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It's the holidays
2007-12-24 14:39:00
"Hey cut me some slack. It's the holidays."I heard that little plea for "mercy and charity" in South Boston yesterday. A unique choice of wording, but then, it was in front of the Boston Beer Works emporium, not exactly the place one goes to here performances of Robert Frost -- that is Robert Frost, the poet, not to be confused with the more famous near name sharer who put on a hat and "came to life one day".The two gentlemen were debating a certain space on the road. One thought it fit his car rather well, the other thought his lawn chair -- at that moment in the spot -- looked just fine and dandy there, thank you, and wanted to keep it there, at least until the "Mrs." returned from local Stop and Shop with the last minute goodies.Readers, I am sure you get the drift -- they were fighting over a parking space.Mind you, these pugilists fighting over 8 feet of tarmac were in my way; just in front of me was the chair, blocking my access to the thoroughfare was the Buick. My geograp...
More About: Holidays , The Holidays

To Sell or Not to Sell...that is the Question
2007-12-18 17:24:00
I sent this to a prospect wonder whether they should sell or rent their home:Some points to ponder on the idea of renting out your property. I hope there is some value here for you. I do have other resources. How will your choice will affect your cash position? How willing and able you are to manage a rental property? Are you buying another home? If so, you may need the proceeds from the sale of your present home to fund the purchase of your new one. If you anticipate that the sale might result in a loss, consider whether it would be better to rent out your present home, at least until the real estate market turns around. You may need to accept the loss to currently realize the cash that a sale now would bring. If the sale results in a capital gain, consider whether you will be able to exclude that gain from federal income taxation. (If you meet all of the requirements, you may exclude up to $250,000; up to $500,000 if you're married and file a joint return.) ...
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Pest Control
2007-12-11 14:48:00
This from buyer who worked with the "Very Busy Broker"."She got us through the sale, and we moved in. Well, actually, according to the law of agency, she got her seller through the sale and we just came along for the ride. We liked the home. Saw it listed in the Boston Globe, and called HER. She she got us through the sale."It was after we moved in -- long after -- that we began to wonder about ghosts or something. Little things would happen. The paving bricks in the backyard were uprooted one morning. I said, hmmm, but my wife said, 'Animals.' I could not find my garden hose one day, my rake the next. I lost my potted orange tree."One month I noticed I had passed due balances on my telephone bill, and electric bill. I could not remember paying my American Express bill, come to think of it, and when I checked, it was NOT paid."I needed air in my rear tire one day. A few weeks later, I needed it in again. "One day the police showed up at my home while no one was there. ...
More About: Pest , Control , Pest Control

Time is Money
2007-12-05 21:10:00
It seems to me that, in our little corner of the world, we take a lot of time telling folks what we do for a living. Now, mind you, I've not made a study of it, but in my line of work, knowing what someone does for his supper is important (that whole financing thing) so we are forever asking.Now in those climes more simple, perhaps say Kansas, when one asks about the "line of businss" one is apt to hear, "Carpenter", "Salesman", or some such singular appellation.Here in our out of the way corner of America, when asked about the "job", one hears something more like, "I work for a small start-up on the 128 belt that puts together summation reports on internet traffic and then attempts to dialog with those report subjects to expand the marketing base..." and so on. Now, readers, the just quoted dribble is easily summed up like our Kansas cousins in one word: "telemarketer". So it is with most of our jobs titles -- we take too much time to tell folks what we do.One is a "Physical O...
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Location, Location, Location
2007-12-03 15:05:00
Up top there is the hackneyed expression, dare we say Mantra of real estate folk. I've never used it myself, for it smacks of late night Real Estate infomercials, but here below is a tale of a small broker who learned the lesson of "location,location,location" the hard way.The small broker operates out of her house, does, maybe one buyer rep transaction a year, mostly cajoled out of her bridge club or soccer mom connections. A nice little business.In this particular case, our broker harrangued a friend for weeks about listing a house. The friend had, in passing, mentioned that they were going to sell, and our little broker sprung into action. Bought a listing post, had a sign printed up, figured out how to do the boston.com thing.The friend had intended to go to a big office to list her home, but, well, our little broker offered a deep discount on the commission, and she got the listing.Gave her husband the signage and told him to get a rubber hammer and bang that sign into the...
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Where There's a Will, There's a Way
2007-11-26 15:49:00
I hear there is a couple of mid-lifers having a problem selling their home in Pittsburgh. They've come up with a novel way of marketing the home. They plan to give a rather sizeable chunk of money to the soul who buys the house. Sounds normal except for the catch. The "chunk of change" comes upon the death of the "mid-life" sellers.I plan to keep a tab on how this one plays out, not just because the mid-lifers may be on to something (folks'll try anything in this market), but to see how the "50 something sellers here" make out once the house is sold. I am sure they plan a happy retirement, but one has to wonder about the untimely-ness of it all should something unexpected happen, say radiation poisoning (like that Russian), or a toll booth opens into a hail of bullets (like that "Sonny" Corleone thing).Come to think of it, the whole thing does sound like a treatment for a macabre sit-com...Where's Owen Wilson when you need him?...Oh, wait a minute, didn't he almost just die?

