How the voting works

Visitors who come to Zillow, or the WarrenRe blog, can click the Zillow Boston real estate link to bring them to a poll and vote for their favorite real estate blogger in the city of Boston. Anyone can vote once per 24 hours, and voting ends at noon (Pacific Time) on November 24, 2010. Because this vote will determine the best real estate blogs in multiple cities, once the voting is over, the blog with the most votes will be declared the winner in each city.

If WarrenRe wins this title, Zillow will put a link to the Warren Residential website from Zillow’s Boston home values page. In addition, we’ll  also receive a badge for our website that indicates Warren Residential is Boston’s best real estate blogger, as voted by the people!

Once again, here is the Zillow link to log in and vote as often as possible before November 24th: Boston real estate

Warren Residential is excited to be considered, and with your help we could succeed in being Boston’s Best  – thanks in advance for your readership!

Christina Longo at Prospect mortgage sent me the following email this morning:

Senators have agreed to extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit originally set to expire on November 30. Once the Senate officially votes on the bill it will move to the House of Representatives, which strongly supports the extension. The Obama administration has also signaled its strong support for an extension of the tax credit.

Aside from the first-time homebuyer credit, the new plan would offer a $6,500 credit for repeat or move-up homebuyers who have lived in their primary residence for five years or more. The tax credits would be available to buyers who sign purchase agreements on a new or existing primary residence between December 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010. Buyers would have until June 30 to close on their new homes.

There is an $800,000 price limit on all homes eligible for the credit. The income limits for all buyers would rise to $125,000 per year for individuals and $225,000 for married couples. Under the current program, the limits are $75,000 and $150,000 respectively. The first-time homebuyer credit is also available to those who have not owned a home in the previous three years. The credit does not have to be repaid unless the home is sold or ceases to be the primary residence within three years.

According to the Treasury Department, more than 1.2 million borrowers have claimed $8.5 billion of the $13.6 billion set aside for the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

Please be advised that this legislation has not yet passed, but I will be sure to keep you informed as it moves through Congress toward approval.

My Thoughts:  Hurray!  This is great news.  I am really excited about the fact that they are most likely going to also allow move-up buyers to take advantage of the program with the $6,500 tax credit.  I think this is just what we need to keep home sales active during the slow season and really get them fired up during the Spring.  Let’s just cross our fingers that the House approves it too!

The “Boston Yacht Haven” yacht club on Boston’s Commercial Wharf has just been forced to file for Chapter 7 liquidation of it’s assets.  The owner, Yovette Mumford, narrowly avoided a foreclosure auction in April by filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.  The Boston Yacht Haven was purchased in 2005 for $11.7 million and has a reported $10.1 million mortgage on it from Northern Bank & Trust.

Yovette Mumford said the original idea behind the purchase was to convert the yacht club into either a boutique hotel or luxury condos.  Given the spectacular location, perhaps one of the best on Boston’s Waterfront, both ideas would probably have been a tremendous success.  However, the Boston Yacht Haven’s closest neighbors at the Commercial Wharf condos have put a stop to any projects leaving Mumford operating a business she never seemed to intend to run.

Picture and Source: Banker & Tradesman

My Thoughts: I’d love to see someone pick this up and turn it into something like Mumford had imagined but, to be honest, I don’t see it happening anytime soon.  Given the current economic climate along with the fact that developing on the waterfront is difficult enough even with support of the neighbors (which I doubt this project would ever gain) this will probably remain a yacht club for years to come.

To search all Boston Waterfront Condos – CLICK HERE

To view Boston Waterfront Luxury Buildings – CLICK HERE

Photo Courtesy of the LA Times

As of today, Bank of America has officially retired the Countrywide Home Loans brand which they acquired about 10 months ago and re-branded their mortgage division as “Bank of America Home Loans”.

Countrywide was formerly the nations largest home lender but recently met its demise do to its aggressive sub-prime lending over the past few years.  Bank of America said that the Countrywide brand name has been tarnished so much that a complete change must happen.

Bank of America’s new pledge to customers is keeping home loans simple, affordable, and explaining them clearly.  They have created a “Clarity Commitment” which is a one page document outlining the mortgage’s interest rate, terms, potential payment changes and other details of the loan.

My Thoughts:  I have a lot of friends and colleagues who work in the lending industry and a lot of them are making the move from well established names like Chase and Wells Fargo to Bank of America because of the merger with Countrywide.  Apparently Countrywide’s back-office systems and technology are second to none and combined with the Bank of America brand many of these bankers and lending professionals feel Bank of America is going to be the best lender for clients to go through.  If you’d like the contact information of some of our preferred lenders please contact me at nwarren@warrenre.com.

Local developer Raymond Properties has officially filed plans with the city to build two office towers.  The towers, 42 and 52 stories respectively, would have a glass exterior and from the rendering above, look quite interesting and unique.

The plans would require the demolition of the massive garage standing on the site right now.  The garage is really an eye sore and with the right development, the location aesthetics of the location would really be improved.

