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NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Ford Realty has been featured in Fortune Magazine, CNN Newsweek and several local newspapers as being a premiere web destination and authority on Boston Real Estate.

Date: 9/15/08 - John Ford of Ford Realty Inc was mentioned in Jay Fitzgeralds real estate article on low priced condos for sale in Massachusetts.
?Fire sale? housing mostly in poorer areas
Photo by Jess Gately
C
all it the return of the $100,000 home.
Real estate observers are seeing a spike in the number of single-family houses and condominiums available in certain areas of the state for $100,000 or less, as the housing sector continues to grapple with a wave of foreclosures and falling housing prices tied to the subprime-mortgage meltdown.
Real estate agents say they?re seeing some eye-popping retro-like prices for some homes and condos in lower-income areas, often sold off by banks at bargain-basement deals just to get them off their books.
Gregory Burton, owner of Burton Associates Real Estate in Dorchester, said he recently sold a Dorchester two-bedroom condo on Jacob Street, just outside Codman Square, for $55,000. The same condo sold for about $179,000 three years ago.
The happy new owner is paying a mere $300-a-month mortgage for what Burton called ?decent property, very clean and basic.?
A similar apartment in the same building at 12 Jacob St. was on the market this spring at $129,000 - and sold late last month for $50,000, according to listings.
Real estate experts warn that, in general, similar low-priced deals should often come with a big warning: BUYER BEWARE.
Some homes are hopelessly tangled up in ?legal quagmires,? as one agent described it, caused by complicated foreclosure proceedings. Other properties listed to be sold ?as is? have been gutted by their old owners or vandals who tore out appliances, sinks, toilets, copper wires and other materials of value before units were abandoned.
?Some of these are fire sales, sometimes literally fire sales - they?re burnt-out shells,? said John Ford, a Beacon Hill and Brookline realtor who?s been showing investment clients properties in Dorchester, Mattapan and even Springfield.
According to real-estate listings, the number of single-homes in Massachusetts sold for $100,000 or less in the first eight months of this year hit 424, a 135 percent increase over the same period in 2003, before the housing market went south.
About 503 condos under $100,000 were sold statewide during the first eight months this year, up 34 percent for the same period in 2003.
Listings show that the vast majority of the units are in ?distressed? areas hard hit by foreclosures - such as Lowell, Lawrence, Springfield and other towns in western Massachusetts.
In Boston, there are very few single-family homes that have been sold, or put on the market, that were or are below the $100,000 mark.
But there are scores of condos in inner-city neighborhoods going for $100,000 or less in neighborhoods such as Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester, according to listings.
Listings show units - mostly bank-owned after foreclosures - that were once listed at more than $200,000 going for a fraction of their original asking prices.
A four-bedroom condo on Bowdoin Street in Dorchester was listed at $230,000 in May - and sold for $57,900 last week, listings show. A condo on Maywood Street in Roxbury was listed earlier this year at $205,000 - and sold for $50,000.
The super-low-priced deals represent only a fraction of the total sales in the city, where some neighborhoods have seen little or no price slippage.
Beacon Hill and Back Bay have continued to see slight price increases for condos - and listings show parking spaces in those areas are now going for well above what some condos are selling for in Roxbury and Dorchester.
John Anderson, a Dorchester real-estate agent and owner of the Real Estate Analyst, said he expects the number of bargain-basement deals to grow as long as foreclosures keep up their current pace. He estimated ?the bottom won?t be hit until sometime next year.?
Both Anderson and Burton note that condos under $100,000 are now being sold almost exclusively to investors, who can afford cash transactions demanded by bank owners. Average homeowner wannabes who nab such deals are rare, though there are the occasional winners out there, they say.
Real estate observers add they?re seeing another trend: price ?slippage? among condos previously listed near or just above $200,000 now selling in the $150,000 range.
Adam Day, an agent with Realty Executive in Watertown, said he recently sold a newly renovated three-bedroom condo in Chelsea, originally listed at about $200,000, for only $152,000.
?I do see the $200,000 barrier cracked more,? said Day, emphasizing that other cities such as Cambridge are still seeing strong sales figures.
Boston listings show an increasing number of condos in Hyde Park, Roslindale, East Boston and other neighborhoods being sold for $200,000 or less, though they, too, only represent a somewhat small fraction of overall sales in those neighborhoods, experts say.
Date: 8/5/08 - John Ford of Ford Realty comments on the new tax credit for first time home buyers.