Flipped Out
2007-11-25 12:36:00
This from Diane Tuman as extracted from the New York Post:Lots of addresses fill up the “most viewed homes per day” table that Zillow data analysts compile. It’s anyone’s guess as to why these homes attract clicks. Maybe it’s the home of a celebrity. Maybe it’s a fabulous home for sale. Or, maybe it’s a home that was turned into a brothel. No, really.Last week, this home in New Rochelle turned up on the “most viewed” list. New Rochelle is located in New York state’s Westchester County, and is one of the more upscale counties in the U.S., with a Zindex of $638K. Turns out that the fact the home was being used for prostitution was just part of an incredible story:The New Rochelle police routinely monitor Internet sites and saw an ad on Craigslist for “Grand Opening Special! Hot models, soft sensual touch…New Rochelle has Westchester’s first and only member’s only club for men and women…We offer role play, fetishes, light body rubs, body rejuvenation and d...

I Have Moved to Better Help You Move
2007-11-15 11:46:00
I am pleased to announce my affiliation with CENTURY 21 COMMONWEALTH, the number one selling entity in Massachusetts. My new situation offers me a vibrant framework through which I may better serve you -- whether you are a buyer or a seller, the resources and clout behind me now will lead you to the most advantageous pricing in your transactions. I'd love to meet with you in any of our conveniently located offices to discuss how I may best serve you. Best of everything. Al.
More About: Move

THIS is Veterans Day...
2007-11-11 12:10:00
...not tomorrow. It was born out of the paperwork that ended World War I, when the shooting stopped at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11 month of 1918. I would like to have my readers click the link and visit HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS. A non profit organization that aids our gallants in finding what we all want when THEY come back from the war. Oh, they are local to me. Taunton MA.It is an efficient organization, Gold Starred, and lean -- spends but 7% of donations on operations -- most organizations tout 20% as lean...how's that 7% sound for getting the job done.So visit. www.homesforourtroops.org.Let's do for them what they do for us -- "step up to the box".I will be off the Real Estate today. My old uniform is pressed and ready, and if my kids giggle when I put it on, well, then it was worth any sharpnel I might have taken those years ago.Al.
More About: Veterans , Veterans Day , S Day

