: essential and nonessential businesses during the pandemic</a>). </p>
<p id="F6au1R">Trade groups such as the Greater Boston Association of Realtors and its statewide counterpart <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/17/21183733/boston-open-houses-coronavirus-cancellations">are also encouraging brokers not to host open houses</a>; and individual brokerages around the region have suspended conventional showings. </p>
<p id="8p6xZ0">Instead, the market has shifted quickly to virtual open houses or to private showings by appointment only. This might, in fact, become the new normal as virtual tours are obviously easier on everyone’s schedule and private showings tend to draw buyers more serious than others about a particular property (something sellers—and their brokers—like). </p>
<p id="iwb6R4">There <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/8/21209468/coronavirus-boston-virtual-housing-tours-showings">are a few things you should know about virtual open houses</a>, though. For one thing, prospective buyers should confirm they’re dealing with a broker or other seller representative who actually knows the property. And buyers should ask for raw photos rather than staged or other marketing ones. Moreover, the financials of a place are the financials of a place: Approach the deal as you would if you have been to a conventional showing of it.</p>
<p id="oxZAI2">Finally, arrange for that private showing if you can. Such a process does put buyers at a disadvantage—<a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/17/21183733/boston-open-houses-coronavirus-cancellations">a listing can quickly become a first-come, first-served situation</a>, with the first tour getting to make the first offer—but it’s worth requesting. You might be that first tour, after all. </p>
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<h3 id="F39dNb">And mortgages right now? Are lending standards loosening? </h3>
<p id="Znk7Q7">No. A defining characteristic of the post-Great Recession housing market, locally and nationally, has been tighter lending standards. Out went financing vehicles such as subprime mortgages and loans that required no proof of employment or even income, and in came stricter oversight from financial institutions and government regulators. </p>
<p id="GIuB0Z">Getting a mortgage, then, has long been more difficult than it was before the last recession, and analysts say it will remain so. The good news for borrowers in general is that mortgage rates remain at historic lows, a reality likely to endure through the expected recession. </p>
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<h3 id="cnitKv">Have appraisals changed much? What about pre-closing inspections?</h3>
<p id="kZMOBi">Inspections in the Boston area have not changed due to the coronavirus. Inspectors continue to visit homes, though they often ask that no one else be present. </p>
<p id="eqnM4Z">Some are using hat-mounted video equipment to live stream their inspections for clients, according to Jason Gell, a Keller Williams broker in Cambridge and president of <a href="https://www.gbreb.com/GBAR/Home/Sites/GBAR/Home.aspx?hkey=0a15318b-9e59-4595-8029-e3ba32dd34b1">the Greater Boston Association of Realtors</a>. Or the inspectors are doing video chats with clients after inspections and while still on site. The order of the day is continued transparency, Gell said.</p>
<p id="P1kJ3b">Now, as for appraisals, those have not changed either. But Gell says some brokers have noted that banks are asking appraisers to be “very conservative” with the evaluations. “Appraisals seem to be coming in lower than agent expectations,” Gell said, “but I cannot say that is true for everyone, only those who have raised this concern. </p>
<p id="T6xVup">“Part of this concern is also the potential reliance on public record data and old photographs by the appraiser to value the home for those appraisers doing drive-by appraisals only.” That public data can be unreliable, he said. </p>
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<h3 id="QE1uad">And, finally, has anything changed about closings? </h3>
<p id="crxs6r">Yes, but not anything that might prevent you from sealing the deal on a home. </p>
<p id="vUMeF6">Like with conventional open houses, conventional closings are increasingly falling by the wayside until the pandemic eases. If there are conventional closings where different parties are present, real estate attorneys (who <em>must</em> be present at closings in Massachusetts) are asking that those who don’t have to be there—including brokers—not come. They’re also obviously asking that anyone who’s sick with COVID-19 or suspects they are not to come either. </p>
<p id="3Bwh8z">In these cases—and in the cases where buyers themselves have fallen ill—buyers have asked for extensions on the closing date. In the case of home refinancings, too, borrowers are asking to lock in rates until they’re well enough to close. (To be sure, buyers, sellers, and borrowers have always been known to ask for extensions for a variety of reasons.) </p>
<p id="XAaKKY">The need for these extensions has also lead to the inclusion of coronavirus-related language in housing contracts. It’s something to consider: Specific language allowing for extensions or other changes ahead of the closing because of the virus. </p>
