Things are changing fast for residents near the city of Boston. It seems like parking has gotten harder and parking tickets are getting more numerous. More and more of my clients are going car-free or reducing to a single car per household. When I have a client moving to a more suburban setting the need for a car or for a second car is a major deterrent to the move.

Are you in Boston, Somerville, Cambridge or Brookline? If you are, do you still have a car? If you do, why?

Boston is the third most walkable major city in America. Here’s the whole list. I know the walk score remains pretty high in the surrounding small cities, too.

Boston also boasts of being the fourth most bikeable city according to Boston Magazine's on line BostonDaily.

Do you agree that Boston, and nearby, are both walkable and bikeable? What are your objections to these high national rankings? Does it make you feel sorry for the car-bound elsewhere?

How things have changed. Real estate brokers who spent years trying to drum up scarce buyers are now having to sweet talk reluctant sellers into listing their homes.

The buyers are definitely out there again this spring, both here in Greater Boston and in other major metro markets across the country.

But buyers are looking for a bargain. They sense the price declines won't go on forever, yet they also want something decent for their money. And with many potential sellers still skittish and unwilling to take the plunge, there has been a growing mismatch between demand and supply.

Check out this BloombergBusinessweek article - it looks at the seller shortage across the country and how it is driving bidding wars for ready-to-move-into homes that are reasonably priced.

Locally, bidding wars out now the norm in Cambridge, Newton and Lexington, notes Redfin in this blog post that went up yesterday.

Attorney Richard D. Vetstein brings you the second part of his discussion. Are you ready to take action to support these pending bills?

The vast majority of the laws protecting tenants were passed in the 1970’s when rental housing was far more problematic than it is now in 2012. Unfortunately, these draconian laws disproportionately hurt the small property owners who own over 80 percent of the rental stock in Massachusetts. Laws which make investing and managing rental property hurt the economy and result in higher rents. Due to political pressure from tenant activists and liberal groups, lawmakers have been reluctant to level the playing field.

There are several bills pending at the State House which will provide landlords with more incentive to own rental property in Massachusetts, starting with a rent escrow bill.

Rent escrow
Massachusetts is one of the minority of states which does not have some form of rent escrow law. The need for one is absolutely critical because without it landlords incur large losses when the tenant’s defensive claims of “bad conditions” turn out to be minor, nonexistent or, worse yet, the result of intentionally inflicted damage to the property by the tenant in order to live rent-free.

A mandatory rent escrow law would require any tenant who is claiming rent withholding to pay the withheld rent to a local court month by month until code violations are repaired. After repairs are done, either the landlord and tenant agree on how the escrowed rent should be divided, or a judge orders a fair settlement. In most cases, the owner will get back most of the withheld escrowed rent. But the most important impact of a mandatory rent escrow law is that those nonpaying tenants who do not escrow can be promptly evicted for nonpayment of rent. Although nonpayment evictions will still take about three months, and owners will lose about three months of rent, much-longer-delayed evictions and the free rent trick will be stopped. This should be a no-brainer.

That's how Jonathan in Millbury feels about his decision to buy in Central Massachusetts.

After all, he works as a project management consultant in Kendall Square and could have easily settled for a condo in the Boston area.

But instead, he's now living his version of the American Dream in a three bedroom, 1,500-square-foot ranch he bought for the low $200,000s in 2007, complete with a "nice level yard with woods."

After reading my recent post on bargain towns below $200,000, Jonathan fired off an email asking why I had left out Millbury. (No slight, just missed it as I was looking over median price records.)

Sure, I could have purchased a condo in the Boston area. But I don't see the value of living in a condo and paying a condo fee. I like having a yard and taking care of my home. And my neighbors are awesome.

Today Attorney Richard D. Vetstein begins a two-part discussion of the state of law regulating residential rental properties and what he thinks of them.

For landlords, navigating Massachusetts landlord-tenant law is like walking barefoot through a IED-filled field in Afghanistan. At some point, you’ll likely blow off a leg. Massachusetts has a well-deserved reputation of being one of the most unfriendly places to own rental property. Allow me to outline just a sampling of these Draconian laws and the penalties for landlords’ non-compliance:

• Breach of implied warranty of habitability: The first thing a savvy tenant will do after receiving an eviction notice is call the board of health to get the owner cited for code violations. Any violation, however minor, effectively enables the tenant to live rent-free during the case by withholding rent, and the owner will be compelled to make the necessary repairs while the eviction is pending. There have been many instances where tenants have intentionally inflicted property damage to claim code violations. Other penalties: reduction or elimination of rent owed; tenant cannot be evicted; triple damages; payment of tenant’s attorneys’ fees.

