Centers And Squares
Welcome to Centers and Squares
As a Cambridge real estate agent, the city squares of Cambridge, Somerville and Medford and the town centers of Arlington, Watertown and Belmont, Massachusetts are my home turf. And as a lifelong New Englander who’s lived within twenty miles of Boston most of my life, I can introduce you to other nearby towns as we search for your new home. If you’re planning to sell your home in Cambridge, MA or nearby you’ll find plenty of info about the home selling process here too. Questions? Send me an email or call me at 617-504-1737.
When Your Lender Says Jump…
… You say “how high?”
And then you do what you’re told and answer what’s asked.
There’s no doubt about it – getting a mortgage isn’t an easy process. That’s certainly true nowadays. In fact it’s always been true – aside from applying for the no-doc loans of yore you’ve always had to provide plenty of documentation to get a mortgage.
Think about it – the bank is lending you 100s of thousands of dollars – often many 100s of thousands. No matter how entitled you feel to that loan, how stellar your credit is, how large your bank account, or how long you’ve been paying the mortgage on the property you want to refinance – the bank is going to need to thoroughly document your current finances and your financial track record.
Lately I’ve been hearing from many lenders that they’re getting lots of push back from potential borrowers. Borrowers get aggravated when they’re asked for documentation or they fail to turn in necessary forms and documentation on a timely basis.
This is not what you want to do if you want a mortgage.
Your lender has to jump through far more hoops nowadays in order to get your loan approved. Underwriters are more reluctant to sign off on things, appraisals are problematic (topic for another post!), regulations change frequently – and the changes almost always make things even more difficult.
So when your lender asks you for documentation get him or her what is asked for – quickly. When you’re asked to sign and return documents do so – quickly.
Organize your records. Don’t bring piles of papers to your lender and expect him or her to organize your paperwork. Go through the list of what’s been requested and put together your papers in an orderly fashion. Spend as much time and care on this as you would a job application or a tax audit.
Documents that your lender will ask for may include:
- Tax returns
- W2 forms
- Pay stubs
- Bank statements
- Canceled rent checks that show punctual payments
Your lender needs to verify your income, assets and debts. Be prepared to document the source of all deposits into your accounts that appear on your bank statements. You’ll need information about all of your investments. Unless you’ve been employed at one job for a number of years you may be asked to provide explanations about job changes, etc. If you’re starting a new job you usually have to have received a paycheck before you can get a loan. If you don’t have a credit history in the US be prepared to be asked for alternative evidence of payments to creditors.
Your lender will tell you what’s needed. Get what’s asked for as quickly as you can and you’ll be that much closer to moving into your new home or getting that amazingly low interest rate when you refinance.
36 Jerome St Medford
36 Jerome St Medford MA
Brand new to the market – 36 Jerome St in Medford MAis sure to please. Located in popular West Medford, 36 Jerome Street is close to the Arlington line and near West Medford Square with the commuter rail to Boston (just one stop away) and the bus to Davis Square.
36 Jerome Street is in move-in condition. Buyers will appreciate the high ceilings, open layout (you can see all the way out to the back yard and deck from the front door!), and gleaming hardwood floors.
Downstairs you’ll find a living room with bay window, formal dining room, a den, and a spacious kitchen with broad expanses of granite counters, a skylight and new sliders to the deck. Outside there are two separate fenced-in yard spaces, a garage, and two side-by-side parking spaces.
There are three bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom is huge. There’s a full bath both upstairs and downstairs.
36 Jerome Street has a spacious kitchen that opens to a deck
Recent updates include a new energy efficient furnace in 2008, new central air conditioning (2008), and a water heater new this year.
36 Jerome Street, Medford MA 02155 is move-in ready and priced at $429,000. Call Liz at 617-504-1737 for more information or to schedule a visit.
Cambridge Flamingos
It’s October and Fall is in the air – and the Halloween decorations are popping up in Cambridge yards.
I spotted these variations on the pink flamingo in a yard on Eustis Street in Cambridge when we were on tour this week. No pink flamingos for us – we’ve got skeleton flamingos – Halloween themed yard art.
Skeleton Flamingos in Cambridge
Somerville Condo Near Davis Square & Ball Square
Tomorrow we tour the new listings coming on the market with Coldwell Banker. This Somerville condo near Davis Square and Ball Square at 237 Willow Ave is my new listing. I’m excited to bring everyone through on tour – it’s absolutely gorgeous.
237 Willow Ave Somerville - Condo Near Davis Square & Ball Square
237 Willow Ave in Somerville was gut renovated a few years ago. It’s on the upper two floors of a handsome two-unit building. It hits all the points on buyers’ wish lists – central air conditioning, an open layout, a gas fireplace, 2.5 beautiful bathrooms including a really fabulous master bath, three bedrooms, a laundry room (yes *room*!) on the bedroom level, plus a really nice lower level bonus room that can be used as an office, playroom or a place for the large screen TV. There are front and back private decks and an unimpeded driveway parking space.
The location is great – the bike path to Davis Square is down the street, Ball Square (oh – the breakfasts!) is down the block, and you can walk to the other end of Willow and hit Porter Square.
I’ll have a page about this spiffy Somerville condo near Davis Square and Ball Square here on Centers and Squares soon, but in the meantime check out the property website for lots more photos and info about 237 Willow Ave Somerville MA.
