John Keith ponders the case of some couple that put their house up for auction, then refused an $830,000 bid as too far under their $1-million starting price:

... Dude, you've already received the right offer. If you want to sell your home anytime this year, or possibly, next year, take the $830,000. Your property isn't worth $1.25 million, it isn't worth $899,000. It's worth $830,000 - what someone was willing to pay you for it. ...

John Keith, a real-estate broker, is amazed to read a comment by the head of the Massachusetts Realtors Association that a recently announced 21% decline in single-home sales is no big deal:

... I'm not really sure how else to say it, but this guy's sure got a big set on him, doesn't he?

Tell me, David, how do you feel about that rain shower they had in New Orleans, last August?

It's a condo cat fight on the South Boston waterfront!

881 E. First St. doesn't like 9 W. Broadway:

... If you like Ct. Sq. Press/ 9 West Broadway but don't like the high price (or paying for a big advertising budget), the high common fees (& paying for a concierge you might never need or use), having to ante up $38K for parking (& having to wait going years to get it) and want a loft that is really in the Seaport (and not at the end of West Broadway's less than desirable neighborhood), then come visit us at 881. We're cooler. They're not and we know it! ...

9 W. Broadway (in the form of bloggin' Realtor John, who lives there), returns fire:

... Our condo fees are higher than the typical South End / South Boston condos, because our fees include the concierge, daily common area cleaning and trash removal, maintenance of a landscaped courtyard, and a fitness center. Plus, the fees cover most of our heat and hot water charges (and covers the cost of natural gas for cooking).

"West Broadway's less than desirable neighborhood"? Um, this is the neighborhood that the Boston Globe called "Boston's hottest". Your building is in a neighborhood ripe for what they used to call "urban renewal".

Wait, you didn't hear what I just said? That's because there are planes landing less than a 1/4 of a mile from your building, and they are reversing their engines as they land from 5:30 AM to midnight, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. ...

Meow!

Ari Ben Harav's Boston Realty News is heavy on news of new high-end condo projects.

Compare to:
Boston Real Estate Blog
Boston Real Estate Watch

In attending a meeting of one of Fort Hill's dueling neighborhood associations, eeka learns that there are two ways to buy a house - and one is a lot cheaper:

... The system in which people use real estate agents, or even craigslist, is distinctly separate from the system in which people sell homes through word of mouth without any sort of advertising. Several neighbors last night mentioned having purchased single-family homes for half of the price of mine during the same time period. These purchases seem to have been made from either known individuals or through informal connections, but without any sort of formal listing. ...

John Ford of Ford Realty has started a real-estate blog. Unlike some of his colleagues, Ford not only thinks we're in the midst of a housing bubble, he thinks it's about to burst:

... I think it has the potential to be worse then in the late 80's early 90's for the Boston area. Contrary to what my esteem Boston realtors believe that this will only be a minor air leak, I believe you should cover your ears because balloons will be popping with a BANG. ...

Blame Greenspan, he says.

Heard on TOTN this afternoon.

From RealEstateJournal:

The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass./N.H., metropolitan area tops
the list as the region with the highest probability of experiencing a
housing-price decline. The area scored a 533 on PMI's Risk Index, indicating a
53.3% probability of weaker home prices in the next two years.

That marks a big increase in risk for the New England hub. A
year ago, Boston's probability for home-price declines stood at 23.3%. The
area's problem "is that it has had strong home-price increases relative to poor
income growth," says Marco Van Akkeren, an economist at PMI.

John reads in the Globe that Suffolk-county foreclosures are up 50% and he gets worried:

...Of course high-end condo prices are too high in the city, but people in the neighborhoods have also been riding the valuation wave. A collapse would be bad news not only for fat-cat developers but for the little guys too. Think economic downturn, layoffs, higher municipal taxes, crime wave, abandoned properties, etc.

But real-estate-agent John says relax, the Globe reporter is just showing (willful?) ignorance of statistics:

... However, nowhere does she report the most crucial data - yes, foreclosures in numbers increased, but did foreclosures in percentage increase? If the number of mortgage loans taken out last year increased by the same number as did the foreclosures, then you would expect more foreclosures.

In fact, the total number of condo sales in Massachusetts, in 2003, according to MLS, was 17,651. In 2004, it was 22,138. That is a 25.4% increase. (Single-family home sales increased a much-more modest 11.1%, from 45,000 to around 50,000.) Foreclosures increased a similar 27.8% in that time period, according to the article.

In Suffolk County (which is Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop, I believe), condo sales increased from 3,125 to 4,592, more than 46%. Foreclosures increased 49% between last year and this year, according to the article. ...

I used mortgage101.com to get referred to some mortgage lenders. They all totally sucked and I ended up going with E-LOAN. I just got some survey from them about my experience, and here's my response:

Your brokers completely suck. I experienced the following brokers:

A complete snob who said I didn't qualify for any sort of mortgage with my $60K income and 730 credit score and who didn't seem to think "licensed mental health counselor" was a real job.

Someone who gave me a preapproval for 300K at 5% after a brief phonecall and no credit check.