Watered Down Sales -- 2010 Condo Sales review for Watertown MA

OK, so 179 condos were sold in little Watertown, MA in 2010. Nice, huh? Actually that is 20 fewer than in 2009, but agents have some solace: prices were up a bit. According to MLS, the average price in 2010 was about 338k, up from 331k. Note to agents: don't tap into the kid's college fund yet.

Agents had to work a bit more (work???) in 2010. They had to churn up 121 days to make the average sale. In 2009 they kanoodled the sale in 91 days. Yeesh! that is a whole month -- equal to the average agent's stay at their summer home one the CAPE! Yee gods.

The big bad news is here. 113 condos went unsold and the listings expired. A scantly69 failed to sell in 2009. Add to that the 63 listings currently on market (1/6/11), and you've got yourself quite a dandy (and large) pool of condos for sale.

Time will tell, but statistics say the condo prices will be "diluted" in 2011...and that may give buyers a chance to make a real splash!

Condo "Many-of-Them" (Belmont, MA)

So 84 condos (well mostly 2 family homes cut in half) went onto the chopping block in 2010; average price, a bit under $461k. Big improvements in both areas over 2009 when 66 flats swapped deed holders at an average price just below $420k. Not bad, but agents had to put the nose to the grindstone a lot longer to etch those down payments into stone. It took an average of 161 days (upwards of 6 months) to natch down the deal compared to 106 days for 2009.

And yet, the stock remains plentiful: 58 condos FAILED to sell and the listings went EXPIRED in 2010. In 2009, the number was 53. By point of comparison, in 2010 a mere 34 single fams went expired versus 48 single expires in 2009.

If you did not get in on the condo buying in 2010, do not worry, you have not missed the boat. There's a rather lame joke out and about that goes something like this:

"You know of any condos for sale?"
"Yeah"
"Which one?"
"All of them."

A "Triple Crown" in Arlington

Arlington wins the MVP award for 2010 (as far as agents are concerned, anyway). Buyers and sellers stepped up the plate and cracked out an amazing 277 deals; a 12% increase over 2009. And there were no "cheap shots" here: the heavy lumber was out according to MLS what with average sale price going the distance and coming in at $537,511 (a 5 percent increase in that power catagory)!

Ahhh, but to complete the steller year, in came the speed: average days on market was a good ol' fashioned "Ryan's Express" down the middle: 48.57 days on market -- 3 days faster than 2009.

Sales, Price and Speed. The three big stats. what does all this mean for the 2011"season"? Who knows, but I would not be surpised to see a few more agents driving new "beemers" around Arlington in the next few months.

Watertown all Washed Up?

OK ok ok...home sales in Watertown did not exactly take a bath in 2010, but real estate agents were not exactly showered with riches on the transactions they put together.

According to MLS, 71 single family homes saw former owners throwing in the towel compared to 79 homes in 2009; a 10 percent grading on the downward slippery slope (stop me on the "water" jokes).

It took an average of 66 days for folks to "liquidate" versus 61 days in 2009. The good news is in average sale price: 2010 saw home sales averaging $472,976: up from 2009's $456,293 -- about a 3% gain. That stat sort of helps with the ol' glass half full analogy, does it not?

All this does not mean that we should roll out the barrel and dance the polka in celebration of recovery, but it DOES mean that anyone talking about a dire and dismal future ought to have the old mouth washed out with soap!

Belmont Balancing Act

Ok, so there may be one or two souls out there putting the ol' schnozzola to the grindstone and getting one last close into the books, but as Bob Dylan sings, "It ain't me, babe..."; I am off the clock today: getting ready for whatever extravaganzas are coming tonight.

With that cut into stone, I may relate that Belmont was nicely balanced when comparing sales of singles in 2010 to 2009. With the final caveat of last hour closings (C'mon no one's workin' today!), we can say that 144 singles changed hands in 2010. That is 3 less than 2009 (147) and a 2% tip to the "malaise", but wait....the average sale price was just shy of $778,000 according to my stats from MLS, versus 2009's average pluck of $730,000 (up a bit). The scales shift back to the center: a little less in sales, a little more in price (or commission check for the Belmont agents). Even Steven. In fact, those agents grabbed a cut of $112,011,552in sales in 2010. In 2009 those same souls were forced to get by with commissions based on a paltry 107,310,558 -- about 4.7 million dollars less in 2009 versus 2010.

