First condo for sale

[liveintheville]

So the first condo we lived in is under contract now. Dave bought it in 1999. Paid 260. It’s 800sf 2 bed 2 bath. No laundry. Kitchen is a galley. Tiny.
It’s going for 574,900. Housing continues to shock me.

[liveintheville]

Apr 8, 2019 14:35:49 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

You guys didn't have laundry in there? I didn't realize!  Your neighborhood is so hot right now and that space really was great in lots of ways so I'm not that surprised at the current price.  Have you guys been renting it out this whole time, or are the people who bought it from you now selling?

Not that condo. The one before. You guys never saw it. It was like half the size of bow st. We sold it before buying bow st. For like low 300s I think? Bow st went for 750. Market is hot!

[scm1011]

Nice!

We put an offer in on a SFH in East Somerville in February. They got 30+ offers and it went for ~150k over asking. The market here is INSANE.

[scm1011]

Apr 9, 2019 12:27:59 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Apr 9, 2019 11:22:30 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Nice!

We put an offer in on a SFH in East Somerville in February. They got 30+ offers and it went for ~150k over asking. The market here is INSANE.

I didn't know you were looking, good luck!  Would you sell your current place or just rent out the part you're living in as well?

We're casually looking; there is no real urgency. I'd love to move to a SFH in Somerville/Cambridge or maybe East Arlington, but they're hard to come by and usually out of our price range. 

We'd keep our place and rent out both apartments. Honestly, I'd love to do a major reno to our apartment and stay (add dormers to the 3rd floor, enlarge bathroom, add closets, redo kitchen) but it would be too much of a major headache with a newborn and toddler (nevermind finding a reliable contractor). 

[scm1011]

Apr 9, 2019 12:53:37 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Apr 9, 2019 12:35:18 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

We're casually looking; there is no real urgency. I'd love to move to a SFH in Somerville/Cambridge or maybe East Arlington, but they're hard to come by and usually out of our price range. 

We'd keep our place and rent out both apartments. Honestly, I'd love to do a major reno to our apartment and stay (add dormers to the 3rd floor, enlarge bathroom, add closets, redo kitchen) but it would be too much of a major headache with a newborn and toddler (nevermind finding a reliable contractor). 

Yes, this is what always keeps me procrastinating on projects.  I hate trying to find someone I can trust.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your house hunt, but, yeah, the market is no joke.  

Thanks!

The labor shortage is such a problem. I've heard so many horror stories and I just don't have the energy to take it on right now. I have a friend who was in the midst of a major reno and had a contractor just ghost them halfway through! Like they paid 50% up front and 50% was due at the finish and the contractor just completed about half of it and then never returned, stopped answering phone calls, completely dodged them. So she now lives in a half-renovated house with 2 kids until she can find someone to come finish. Complete nightmare! 

[liveintheville]

Apr 9, 2019 11:22:30 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Nice!

We put an offer in on a SFH in East Somerville in February. They got 30+ offers and it went for ~150k over asking. The market here is INSANE.

It really is. I had it wrong. H paid 158k for that condo. Unheard of these days. Don’t abandon us for Arlington! Everyone does that

[scm1011]

Apr 13, 2019 10:56:16 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

Apr 9, 2019 11:22:30 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Nice!

We put an offer in on a SFH in East Somerville in February. They got 30+ offers and it went for ~150k over asking. The market here is INSANE.

It really is. I had it wrong. H paid 158k for that condo. Unheard of these days. Don’t abandon us for Arlington! Everyone does that

Nice return on investment!

And yeah, a move to Arlington is very unlikely. I'm only interested in like a 4 square block area adjacent to the bike path and Alewife Brook Parkway where there are few SFHs to begin with. Arlington feels like giving in to the suburbs, even though that neighborhood is super close to where we are now. Plus their taxes are bananas.

[liveintheville]

Apr 15, 2019 10:00:36 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Apr 13, 2019 10:56:16 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

It really is. I had it wrong. H paid 158k for that condo. Unheard of these days. Don’t abandon us for Arlington! Everyone does that

Nice return on investment!

And yeah, a move to Arlington is very unlikely. I'm only interested in like a 4 square block area adjacent to the bike path and Alewife Brook Parkway where there are few SFHs to begin with. Arlington feels like giving in to the suburbs, even though that neighborhood is super close to where we are now. Plus their taxes are bananas.

With the traffic in Somerville I don’t blame you for wanting to escape. I don’t think it affects you as much, but there are bridge closings and construction in the middle of union. There are detours everywhere.

[scm1011]

Apr 15, 2019 12:04:24 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

Apr 15, 2019 10:00:36 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Nice return on investment!

And yeah, a move to Arlington is very unlikely. I'm only interested in like a 4 square block area adjacent to the bike path and Alewife Brook Parkway where there are few SFHs to begin with. Arlington feels like giving in to the suburbs, even though that neighborhood is super close to where we are now. Plus their taxes are bananas.

With the traffic in Somerville I don’t blame you for wanting to escape. I don’t think it affects you as much, but there are bridge closings and construction in the middle of union. There are detours everywhere.

There is a super annoying one for us in Ball Square (a section of Broadway is closed). I feel so bad for the businesses being affected.