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If you haven't yet heard about or seen 1236 Beacon St, the cat is now out of the bag!  This is one sweet condo conversion that Metro is proud to offer exclusively to the public.  The details can be seen on our featured listings page, http://www.metrorealtycorp.com/properties/Brookline/Beacon-St/3083484 OR you can read the article in today's Boston Metro Newspaper about the project here: http://www.metro.us/boston/life/article/1105366--in-brookline-leave-no-brownstone-unturned. 

For more information or to schedule a private viewing, call Adam Umina at 617-921-5866 or email adam@metrorealtycorp.com

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released their annual "2011 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, MA Report."  There are many great figures and statistics that can be found in the report of which a few stood out to me:

~ 94% of buyers in MA used an agent to assist in the process of buying a home in 2011.  Nationally, that figure has risen 20% over the last 10 years. 

~ "For sale by owner" (FSBO) home sales made up only 10% of national home sales in 2011 and only 5% of homes sold in MA in 2011.  Of the 10% nationally, 40% of the sellers knew the buyer and in MA 100% of FSBOs knew the buyer. 

~ The average home sale price for FSBOs in MA was $325,500 compared to the average home sale price of $399,900 for homes sold using an agent. 

The moral of this story and what the trends clearly show is that buyers and sellers of real estate understand that the real estate market has become increasingly difficult to comprehend since the housing bubble "transition" in 2005.  One may contribute the increased complexity to the ever changing mortgage market (90% of purchases in 2011 had a mortgage) or possibly the increased scrutiny of appraisals (see my previous blog post titled "Understanding the Role of an Appraisal"). 

No matter what the reason, the fact remains that this is not the rubber stamp days of the late 90s and early 2000s.  If selling a home were like riding in a canoe, todays market would be considered a class 6 rapid vs the relatively calm waters of 10 years ago.  The stumbling blocks that face buyers and sellers today are too numerous to count and now more than ever it is important to have a qualified agent in your corner to help navigate the waterways. 

You’ve got an appointment with your agent and you ready to get out the door to find a new place to live.  Ask yourself this: What should I bring with me on the appointment, how can I be assured I’ll get considered for approval and what documents will I need to provide?

The most important thing you should bring is your checkbook with enough funds in your account to cover 1-2 months of your estimated rent. I can’t tell you how many clients find a place they love on the first go around and then don’t have a check or the means to make a deposit. Most Real Estate offices don’t take credit cards and while many will take cash, an ATM machine may only let you take $500 in one day.

Why would you need to leave a deposit to reserve an apartment? Imagine this scenario- Two people want the same apartment but our policy only allows us to reserve it for only 1 of them. Now, let’s say the person we reserve it for (person 1) sees another place and “reserves” that apartment as well only with NO deposit and subsequently drops the first place. At this point, it’s likely person 2 has already found another apartment in the meantime. We now have an apartment with no renter when we once had two. A deposit allows us to hold the apartment but also restricts you from renting another apartment in the meantime for fear of forfeiting your deposit. Most Real Estate offices will require at least a 1-month non-refundable deposit to hold an apartment.

The other items to have prepared and with you is your current and previous landlord’s information, your current job information with salary confirmation and/or school enrollment confirmation, and contact information for a personal reference.

After you have decided on an apartment, completed your application and submitted your deposit, your agent will do the following work to help you get approved.

Credit Check. If your credit is less than desirable, we’ll look to see why. If you’re lacking credit history, ie: first-time credit situation, your score may be low. If you had credit issues, late payments or debts that went into collection, this may affect the way a property owner evaluates you. You should be prepared to offer an explanation if this is the case. For more information CLICK HERE

Landlord References. A good landlord reference is significant information for your future landlord. They want to know if you paid your rent on time, what you previously paid, if there were any problems with your tenancy and if the landlord would rent to you again. If you are new to renting and don’t have current or previous landlords this does not mean that you will get denied, you just may be evaluated on different things.