I just peel with excitement at what a breakdown of the condo market might be, but that will have to wait. I am off today. See you all on the other side. May any and all of your disappointments in this dying year of 2010 inspire you all to travel roads with brighter and wider eyes.

My best,
Al.

Value Added Investment Grade? One step at a Time

Agents live for broker tours. For those not of the "cognoscenti", a broker tour is like an Open House, except it is an Open House for the "elect" -- read that for only brokers. It is a chance for a listing agent to show a property to other agents in the hope they may well have a client who would like the home. Agents going on tour do not necessarily like the Broker Tours for this -- they like it for the free food that is usually spread out by the Listing Agent to entice the traffic. For example, in my corner of the world, "lunch" is served in Belmont, Arlington and Cambridge on Tuesdays, Wednesday it is Newton, and Friday it is Watertown and Waltham (yum yum). Other towns in my area have their days...check an agent's GPS history and you can figure that out for Medford, Lexington, Wellesley, Brookline and so on.

The other day, I go to this broker tour. I am cheerfully met at the door by a sprightly young agent (I know she is young...the low cut sweater [a Cashmere Over Sized Cowl Tunic from Michael Star; $326] that she wears is slightly amiss at the left shoulder exposing not just a maroon bra strap [Victoria's Secret], but also the wing of an angel tattoo pricked into the skin, I surmise, after a long night with some Brown University frat boy(s?) -- I recognize the work...Ronnie's Tattoo, Providence, RI; $89.99).

"Welcome," she says, and, "Oh, could you please remove your shoes?"

Now readers, at my stage in life and in this place and time, I should be excited when a woman asks me to remove ANY article of my clothing, in this case, if for nothing else, for the one second of fantasy that this person has a foot fetish. Alas, sadly, she spoke too fast and cut all "fantasm" to the quick.

"It is the rugs," she imparts, "they are collector quality."

For the first time, I looked below the agent's torso, passed the Eileen Fisher Stretch Ponte Pencil Skirt (Sak's Fifth Avenue, $158), down the finely waxed calves (Li Kim Thuy's Nail and Wax Shop [bikini lines a specialty], Dorchester, perhaps?) and down to the bare feet ("Shoeless" Joe Jackson; Chicago White Sox, 1919). Off to the right was an imitation brass scupper (Home and Hearth, $68), and neatly resting in it were the agent's shoes; black high heeled "court pumps" from Redoute Creations, Paris (40 Euros or 60 bucks at current exchange rates).

"You see," she continued, "the rugs are all quite pricey. This one is an Isfahan and over there in the sitting room is a Bakhshaish. This runner is a Hussainaba. They are investments!"

Now folks, I really do not want to talk rugs here, but rugs as an investment?...I mean if you want people to just stamp and stomp all over your investments, that is O.K, but why not just give your money to Wall Street? That's what they down there everyday.

"Uh, huh," I say as I remove my shoes (PayLess $14.99 Buy-One-Get-One-Free [BOGO]), thanking God for the wisdom of that trip to Marshall's the day before (New black socks, slightly irregular, 6 pair; $3.99). As I am doing this, I am searching about for the route to the kitchen and the free lunch platter laid out. After all, all I want, all ALL agents want is a sandwich and maybe a Coke to go (free at Broker Tours; $1.59 at 7-11; remember to cash in the can and you come out a nickel to the good!).

"And," she points out, "all the collectibles on the walls!", and she directs my attention to the shelves and cut outs and nooks and crannies filled with bric-a-bracs, porcelains and potteries of all manner of invention.

"Listen," I say, still looking beyond her slender posterior for the platter (do I smell roast beef!?), "I don't know, kiddo...you are going to bring a lot of people into this house and with all these nicknacks about, well...I'd be afraid that some of them are going to get 'paddy-whacked'...and you'll be the one that will have to, shall we say, 'give the dog the bone' if you get my drift". She didn't, apparently she is too young for the "This-Old-Man-He-Plays-One" joke motif.

"Come again?" she says, and I reply something to the effect that at my age, I would need a good dose of Viagra to do that (she didn't get that joke either).

"I don't understand," she says.