Realtors laud tax credit
$7,500 credit may kick-start market
By Jay Fitzgerald
| Tuesday, August 5, 2008 |
R
eal-estate agents see a new $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers as a possible tipping point that could help change the dynamics of the struggling housing market.
The federal tax credit, which is effectively a 15-year, interest-free loan, was included in the massive housing bill signed last week by President George W. Bush.
Agents report there?s already a buzz about the tax credit, which could persuade some first-time home shoppers to buy before the credit runs out July 1, 2009, said Susan Renfrew, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
?I?ve heard a lot of people talking about it,? said Renfrew.
John Ford, owner of Ford Realty Inc. in Boston, said one potential home buyer he?s working with may end up signing a deal because of the tax credit.
?A lot of people in the industry don?t know about it, and I didn?t until just recently,? he said.
First-time home buyers are key to the struggling market right now, real-estate experts say. If they start buying as prices fall to levels they can afford, then others can sell those homes and move into larger abodes.
The $7,500 tax credit, which is retroactive to this past April, applies to singles making up to $75,000 a year and couples earning up to $150,000.
The size of the credit decreases for singles making more than $75,000 and is phased out at $95,000. The limit for couples is $170,000.
First-time home buyers can apply the credit against their tax bills next year, freeing up money and improving their chances of getting a loan from lenders, said Doug Azarian, owner of Century 21 Dream Homes in Falmouth.
The credit must be repaid over 15 years. That?s only $500 a year, said Azarian.
?What it amounts to is an interest-free loan,? he said.
______________________________________________
Date: 7/29/08: Aliza Dash of Ford Realty Brookline was mentioned in the Globe about the shortage of Brookline homes for sale.

Foreclosure-plagued cities gain sales
For rest of state, June real estate deals hit slowest pace since 1991
By Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff | July 29, 2008
June homes sales increased in Massachusetts communities that have been slammed by foreclosures, bucking the statewide trend of declining sales.
Massachusetts sales of single-family houses fell 14.9 percent last month compared with a year ago, Warren Group, a Boston real estate publishing firm, said yesterday. The sales activity - 4,663 transactions were closed - marked the slowest June pace since 1991. The statewide median price declined 8.6 percent, to $329,000, as the housing market continued to deteriorate.
For the first half of the year, sales were down 19.1 percent and prices fell 9.2 percent compared with the first half of 2007. "It's more of the same. It hasn't gotten worse, but it certainly hasn't gotten any better," said Timothy Warren, chief executive of Warren Group.
But a handful of communities that have been hit hardest by foreclosures - notably Brockton and Lowell - saw surprising sales gains last month. Real estate agents said buyers are suddenly eager to purchase houses being sold by banks that seized properties from delinquent borrowers, or through short sales in which the homeowner averts a foreclosure by selling the property and paying the lender an agreed upon amount.
Brockton has experienced one of the state's highest rates of foreclosure, depressing prices throughout the city even for homes not involved in the crisis. Janet Baxter, the Brockton office manager for Jack Conway & Co., said lower prices, combined with the prospect of higher interest rates, triggered the sales spurt. In June, Brockton had 71 sales, up from 41 a year earlier, according to Warren Group. The median house price in Brockton is $187,000 - down 28 percent since June 2007 - and Baxter said some buyers' monthly payments are half what they would have been five years ago.
"The rates are going to go up, and if you're waiting for another price drop, you're going to lose that in the rates," Baxter said.
The same phenomenon is occurring in Lowell, which has commuter rail service, making it attractive to people who work in Boston. Re/Max agent Dennis Page, president of the Northeast Association of Realtors, said there are 400 fewer houses for sale in Lowell this year than two years ago, and interest in some homes is high.
For instance, Page said, one client was outbid in an attempt to buy a four-bedroom house in one of Lowell's nicest neighborhoods, Upper Highlands. He said there were 10 bidders on the property, which was listed for $179,900 and sold two years earlier for $317,000. The owner had become delinquent on a subprime mortgage.
Page said he believes the inventory of foreclosed homes "is stabilizing. It's getting absorbed." But, he added, "It's going to take awhile to work out some of the subprime stuff."
Sales in Worcester, Randolph, and Lynn, which also bore the brunt of the foreclosure crisis, were stable in June compared with a year earlier.
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors, which also released its monthly sales report yesterday, said the number of homes on the market is shrinking. On June 30, there were 50,075 houses listed for sale, down from 54,497 a year ago. There is now an 8.3-month supply of homes for sale, which the association calls "a balanced market."
But many homeowners, responding to weak demand and lower prices, have chosen not to list their homes and wait for prices to rebound, agents said.
Boston metropolitan area sales in June were 15 percent below last year, and the median price dropped 7.6 percent, to $524,950, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.
In Brookline, agent Aliza Dash (Ford Realty Brookline) said buyers don't have a lot of choice. There were just 70 homes on the market at the end of June, compared with 86 last year. She said that explains why sales, according to Warren Group, fell to 20 in June - nine fewer than a year ago. The median price rose to $1.33 million from $1.1 million.
The realtor association's statewide sales figures showed wide variation among regions during the second quarter. While sales were down across the state, they fell just 0.6 percent on Cape Cod, and the median price was down 11.3 percent, to $350,000. The western part of Massachusetts had the biggest decline in sales activity - 20 percent - but the price drop of 4.1 percent, to $210,000, was the lowest of any region. South Shore sales fell 11.9 percent, and the 11.4 percent price drop, to $310,100, was the state's biggest.
Massachusetts condominium sales plunged 28.3 percent in June compared with a year ago. Prices are holding up so far, though analysts believe slumping sales will eventually pull them down. The median price increased 1 percent to $295,000.
Kimberly Blanton

