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Archive for the 'Everything Else' Category
Rental Scams – If It’s It To Good To Be True
Beware of Rental Scams
The Boston Globe reported recently about the Cambridge Police Department’s warning about rental scams on websites like CraigsList and Zillow. I’ve received calls myself from people asking for info or advice after becoming suspicious about a to good to be true rental.
It’s the height of the rental season right now in Cambridge and the Cambridge police have noticed a corresponding uptick in reports of rental scams. Scammers advertise apartments online that they have no real connection with – often using photographs they find on real estate websites. Typically the ads promise rents that are well below market rents in Cambridge.
The prospective tenant is encouraged to send the supposed subletting tenant or landlord money – by check or wire. When the unsuspecting tenant arrives in Cambridge they discover there’s no apartment for rent and their money is gone.
What’s an apartment hunter to do – especially when trying to find a Cambridge apartment from afar?
Probably your best bet is to enlist the help of a Cambridge rental agent. He or she will be able to match your needs and wish list to the best available rentals. Renting an apartment when you’re not here to look for one is not easy – getting an experienced agent to help you will make your search much easier.
But if you’re winging it and hoping to secure a rental on your own do keep in mind that if it sounds too good to be true – it is. Landlords or tenants subletting their apartment do NOT offer absurdly low rents out of the goodness of their hearts (ok – maybe somewhere out there there are some rentals where altruism rules – but better to assume that’s not the case).
Here’s a rough idea of what realistic – i.e. real – rents are like in Cambridge:
It’s difficult to find an apartment – any apartment – for less than $1200 per month in Cambridge. If you’re close to the T, in one of the popular squares like Porter Square, Harvard Square, or Central Square, then $1200 is going to get you a basement apartment – probably a studio or one-bedroom apartment – at best. Typically, Cambridge two-bedroom apartments rent for $1500 and up with higher rents closer to the T and to the squares. Again – if the ad says the apartment is close to Harvard Square you can expect to pay top dollar. There are no bargain apartments near Harvard – or if one pops up, it will last a day before it’s rented. The landlord will not need to jump through hoops with checks in the mail, wire transfers, etc. He’ll have would-be tenants waving applications at him right off the bat.
So – remember – if it sounds too good to be true – DO NOT SEND MONEY!
Wednesday What’s It Winners
We’ve got winners! Here’s the reveal for the inaugural Wednesday What’s It post:
The original photo:
Do you know what this is?
And the reveal:
Harvard Lampoon Building
Yes, it’s the ornament atop the Harvard Lampoon building in Harvard Square. The bird atop the ornament would have been a giveaway for many - and, no, the bird’s not a crane, it’s not a stork – it’s the Harvard Lampoon ibis.
The Lampoon Castle was built in 1909 at 44 Bow Street.
We’ll have another Wednesday What’s It next week.
Prizes are in the mail to the first three readers who correctly identified the Lampoon building – Laurie, Mark and John. Congratulations!
Big Balloon Rats Get Reprieve
Big Rat Balloon Spotted on Mass Ave Cambridge
No question – the big rat balloons are eye catching. I’ve spotted them a few times around Cambridge.
Unions use the big rat balloons as street theater – as part of protests outside of buildings and projects that aren’t using union labor or paying union wages.
The Boston Globe reported recently that the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of the rat balloons (oddly enough in an article that in both print and (still!) online form misspells the plural of balloon as “ballons”) .
Have to say that I enjoy a big rat balloon sighting so I’m happy to learn that the rats got the official OK.
How Well Do You Know Cambridge – Wednesday What’s-It
Do you know where this is in Cambridge?
Here’s the inaugural What’s It in what will be a recurring feature here on Centers and Squares. We’ve found unusual, intriguing, sometimes mysterious items around Cambridge. The mission? Identify them and win a little prize.
How well do you know Cambridge?
Do you know what and where this is? The where is probably more important than the what – but any specifics you want to add about exactly what it is will be fun to share.
If you do – let us know. The first three correct answers will get a coffee (and a donut!) on us.
Answers can be submitted on this form. Good luck!
Pink Snowflakes
Pink Snowflakes in Spring - Somerville MA
One of the prettiest sights this time of year is a sidewalk covered with what often, at a glance, looks like snow.
All the rain we’ve had this week has brought many of the flowering trees’ petals to the ground. In this case, it’s a pink dogwood’s petals coating the sidewalk and hosta below on Alewife Brook Parkway in Somerville MA. These petals look a bit less like snow and more like pink frosting.
Streets carpeted with petals – sweet!
First Impressions
Jellybean Rugs at Tags Hardware in Cambridge
When you’re selling your house or condo in Cambridge the first impression your home makes on real estate agents and buyers is critical.
Often that first impression comes at your doorway. When your house is for sale it’s time to replace that worn and faded old welcome mat. Nowadays, with stylish doormats available at your local hardware store, it’s easier than ever to spruce up your front entrance.
These rugs, displayed near the entrance to Tags Hardware in Porter Square, are just what you need to add a splash of color outside your door. The indoor / outdoor mats are washable – said to wash “better than your jeans” – and come in a variety of bright, colorful designs. Dog lovers take note – several have cheery designs featuring Labs and other dogs. No cats, however, so I bought one of the more traditional patterns – the pineapple welcome mat seen below.
The Jellybean rugs cost $29.99 – a small investment for a big return when you’re selling your home.
Visit Tags Hardware in the Porter Square shopping center, 29 White Street, Cambridge MA 02140.
Red Carpet Sidewalk
Red Carpet Sidewalk Outside Yayla in Cambridge
The sight of all these rugs on the sidewalk outside Yayla Tribal Rugs on Broadway in Cambridge gave me a chuckle. In fact, everybody who walked by / on the rugs had a smile on their face. Passersby tended to tiptoe around the rugs despite the sign, pinned to the rug in front, that encouraged people to walk on the rugs.
Yayla, at 283 Broadway in Cambridge MA, is popular with real estate agents who sometimes rent rugs from the shop for staging properties for sale.
Signs of Spring?
Christmas Trees Reappear In West Medford
The talk of snow (SNOW?!) in the forecast reminded me of this photo that I snapped a couple of weeks ago.
It marked a seasonal change that we don’t see that often around here – the reemergence of the Christmas trees.
Unlike most years when we get snow and it melts before we get more, this past winter it snowed early and the snow piles stayed around for months.
When the snow finally receded a couple of weeks ago the long abandoned Christmas trees appeared. Put out for pickup after the holidays, they were buried by snow before the recycling truck came by.
On city sidewalks everywhere Christmas trees appeared in March.
First the Christmas trees, then the crocuses and daffodils. Spring is here.
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