Job/Income or School Verification. Your future landlord may want you to know if you have ties to the area that may keep you from moving out shortly after you move in. Most of all, they’ll need assurance you can afford the apartment. For students, prepare to obtain a co-signer. When submitting any verification (employment, enrollment), it should be on company letterhead stating your position, pay rate (if any), anticipated graduation date or job transfer termination date, and have a signature of someone in authority. An offer letter is sufficient if you have not started working yet. If you don’t or can’t have any of this information handy, we can also call a supervisor or HR at your company to obtain it. In some instances we can take your 3 most recent consecutive pay stubs an/or your school schedule. Electronic forms of any of the above documents are almost always acceptable!

We call the landlord with all your information and do everything we can to get you approved for the apartment. Once we have all supporting documents we will usually have an answer for you within 24-48 hours. If you’ve followed the above suggestions we could possibly have one immediately!

After many years of renting apartments, this is the question I am hearing more than ever before from potential renters this time of year.  You can rest assured that the answer to this inquiry is “No”.  I’m not going to deny that inventory has been scarce, making the search process a bit frustrating-to say the least, for all involved.

My advice to those seeking apartments is simple. First, focus on the quality of what’s available, rather than the quantity.  During the summer months when apartments are more plentiful, it’s easier to compare/contrast properties as well as gauge whether the places you are seeing are the better ones in the area.  Don’t let the lack of physical comparison de-rail your search.  Enlist the help of a trusted professional who can provide you with valuable insight regarding price, quality and realistic possibilities.

Second, try to arrange showings for times when all parties involved in the decision making are available to look. It is easy to get discouraged when the place you love is rented before your roommates can come back and see it. 

Lastly, set aside times to look that are outside the norm (if at all possible).  Most people rush in on nights and weekends. If you can get away during a morning/afternoon off or even a lunch break, you may just see that apartment before someone else does which affords you the opportunity to snatch it up.

I realize this is advice you never thought you’d need to hear in the so called “off-season” for apartment rentals.  However, it only takes one great place, and just when you think you are destined to live at home, on your friend’s couch, or in corporate housing indefinitely, you’ll find the right place at the right time with the right agent- even if you’re thinking it’s the wrong season.

It seems counterintuitive that with all of the doom and gloom we hear about regarding the economy in the media, and a high unemployment rate, that vacancy rates would be lower now than any time in over ten years.   You can’t rent an apartment if you do not have a job or the ability to pay for it, right?  The current market conditions in the Boston Area are reminiscent to me of when I started in the rental business in the late 1990’s.  The competition for apartments was fierce; there was little availability, apartments rented very quickly, and the tenants would invariably pay the full broker fee.   These conditions appear to be returning- with rents closing in on all-time highs.

A variety of factors could be behind the tight rental market and rising rents, including a resilient Boston area economy, a reluctance or inability of people to purchase homes, and an unfavorable supply/demand situation for those looking to rent.  Boston is home to world renowned Education and Medical Institutions which are highly resistant to economic downturn.  According to Governor Patrick,  Massachusetts has a lower unemployment rate than 44 of 50 states.  People are renting now in greater numbers by choice and some, out of necessity.  With home values continuing to decrease, people have an incentive to rent and wait for even lower prices still, and despite record low mortgage rates, people are having difficulty coming up with down payments, and/or qualifying for mortgages due to more stringent loan standards.  

These factors, in addition to an insufficient supply of new rental units coming on the market due to the availability and cost of land for building and a large influx of graduate students in the last ten years has resulted in the tight rental market that is showing no signs of letting up.

In a city with 85 private colleges and uni­versities employing 70,000 people and attracting more than 360,000 students from all over the world, the laws of supply and demand are king. ( McSweeny & Marshall (2009). The Prominence of Boston Area College and Universities. Monthly Labor Review. Pg. 68) With rental demand at an all-time high and inventory at an all-time low, landlords have the upper hand.   Unfortunately, this means that renters have less negotiating power.  Typically, in today’s market tenants are paying 100% of the broker fee.

So what service exactly are you paying for? 

Having been in the business for over 25 years, Metro Realty has had the privilege of forming numerous exclusive relationships with fantastic management companies and property owners.  At Metro Realty we do our best to handpick only the best landlords.  Just as in any other service industry, we put you, the customer, first.  It is in our best interest to see that you are satisfied.  If you are lucky, you have not experienced a “slumlord.”  Unresolved issues such as leaky faucets, rodents, failed heating systems and unresponsiveness are several signs that you may not have a good landlord.  Our exclusive relationships with landlords allow us to better negotiate on your behalf while also leaving you with peace of mind that you will be taken care of without any additional hassles while renting.