• Breach of quiet enjoyment: This is another tenant favorite claim. It used to be for when slumlords would shut off utilities to tenants, but that rarely happens anymore. I’ve seen this used repeatedly when tenants are “inconvenienced” by landlords’ repeated attempts to access the premises to make repairs. Penalties: tenant gets to stay in possession; up to 3 months’ rent or actual damages, whichever is more; payment of tenant attorneys’ fees.

That's the latest theory on what caused the housing bubble - and it makes a certain sense.

A new Boston Fed paper takes aim at the profusion of studies and documentaries that try to pin the blame for the housing bubble on the machinations of a few greedy Wall Street types. (Thanks gmbc for pointing this one out.)

Instead, it was the average buyer, borrowing to the hilt and beyond to grab a house in the belief that prices would just keep on going up, who drove the runaway prices of the bubble years, the Fed paper suggests.

It's certainly a provocative theory - and one very current now as the real estate market starts to recover and prices in some of Greater Boston's more affluent suburbs head up again.

In fact, for all those who are feeling a bit optimistic again - including me - the Fed researchers offer a very timely warning at the end.

Bill Kuhlman, CRS, who is the broker/owner of Kuhlman Residential gets down to basics. How long does it take to buy a house in the Boston area?

I’m often asked how long the process of buying a home takes. The answer is that there is no one set-in-stone timeline that fits everyone’s purchase process.

Different people take longer or shorter than average at different stages. For instance, I’ve had buyers who found the home they bought during their first day of looking. I’ve had others who took over five years.

Here is a typical home buying timeline I share with my buyers, giving them an idea of how long to expect each step to take, or when the steps should be completed.

Activity/Task -- Date

Mortgage Pre-approval -- Day 1

Search for Property -- 1–??? days

Offer to Purchase -- As soon as practical after the home is identified

Offer Accepted -- Within 24–48 hours

Home Inspection --Within 7–10 days after Accepted Offer

Due Diligence -- Prior to signing the Purchase and Sale Agreement

Purchase and Sale Agreement (P&S;) --- Within 10–14 days after Accepted Offer

Submit Complete Mortgage Application -- Within a day or two of P&S; (Including P&S;, pay stubs, tax records, etc.)

Mortgage Commitment Letter --10 to 21 days after signed P&S;

Buyer Secures Insurance Binder (n/a for condos) -- At least one week prior to closing

Set Up Utilities -- At least two days prior to closing

Closing --Typically 5 to 8 weeks after accepted offer (this can vary greatly, as needed)

There are actually a few towns in Massachusetts where you can now buy a home for less than six figures.

In a state where the median price remains a lofty $267,500, this handful of communities stands out.

The question is not whether you could get a relative bargain, but whether it's worth rolling the dice.

Buying in some of these communities could be a gamble - a few are struggling with major problems, such as the crippling loss of old industries or school systems beset with major challenges.

Yet the same could be said of many areas that are now considered hot spots in the local real estate market. There are a whole bunch of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville neighborhoods that a few decades were anything but hot.

It’s that time of year, renters. I am hearing from my clients that their landlords are pressuring them into signing up for another year’s lease. I am also hearing from people who are suddenly thinking of buying because their landlord has notified them that he or she intends to sell the house.

Showing rented houses and apartments are my least favorite kind of showing. Sellers who are home during showings create an awkward situation, but at least they are benefiting if the transaction takes place. The renter, on the other hand, has little to gain and frequently ends up moving as a result of the sale.

Not all tenants are slobs. Not all owners keep their places nice. It is a stereotype that rented places are not kept well. But stereotypes have some truth to them. I teach my clients to make an effort to tune out the personal property and personal style of the residents of a house, be they owners or renters. It is particularly hard when people are home.

On Wednesday, I showed a three-family house that had an empty apartment, where the deceased owner had lived. Downstairs was an apartment the looked like the Garment District’s by-the-pound room. The tenant, and tons of her collected stuff, was there. Upstairs, the other tenant’s place was decorated in a theme (the beach) and was clean, bright and charming. That tenant was not home. Although I noticed the difference, I was really looking at the building, which all-in-all was pretty nice.

Was your apartment ever in a building that was being sold out from under you? Were you cooperative or hostile? Did being told that your apartment was up for sale make you want to get a cat and not clean the litter box? Or did it make you self-conscious that you needed to immediately clean out your closets?

Yes, even in high-priced Massachusetts, you can buy a house now for under $200,000.

In many parts of the country where housing has long been more affordable, this would hardly be worth the notice. After all, the median price nationally is $158,100, and falling.

But here in the Bay State, with prices on the rise again in the more affluent Greater Boston suburbs and in coveted or hip urban locales, all in Boston or Cambridge, it is worth remembering that we are dealing with two very different real estate markets here.

Beyond the gilded burbs, prices have fallen a lot steeper and continue to erode.

Now that the weather is occasionally turning spring like (and summer-like), I notice that my clients are more aware of whether a house or condo has easy bicycle storage. This is an urban issue much more than a suburban one. In places where garages are common or lot sizes are big enough to add a shed, the bicycle storage issue is easy.
It is in the cities and towns close to the cities that bicycle storage is an issue, even for the weekend warrior. Some of the things to look out for are features that make basement storage awkward. These things include:

Basement doors at a stairway landing with stairs parallel to the outside wall. That makes it necessary for the bicycle to turn an impossibly tight corner.

Straight stairs work if they are ahead of the door. Basement stairs that have tight turns to save on space make bicycle storage hard.

I see doors that are no more than 3 feet high leading out of the basement to ground level. (I call them “hobbit doors” even though they aren’t round.) Even if a bicycle can get through them, a person and a bicycle will require some wiggling and giggling.
(However, these work great for kayaks if you set up a line to hang the boat there.)

If you want a bargain in overpriced Greater Boston, you have to look where the real estate downturn has hit the hardest.

While some of the more affluent western suburbs, as well as a few of the more picturesque towns on the North and South Shores, are seeing prices rise again, that's not the case in many of their less glamorous neighbors.

There are lots of towns now where a house can be had for less than $300,000, I noted yesterday. And while there are fewer members of the under $250,000 club, they are out there - often small industrial cities in the midst of transition or small towns that are a little rough around the edges.

I thought dreston78 put it well in his comment yesterday.

I realize no one wants to live in Brockton, Worcester, Haverhill, Methuen, Lawrence or Lowell (except for the hundreds of thousands of people that actually do) but those are some markets that have been crushed by the bursting of the bubble. A decent home can be had for under $200,000 in anyone of those areas and plenty of new/newer construction in the $300K to $350K range.

Around the end of February, this year, I brought a discussion about propane fuel heating to BREN. The data I was missing was a way to calculate energy costs that accounted for the difference in the severity or mildness of a given winter or summer. I also had a personal agenda for finding a way to track energy costs that calculated for temperature. Last year, I took advantage of the MassSave program for wall insulation and air sealing. Because it was such a mild winter, I wasn’t getting any obvious bang for my buck.

I was lucky to find the answer at MIT early last March, at a workshop for landlords. Dan Teague led a workshop where he walked us through the software product developed by Wegowise. It answered a need that I had because the software calculated for degree-day variations.
It took a little fussing around to get both units of my two-family house into the database, but now it’s working fine. (They promised me that they are doing an upgrade that will make this easier.) I recommend the software to everyone, not just landlords. It will help you see, over time, how the changes you are making toward efficient energy use are paying off (or not.)

Even if you have a single family home, you can benefit from tracking your energy use. Wegowise goes back one year of your energy bills from NStar or National Grid. It has automatic feed from some water departments. You can manually add your oil or propane bills.

Weary of looking at worn out, overpriced homes selling for half a million or more?

The good news is that it's still possible to buy below $300,000, with a whole bunch of towns and neighborhoods with prices in the $200,000s now.

But they are not in the the posh burbs and hip urban neighborhoods everyone is beating down the door to get into - and which have seen prices relentlessly rise right through the downturn.

And more often than not, you may end up with a tougher commute - and a fair amount of fixing up to do as well.

But then again, you won't find yourself saddled with a $500,000 mortgage either.

Here's my list, drawn from the real estate records of Banker & Tradesman. Today we'll tackle the suburbs, tomorrow the world. Just kidding, next week I will look at bargain-basement urban alternatives for those frustrated with Davis Square and other overpriced, over-hyped neighborhoods.

Attorney Richard D. Vetstein alerts us to a case about the quality of information on MLS listing sheets:

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has agreed to hear the case of DeWolfe v. Hingham Centre Ltd. which will consider a very important issues for the real estate agent community: the scope of a real estate agent’s duty to disclose and independently verify property information posted on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

The case was originally decided by the Appeals Court, and I wrote a full post about it here. The original opinion can be read here.

In summary, the real estate agent, relying on what turned out to be erroneous information supplied by his client, listed a Norwell property on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and newspaper advertising as “zoned Business B.” The property was not, in fact, zoned for business use; it was zoned residential, thereby prohibiting the hair salon the buyer wanted to open at the property. Despite the general disclaimer on the MLS system and in the purchase and sale agreement, the Appeals Court held that the agent could be held liable for misrepresentation and Chapter 93A violations due to providing this erroneous information.

If you don't have a bottom line number and you are house hunting here in Greater Boston, get one and get one fast.

By bottom line number, I mean a number or threshold price that you won't go beyond, at least without some very serious consideration and, if you are married or in a couple, some hard-fought debate.

Sure, everyone can benefit from this, but having a budget and sticking to it is especially important here in the Boston area. After years of tough times, it remains one of the most overpriced housing markets in the country.

So what does that mean? Well if you are in that broad range of middle-income buyers, you are always going to be tempted to stretch in order to get a more palatable house.

After all, the options for middle-income buyers looking in the $300,000-to-$400,000 range, especially inside the 128 beltway, are not likely to blow anyone away.

Are you one of the many would-be buyers who are seeing every "nice" house go off the market before you have a chance to think? Bill Kuhlman, CRS, who is the broker/owner of Kuhlman Residential gives some advice that lots of people know, but many are not following.

In my experience, whether a homebuyer has $200,000 or $2,000,000 to spend, they all compromise on one or more of the primary property-related factors that drive market value. These include location, size of the living space and the lot, layout, and condition. I rarely represent a buyer who feels like the home they buy fulfills everything they want in their dream home.

It’s my opinion that the impact of superficial factors has become increasingly exaggerated over the past few years. This has irrationally driven up demand for shiny homes relative to homes with good fundamentals in need of a little work.

If you’re a seller, you’d be well advised to invest a few thousand dollars on curb appeal and surface items with relatively low-cost improvements such as a fresh coat of paint, new kitchen appliances, refinishing the floors, and landscaping. If you’re a buyer, your best opportunities to find a relative bargain would be to look right past these things.
If you’re a buyer who’s having difficulty finding anything you like in your price range, you should make a point to include in your search homes which have been on the market 60 days or longer. If you’ve been repeatedly beaten to the punch or outbid by other buyers for the homes you like best, maybe you should focus less on new listings and focus more on those which have sat on the market for a while. You will find significantly less competition from other buyers for those.

Don’t assume there’s something intrinsically wrong with a property just because it hasn’t been snapped up in the first few weeks. The “problem” could be something as trivial as the seller initially pricing the property too high for the market.

Certainly seems so from the latest numbers.

Pending home sales surged more than 35 percent in April compared to the year before, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reports this morning.

A total of 4,784 homes were put under agreement in April, meaning there should be a sizable sales jump when those deals close in June and July.

Still, there are always reasons to be cautious, something the numerous housing bears on the comment board will be happy to hear me say.

Today, Sam Schneiderman, Broker-owner of Greater Boston Home Team, begins posting on the first Monday of each month. Today, Sam discusses various conditions that buyers and sellers request that can become contingencies in a sale.

There are very few purchases or sales that are not subject to condition(s) that one of the parties requires to make the deal happen.

Most buyers want to inspect the property, secure a mortgage, and review condo docs, if applicable. Those buyers should include carefully worded clauses in their offers that allow them sufficient time to do those things and spell out what happens if they do not turn out satisfactorily for the buyer. In other words, buyers want to make their purchase “contingent upon” or “subject to” a satisfactory outcome of one or more of their requests.

Except for mortgage contingencies, most of the contingencies that buyers request are satisfied in advance of the Purchase and Sale agreement or at a specified time after signing it. The mortgage contingency is typically satisfied about a month from the Purchase and Sale signing. Prudent seller’s agents and sellers understand how to verify a mortgage pre-approval so that the odds are in their favor that the buyer will get the mortgage unless the property does not appraise.

Sellers can also make a sale “contingent upon” or “subject to” something happening, although that is less common. Here are the seller contingencies that I see requested most often. They are sometimes in the MLS listing, but sometimes they are not discussed until the buyer presents an offer:
- Sale is subject to seller finding to suitable housing.
- Sale is contingent upon third party approval. (This typically refers to short sale approval.)

Teardowns are back.

After stalling during the Great Recession, teardowns are on the rise again in some of Greater Boston's more affluent suburbs.

Wellesley, Needham, Newton and Lexington have all seen a jump in teardowns over the past year of older, more modestly-sized homes, I report in a Globe West story that ran yesterday.

Needham appears to be leading the charge, with 82 last year, compared to 58 in 2009.

And it is a trend that has big implications for middle-income buyers trying to get a foothold in one of the country's most expensive housing markets.