<p id="vTc0AJ">Then there’s electronic reporting. It’s been around for a while in the Boston area, said Eric Cataldo, a real estate attorney with Boston-based <a href="https://gmlawllp.com">Gilmartin Magence LLP</a>. But e-reporting to registries of deeds was always treated as a kind of novelty. Not anymore. “If this had happened to us four or five years ago, when not many of the registries were not doing e-reporting, it would've been tough,” Cataldo said. “That has been a major savior.”</p>
<p id="M5BBhM">The parties involved in a home closing will need the original documents, which can be uploaded through a third-party, subscription-based company and sent to the appropriate registry of deeds. “And every time I upload a document,” Cataldo said, “I’m basically signing an affidavit that we’re in possession of the original document. ... It’s no different than if someone were at the registry of deeds and bringing something to the counter.”</p>
<p id="XVTD1Y">This e-reporting, though, still relies on notarized documents. And notarization, for the time being in Massachusetts, continues to be something that has to be done live. It’s up to you, then, to arrange notarizations with your attorneys and brokers using the best social distancing practices for preventing the spread of the coronavirus. That can include disposable pens and not being in the same room at the same time. </p>
<p id="WLWXjx">But the hourglass might already be running on such acrobatics. There <a href="https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/SD2882">is legislation pending</a> that would allow for remote notarizations in Massachusetts through video-conferencing and snail mail. No one would have to be together for the notarization. “That would be a game-changer for us,” Cataldo said. </p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="pwftq4">One more thing: Smoke and carbon dioxide detector inspections in Massachusetts used to be the responsibility of the seller<em> by </em>the closing. Gov. Charlie Baker in late March issued an order that transfers that responsibility to the buyer <em>after</em> the closing as long as both sides agree in writing. </p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/9/21206698/coronavirus-buying-house-boston-real-estateTom Acitelli2020-04-27T10:44:50-04:002020-04-27T10:44:50-04:00Boston traffic and transit post-pandemic: Just imagine
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<figcaption>Boston Globe via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Might congestion thin—or increase as more people take to cars rather than mass transit? That’s a big question</p> <p id="PCcfDW">On the day before Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/9/21171253/boston-traffic-congestion-worst-2020">a report came out underscoring once again how awful Boston-area traffic can be</a>.</p>
<p id="fHQ62M">Boston had the worst traffic congestion in the United States in 2019 and the second worst in North America, behind only Mexico City, according to <a href="https://inrix.com/scorecard/#">an annual ranking from research firm and mobility consultancy INRIX</a> released on March 9. </p>
<p id="NAGKcZ">What’s more, Boston drivers lost an average of 149 hours stuck in traffic in 2019, and forfeited $2,205 on average in lost productivity because of it, <a href="https://inrix.com/press-releases/2019-traffic-scorecard-us/">the highest total for any domestic city tracked</a>. </p>
<p id="xjJk1o">Of course, the coronavirus and the subsequent closure of businesses that the state deemed nonessential took many, many people off the region’s roadways—and off its mass transit system for that matter. Almost overnight, congested arteries such as the Massachusetts Turnpike, Route 1A, and the Fresh Pond Parkway all but emptied out as people <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/17/21182437/freeing-space-boston-home">transitioned quickly to working from home</a>. What’s more, T and commuter rail ridership dropped sharply.</p>
<p id="B8MR40">That has led to plenty of speculation about what effects the pandemic could leave behind in terms of transit and traffic in Greater Boston. Will remote working and telecommuting stick around to the extent that it alleviates <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/2/12/18221699/boston-traffic-why-so-bad">the region’s cartoonishly bad congestion</a>? Will the effects cause a rethink in the area’s relationship to cars in general (<a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/11/15/20961871/boston-ban-cars-downtown">a rethink that was already underway pre-pandemic</a>)? Are we looking at different bus routes and train schedules based on what we’re seeing now? <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2019/12/3/20992610/boston-transportation-trends-2010s">Will bikes be even bigger at the other end of this</a>?</p>
<p id="jQYudt">We’re opening the floor to the people who would know best: the riders and the drivers of the Boston area. Sound off in the comments below or on social media. </p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/27/21238272/boston-traffic-transportation-coronavirusTom Acitelli2020-04-27T06:36:00-04:002020-04-27T06:36:00-04:00How much to rent a renovated East Boston three-bedroom?