Date: 4/29/08: John Ford of Ford Realty Inc comments of the strong Back Bay condo and Beacon Hill real estate market. Average sales price over $1,000,000 in both Back Bay and Beacon Hill.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1090411&format=text

Can occupancy rule stop students from doubling up?
Text size
By Richard Thompson
Globe Correspondent /
April 27, 2008
It's been more than a month since city officials unanimously passed a zoning ordinance that makes it illegal for more than four undergraduate college students to live together in a leased apartment
While the new law has created uncertainty among property owners and real estate agents, some would-be tenants, like Suffolk University junior Ben James, are considering their options.
For James, the plan for next year appears clear. That's because the 20-year-old English and philosophy major has kept his name off the current lease by sharing a room with a friend from school, which leaves four students registered as residents in his section of a three-family home in Allston.
"There will be situations that'll be similar to mine, with one or two people living where they shouldn't be," he said. "I think they'll be able to avoid it."
The zoning change was proposed in December by City Councilor Michael Ross and was passed unanimously by the City Council before it made its way through the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Boston Zoning Commission last month. Mayor Thomas M. Menino signed the limit into law on March 13.
Ross, who represents Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and Mission Hill, has said the amendment to the city's zoning code is intended to keep landlords from converting spaces in large, multibedroom homes, such as a dining room or a back porch, into additional bedrooms that could draw more students and a higher monthly rent.
The measure has gained ground with neighborhood groups and local universities, the latter of which, according to BRA figures, enroll about 13,000 full-time, undergraduate students who live off-campus.
Enforcement of the law will be driven by neighborhood complaints, city officials said, but the specifics of the policy have not been determined. Real estate representatives say they are concerned about potential consequences from the occupancy restriction, but several were hesitant in interviews last week to predict whether it already has affected the market.
"We're still not sure how the city is going to enforce it," said Gregory P. Vasil, chief executive of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. "We've received absolutely nothing."
That's likely to change, Ross said, with the outcome of a lawsuit filed this month by four Allston-Brighton landlords who joined with a Boston College sophomore in an effort to overturn the ordinance.
"It literally takes property owners who were operating legally on March 12 and makes them operate illegally on March 13," said Stephen Greenbaum, a Boston-based lawyer who specializes in land use and serves as a partner at the firm Greenbaum, Nagel, Fisher, and Hamelburg, which is representing the group. The complaint, filed April 8 in state Land Court, challenges the constitutionality of the new law.
Ross contends that the landlords, who have purchased single-family or multifamily properties during the last two decades and already have signed more than four tenants to yearlong leases set to begin in September, have racked up dozens of violations on their properties over the years, for a variety of reasons, including putting the trash out early and overfilling barrels and dumpsters.
"It was expected," Ross said about the lawsuit. "I think you have a small group of people who stand to lose some of their profits, and I would expect them to exhaust their legal opportunities to try to prevent that."
Michael Savage toes the line as both a real estate agent and a student. A senior at Suffolk University, he has worked at Ford
Realty on Beacon Hill for three years. He hadn't heard much about the zoning change until owner John Ford mentioned it to him this month.
"I just don't think anybody knows about it, including my tenants and my friends," Savage said in an interview. The marketing major said he didn't expect occupancy limits to be a problem near his office because students are generally in the hunt for smaller, two- or three-bedroom apartments. He has noticed, however, that a few landlords each year have changed course and decided not to rent to students.
"There are less and less apartments for students," he said. "It just seems like every year some landlord has had an incident and then that student has ruined it for the rest of the kids who come through. But it's understandable because they have a nice place and they don't want it to get ruined or wrecked."
Ford, who runs three real estate agencies in the city, said he has "mixed feelings" about the new law. "I like the idea of it because it keeps the tranquility of Beacon Hill in place and it's not lost to a student population." On the other hand, he cautions that "students are going to have a very, very challenging time to find apartments."
"It's going to be more of a nuisance than have any major impact on the real estate market."

