Green Moving

So Boston has been on a big kick lately to make the city more green in any way it can. While I applaud the city and it’s residents for their efforts, there are times when you have to be honest and say, “Ok now you’re taking it just too far.” The best example, bicycle movers. Yes, Gentle Giant the moving company with the big purple trucks that are a common sighting over the summer months, is introducing a new service. The offering is called Bike Moves. The idea behind the program is that for Boston residents who are moving just around town, this will cut down on costs related to parking permits and dealing with all the trucks on Boston’s sometimes narrow streets.

Currently, the company has 3 pedal powered bikes in its fleet, each with a custom built trailer made out of aluminum that is capable of carrying up to 300 pounds. This means it will still be able to carry a couch or a dresser. The rates for this program are as follows: $40/hour for one guy with 1 bike and $105/hour for 3 guys and all 3 bikes currently in the fleet.

If I can leave you with only two thoughts on this, I guess it would be these two. One who wants to see these guys do a move from the top of Mission Hill to the top of say Mount Vernon Street or vice-versa. Two, who wants to see these guys compete against the pedicab drivers in some sort of load hauling challenge? Come up with a challenge leave it in the comments and we’ll pitch it to both companies.

$100,000 a year to rent a studio

Everyone knows rental demand is high. It’s high across the country, from San Francisco to Chicago to Boston rents are way up. In Boston, the demand is particularly high and for those looking to move in now, pricing is beyond all reasonable expectations. This week we placed a few quick calls and took a look at our listing sheets and realized that the current average price to be in a high rise Studio in Boston and parts of Cambridge is $2900/month. Keep in mind this is a studio, which means no fully private bedroom. Now, most landlords I know generally try and stick the 1/3 rule before requiring a co-signer. This means that your monthly rent should not exceed 1/3 of your monthly income. For those that need help with the math, that means in order to rent one of these studios you should be making $104,000 a year. Now you’re asking yourself who’s going to pay that? The short answer, you are!

Yesterday, as I was looking at a new rental building in downtown, another agent asked me what I thought of the units. I responded, I thought they were over priced. The agent replied, “but they are 70% rented and it’s only been open 3 months.” The units started at $2700 for their smallest unit. This means that despite all the logic and rational thinking, people are continuing to spend upwards of $2700 on something without a true bedroom.

People complain about the high rent in the city, but as long as the demand remains buildings are going to continue to raise the rent as high as they can.

Rents On The Rise

Boston was recently said to be one of the top 25 US cities where rents were on the rise. Coming in at number 12 on the list, rents in the Boston area were up 7% in 2010 and are expected to rise another 6.2% this year. It might be hard to believe but despite these increases landlords throughout the city are reporting fewer turnovers than in years past. Many of the luxury buildings in town are reporting occupancy rates of 97% or better and even smaller individual landlords are reporting far fewer turnovers compared to years past.

New Management Takes Over

The property formerly known as Back Bay Manor has recently come under new management and gone through a name change. The property is now being called City View and is managed by Equity Residential. Equity already manages several buildings in downtown area as well as nationwide. The takeover is likely to mean updates to the property in the near future, but this hasn’t yet been confirmed. The rebranding effort does suggest that the company plans to breath new life into what was becoming a stale property, but only time will tell. We wish Equity all the best with their new project and  if you’re interested in pricing give our office a call at 617-449-3642.

Why You Should Have Rental Insurance

Few renters ever end up getting renters insurance, but let’s examine why everyone should. There are a variety of reasons renters should get insurance, but most tend to think of it in circumstances such as there is a problem with the building when this year it maybe the weather that provides the reason.

For those that live in the northeast you’ve undoubtedly seen the many images of a roof collapsing all over the place this winter. All the snow we’ve had this winter means that both old and new roofs are under pressure. If a roof collapses yes the building will pay to have it all rebuilt, but your stuff that’s now buried under a foot of snow is not covered. So what does rental insurance cover?

Rental insurance covers everything inside the apartment. That means your flatscreen tv, clothes, computer, furniture, art, pots, pans and dishes. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a collapsing roof, a burst pipe from freezing temperatures or simply a backed up pipe that overflows. For less than most people spend on a coffee for the week, you can be fully covered.

For more information on getting coverage call Bryan Cogliano at 617-312-9314 or email him.

Boston Common Apartment Building Evacuated

Late Monday night a pipe burst the apartment building located at 660 Washington street near downtown crossing. The burst pipe forced nearly 1,000 residents from their apartments into the frigid night air. The pipe which burst on the 9th floor of the 28 story complex, caused damage to the first 8 floors of the building. Despite the owners best efforts, 2 days later some residents were still wondering when they might be allowed back in. If you were put out by this unfortunate incident, please call our office and we’ll be happy to try and help explain your options to you and do everything we can to help you in light of this sad event.

Landlords and Facebook

Plenty of people have worried about their future boss seeing what’s on their facebook page but this week a new concern has popped up. What happens when your future landlord sees what’s on your page? This past week there was an application rejected because after receiving the application the landlord “Facebooked” the person applying and didn’t like what they saw. Photos of the applicant drunk large speakers in the background and people everywhere made the landlord uncomfortable that their place would be well maintained. The discovery is one that many people who have grown up with Facebook may have to deal with a lot more in the future.