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<img alt="A new kitchen." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hCYHKSYCqAQm4eSX_B_ExVglYLQ=/2x0:1013x758/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66713888/e1.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photos via Carlton’s Wharf & Company</figcaption>
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<p>The spread includes a washer-dryer and private outdoor space—take a look and then take your best guess</p> <p id="0DGygK"><strong>What/where: </strong>A three-bedroom, two-bathroom at Paris Street and Drake Place in <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/boston-development/2019/12/17/21010701/boston-neighborhoods-2010s-most-important">busy, busy East Boston</a></p>
<p id="6kYs96"><strong>Square feet:</strong> 700</p>
<p id="BmD8Wt"><strong>The skinny: </strong>A recent renovation produced this apartment, which includes a washer-dryer and a private deck. It’s also near the Blue Line’s Maverick stop. </p>
<p id="FgvhNX">What say you re: the rent? Take a look around and then take your best guess. The answer revealed later this week!</p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/27/21237577/how-much-month-renovated-east-boston-three-bedroomTom Acitelli2020-04-24T06:41:01-04:002020-04-24T06:41:01-04:00Mass. construction union says members can return to work
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<figcaption>Boston Globe via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The other big development news of the week has to do with demand for all that under-development housing </p> <p id="SFD3D1"><em>Welcome back to Critical Mass., in which Curbed Boston covers the region’s major development news every week. </em><a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/3/26/21195657/coronavirus-boston-news-information-updates"><em>The novel coronavirus continues to disrupt things</em></a><em>, with the biggest stories all tied to the pandemic. First up, a decision by a major construction union to allow its workers to return to sites if they deem it safe. </em></p>
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<p id="93IOrw">The North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents about 10,000 workers in Massachusetts, <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/20/business/carpenters-union-ends-walkout-over-coronavirus-safety/">told members that it was alright to return to construction sites if they thought they were safe</a>. The union had pulled its members from jobs on April 6 amid concern about the spread of the novel coronavirus.</p>
<p id="2uZtlj">When construction <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/boston-development/2020/3/26/21194872/boston-construction-moratorium-coronavirus-end">does rumble back to full force in the Boston area</a>, many of the busiest projects will surround new housing (work on which Gov. Charlie Baker <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-essential-services">has deemed essential statewide anyway</a>). Condo development has driven so much of the years-long building boom. And there was news this week that there <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/23/21232406/boston-area-home-prices-early-spring-coronavirus">is still demand for that housing despite the pandemic</a>. <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/9/21206698/coronavirus-buying-house-boston-real-estate">But for how long</a>? </p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/critical-mass-boston-developments/2020/4/24/21228043/massachusetts-construction-unions-coronavirusTom Acitelli2020-04-24T06:21:30-04:002020-04-24T06:21:30-04:00Big reveal: A South End two-bedroom with a private deck
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<figcaption>Photos via <a class="ql-link" href="https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/ma/boston/203-saint-botolph-st-3/pid_35683740/" target="_blank">Neda Vander Stoep/Coldwell Banker</a></figcaption>
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<p>Not a lot of Curbed Boston readers guessed the correct asking price here—did you? </p> <p id="pS3F0Z"><strong>Address:</strong> <a href="https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/ma/boston/203-saint-botolph-st-3/pid_35683740/">203 Saint Botolph Street, #3</a></p>
<p id="wm7N5j"><strong>Price:</strong> $1,295,000</p>
<p id="leVxf1"><strong>The results:</strong> Only 15 percent of Curbed Boston readers guessed the correct asking for this 962-square-foot two-bedroom with a private deck and its own parking in <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/boston-development/2019/12/17/21010701/boston-neighborhoods-2010s-most-important">Boston’s busy, busy South End</a>. Most readers went low instead. </p>
<p id="KV7tJz">The biggest vote-getter was $1,050,000 with 33 percent, followed by $1,115,000 with 24 percent. The sum $900,000 came in third with 21 percent. Thanks for playing.</p>
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<img alt="Another angle on the same area with the kitchen prominently in the background." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n6jSi1oXlL9NZPPAp84ZBQZuyGk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19911316/s2.jpg">
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/24/21234192/south-end-two-bedroom-private-deckTom Acitelli2020-04-23T06:35:01-04:002020-04-23T06:35:01-04:00Now what for housing prices in the Boston area?