Date 4/17/08: John Ford the owner/broker of Ford Realty Inc., was mentioned in the Boston Herald today regarding the pending Longwood Towers auction in Brookline Ma. To read the full real estate story click the link below.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1087717
Student agents enter the real(ty) world
Vivian Ho
Issue date:
2/1/08 Section:
In Business
As a part-time dining hall worker, a Boston University student can make about $700 a month. At Starbucks, $640 a month. But if students follow several of their peers and earn real estate licenses, that number rises to $10,000 a month with the same hours.
STUDENT REAL ESTATE AGENTS
School of Management sophomore Matt Hayden currently works for Boardwalk Realities. After only a semester, he has already made around 10 sales.
"My dad is in the mortgage business; my grandparents own a real estate business," he said. "My realtor, who I booked with last year, was a student realtor as well. I thought, 'I'm a student, I'm up here a lot of the time, might as well give it a try.'"
Hayden said to receive his real estate license, he had to undergo 24 hours of classroom training and a grueling study week to pass the "intense" exam.
As a student real estate agent, Hayden said that most of his clients are students renting off-campus housing in the Allston area.
"There's definitely a lot of work," he said. "You have to make advertisements, find clients and work with them to find a place."
Hayden said that there are many young real estate agents at his agency, which makes for great environment where other staff members are his age.
NOT THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN
Like Hayden, Suffolk University senior Michael Savage became a real estate agent after experiencing his own off-campus housing search. After hunting for housing with his broker, he said he became interested in becoming a real estate agent himself.
"I went into the test thinking it would be easy and I failed it right off the bat," Savage said. "I took it again, flunked it again and I finally passed it the third time."
Savage, who works for Ford Reality, has been a real estate agent for two years and has made "hundreds" of sales. He said he works mostly with rentals in the midtown and Beacon Hill areas.
John Ford, owner of Ford Realty, said he enjoys working with the two student real estate agents on his staff.
Date 12/29/07: John Ford of Ford Realty comments to Business reporter Scott Van Voorhis on the Boston Real Estate
rental market.
Boston apartment rentals hit $30G a month
By Scott Van Voorhis
Saturday, December 29, 2007
U
ncertainty in the condo market has meant rentals are growing in popularity among the super rich, who are shelling out anywhere from $20,000-to-$30,000 a month for deluxe downtown apartments.
In a deal that is turning heads among Boston real estate executives, a three-bedroom at the Ritz-Carlton Towers recently rented for $25,000 a month. While the furnished unit comes with its own balcony and ?spectacular views? of the city, heat is not included in the monthly bill.
Meanwhile, another unit in the same complex, close by Boston Common and the city?s Theater District, is now on the market for $30,000 a month. That four-bedroom penthouse includes ?imported marble bathrooms,? a ?rare fireplace,? and floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the Charles River.
?That is silly, silly money,? said Michael Carucci, chief executive of ERA Boston Real Estate Group.
One key factor driving the trend has been the soft condo market.
While the Boston luxury condo market has performed well amid a statewide real estate downturn, there is still a general skittishness about real estate as an investment.
Some with money are choosing to ride out the current market before they buy again, said John Ford of Ford Realty, a downtown real estate firm.
?It?s a lot of money,? said Ford. ?People are writing $20,000-a-month checks.?
Such high-end rentals are also appealing to executives, athletes and even celebrities in town for just a few months to a year or two.
There has been an increase, for example, in high-priced rentals to film stars and executives, Ford said. He attributes the increase to a big jump in the number of movies being filmed locally with the passage of state tax incentives aimed at the industry.
The spate of $20,000-a-month-and-up rentals appears to be setting some new records, at least locally, said David Jacobs, publisher of The Boston Courant, which first reported the $25,000-a-month rental.
?By Boston standards, yes,? he said of the record rents. ?By New York, obviously not.?
Date: 10/20/07: Ford Realty was qouted in the newspaper regarding ball players real estate investments.
N
ot even star Red Sox
players are immune from the real estate market downturn.
Sox slugger Manny Ramirez
?s penthouse atop the Ritz-Carlton Towers in downtown Boston is still on the market after nearly two years.
Curt Schilling
, who takes the mound tonight for the Sox in do-or-die Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, is also likely to face a tough challenge selling his Medfield estate. Finding a buyer for a big suburban spread is very difficult in today?s market, says John Ford, a top downtown Boston real estate broker.
Ramirez?s real estate dilemma is as unique as the player himself. The Sox left fielder put his penthouse on the market for a hefty $6.9 million in 2005, and, despite two years with no deal, he hasn?t reduced the price.