I tell her, "What I mean is...it's the stuff...no one -- not even you!!! -- will be looking at the house. It is ALL stuff. First you ask folks to take off their shoes...what if they have a hole in their sock?" (Thank God [again] I went to Marshalls!), "then they walk into this museum. Let me tell ya, honey, people want to live in a house, not a museum. You know who lives in a museum?...King Tut lives in a museum, and for him that's an upgrade, 'cause before that he was living in a freaking hole in the desert for 3 thousand years!. Folks want to see if their entertainment center from Jordan's Furniture will fit here. They want to see the glow of the hardwood floors; they don't want to tip-toe around some magic carpet smuggled out of Pakistan. For your sake and for the sake of your client, you need to get this place cleaned up. You're not selling admission tickets here...you are selling a house."

She begins a retort of some sort, but I am gone; I see the snake route to the kitchen and the spread; catered by Rebecca's!!! ooooh!, Turkey, Tuna, Veggie, and ROAST BEEF on SOUR DOUGH ROLLS ($7.99 each), a bag of Cape Cod Chips ($1.19)...and a Diet Coke.........TO GO.

Terminal-ology

A description from one of my sold listings follows:

This convenient 2 family in the desirable West End features newer vinyl siding, new replacement windows, new heating and hot water systems, updated electric, as well as a pristine and just renovated second floor unit along with other bonuses. Enjoy great rent potential in a home that is close to public transportation and area amenities.

Ya see what we got there? Keep it in mind as we digress...

Back in the day when I was a lad, a friend came to me and asked wouldst I proffer to him my time and disposition to make success of a double date. His plan was to go bowling; he with his "amour" on their third foray and I, well, she has a cousin, a cousin who was visiting, I may have surmised from the "farm". Naturally, I asked of the pertinent qualities and he responded with, "She's great...she's a really nice person, fun to be around...she's got a great personality."

I passed on the blind date. I figured that if the best asset to be offered was the fun-to-be-around, great personality, then I might as well get it on with Ronald McDonald because at least he wears a balloon nose over his ugly face.

I bring this up because, in fact, many years later I saw that blind date. She was with my friend. My friend catches me in a Bruegger's and calls me over to meet his wife, a local TV personality, and the conversation went like this:

"XXXX, this is my friend, Al....Al, this is my wife, XXXX (although, if you watch the weather, I think you know that."
"Pleased," I say.
"You know, honey," my friend says, "This is the guy I wanted to set you up with when you first moved here." Hollow laughs all around.
"Well, I am glad he said 'No' ", she said and off they went.

A few days later I tagged him by phone:

"Yeah, so what was that," I inject, "You dumped the girlfriend and take up with the cousin?"
"Could have been yours, pal, could have been yours."
"Except you told me she was a dog...you told me she had a uhhh 'great personality'..."
"And she does..."
"But," I say, "With all due respect, why did you try to sell me on that bill of goods. I was twenty. You're selling me Emily Dickinson when I wanted to buy Sharon Stone, for crissakes."
"Well...you were a sensitive guy. I gave you sensitive..."

So what the hell is the point of this story? The point of this story is the wording. A "sell" word can well be terminal to a sale if not properly placed. Folks are wary of words; they can mean many things, and in most cases, they mean to dislodge and up end belief.

So it is with Real Estate descriptions and the words we use. I try not to use the buzz words -- buzz words create obfuscation. So herewith are some buzz words and what I feel they mean to a reader:

Cozy -- small

Close to Shops -- every rummy in town will piss on your privet hedges as he walks by on his way to the "Packy".

Unique -- stupid

Family room -- basement

Wet bar -- basement has a sink

Au pair -- basement has a bed where the owner's son used to hump his girlfriend

County like -- you will be mowing the lawn every day

Won't last -- it will be going to foreclosure soon

Meticulously maintained -- has not had a thing done to it since Eisenhower was in office

Quiet Street -- the town does not maintain it

Lots of storage -- wet basement

Open architecture -- you know when anyone goes into the can

Half bath -- they turned a closet into a "Throne Room"

Easy access -- it is on a main drag

Expandable -- you can finish the attic once you get the squirrels out of it

Tudor -- rooms in the attic

Old charmer -- Ugly

Historic -- previous owner was a sex offender

Great school -- high taxes

Desirable -- high taxes

Small town feel -- high taxes

Period detail -- rotten moulding

Sweat Equity -- you will never get it done; hire a contractor

MICRO economics in Belmont

It has been a long and dispiriting spring followed by a dismal summer that saw long time stores shutter up all around my little corner of the world. The Auto Parts guy in Cushing Square is in the process of pulling his spark plugs -- the EVERYTHING MUST GO sign screams across Common Street. No more can a soul buy fudge down Trapelo Road, and the print shop one passes on the way has run out of ink -- the building is now forlorn and for sale. An electrician has moved into the storefront that was once a takeout chicken joint: "I don't need a store front," he told me, "but the price was right." The old bookstore in the center of town

Of all the shuttered businesses about, the one that is most surprising is my maid: she stopped coming in June. For the better part of ten years, she had been mopping and wiping the the ne'er-do-well issue of my life, finding shoes I have left scattered about, washing dishes, putting the glow on my hardwoods, vacuuming out of the rug the evidence of my retreating hairline, and in general working her skill on those things and utilities about which modesty forbids description.