"Wheel" Estate
2007-11-10 19:11:00
This from a young agent:"I set up a little tour -- mom, dad, kid and off we go."Before we get to the first house, junior has to go potty, so I pull into a gas station, but..."Here I interject, "But Mama does not want to sully the Little Prince by allowing him relief in a, shall we say a place below his station?"Yes she replies."So I have to go the the CVS up the road. And it takes forever, and ever. But when they come out the kid is empty, but he mom is full. She went shopping. Takes out a pink little ditty and tells me, 'I love these razors, I can go 3 days without worrying about being sleeveless'. The kid has a gooey candy bar and he's got that -- I'm gonna rub this stuff on your seats -- grim about him."And, all the while, while they were in there consumer testing, the dad is in the car with me -- polka faced or dead, I cannot tell -- like one of those statues on Easter Island.""Bad trip?" I say."Get's worse. About a minute after we get to the road, ol' stone face asks...
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Some Things You do not Need to Know About...
2007-10-31 00:03:00
Somerville...Barak Obama lived here when he went to Harvard.Hank Hanson, who helped put up the first flag on Iwo Jima (it was taken down and replaced by a bigger one that made it into the famous picture) grew up in Somerville. He was killed on Iwo Jima 5 days after the flag went up.Archibald Query invented Marshmellow Fluff in Somerville.Nick Gomez, director of "The Sopranos", is a native.Lots of real gangsters are natives too.Somerville is the most dense municipality in New England.
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Some Things Your do not Need to Know About...
2007-10-18 15:11:00
Newton.Yes, the Fig Newton was born here. In 1991 the city had a 100th birthday party for the said pastry. A 100 foot "newton" was on hand and Juice Newton performed.Francis Stanley lived here and most likely drove to work in his "Steamer."Sam Smith lived here and most likely wrote, "My Country 'tis of Thee". here.Sasha Baron Cohen "subbed" Newton for a reed-neck southern town part of his Movie "Borat" (the Bed and Breakfast section).
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What's in a Name?
2007-10-09 14:48:00
A lot of folks hereabouts, over the years, have asked me for my assessment on the day's program at the local race track. That's horses of the Secretariat mold we're talking here. Now I know my way around the past performance charts as well as any man -- which means that on those instances when I do go to the ponies, I can expect to get back change from my twenty...and only change.Well, the other day, on the morning of the Mass Cap at Suffolk Downs, I'm tagged in the local McDonalds by a punter wanting to be in the know. He wanted me to tell him on what nose he should hang his 8 bits when he visits his bookie.So I finally ask, "Why are you asking me?"And he says, "Well, because of who you are."Flattered by his warm and trusting opinion of me, I fish for a few more compliments, "And who am I?" expecting something in line with a "Pope and Tom Cruise" morph."You are the president of Hollywood Park." Out with the flattery and in with the bad information. It appears I share a name...

Some Things You Do Not Need to Know About...
2007-09-11 17:04:00
...Medford.One of the largest bank heists in U.S. History was pulled off in 1980...by MEDFORD Police Officers!New York's Mayor Bloomberg is from Medford.James Pierpont of Medford wrote "Jingle Bells". Lydia Child of Medford wrote "Over the River and Through the Wood".Leopold Trouvelot, late of 10 Myrtle Street (really late) was trying to breed a better brand of silk worm when, in 1868, a few of his moths got free. He, thus, is credited with unleashing the Gypsy Moth scourge that has troubled New England ever since.Fannie Farmer and her recipes hail from Medford.The poor girl who was cut up and deposited in a ditch in LA in the 1940's and is today known as the "Black Dahlia" was from Medford.
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The Dog Days
2007-09-04 13:39:00
I know the "Dog Days " have gone: the calendar has flipped and we turn our attention to the harvesting of the crops...stop me -- the closest thing to harvesting I do is picking through the grapes on sale (.99 a pound!!!) at the Star Market.So wht about the Dog Days?. Well, herein, they relate to the dogs on the road. You know, the cuddly ones -- off leash -- that "will never hurt anyone" as their moron owners will attest. Kids are heading back to school and kids mean walking (not as much as before). Little bodies hop-skip-and-jumping their way to some round faced school marm waiting for her apple (wait a moment, that's "Little House on the Prairie"). The point is, however, kids are small, and to them dogs are big. According to stats found on the site, "dogbitelaw.com", the jaws and claws of "Fido the Friendly Dog" accounted for over 330,000 emergency visits in the most recent year of collected stats. That is second only to baseball/softball.Each and every one of those 330k b...
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Labor Day Stats
2007-09-03 23:24:00
Some info on how good we -- Americans -- I mean are doing. This from that Associated Press. All this is predicated on whether you believe the flaks at the United Nations. It must, I fear, have some sort of factoring to account for the real estate agents you see shopping at Target during the mid-day. At any rate, we are working hard and putting up the numbers. Now how about that house you were lokking at? Just a short run from transportation, schools and shopping (Target).GENEVA - American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year. They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Org...
More About: Stats