Most buyers reassess their strategy after a year, and certainly after two years, Ford said.
?Manny may be hitting home runs on the baseball field, but he is apparently striking out in the real estate market,? Ford said. ?However, Manny being Manny, I wouldn?t discount him for hitting a luxury real estate home run out of the park.?
If Ramirez ultimately gets his price, he will hit a real estate ?grand slam,? said Ford, pointing to the $5.7 million the Sox star paid for his luxury digs.
Schilling faces the task of selling a big suburban estate that has had a history of languishing on the market. Former owner ex-Patriots
[team stats ]
quarterback Drew Bledsoe struggled for 18 months to sell the estate, dropping the price from $9 million to $6.5 million before he could get a deal.
Neither Ramirez nor Schilling should look to former teammate, current Yankees
outfielder Johnny Damon for inspiration on the real estate front. Damon ended up taking $5.05 million for his 11-room Brookline manse - down from the $5.85 million he had originally sought.
Sox owner John Henry
may have a few lessons to impart, such as buying, not selling, in a down market. The $16 million that Henry has agreed to pay for Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt?s Brookline estate is $11 million below the initial asking price.
Back Bay down, but not at all out
By Jerry Kronenberg
| Monday, October 8, 2007
C
ondo prices in toney Back Bay are falling at a time when the overall Boston market is showing signs of a rebound.
Preliminary Multiple Listing Service figures show median Back Bay condo prices fell to $509,000 during the third quarter, down 15 percent from a year earlier.
That?s a sharp contrast from median prices for Boston condos as a whole, which rose 5.9 percent to $363,633 in the latest quarter.
Broker John Ford, whose territory includes the Back Bay, blames the declines on increased competition from high-end downtown, waterfront and South End condos.
?There?s more selection out there,? Ford said, noting that high-end complexes like the waterfront?s Intercontinental have opened in recent years.
He added that foreign buyers - who purchase many of the Hub?s costliest condos in these days of a weak U.S. dollar - are often taking a pass on Back Bay brownstones.
Instead, many non-U.S. purchasers favor European-style high-rise units that builders developed downtown and on the waterfront in recent years, Ford said.
?Foreign buyers seem to be more drawn to luxury high-rises than to (the Back Bay?s) old Boston charm,? he said.
Still, preliminary MLS figures show the number of Back Bay condos changing hands actually rose to 123 in the latest quarter, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier.
Ford said the higher volume shows ?the sky isn?t falling down for the Back Bay. I just think there are more options for luxury buyers.?
Date: 9/13/07: Ford Realty is mentioned in the Boston Herald business section on the new trend of Boston real estate auctions.
Sign of times: Auctions join home listings
By Scott Van Voorhis
| Thursday, September 13, 2007 |
L
ocal real estate brokers may soon be taking home buyers out to auctions, not just open houses, after a big shift by the Bay State?s online property listing service.
MLS Property Information Network, the state?s main database for home and condo sales, will now also highlight upcoming property auctions in a sign of the times for the sluggish real estate market.
With home sellers and brokers scrambling in a down market to move their properties, auctions are on the rise, both nationally and locally.
MLS Property Information Network will soon begin providing information on upcoming auctions in its database, which is designed for use by real estate professionals, said John Breault, head of customer support for MLS. These will run alongside traditional listings of homes and condos that are either for sale, under agreement or have already been sold.
With an auction, a homeseller invites prospective buyers to show up at a certain day and time to submit bids, instead of relying on open houses and endless tours by brokers and potential buyers.
?People are seeing benefits to the auction method of marketing, especially in a troubled marketplace,? said Paul Zekos, vice president of the Massachusetts Auctioneers Association.
Still, the practice was little used locally, except for disposing of foreclosed homes, until just last fall.
In a move that made headlines, the developer of the Folio, a downtown Boston condo high-rise, sold off 31 condos in one day in a mass auction of his units.
Since then, other condo builders across New England have turned to auctions to unload unsold units, with some homeowners getting into the act as well.
Still, MLS does not intend to start listing foreclosure auctions, which still make up the majority of property auctions.
But the recent move could change how some brokers operate.
John Ford, head of Ford Realty in downtown Boston, said MLS? decision to list the auctions will give him a broader array of potential properties to show.
?It shows that the real estate landscape is changing and that MLS is recognizing that,? Ford said.
Date: 9/1/07: Ford Realty comments on the Boston real estate market.
John Ford disputes Economist predictions that the value of real estate will drop 50%.
Ford Realty will contribute to Boston Now newspaper as an independent real estate blog writer.