237 Willow Ave Somerville MA 02144 is new to the market and available for $619,000.
Boston Globe Magazine Home Design Issue
Kitchen Booth in a Cambridge House
The Home Design issue of the Boston Globe Magazine is always one of my favorites. I was psyched when I opened the newspaper this morning and found that today’s Magazine’s theme was Your Home: Kitchens and Baths. Be sure to check it out.
The magazine features some beautifully renovated kitchens and baths. There’s also an article about building new – not something many home buyers in our area are able to do.
Another article features the return of kitchen booths. I love kitchen booths. My favorites are the ones that look like old fashioned restaurant booths that were put in houses in the 1910s to 1930s. I don’t have a good picture yet of one of those – they’re often in a hard to photograph spot in the kitchen I’ve found. But the stylish booth pictured here is similar to the ones featured in today’s article about the revival of kitchen booths. These booths are newly created and crafted for modern kitchens. The Globe features booths with padded seats – or “banquettes” as some have taken to calling them. Me? I’m tempted to call them “diner booths” no matter how stylized they’ve become.
The booth above was in a superbly renovated house at 15 Bellis Circle, Cambridge that sold earlier this year. De
Cambridge Installs More Bike Parking Slots
New Bike Rack in Front of our Real Estate Office on Huron Ave
It took a flyer on a condo building bulletin board (note: if you’re looking for a condo to buy you should always read the bulletin board notices – you never know what you’ll find out about the condo association) for me to figure out that the new bike parking post outside our office is part of a city-wide project in Cambridge.
Hundreds of bike parking posts are being installed all over Cambridge. Actually the city calls them post-and-ring bicycle racks.
Bicycling is a popular mode of transportation in Cambridge and Somerville. Chances are good too that you’ll see some pretty funky bicycles around town.
Some of the more unusual bikes you’re likely to spot include:
- Recumbent bicyclists – cyclists ride close to the ground, on an elongated low bike – it’s sort of a cross between a bike and a recliner
- Bikes that are a mix of exercise equipment and bicycle – the pedals look like those big oar-like things – and the bicyclist stands up – there is no seat. It’s like a traveling elliptical machine according to someone who knows quite a bit more about gym equipment than I do
- Big wheel bikes – these are amazing – and a bit scary – to see since the riders are way high up with one enormous wheel and a much smaller one behind. The correct term for these – and it’s not uncommon (but always fun) to see them around Cambridge – is high wheel bicycles or high wheelers.
- And watch out for the bicylist we spotted the other day – his bike seat is a vintage plastic rocking horse
Groton Inn Burned in Fire
The Groton Inn has long been one of the signature buildings on the lovely main street through Groton Massachusetts. Sadly, the Groton Inn burned in a large fire on August 2, 2011.
Groton is lined with gorgeous Colonials and parts of the Groton Inn dated to the 1670s. The inn was on the National Register of Historic Places. At least one mural in the inn was thought to be painted by Rufus Porter.
I wrote up an offer on a house for sale in Groton over breakfast at the Groton Inn earlier this year. It’s hard to believe it’s gone.
It’s actually not gone yet. I was surprised several weeks ago to see it still standing, albeit terribly damaged. Turns out that there are many pushing for parts of it to be salvaged. The Historic District Commission and an architectural preservationist from the National Park Service have toured the badly damaged inn and identified a portion that might be salvaged. The town has since issued a demolition order and it seems that the current owner is intent on demolishing the inn in total. A petitition has been started urging that whatever can be saved be preserved.
It’s difficult to think of Groton Center without this beautiful old building. Here are a few photos we took of the Groton Inn several weeks after the fire.
Groton Inn Destroyed by Fire
Remains of the Groton Inn Groton MA
Catastrophic Fire Damage - Groton Inn
113 Richdale Ave Cambridge MA – Richdale Place Condos
Richdale Place, a 20-unit condo building, was built at 113 Richdale Ave, Cambridge MA in 2007. At the corner of Richdale Avenue and Walden Street, the condos are close to Porter Square in Cambridge and not that far from Davis Square in Somerville.
113 Richdale Ave Cambridge MA - Richdale Place Condos
Richdale Place was built by Oaktree Development. The company has built a number of projects in Cambridge including Thomas Graves Landing, Bay Square at 950 Mass Ave, and 369 Franklin Street
113 Richdale Ave Cambridge MA Features
- Four stories, 20 units
- 1 – 3 bedroom condos, 813 – 1848 sq.ft.
- Many 2 bedroom / 2 bath condos, +/- 1200 sq.ft.
- Elevator building
- Central air conditioning
- Garage parking
- Expansive, landscaped roof deck and garden
- Common living room and kitchen
- Bedroom suite that reserved for guests for a fee
- Fitness room
- Hydro air heat
- In-unit laundry hookups
Recent Sales at Richdale Place
Two condos have resold at Richdale Place.
A top floor, 1286 sq.ft. two-bedroom, two-bath condo sold in 2010 for $630,000
A first floor, 1206 sq.ft. two-bedroom, two-bath condo sold in 2011 for $569,000
If condos are available at 113 Richdale Ave, Cambridge MA 02140 they will appear below. Click on the small photo for more information and additional photographs.
Richdale Place condos are located at 113 Richdale Ave, Cambridge MA 02140
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