The landlord didn’t break any fair housing laws when rejecting the applicant but at the same time it seems unfair. I’ll be the first to admit that a good portion of the photos on Facebook reflect this behavior but that’s because times of enjoyment are times when people take photos. No one has the photos of them studying for that large final exam, or when they are giving that big important presentation at work. So what can be done? Change your privacy settings. Know that just like your future employer may look at your Facebook page, so will your future landlord.

Boston Rental Market: Tough on Renters

For those of you that are looking to rent an apartment in the 12 months hopefully you’ve read this article on boston.com or read it in the paper. The article goes on to describe a story that any broker who’s worked in the Boston rental market can tell you.

First, if you think you’re going to get a steal on a place because you’ve heard in the news rents are going down keep dreaming. The article in the paper wisely points out that a minimum you’ll pay for a unit in downtown is $1400. Is this a hard and fast rule, no are there places less than $1400 sure, but they are few and far between and they are smaller than some single dorm rooms. Despite some vacancies landlords are holding out for their price and not willing to compromise. In one case I heard a landlord tell someone about their offer “I’d rather use the unit for storage!”

Second, if you have a pet especially a dog or are a family with small children who need a lead-free apartment it’s a very small market. Rental brokers have been telling people for years that if you have a dog it’s a very small market, very few owners and buildings for that matter take dogs. Unfortunately there are double standards in some buildings which can confuse people even further. At the Ritz and One Charles, owners are allowed to have dogs but anyone renting one of the condos cannot. Renters with small children often find themselves in similar situations due to the fact that the buildings in Boston are so old and so few people have renovated to the standards necessary. This leaves this group with few options depending on what they are looking for and not something they are always pleased with.

Finally, yes the sad fact is that due to previous market conditions most private landlords don’t want to pay the broker’s fee, for the tenant. The market had previously been that people we’re willing to pay to get into that place they saw and loved, but that’s no longer the case. The apartments have gotten older in many cases and more are sitting empty; but few landlords are willing to break the psychological barrier of paying the brokers fee. This surely hurts some landlords as their properties sit vacant for months at a time and others are just dealing with it. There is no right or wrong decision on this one it’s all about what the market will decide and it’s something that both sides should be aware of.

Where is Gen Y Renting?

Top 5 reasons why Gen Y’ers are choosing luxury buildings over brownstones:

They have to put less money down!
This is a simple answer and the headline says it all. Most buildings only require 1 month down and some sort of minimal security deposit. The building has the advantage of economies of scale and can afford to take the risk of someone leaving; a small landlord can’t afford that. This is the reason private landlords make you put so much money down, because they don’t want you walking out on the lease! Additionally, almost all luxury buildings pay the broker’s fee, which due to the rental market, most private owners have never had to do. In the past, people were willing to pay to get into their places, now with the economy that has changed.

Gen Y likes to be coddled
Growing up Gen Y was the group that was always told they were the best and the brightest and they could do anything they wanted! Their parents took care of them; they weren’t the latch key kids from prior generations. But now that they are out on their own, who is going to do that? Allow me to introduce, 24hr concierge and maintenance staff! Services that had previously only been available to those making high six figure incomes are now available to everyone. Have a problem? Call the maintenance staff; they will take care of it for you just like mom and dad used to. Private landlords can vary in how well they respond, but you definitely can’t get them at 3am if you have problem.

Gen Y likes feedback
Feedback has always been important to Gen Y; they like to know how they are doing. This is a large part of why Gen Y gets technology, because it’s really all about speeding up the feedback process. Keeping this in mind, luxury buildings have responded. Luxury buildings in Boston have developed something called “Building Link”. It’s a system that after a quick setup, sends an email or text message to your phone when an action occurs. This can be that your dry cleaning was returned and is now waiting for you to pick up, or that a package or fax has arrived. If it’s a package, the system will even let you know which delivery company dropped it off. It’s constant feedback. Needless to say, private landlords don’t have anything like this.

Someone waiting for you when you get home
When Gen Y’s came home generally there was someone (a parent) at home waiting for them, to ask them how their day was. Luxury buildings have even figured this out, and have positioned doormen at the entrance so when you get home after a long day’s work there’s someone there to greet you. If you’ve lived there long enough, possibly even by name and ask how your day is going.

They have had better than their parents had
It’s certainly the wish most parents have, that their children have more than they had, but now it’s out of hand. When most parents tell the story of their first apartment they talk about leaks in the ceiling and strange neighbors and bugs of some variety. They generally had to walk to the laundry-mat down the street in the winter and it was up a hill. Gen Y will have no such stories. Many of their first apartments feature granite counters, stainless steel appliances and have laundry directly in the unit. The buildings have rules and regulations that prevent obnoxious neighbors and if something breaks, once again there is someone on call to get it fixed.

So what can private landlords do to compete? The answer is simple, pay  the broker fee if asked, and make sure you update your units every 10 years or so. In ideal world it would be less than every 10 years, but people will settle for a 10 year update. For more information on luxury buildings in Boston call us at 617-449-3642