I did some "jungle drum" research into the woebegone circumstances...it appears she was illegal, I have been told. She was a regular traveller to and back from Brazil. As far As I can guess, she did the trip one too many times. I have been visited by at least seven "new" Brazilians, all claiming to be the extension of my maid's business. I have chosen none of them.

If the dismal summer taught me anything, it was a real lesson in MACROeconomics by way of the MICRO. You see, I have been sweeping the floors myself, mopping, putting away my shoes, and what nots, and doing exactly all the things I should have been doing in the first place. My home is tidy, fit for me, if not for a king, AND I am saving 63 smackers a week -- that's 63 bucks staying inside the US economy, yup 63 bucks a week that I will use here -- maybe an extra Trombone lesson for the kid, or maybe, after a year, well let us see -- that is almost $3,300 dollars! That is the down payment on that new Chevy Cruze that is going to be the hot car of 2011!

They say that illegals are doing jobs WE do not want to do. I say, they are doing jobs that need NOT be done. We are overly conspicuous in our consumption. We do not need some of the services we buy. As a cleaner, I am doing just fine, thank you...a few minutes a day here and there and I am at one with my home. I have reconnected with the nooks and crannies (and found things I should have discarded years ago not to mention things I should have held closer to my thoughts, but instead dumped behind the file cabinets). And, of course, there is the exercise; I am feeling fit and trim as I putter about the halls of the castle, deep-kneeing my way into the closets and squatting to swipe the dust from under the futon.

And I have begun to think -- what if we all cleaned our own homes, mowed our lawn lawns, did our own nails? In my corner of the world, the landscaper's truck and trailer is longer than the street frontage of many homes...do we really need their services? Are we so busy at the gym that we cannot find 15 minutes and get our exercise pushing the rotaries across the grass?

For me, I see a win win...my apparently illegal maid has left the country, a situation that most folks feel needs to be replicated 10 million more times...and I have a new stash of cash in my pocket. What to do with it?...a great economic question, stay tuned.

News Events of the World -- Belmont (MA) Style

Cannot say too much about this other than it gives new meanig to Catfighting.

Belmont Citizen-Herald
Posted Apr 14, 2010 @ 04:32 PM
Belmont, Mass. — Police responded to a Creeley Road residence last week for a dispute between roommates that allegedly led one roommate to throw a cat at the other, according to a police report.

Officers responded to the scene just before 11 a.m. on April 8, where a male resident told police an argument erupted between him and his roommate, who claimed that the man had left the lid off a trash can, which attracted a skunk that wound up spraying the man’s cat.

The man said that during the argument, the roommate threw the cat at him.

Officers interviewed the roommate, who confirmed the two had argued but said he did not throw the cat.

Both men declined assistance in obtaining a restraining order against the other.

No charges were filed against either of the residents.

Copyright 2010 Belmont Citizen-Herald. Some rights reserved

Dr Leaky Then Zoo

That ditty up top has nothing to do with paleontology (Dr. Leaky and family in Africa -- remember from High School...or National Geographic?) It happens to be an anagram up top.

You see, folks, I had the pleasure of trying to do business with another broker this week. A broker who had more titles after her name than the Queen of England. Herewith are the business card busting "designations":

XXXXX XXXXXXXXX

ABR, ASR, CBR, CRB, CRS, GRI, ITI, PMN, RECS, SRES

Broker/Owner, Justice of the Peace, ABA Certified Paralegal

Now I have some "desigs" myself but they mean nothing to my clients and I don't put 'em on my cards. However in this case there may have had a higher purpose: all those letters -- a litany of triandic digits got me thinking, and the above anagram popped into mind.

It really works. Perhaps you know her (let me know if you want the solution). Perhaps not (still want the solution?). Perhaps you suddenly have a hankering for studying English or doing a puzzle in the Herald. Or maybe you'll pull out the old High School book and re-read up on Paranthropus Man.....