In addition to finding you the best landlords, it is our job to find you the best apartments.  Metro Realty puts en emphasis on quality; apartments as well as agents.  All bias aside, I can assure you the quality of apartments that Metro Realty represents is far superior to our competition.  If you don’t believe me, try a couple other agencies first.  Not only will be you be impressed at the quality of our apartments, but at the caliber of our agents.   Sure, anyone can open up a door, but a good agent will save you both time and stress.  We try not to waste your time by showing you apartments that don’t fit your criteria.  While other agencies staff college students looking for a quick buck, Metro Realty’s agents are professionals.  Most of our agents have come from a customer service background and have had prior professional experience.   We are committed to finding you exactly what you are looking for while operating in a knowledgeable and honest manner.

While “No Fee” apartments may appear more attractive at first glance, proceed with caution.  “No Fee” apartments in a high demand city such as Boston are few and far between.  What you may be surprised to find out is that often “No Fee” apartments have the fee already built into the rent.  Additionally, these no fee apartments are likely to have steeper rent increases year after year instead of the one-time fee you would have paid through a real estate broker.  Of course there are always exceptions to the rules!

While the word “fee” doesn’t typically leave anyone feeling warm and fuzzy, hopefully, at the end of the day you have found value in your agent as well as some comfort knowing that you will be living in a fantastic apartment with a landlord that calls you back.  Take a break from perusing through endless Craigslist ads, and let us do the work for you.  This is our job and we are more than happy to assist.

Let me start off by saying that I am not an expert on the appraisal business nor do I claim to know all of the details of an appraisers job, rules or regulations.  Nor is this post meant to disparage any individual or the profession in any way.  The information contained in this post is based solely on my personal experiences, interactions and training learned on the job as a real estate agent over the past 10 years. 

The basic function of an appraisal as it pertains to the sale of a home is simple and constant: it is a third party expert opinion of value for a property, meant to protect the buyer and lender from making a bad investment.  Before the "mortgage meltdown," there were far less regulations and restrictions for appraisers to follow when generating a report.  There were general guidelines that all appraisers were taught to follow but they were not set in stone and if necessary an appraiser could bend those guidelines and nobody would question why.  Buyers were buying, lenders were lending, appraisers were appraising and realtors were selling.  It was a shining example of reciprocity, " the quality or state of being reciprocal : mutual dependence, action, or influence."  It was a relationship driven industry where it didn't necessarily matter how good an appraiser was but rather how many lenders and realtors he/she knew to keep the business coming in.  A lender could call up his/her favorite appraiser, inform them of the purchase price and as long as the value could be loosely justified by comparable sales in the "not-too-distant" past than the appraised value would almost always match that of the purchase price.  It was basically a foregone conclusion and more of a formality that the appraisal was even a part of the loan approval process at all. 

Fast forward to the post apocalyptic mortgage meltdown era where appraisers were fingered as being a key co-conspirator in causing the disastrous collapse of the real estate market.  I'm not going to get into the reasons as to why the inevitable market corrections occurred or who was to blame but needless to say the appraisers were caught in the middle of it all.  As a result, the government came down on the banks and the banks came down on the appraisers and what transpired was an overreaction to a problem which only caused there to be knew and different problems.  Gone are the days where the value of a home is equal to that which someone is willing to pay for it.  If there aren't exact comps within an exact time frame to perfectly corroborate the sale price, than chances are fairly high that the appraisal may not come in at the exact value that is needed to approve the loan.  When this occurs, it can easily kill a deal if a buyer and seller are unwilling to be flexible.  If an appraisal comes in below the purchase price, than either the buyer has to make up with the difference in cash out of their own pocket or the seller has to agree to lower the sale price, neither of which are easy pills to swallow for either party. 