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<img alt="An aerial shot of the Boston skyline and the region beyond at sunset." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/c9aPl00fYRL-2s3F8cHkYO6IRZc=/325x0:5524x3899/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66694181/shutterstock_1352838239.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Shutterstock</figcaption>
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<p>Blame (or don’t) the pandemic for the drops in inventory in the city and its surrounding communities </p> <p id="zVGF8b">The number of homes listed for sale dropped steeply in March in the Boston area in a sign of the novel coronavirus pandemic’s continued effects on the region’s housing market. Meanwhile, prices were up and sales activity generally strong, suggesting that Greater Boston was headed for a busy spring homebuying season until the pandemic derailed it.</p>
<p id="c3AGCB">The median sales price for a house in the region was $815,500, up 13.8 percent from March 2019, according to new figures from the Greater Boston Association of Realtors that covered the immediate metro area, including Boston proper, Cambridge, and Somerville. The median sales price for a condo was $726,500, up 16.1 percent annually.</p>
<p id="IS3nd5">At the same time, the number of active listings was down year over year: 25.6 percent for detached single-families (a.k.a. houses) and 24.1 percent for condos. The number of new listings was also down, and inventory was down for both by at least 20 percent each. </p>
<p id="HuDObA">In Boston proper, prices were up too in March and listings way down. The median sales price for a Boston house was $652,500, up 3.6 percent; and for a condo it was $720,000, up 17.8 percent annually. But the number of active house listings was down 35.8 percent and the number of condo listings down 19.6 percent. </p>
<aside id="h4ZjUc"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"What Boston homebuyers need to know amid coronavirus","url":"https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/9/21206698/coronavirus-buying-house-boston-real-estate"},{"title":"What Boston-area buyers should know about virtual tours","url":"https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/8/21209468/coronavirus-boston-virtual-housing-tours-showings"}]}'></div></aside><p id="RE89P1">Also, for both the Boston area and the city itself, condo sales were up annually in March and the number of house trades down. </p>
<p id="G5Ffqc">What’s it all mean? It’s hard to say with certainty. <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/9/21206698/coronavirus-buying-house-boston-real-estate">Many analysts expect the pandemic to have a deep effect on the market</a>—though that effect(s) might not last long. If anything, these and other March numbers suggest that buyer demand is still there; there’s just far less to choose from—<a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2018/5/30/17404868/boston-housing-why-high">which is a familiar story in the Boston-area housing market</a>. (Though that buyer demand could seriously wane as the economy tanks further.)</p>
<p id="cf9RYq">“The challenge going forward remains the severe listing shortage we face, which coupled with steady buyer demand continues to put upward pressure on prices,” Jason Gell, a Keller Williams broker in Newton and president of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors, said in a statement. “To keep prices from rising further, we must produce more housing to increase the supply.”</p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/23/21232406/boston-area-home-prices-early-spring-coronavirusTom Acitelli2020-04-22T06:31:17-04:002020-04-22T06:31:17-04:00Massachusetts housing inventory tanks amid coronavirus
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<img alt="The exteriors of three apartment buildings in Boston. The center facade has orange brick. The facade on the left is red brick. The facade on the right is tan and white." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-M8VbKWiBl-Oiu0XcORpORbMVZI=/163x0:2748x1939/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66687865/Boston_apartments.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Shutterstock</figcaption>
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<p>A new report shows declines in key measures of just how many options buyers have—meanwhile, sales decline too </p> <p id="6jh61x">Last month saw the lowest number of homes for sale in Massachusetts for any March stretching back to at least 2004, part of the real estate fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic as would-be homesellers wait on the sidelines.</p>
<p id="pnOdNU">That is according to new statistics from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, which found steep drops in the inventories of available houses and condos for sale in the commonwealth. The inventory for houses was down 32.9 percent in March compared with the same month in 2019, and the inventory for condos was down 27.8 percent.</p>
<p id="y5ptLp">Other supply measures, including the number of new listings of houses and condos, were also way down from the year before. The drops were not unexpected. A recent report from listings site Zillow <a href="https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/10/21215618/homes-for-sale-boston-coronavirus">showed similar sharp inventory declines for the Boston area specifically</a>.</p>
<aside id="wHOHb0"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"What Boston homebuyers need to know amid coronavirus","url":"https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/9/21206698/coronavirus-buying-house-boston-real-estate"},{"title":"Renting vs. buying in the Boston area during coronavirus","url":"https://boston.curbed.com/2020/1/27/21083317/renting-vs-buying-boston-what-to-know"}]}'></div></aside><p id="UjIfLs">Unsurprisingly perhaps, home sales in Massachusetts were also down in March—by 1.1 percent for houses and by 2.7 percent for condos. At the same time, median prices were both up year over year—by 6.5 percent, to $416,000, for houses; and by 14.3 percent, to $428,500 for condos.</p>
<p id="yhmmH3">But it’s that inventory decline that everyone’ll notice, including the realtors association itself, which is counting on demand to carry the industry through.</p>
<p id="QkyH1X">“There is great demand for homeownership here in Massachusetts, and the continued strength we are seeing in the housing market is likely to remain a shining beacon of light during the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kurt Thompson, a Keller Williams broker in Leominster and the association’s president, said in a statement. </p>
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https://boston.curbed.com/2020/4/22/21230831/massachusetts-housing-inventory-coronavirusTom Acitelli