Along with the two office towers, the plans also include hotel, retail and residential buildings.  The major hurdle for Raymond Properties is going to be convincing the city to sell the property next to the garage which currently houses the Boston Police department which would be required if he wants to build the larger of the two towers.

While many wonder how Raymond plans to obtain financing for this new Boston development when banks are hardly giving out loans.  Raymond has stated that his financial partners, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Lewis Trust Group, are very stable and willing to lend once approvals are given.

Source: Boston.com

My Thoughts:  I would love to see this development happen.  That area is a no mans land right now and this development would bring life to the neighborhood and new Rose Kennedy Greenway.  There is a new luxury apartment building already going up about two blocks further down towards the TD BankNorth Garden and more residential and retail space would be great.  Given that this project is probably 12-18 months away from even getting final approvals, I think the completion date would be around 3-5 years which hopefully will give the economy plenty of time to turn itself around.

One of the major real estate related topics of the Obama stimulus bill is the first time home buyer tax credit.  While nothing is set in stone as of right now here is a rough play-by-play.

The Tax Credit Right Now:

-As of right now, first time home buyers who fit w/in income guidelines of not more than $95,000 per individual and $170,000 for married taxpayers get a $7500 tax credit if they purchase a home.

-The easiest way to explain a tax credit is by example.  Say after doing your 2008 taxes you realize you owe the IRS $2000.  After applying the $7500 tax credit to that you would actually get a refund of $5500.  Another example would be if your refund was going to be $1500 and then you applied the tax credit, you would actually get a check from the IRS for $9000.  Pretty sweet deal huh?

-However, there is a small catch.  The Tax Credit as it stands right now has to be paid back.  It is considered an interest free loan for 15 years.  After the first two years you must start paying it back at the rate of $500/year.

The Original Proposal for the Stimulus Bill:

- The original proposal for the stimulus bill was to increase this tax credit to $15,000 and make is so you wouldn’t have to pay the loan back.

The New Proposal Set to Be Finalized by the President This Week:

-After long negotiations the “final plan” is that the credit will be increased to $8000 and also made so it won’t have to be repaid.

My Thoughts: This is great for first time home buyers and hopefully will get some people off the fence.  We have clients that when combining this with some developer incentives at new projects are getting a significant amount of cash to play with which can be put towards upgrades, future condo fees, etc.  I think to really make this an effective proposal and stimulate the real estate market it has to become available to every purchaser, not just first time home buyers.

Now, I can’t speak for every Boston Real Estate agent when I say this, but my promise to all of the clients of the Warren Residential Group is complete honesty about the Boston Real Estate market.  With all of the blaming going back and forth about what caused the downturn and all of the finger pointing going on, I can honestly say I have no bias towards which way the market heads.  If the Boston market goes up and we sell real estate, we make money.  If the Boston market goes down and we sell real estate, we make money.  It doesn’t matter which way the market moves for us.  Our focus and overall job is to be your guide.

Whatever questions you have for us, please bring them forward.  Let us prove our knowledge and ability and help you handle your real estate transactions.  A lot of crazy things are happening in Boston Real Estate and whether it be good, bad, or ugly; the Warren Residential Group will be there for you.  That’s our promise.

If you are looking to buy your primary residence, the place that you will personally call home, don’t look at it like a stock.  First of all, real estate is not liquid.  To get a fair market price all you have to do is look at average days on market in any neighborhood to find out how long it would take to get your money back.  For Boston this is typically 75-125 days depending on time of year and neighborhood.  Add in another 30-60 days for closing and you are looking 4-7 months to get out of whatever you are trying to sell.

If you are planning on moving within the next two years, rent (search for your rental right here ).  Don’t go buy a homejust because you can.  Between fees and closing costs, you will be lucky to break even.  Until recently, we didn’t see real estate prices rising 30% a year and I hope we never do again because that means we will be in this mess all over again.

If you are looking for a home that you will be in greater than two years, and hopefully for five or more years, then you should consider buying but only if you can afford to do so.  By afford, I mean have minimum 10-20% to use as a down payment, have great credit so you get a good interest rate, and a stable job you aren’t worried about losing.  If you are missing any of these key factors, don’t buy.

You are probably asking, why bother buying at all?  Here’s why:

• You have to pay to live somewhere no matter what.  Why pay off your landlords mortgage if you could be paying off your own?
• The United States Government allows you to deduct your interest payment on your mortgage from your taxes
• Over time, your home will appreciate.  Even if you bought in the height of the market in 2004-2005 you will make money given time.  Unfortunately people bought with ideas of selling much sooner than 5+ years and are now being hit.  I do understand that some people bought with legitimate plans to live in a home for a longer period of time and circumstances changed but that is just what I call bad luck.
• Pride of ownership.  It’s a great feeling to call a place home.  It’s the American Dream.

What are my thoughts about buying now?  The same as any other time.  Do it for the right reasons.  If you buy now will you be in better shape than people who bought 24-36 months ago?  Absolutely!  Prices have either come down or stayed flat so you are ahead of the game in terms of long term appreciation.