2022 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Maynard: homes, buy, living in)

[Saguarogirl507]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Buddy of mine is looking for a house in the Houston area. $750-1mil range. All I will say is that in a few days of helping him search, the market is not the same as here in Boston.

Many houses in that range are on the market for 40, 50, 60 or more days, and many have had price drops. I keep telling him if 3/4 of these houses were in MA they would have gone pending within a week. It almost seems like he has the upper hand and reasonable expects to get something under asking. At first I thought he was joking, but now I think the same.

MA real estate doesn't seem to follow that trend it seems...at least for now

It is like that here in Arizona as well. When they build houses here they build thousands at a time. I know of one HOA that consists of 5000 homes. The most I have ever seen in MA is maybe 10 homes built in one place.

When I was a kid we lived in Beverly in a place called Raymond Farms. I remember that there were a lot of houses, maybe over a thousand, but homes were much smaller then and you could fit more on the land.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by RobertaWa

When I was a kid we lived in Beverly in a place called Raymond Farms. I remember that there were a lot of houses, maybe over a thousand, but homes were much smaller then and you could fit more on the land.

It's really quite crazy. Families are smaller now than 40-50 years ago. Yet houses are much larger. I really don't understand the need for all of it.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by timberline742

It's really quite crazy. Families are smaller now than 40-50 years ago. Yet houses are much larger. I really don't understand the need for all of it.

I think it's that if you are going to justify the big prices, may as well go big. Smaller homes have been replaced with those Townhomes that try to look like an SFH but have a shared wall.

[mojo101]

Originally Posted by timberline742

It's really quite crazy. Families are smaller now than 40-50 years ago. Yet houses are much larger. I really don't understand the need for all of it.

thats the American way,bigger and better .
STARTER HOME here has a fireplace,3 bedrooms,powder room,2 bathrooms,both have bathtubs,one has shower as well,nice yard,breakfast nook,den ,formal dining room,1600 sq ft,water heater ,central A/C.
Everyone has his /her own bedroom with TV ,CELL PHONE.
mc/visa and once they are old enough to drive,their own cars.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by timberline742

It's really quite crazy. Families are smaller now than 40-50 years ago. Yet houses are much larger. I really don't understand the need for all of it.

It is crazy. Who really needs and uses a formal dining room, unless you're the family that hosts the majority of the holidays? Also, who wants to clean and heat all those unused or seldomly used rooms? I just don't get it. It's a shame that many builders are tearing down these modest ranch or cape style homes instead of renovating them. They are being replaced with gargantuan, ugly homes that have odd angles and roof lines that don't even fit the character of the rest of the neighborhood. It seems people think they need more space than they actually do or maybe it is just lifestyle inflation and trying to keep up with the Joneses.

[WestieWhitie]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

It is crazy. Who really needs and uses a formal dining room, unless you're the family that hosts the majority of the holidays? Also, who wants to clean and heat all those unused or seldomly used rooms? I just don't get it. It's a shame that many builders are tearing down these modest ranch or cape style homes instead of renovating them. They are being replaced with gargantuan, ugly homes that have odd angles and roof lines that don't even fit the character of the rest of the neighborhood. It seems people think they need more space than they actually do or maybe it is just lifestyle inflation and trying to keep up with the Joneses.

It’s often not that much more expensive to build a brand new house than to renovate a poorly built 70 year old cape and have every single little thing brought up to code. More importantly, you’d still end up with a small cape where renovation costs will far exceed any profit you can make.

[bricka]

exactly - the large mcmansion homes are the only ones economically justifiable as a builder/developer.

[WestieWhitie]

Originally Posted by bricka

exactly - the large mcmansion homes are the only ones economically justifiable as a builder/developer.

I always get a good laugh out of all the clowns whining about "affordable" housing not being built while calling for moronic policies that make new construction so expensive it would take a million just to break even.

[yesmaybe]

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Maynard/19...home/168660682

Unique at least? A formerly run down church converted into an SFH in Maynard. It's almost like a flip gone bad. It doesn't really work for me. Plus they were originally asking for 1.25M... it's down to 975k.

[Saguarogirl507]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Maynard/19...home/168660682

Unique at least? A formerly run down church converted into an SFH in Maynard. It's almost like a flip gone bad. It doesn't really work for me. Plus they were originally asking for 1.25M... it's down to 975k.

It is odd isn't it? I don't think I could ever live in something like that. A little too much!

But they did do a nice job with the renovations....