2023 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Beverly: movers, downtown, bathroom)

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

Well, here's one that's 300k. In Arlington no less. There's just some small catch... one owner owns 74% of the units.

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Arlington/...9/home/8420005

I don't think you would be able to get financing if one owner owned 10%, let alone 74%.

Originally Posted by redplum33

Why?

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

If the 74% owner wanted to, they could screw over the other 26% pretty easily using their voting power on the HOA.

Originally Posted by robr2

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have limitations on how many units one owner can have in a condo development - 20% and 25% respectively for 21+ unit developments.

This limits the salability of your loan and would require you to find a portfolio lender - i.e. an institution that will hold your mortgage until discharge. That lender may have stricter requirements in a situation like this because that large owner has tremendous power over all the other owners and if they were to default, would leave the other owners stuck with all the property expenses while awaiting buyers for the units.

Still haven't explained why 10% ownership would be a problem.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Still haven't explained why 10% ownership would be a problem.

I think someone threw out the 10% number. As I noted, it's 20-21% is the number that affects which lenders will work with a borrower. Heck, the right one might lend even if someone owned 99 out of 100 in a building.

Looking through the deed records, about 5 units have sold in the past few years and the most recent did not have mortgages recorded.

[MtPleasantDream]

Added $100k to win this? I don’t see the rationale.

https://redf.in/91Jhvo

[BostonMike7]

In Billerica?

Sellers bought in 2019 for $625k ($25K over ask) and just made $275k profit in 3 years. Not bad at all.

I can't tell if any work was done since they bought as the home itself was built in 2016.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by MtPleasantDream

Added $100k to win this? I don’t see the rationale.

https://redf.in/91Jhvo

FOMO

Looks like a terribly done addition to an existing house. Even though it does appear it was built that way?

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by MtPleasantDream

Added $100k to win this? I don’t see the rationale.

https://redf.in/91Jhvo

I mean isn't the going price for a new construction almost a million now, even in Billerica? If a similar new construction sells for a million then there's no way this will sell for 800k. This house is practically new by MA standards. List price is irrelevant. This entire thread is "can't believe this house went this much over list" then newenglandgal looks up how much mortgage the buyer took out, followed by "I would never pay that much for that house especially in that city" and then someone says list price is irrelevant, then the cycle repeats.

[robr2]

It's a mile to the North Billerica commuter rail, 5 minutes to Rt3, 10 minutes to 495. The location works for many people.

Move it Burlington and it's a 1.3 million house.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I mean isn't the going price for a new construction almost a million now, even in Billerica?

Pretty much. Guess it's par for the course for something <10 years old.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Still haven't explained why 10% ownership would be a problem.

If a condo or the condo association meets certain criteria (ex. more than 10% of units owned by a single party) then it's considered "non-warrantable." Many lenders will not lend on non-warrantable condo units. So, it's very limited in terms of who you can get financing from.

Here's a little info on what "non-warrantable" means that I came across with a quick Google search:

https://fhmtg.com/2019/02/14/what-is...antable-condo/

Long story short, I've been involved in the sale of non-warrantable units many times and it's a harder sale to make happen but not impossible by any stretch of the imagination. Typically, you just need to seek out financing from a lender that does "portfolio" lending (i.e. they make loans and hold them in their portfolio vs. bundling up a bunch of loans and selling them). So, small local banks and credit unions are usually willing to lend on these properties because these are the most active portfolio lenders. An institution like Bank of America or Guaranteed Rate Mortgage isn't really interested in portfolio lending.

IME, these condos tend to be lower value than similar warrantable units because of the limitations. Bottom line is . . . because of the conditions that make the unit "non-warrantable" it's also a riskier place to put your money.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I mean isn't the going price for a new construction almost a million now, even in Billerica? If a similar new construction sells for a million then there's no way this will sell for 800k. This house is practically new by MA standards. List price is irrelevant. This entire thread is "can't believe this house went this much over list" then newenglandgal looks up how much mortgage the buyer took out, followed by "I would never pay that much for that house especially in that city" and then someone says list price is irrelevant, then the cycle repeats.

They put 20% down, have a $720K mortgage. Guess they'll be ok if the market dips a little.