bostonbubble.com

[balor123]

For those of you looking to buy, there's a real gem listed yesterday. It's a mid-century modern in 5 fields. Looks like it needs a little work but isn't too bad. They're right - most of the homes in this development (all modern) are over a million. I think there's a community swimming pool too if I recall.

[showgunx]

Shoot, lucky I am not looking. Can't afford it. $3313 per month for mortgage, with 20% down, 4.37% for 30 years; annual tax rate $11,000+...

[unclemat]

Gem? Piece of modernistic crapshack...

[unclemat]

This is a GEM:

http://www.redfin.com/MA/Bedford/191-Concord-Rd-01730/home/11543651

[balor123]

Opposite ends of the spectrum indeed. I have a strong aversion to charm and character so it appeals to me. Wall of windows + snow = dreamy. With such a large lot and the modern community, would love to tear it down and build a nice modern infill community there with some modern landscaping. Nothing like that really exists in MA. However, it'd be a shame to waste a piece of history like that.

I always hate to see nice mid-century modern homes in the Northeast, which are relatively rare and were typically originally expensive architect designed homes, purchased by non-lovers and then half renovated to something more traditional. Aren't there enough traditional homes around that you don't have to screw up the few modern options around for those who love them?

As for that house, it could be very neat indeed. Give it an aluminum metal roof, metal windows, and repaint the siding stark white. Then do the same with the interior. Rip off the floors and finish the concrete and replace all the doors, faucets, countertops, tile, etc with modern equivalents. Keep the lights and other character. Now you've got a beauty Some examples: example 1 example 2 Drool...[/url]

[balor123]

Forgot to add this one:
example 3

Incidentally, these would fit in really well in Boston. I don't think I've seen even one there, though, which is a shame since one of these should be relatively easy to build from the given stock.

[unclemat]

True, opposite ends of spectrum. I am not against modern architecture per se, but I hate when basics are violated... like the nearly windowless wall. Plus it seems that most post war "modern" meant also cheap materials and workmanship.

Anyhow, de gustibus non est disputandum.

[balor123]

Cool phrase. Hadn't heard that before. Another very interesting listing on the market today again. The architecture of the home looks straight from the latest Dwell, despite being 30 years old! It looks pretty dark on the inside though with only 3 pictures. The current owners seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to cover up most of the windows on top of that. I wonder what the house faces to warrant that or perhaps the architect didn't take into account the orientation of the home. Still, you'd think that shades would be enough.

[unclemat]

It would be like living in a converted convenience store...

[balor123]

They indeed share similarities. I'd say it's akin to a 1-story high rise.

[balor123]

The first listing reappeared on the market today again. You can [url=https://www.redfin.com/city/1826/MA/Boston/real-estate#!sf=1%2C2%2C5%2C3%2C4&time_on_market_range=1-&v=8&sst=&lat=42.408564493179256&long=-71.20661928322943&zoomLevel=13&market=boston&daysSinceLastRun=0]see it here[/url]. It's nicely done.

Here's what it looks like they did: repaint the whole house, rebuilt kitchens and bathrooms, refinished floors, replaced some windows, replaced all doors, replaces stairwell, rebuilt exterior, and added a garage. I would guess that's a ~$250k remodel. They bought it for $800k so they're looking at a $200k profit here.

It's a shame that they had a dilapidated structure sitting on 2.2 acres of land in a very disable location and they chose to remodel. Overall I think they did a nice job but the white picket fence and stairwell stand out as out of place to me. I don't understand why only two rooms are gray either. It's like an architect planned the renovation and the contractor just filled in a few remaining details from Home Depot at the end.

[balor123]

arg. Is the forum software thrown off by a https link?

[admin]

It's probably something else, because https links to Redfin have worked in past posts. Maybe it's the query parameters and/or special characters in the fragment. If you still have the original URL, do you want to re-post it as a TinyURL, and I'll figure out what the problem is? (The forum parser may have mangled what you entered originally - the URL I see doesn't go to a specific house.)

- admin

[balor123]

Trying again. Here's is the listing.