Fat Heads
2007-08-22 17:21:00
Not long ago in these parts I put down a little ditty called "10000 Steps". You may find it herein at your convenience. Basically it dealt with why we have become a bunch of butterballs. We'll get back to that.Many years ago a "muck-a-muck" from some drug comapny gave a speech to his shareholders. He said, in effect, that the compnay was not going to get big so long as the company sold drugs to sick people. He said the company would get big if it sold drugs to healthy people. And so began the era of the manufactured disease. Now the normal flows of life are given syndrome and disorder names reduced to initials: ADD, ED, and so forth -- you know them. No longer do we live with ourselves, we live with the drug company's excuse for what we do and have become. My favorite, of course, is the drug for the guy who needs a drug to have sex. In my early days, you needed a drug to make the girl look pretty (booze did the job, too), but you didn't need it to -- shall we say -- uh...
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Some Things Your Do Not Need to Know About...
2007-08-05 15:38:00
...Watertown.Helen Keller lived in Watertown at the Perkins School for the Blind.Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery is, in fact, mostly in Watertown (except for the front gate area.)Members of the rock group Click T live in Watertown.Eliza Dushku of "Tru Calling" and "Buffy", among other things, graduated from Watertown High School.The Revolutionary Provisional Congress moved to in Watertown after getting booted out of Concord by the British.Ditto the Congress after it got booted out of Boston by the British.Babr Ruth's first wife died an anonymous death in Watertown.
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The Pan Does the Work but the Dish Gets the Glory
2007-07-31 15:13:00
Never could figure that one out. That one, up there at the top of this page. The ditty about pots and pans from Juliachildville. Well, actually my old Grammy used to say it. Today, however, it is all as clear as crystal.We lost the listing. It expired. We told them the home was priced too high, it would not sell. They refused and we held. Held to their price. We told them where is should be priced and they held and we showed and OH's ourselves to death.Now the listing is gone. And we have gotton a rather humble call from another broker. They have been given the listing. The listing price? Within $5000 of where we wanted to place it. So today I am the pan and that other broker is the dish. I just hope the next listing I get has a new kitchen.
More About: Work , Dish , The D , The G , Glory