To make things more complicated, an entirely new industry has been created called appraisal management.  These appraisal management companies called AMCs for short are meant to keep the lender, appraiser and to a lessor degree the realtor at an arms length transaction.  Meaning none of the parties have direct contact and therefore any direct influence on each others responsibility.  On the outside this seems like a good idea but in practice it is has not proven to be so.  The AMC is responsible for assigning an appraiser to perform an appraisal for a lender, however often it is done so with little regard to the appraisers particular familiarity with that town, neighborhood or subdivision.  Anyone that has dealt in real estate on just about any level will understand that it is almost entirely based on location: location, location, location!!!  An appraiser that specializes in single family homes in town A isn't necessarily going to know enough about the townhouses in subdivision T in Town D, three exits up the highway to be able to form an accurate opinion of value.  That's not the appraisers fault, it's the AMC that sent him/her to write the report when they should have been sending someone better suited.  That's not to say that the appraiser from town A couldn't make a fair judgment on the value of the subject property by doing proper research and in most cases this is true.  However, what if the appraiser wasn't aware that the property that sold two blocks away just 3 weeks prior for less money had a pipe burst that ruined the kitchen and living room but it wasn't reflected in the pictures on MLS because the pipe burst after the pictures were taken and the broker didn't have time enough to change the description before it was already under agreement. 

It's not all the AMC's fault, the government has tightened regulations and banks have enacted new rules to govern how the appraisers do their job.  This has caused the appraiser to inherently be ultra conservative when determining the value of a home which is in stark contrast to years past where appraisers were comfortable in all but over-valuing most appraisals to keep the loans rolling along and the orders coming in. 

The moral of this story is that the appraisal is no longer a foregone conclusion and has become one of the most important and unknown variables in obtaining a loan.  In an age of increased uncertainty and scrutiny, the appraisal is king.  It is for all intents and purposes a thankless job and frankly not one that I envy but do respect.  If there comes a time when you are faced with having to make a concession on the sale or purchase of your home, remember that nothing can get done until all parties are satisfied, which includes most importantly, the lender. 

We’ve all been there before… Your apartment is on the market and your phone is ringing constantly with brokers calling to show your apartment. So why hasn’t it rented? In some cases, it’s just not the right place for the person, but in other cases, the apartment appears less than desirable. So if you want to end the constant calls, knocks at your door and strangers in your apartment, here are a few simple steps that will make your apartment more desirable to apartment hunters.

1) Make your apartment available to be seen at convenient times. An apartment that can only be shown M-F 9-5 is going to take longer to rent than one with a flexible showing schedule. Most people work 'regular' business hours and apartment shop evenings and weekends. Allowing showings in the evenings and on weekends will help assure a faster rental. Remember your experience as an apartment hunter, were you fortunate enough to be able to take off a few hours from work or did you have to go after work and on the weekends?

2) Clean your apartment – This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but you’d be surprised at how many apartments we see that are not clean. Wash the dishes in the sink, pick the clothes up off the floor, vacuum or sweep your floors and clean the bathroom sink, shower and toilet. I once went into an apartment with a year's worth of shaving remains in the sink - gross! Not everyone has the vision to see past a messy apartment. Do yourself a favor and spend a little time cleaning.

3) Make your bed – A well-made bed does a lot for a bedroom or studio. It makes the whole apartment appear cleaner and makes a room look larger.

4) Fresh Air – Opening windows a little bit or getting a nice air-freshener to make your apartment smell fresh is huge! No one wants to rent an apartment that smells like feet, garbage, smoke, stale beer or cooking smells – unless, of course, you’re talking about the smell of home-baked cookies!

5) Open the blinds/Make the place bright – Most prospective tenants appreciate an apartment with abundant natural light. If your apartment is naturally dark or shady, replace low output or burnt-out light bulbs with new brighter bulbs, so when we turn lights on, the place shines.

6) If you’re a little handy, fix things – Is a cabinet loose or door falling off the track? Has the towel bar has come loose? Give your landlord a call and let them know what needs work. Ask them to do a quick fix if you don't have time or the tools to do it yourself. Again, the more an apartment appears to be taken care of, the faster it will rent.

Think about the things that would make you want to rent an apartment and apply those to your place. I hope this help and if you think of more ideas, please leave your comments!

