Back Bay single family homes - Not much to choose from!

Well...you won't have much to choose from. While Back Bay was formerly made up almost completely of single family homes, over the past 30 years this has dramatically changed. It started with landlords converting many of these into multi-family apartment homes and more recently with developers converting them to multi-unit luxury condos.

While some of the charm and history is lost with these conversions, it actually is a good thing for the neighborhood if done correctly. By creating smaller units the developers can usually obtain high price per square foot sales. This results in a higher residential tax for the city of Boston to help with all the things that Boston does with that money (whatever that might be!). It also allows some people to live in Back Bay who normally would be priced out of a single family home. Instead of having to spend $5,000,000 or more to live here, you can now find Studio condos in the mid to high $300k's.

Below you will find a list of all 5 Back Bay Single Family homes currently on the market: (for actual pictures click www.warrenre.com/blog)

1. $27,500,000 - 40 Beacon St.: While not officially in Back Bay, I thought I would mention this due to it's rarity. It is a 18,000 sq. ft. single family home situated right on Beacon St. by the Boston Common. Rumored to be owned by Jack Welch, this home features a huge terrace, two roof decks, a ball room, stunning park views, and 3 garage parking spaces with 6 more outside!

2. $13,000,000 - 37 Commonwealth Ave.: This Back Bay single family is in one of Boston's best locations on the sunny side of the first block of Commonwealth Ave. Right now it is only a shell and could be converted into a grand single family or large luxury Back Bay condos. It has 11,000 sq. ft. and comes with 5 garage parking spaces and 3 indoor. I personally thing this has to sell for less than $900/sq. ft. to make the renovations even close to worth it.

3. $11,950,000 - 128 Commonwealth Ave.: This Back Bay single family home was actually converted back to a single family from 3 individual condos over the past 14 years. It is owned by a local car dealer and is an absolutely stunning renovation. It features an elevator, game room, and 3 outdoor spaces with a jacuzzi. It comes with a 2 car garage and 3 outdoor heated parking spaces.

4. $7,900,000 - 198 Commonwealth Ave.: This home has been on the market for a whooping 1220 days (almost 4 years) and has yet to sell. The owner obviously doesn't need to sell because there have been no price reductions. If they get more serious they would need to list this around $800-900/sq. ft. to get attention and possibly some offers.

5. $5,200,000 - 290 Marlborough St.: Marlborough St. is one of my favorite streets in Back Bay and I'd love to have the chance (and budget) to buy a single family here. This home has been completely renovated and features 4800 sq. ft. with two parking spaces. It might be a bit small on each floor but when your choices are limited you have to sacrafice somewhere!