Open houses provide terrific opportunities to visit a neighborhood, investigate particular styles of housing, get a feel for space or picture yourself living somewhere. Your real estate agent can set you up to receive weekly open house lists in your desired area and price range. Visit an assortment and educate yourselves before getting [...]
Need an apartment in Boston? Here are some spotlighted apartments that are available NOW:
AVAILABLE NOW!!! Great views of Boston's historic cityscape, with all new appliances. Facing South, this one bedroom unit receives an abundance of natural sunlight. This professionally managed [...]
Good news for developers: Boston recently initiated a "Compact Living" pilot. It's a two-year program that will allow developers to build so-called micro housing units in the City (though the preferred term is "compact unit" instead of "micro unit"). Boston has been considering such a policy for a while, and this two-year experiment will let the City determine how well it works.
In order to build micro housing units in Boston, developers need to meet a number of standards. This includes complying with design standards, inclusionary housing requirements and following specific processes and procedures for approval.
Micro housing is often a hotly debated topic. Opponents typically raise concerns about density and displacing families (who need larger units to accommodate all family members). On the other side, micro units help promote affordability by creating more units and they help fill an underserved area of housing demand (according to Boston, the number of single people and couples is 2/3 of the City's population, but the number of studio and one-bedroom units is only 1/3 of the City's housing stock).
For more details on the pilot specifics, click here for Boston's webpage on the Compact Living Pilot. If you are a developer looking for micro housing opportunities in Boston, contact Eric Shabshelowitz to help with your search.
In need of an apartment? Here are a few featured apartments that are available for immediate move-in and at half of the broker's fee!
Buying a home doesn’t just involve finding a home that you love. There are certain steps you can and should take to protect yourself – not just during the transaction itself, but also continuing thereafter. One of those important protections is called a “Homestead”. Here is a brief overview of homesteads from Attorney Joe Anderson of Crowley & Cummings:
“It is indeed a rarity that someone owns and resides in a home as their principal residence in Massachusetts and has not filed a homestead. Nonetheless, you do not want to be the unfortunate person left in the cold when it comes to maybe the only fraction of a real estate closing that actually protects the homeowner (as opposed to the 70 other pages of documents and disclosures that only really protect the mortgage lender). There is a shortage of things in life that are too good to be true, but the Massachusetts homestead is akin to having a professional mechanic replace your brakes for free, if not much better. In the real estate world and estate planning arena, the greatest financial benefit for your dollar spent might be the homestead. And when I say dollar, it only costs $35.00 to record a homestead.
A homestead estate exempts a certain amount of equity in a home which is used as a principal residence from attachment, seizure, execution on judgment, levy and sale for the unsecured debts of the owner of the home. Exceptions to this protection would include federal, state and local taxes, assessments, claims and liens, liens recorded prior to the creation of the homestead estate, mortgages, orders of the probate court for support, a levy or sale for ground rents (where the homeowner does not own the land) and an execution from a court to enforce a judgment based upon fraud, mistake, duress, undue influence or lack of capacity.
By law, merely by owning a home and using it as a principal residence entitles the owner to automatic homestead protection of up to $125,000.00 of the equity therein. However, by actually filing a Declaration of Homestead at the applicable registry of deeds increases the equity protection to up to $500,000.00.
Under the Massachusetts Homestead Act, the homeowner’s equity is protected for up to one year after a sale of the home, and, if the home has suffered a casualty that results in the payment of insurance proceeds, then the insurance proceeds are protected for up to two years, in order to allow the homeowner time to acquire a homestead in a new (or reconstructed) home. The Declared Homestead protects the owner, owner’s spouse and minor children. Even upon the death of the owner, the protection continues for the spouse and minor children.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly regarding your interest in the Massachusetts Declaration of Homestead. There are some technical requirements, so your best bet would be to arrange to have a Massachusetts attorney draft the appropriate filing. We can either a) confirm there is an existing homestead filed at the registry of deeds and email you a copy; or b) prepare a homestead for you, free of charge (provided you pay the $35.00 recording fee charged by the registry of deeds).”
Thank you, Attorney Joe Anderson!
Searching for office space in Boston? Whether focusing on the Back Bay or the Financial District, businesses considering one of them generally ask us about options in the other. The Back Bay and the Financial District each have their advantages. Here is a quick comparison of the rent and vacancy rates of the office markets in each of [...]
Massachusetts recorded record temperatures this Summer and the Fall looks like a warm one. If you can’t get to the beach or prefer to stay in the city but still like to cool your toes, there are many terrific condo and rental buildings with pools! Most neighborhoods have at least one property with a private pool, a hotel or two with [...]
One economic indicator that many businesses and real estate investors monitor is employment. The Boston Planning & Development Agency recently published a report titled “Trends in Boston Business Establishments & Payroll Employment”, which provides some useful data. Here are some highlights: