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Elizabeth Bolton - Cambridge MA Real Estate Agent

The Somerville & Cambridge Real Estate Market is Picking Up

The real estate market in our area has been a mixed bag over the last year. On the one hand, we had low inventory and properties in some Somerville and Cambridge neighborhoods would sell quickly, sometimes with multiple offers. Other properties, a bit off the beaten track or priced a bit too high, might sit and sit.

House In The SunToday I heard a very encouraging story that makes me think that the 2009 real estate market is going to be a lot better than we might think.

  • The property was listed in the summer of 2008.
  • There were NO cobroke showings. Nada. Zip. For months and months.
  • Three weeks ago the price was reduced by $15,000.
  • Open houses were held three weekends in a row with varying attendance.
  • After the third open house - THREE offers were submitted and the property is now under contract.
  • But most interesting - in the three day period that the offers were being negotiated there were SIX requests for cobroke showings.

And you have to understand - we're a ways from spring! It's cold, the dingy snowbanks leave little room to park on the city streets, and you would think everybody - buyers and agents alike - would be tempted to stay home.

But we're not staying home! We're bundling up, heading out, and making it happen. It's February 1st in New England and it feels like spring!

We Wear Our Votes On Our Bumpers - January 20, 2009

One of the pundits this morning said there is a "palpable sense of joy" in Washington today. That's true of my home town too.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden carried Massachusetts in November with 62% of the vote.

In Cambridge, 88% of voters cast their ballot for Obama-Biden, second only to the small town of Aquinnah where 90% of the 311 voters cast votes for Obama.

There are a lot of very happy people in Cambridge today - though I don't think happy is a strong enough word. Jubilant, delighted, ecstatic, overwhelmed.... It's a beautiful day.

Cantabrigians often broadcast their thoughts, obsessions, affiliations and more on their bumpers.

Here's a sampling of the amazing variety of Obama bumperstickers found on cars in Cambridge this week - some a bit the worse for wear. Nary a McCain sticker in sight though I do remember seeing at least one or two over the last year.

Obama Bumper Stickers in Cambridge

That's No Pigeon! - Hawks In The City

Red tailed hawks have become increasingly common around Boston and Cambridge.

It's still a thrill every time you see one. In Cambridge real estate agents tour the new listings each Wednesday. Twice in the last year we've seen hawks during our tour. One was perched atop a Cambridge hospital's cupola several stories up and another day we found one high in a tree on a Belmont hill just across the street from the house we were viewing. They are simply majestic.

The best hawk sighting - from just a few feet away - happened the other day - actually twice in two days - as a red tailed hawk chose my brother's fire escape in South Boston as a landing spot. We're hoping he continues to be a regular visitor. The cats hope so too - if only to dream from the safety of the kitchen table.

Here he is. red tailed hawk on Boston triple decker fire escape

And here are a pair of red tailed hawks flying above Boston in warmer weather: Pair of Red Tailed Hawks Fly Above Boston

Courtesy of Gouldingken

Plastered With Post-Its

I did a double take the other day on my way for my morning coffee when I spotted these two cars near Tufts University on opposite sides of Boston Ave. in Medford, Massachusetts.

Somebody had some fun. Harmless fun - it sure beats graffiti. You gotta love living in a college town!

Britney Spears Lived Here

No... she didn't. Just kidding.

I sell real estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts and while I've spotted John Malkovich at the ATM (he does live here) and Matt and Ben come home to visit family and friends, Cambridge is not L.A.

Our stars are more likely to have found fame on the small screen - usually PBS - not the big screen. In fact, Julia Child's and Bob Vila's houses have sold since I started in real estate. That's Julia's house on the left. It sold in 2002 for $2,350,000 - minus the kitchen which went to the Smithsonian.

When you're touring property in Cambridge it's not uncommon to realize you're in the home of a Nobel prize winner, or a former advisor to Kennedy or Clinton, or a best selling author.

My coworkers tug at my sleeve - "Come on. We're falling behind. Let's go!" - while I take one last look at the framed letter of thanks from a former president that hangs on the wall, or the multiple copies in several languages of a writer's latest work that line the shelves of the office, or the photographs of dignitaries that decorate the den. What could be more fun?

Cambridge is a great place to work - and a great place to live.

And Britney - if you're looking to buy we've got some fabulous places to show you!