Even in this tight rental market, we always have one or two apartments that will sit on the market, despite being in a great location. Sometimes, like a good relationship, it is all about timing, but most times there are certain simple things that a landlord can do to get the apartment rented, even post-September 1^st. The first thing is a pretty obvious one - price. Dropping the rent by $50 or $100 per month most times is better than have the unit sit a month or two vacant. Hand in hand with that is cutting the fee to half or no fee. Sometimes even dropping the apartment to “no fee” and building a little bit of that cost into the monthly rent will be just the incentive a recent grad may need, as they are just starting their first job and don’t have much in the way of upfront costs.

Speaking of cost effective, one of the simplest and no-cost options a landlord can use to market their place is to open it up to pets. Allowing neutered cats and, especially well-behaved dogs (with references), will rent most places in no time. Do you know how many panicked calls we get from people with 60lb labs that can’t find a new home because 9 out of 10 apartments won’t allow a pet or have a strict 50lb weight limit? Have you ever met a yellow lab? They are some of the nicest, well-trained animals on earth, but the poor guys can be a little stocky. Plus, if a landlord is feeling a little skittish, say worrying about their floors, they can always ask for last month’s rent and also a security/pet-deposit. Most good pet-owners understand and will gladly pay. In fact, most of them offer that up front when they first call us.

A slightly more costly, but very important feature that a landlord can add to a place is making sure there is laundry in building. Putting it in the unit is a huge bonus that will always rent a place fast, but not having it anywhere on the property will strike an apartment off almost all viewing lists. If there are multiple units in the building, this cost can obviously be split amongst them too.

Next on the list are some of the more cosmetic things. First, a fresh coat of paint goes a long way. Also, if tasteful and neutral, a little bit of color to that paint will make most places feel more “homey” and attractive, even vacant.  Something that will disqualify many apartments from being shown at all is wall-to-wall carpet. You don’t have to have original antique, wide-plank solid oak floors refinished to a high gloss. Cheap Home Depot pergo laminate is easier to clean than carpet and technically qualifies as the “hardwood floors” on most Boston renters’ “must-have” lists. It may cost more upfront, but over the years the money you will save on carpet cleanings and replacements will be worth it. Plus, you can probably almost immediately raise the rent a small amount for the improvement.

Finally, we need to talk kitchen and baths. First and foremost, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the words, “You know, I really want a dishwasher.” You could have cabinets from the 1920’s and grandma’s double basin cast iron sink, but, put a new-looking black or white Kenmore dishwasher in there, and people will see it as renovated. For a more costly, but effective improvement, please consider doing away with any bathroom tile that in any way can be described as “pepto pink” or “spearmint green.” Also, speaking of tile, one great improvement landlords can make is to replace the tacky kitchen or bathroom linoleum floors with some cheap, but more durable tile. Worn away, dirty linoleum, peeling up at the edges almost immediately makes most renters question what they can expect for maintenance, should they rent that  apartment.

To all you landlords out there, I hope this has helped. Again, most of these tips are obvious, but it doesn’t hurt to spell them out to you now, as they are spelled out to us almost daily by our clients. Plus, with some of you having vacant units during this slow time of year, you can now think of it as the perfect time to implement some of these basic, yet effective improvements that will pay off now and in the future.

Recession, depression, market collapse, bankruptcy, foreclosure, short sale, bailout, unemployment..... stop me if you haven't heard at least one of these terms every day for the last five years.  Considering the amount of negative information that we are inundated with in today's economy, it may be surprising to learn that many of the local real estate markets in and around Boston have been thriving. 

Every once in a while I stumble across an article buried deep underneath all of the negative reports, highlighting the positive strides many towns in and around Boston have been able to make over the past few years.  As I come across them I will share them with you in the Metro blog, so consider this the first in a series of hopefully many to come.

If you don't have time to read the entire article, I'll offer you a brief summary.  Of the 25 best performing real estate markets in the US according to Businessweek, 4 of them are located right here in the greater Boston area.  They are in order of rank, 18) Somerville, 14) Boston, 3) Brookline and 2) Arlington.

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/not-every-real-estate-market-is-struggling-10212011.html