Perils of renting in Davis Sq/Somerville (Boston Globe)?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Hi, is this consistent with your own observations about the rental market around Davis Sq? Could any real estate person comment on this?

"With the vacillations and the range in prices, “I’ve never seen a rental market like this in all my 20 years of renting real estate,” said realtor Irene Bremis."

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2009/09/the_summer_switchover.html

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Kind of inevitable. There's just less money to go around in the first place.

I wonder how Bremis is doing with that enormous condo complex near Teele. They're asking $400k for a condo according to their signage, and I never see any lights on in there.

[vibrantabyss.livejournal.com]

Two of the units I've been able to see have lights some nights. But that still smells like less than 25% occupancy - consistent with how empty the parking area is when it has been open. And there are more partially vacant (and utterly empty, just finishing) things within a handful of blocks from there.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Somewhere in New Jersey there's a 32-story condo tower with literally ONE family living in it.

Holy smokes...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I suppose they should lower the rent...

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

big family

[cn-i-crash-here.livejournal.com]

Heh!

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

The sign said one unit left when I walked by a few weeks ago.

[leko.livejournal.com]

The 4 comments in that article are pretty ill-informed...

leko, can you articulate?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Sorry, what did they get wrong? Thanks.

Re: leko, can you articulate?

[leko.livejournal.com]

Well, comment 2 is fine, just speculating on where else people are moving, but the other 3 seem to have the out-of-date information that somerville is still "slummer-ville" or "a pit" both of which are clearly not true, especially since the article is specifically talking about davis/porter.

Re: leko, can you articulate?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, good points...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

It's a very interesting topic, although the article sums up its own circularity at the end with the assertion that the market will sort itself out. I believe it will.

My observation this summer was just as the article described:

Real estate prices were often down, but not as far as I would have liked them to be, and rental prices were all over the place. There were some amazingly crappy apartments (for rent or for purchase) going for big money, and some great deals, especially in rental.

My theory is that the market principles can be extended beyond Somerville. Unlike Manhattan, which is surrounded by a physical barrier containing stratospheric real estate prices, there is no such barrier around Somerville, other than a psychological one. We've already seen development in areas of Medford (the Kennedy? School Condominiums) and the transit oriented development at Wellington Circle. More choices are a result of an overheated Somerville market, in my opinion, as is the call for more public transportation (the green line extension).

So yeah, I think the market will sort itself out. I'm just glad for now that there are an increasing number of options.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

I was looking for new digs this summer, going from a roommate situation to a 2 bedroom for me and my new family. I found rents all over the place. Some landlords wanted to party like it was 2005, when property values were sky-high and landlords could ask for both kidneys for a security deposit and people would be carving them out with rusty butterknives.

But others had more... realistic expectations and I was amazed to find semi-decent places for under $1000. I ended up in a place in Winter Hill for $1000/month, heat/hot water/cooking gas/parking space included. It's not the greatest place ad a bit of creative decorating has been necessary, but all in all, I'm really happy with the place.

Congrats! On your new family and new place :)

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

If you have a car, Winter Hill is not bad. My main concern would be if it was too close to the big freeways (due to the fine particulate findings around there; especially if I had an infant or young kid). Interesting though, that there as such a variability in rental prices.

It looks like some landlords are out of touch with reality. I hope these are the same folks who watch FOX all day :)

Re: Congrats! On your new family and new place :)

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the congrats. The new place is tucked away from the expressway and the McGrath between Bway and Pearl/Medford St. Yeah, it was certainly interesting in the rent spreads, ranging from $875 to $1400 for apartments that weren't particularly different. For our place, it was a trade-off in that the apartment is on the top floor with slanted walls, but it'll work out ok, and I don't mind the exchange for the free heat and parking space, which will save us probably $1500-$2000 over the winter.

[djdreilinger.livejournal.com]

What you saw is exactly what prompted me to write the article—prices seemed, as you said, just all over the place. As w/ many articles, my initial question can be abbreviated as "wtf?!"

[dougo.livejournal.com]

I looked at about 20 apartments for rent (2-4 br, $1700-$2300) in June and July, and the average quality was pretty disappointing. I'm pretty happy with where I ended up (big 2br for $2000, talked down from $2200) but it wasn't an obvious grab. And there are two other units in this building (four units total) that have been on the market since early July that are still vacant. I think landlords really overestimated the Sept 1 rush.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

To clarify: I looked in June and July, for apartments available Sept 1.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think a lot of the rentals that were of acceptable quality when the gentrification trend began are now in a downright dilapidated state after many decades of disregard by landlords and abuse by tenants.

I'm committed to never look for a 9/1 apartment again.. I'll move to my parents' house for a few months if necessary. Just not worth getting screwed over like that.