Some Things You Do Not Need to Know About...
2007-07-24 17:45:00
...Arlington.Jimmy Doolittle may have spent "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", but he spent much of the other time of his life in Arlington, MA.The town is named for Arlington National Cemetery and was changed to the current monniker in 1867 from the Algonquin name.We all know of the great battles of Lexington and Concord, but we do not know that half the fatalities of that April day occured not at the famous sites, but, in fact, in Arlington. "Uncle Sam" is from Arlington. Yes there really was an "Uncle" Sam. Sam Wilson who stamped his barrels with US before he shipped them to government supply stores. Folks yonder took it to mean UNCLE SAM's property and not UNITED STATES property
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36 Highland Avenue, Watertown
2007-07-21 15:28:00
I will be doing stand up comedy at my newly listed property OPEN HOUSE on Sunday 7/22 from 1:00 to 3:00. The address is above. Stop by to see this wonderful and unique 9 room 3 BR 2.5 bath gem with flooring the likes of which you won't see anywhere. BEAUTIFUL. Parking for oodles of cars, great sunset views off the deck. Grape vines with GRAPES to eat growing on the property, yumyumyum. See you.
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Winkum and Blinkum and Nod...
2007-07-16 19:32:00
Sometimes a house talks to you. Sometimes it cries at the end of the day as it bemoans the weight it has to bear. It creaks and groans throughout the night as it gives back the fottfalls and burdens that have pounded it during the day. Sometimes, however, it just flirts:"Hi there big guy," it says and it gives you a wink. "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?"So it is with this house.
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Broken (or is it Broker) English
2007-07-10 15:21:00
Now, I am not perfect, but I do try to write with style, flair and something akin to the "King's English ." I do try to write with dignity and attempt to pass that on to my readers, whether they be viewing a blog, a letter or a listing sheet.Below is a listing. It is here printed, good readers, exactly as it appears: spelling, spacing and intent have NOT been changed.Come show and sell this Beautiful 2 family in an excellent area,close to everything. Home perfect for owner occupancy.Each unit offers 3 levels of living area, seperate off street parking,private fenced-in yard(flat)for entertaining.Home is in Great condition. Priced for quick sale.Best offer can own this highly desired home. Call Now!!! Bring Your Best Buyers.Bank approval with all offers. Serious inquaries only,please. Have your Offer forms and Check books ready!!! Thank You. Someone needs to go back to school,...or at least, back to the spell check.
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Super Savings!
2007-07-06 14:17:00
Not long ago readers saw a ditty here about a buyer who chose his banker because the pens worked at the branch office where he'd turn in his pocket change (see Financial Arrangements).Here with we expand on the subject and present a buyer who chose a lawyer with an equally eclectic methodology.This chap, we'll call him Frugal (Froogie for short), dabbled through the Yellow Pages for names of the local barristers."Well," he reported, "'twas like picking horses in the Derby. One looked all like the others.Until, Froogie admitted, "there was this one guy with a coupon."A coupon?"Yeah,...$25.00 off the first hour of billing. I liked that."But does he know his stuff."I hope so. But he's trying to drum up business, he seems hungry. And I liked that. I'm hungry too. Got myself a prime rib at the Stockyard with the twenty-five I saved. It worked for me."As ever, readers, you should consider the solicitation of professional help in all endeavors. There are a few questions here: ...
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Life, Liberty and...
2007-07-04 18:26:00
...We all know those words, but but herewith is a bit of elaboration...I bet ya did not know the inspiring scholors of the founding fathers were real estate brokers!The phrase is based on the writings of John Locke, who expressed a similar concept of "life, liberty, and estate (or property)". While Locke said that "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions", Adam Smith coined the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of property". The expression "pursuit of happiness" was coined by Dr. Samuel Johnson in his 1759 novel Rasselas.Written by Thomas Jefferson, the words in the Declaration were a departure from the orthodoxy of Locke and Smith. Locke's phrase was a list of property rights a government should guarantee its people; Jefferson's list, on the other hand, covers a much broader spectrum of rights, possibly including the guarantees of the Bill of Rights such as free speech and a fair trial. The change was not explained during Jefferson's life, ...
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Some things you do not need to know...
2007-06-28 14:04:00
...about Waltham.The city of know as the "Watch City", but you know that. Some 40 million Waltham Watches were built and the world is more "on-time" for it. Mike Case, late of the History Department of Boston College, however, likes to point out the lovely paradox of the city that corraled time overslept on the big day.You see, readers, during that whole, "the British are coming, the British are coming" thing going down in April of 1775, while communities big and small had their sons up at the crack of dawn to shoot it out at Lexington (just north of Waltham) and Concord (one town northwest), the good settlers in Waltham overslept. Not a single Walthamer was awake to put the flash in the pan and knock down a Brit. So much for clock work action.To their defense, I must point out that there was no Waltham Clock manufactory in 1775 and, at any rate, the city today has a great restaurant row...reservations accepted for 7:00 PM SHARP!
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The Devil Made Him Do It
2007-06-27 12:10:00
And now for a little local color.Hotter than... it is today...My younger one want to go to to the public pool in my little corner of the world. Not a bad idea. The Underwood Pool in Belmont Massachusetts has the distiction of being the first public pool in the United States -- assuming you exclude as pools the cesspools of Upton Sinclair and the riverways of Mark Twain.Plopped down on land donated by William Underwood, it is an icon worthy of fame to any man, yet our Mr. Underwood, like so many greats, holds claim to another title of fame. Yes, the Devil was the source of Mr. Underwood's wealth. We're not talking Mephisto here; we're talking Underwood Deviled Ham.Not to be the only multi-man from Belmont, we may offer you the diversity of Robert Welch Jr.Scurry from the pool's location on Concord Avenue up yonder about a one minute walk towards the center and stop at 395 Concord (next door to the post office). Today the building is the Armenian Studies Center, yet until 195...
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Robot House
2007-06-25 19:13:00
I like the way kids give directions. Nothing bland like, "First right after the Sonoco station." or even, out of the dashboard, "turn... at... next... left... 100...yards..." and so on. No sir, not for kids.My own kid informed me that the way to her friend's house was the right after the robot house.How, I wondered, would I know what the robot house was, but wouldn't you know it?...there is was. What a house, what character! What directions! And it does look like a robot!
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The Financial Arrangements
2007-06-19 13:00:00
Everything is flying along to a closing. The meeting of the minds between buyer and seller is done and now the two parties begin the process of separating as day by day, owner lets go and buyer pulls it all together to take over."How's the financing coming?," I ask."Fine. Easy." No doubt the buyer has launched himself into finance world with all the force of a V2 rocket. "I went with Cambridge Savings Bank."My interest is piqued as to how the choice was made."Well," he says, "whenever I go there to make a deposit, the pens work and they are never out of deposit envelopes. And I LIKE that."So the biggest financial decision of a person's life is made on the basis of the supply of ink and paper?"Absolutley."I ponder this for a moment and think, wait, maybe there is something to this. A place that pays attention to detail -- you know -- a "take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves" sort of thing. Move over Wall Street, a new financial analyst is moving...
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Open House Saturday 6/16 1:00 to 3:00 PM
2007-06-15 14:41:00
I will be doing an Open House in Arlington. It is a house with character and History. You may visit this house at OldHouses.com. The link will open in a new window.
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