Date: 8/24/07: John Ford comments on the Red Sox owner paying $16 million for a real estate mansion in Brookline.
http://business.bostonherald.com/realestateNews/view.bg?articleid=1018797

Date: 7/26/07: John Ford of Ford Real Estate comments on the Boston condo market. http://www.fordrealty.net/boston_real_estate_sales.html
LINK reports an upturn in downtown condo sales
By Jerry Kronenberg
Thursday, July 26, 2007
B
ucking Massachusetts real estate?s overall softness, Boston?s downtown condo market is beginning to show signs of life.
Property-listing service LINK reported yesterday that downtown condo sales during the second quarter rose at a 7.5 percent annual rate, while median prices added 3.9 percent to $472,750.
?I think the market has definitely turned the corner,? said LINK?s Debra Taylor Blair.
Perhaps most significantly, LINK said the number of unsold units listed for sale dropped 25.2 percent to 1,384, down from 1,850 a year earlier. Historically, falling numbers of unsold properties point to a market that?s turning around.
Blair attributed the reduced listings to increased sales, less new construction and sellers who?ve decided to take properties off the market until things get even better.
Real estate agents say LINK?s findings leave them cautiously optimistic.
Downtown broker John Ford said fewer listings ?show that we?re finally weeding through excess inventory.?
But Ford added that things ?are still a little on the slow side? in his area.
LINK also reported continued weakness in some downtown locales.
For instance, the firm said second-quarter sales fell 12.6 percent in the Fenway and 5.6 percent in midtown.

Date: 7/19/07: Ford realty comments on the Boston real estate rent increases for Boston apartments. http://www.fordrealty.net/boston_rents.html

Date: 7/6/07: Ford Realty is mentioned in Jay Fitzgerald article on how foreigners are buying up Boston real estate.
European and Asian investors are having a free for all.
http://www.fordrealty.net/Boston_Herald_Real_Estate_Hub.html

Date: 7/4/07: The Boston Herald wrote a feature story on John Ford on how he markets real estate listings for sale.
http://business.bostonherald.com/realestateNews/view.bg?articleid=1009594
Broker lets YouTube make pitch: Spurns open houses
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Wednesday, July 4, 2007 - Updated: 02:06 AM EST
D
owntown condo broker John Ford is celebrating the July 4th holiday in fitting fashion - by declaring independence from open houses.
At the same time, Ford is declaring his allegiance to YouTube, of all things.
Ford, who runs a thriving real estate shop selling high-end condos downtown and on Beacon Hill, hopes someday to say goodbye to open houses altogether. He argues they are increasingly ineffective and costly.
In a first step, Ford is cutting the number of open houses he holds each week in half - from four to two. Instead, he will post videos of the units on the popular YouTube Web site.
?I am declaring independence from open houses,? Ford said.
The move comes as his disenchantment with open house has grown over the last few years.
Too often, those who show up are not serious buyers, complains Ford, who launched his brokerage business eight years ago after years on the commercial real estate side.
He even has a name for those open house window shoppers: He calls them ?lookey-loo?s.?
?They actually go to open houses to get decorating tips,? Ford said, adding he sees lots of ?nosy neighbors who just want to see what it looks like inside.?
Ford said his Sundays are routinely filled running from one showing to another.
Along with the time involved, there is the expense. Marketing and advertising amounts to half a point to a full percentage off his brokerage fee, which ranges from 5 percent to 6 percent, he said.
Other real estate executives said they are not ready to give up on the age-old marketing tool.
?At the end of the day, it is a high touch business, and that is not going to change,? said Michael Carucci, president of the ERA Boston Real Estate Group.
But Ford is undaunted.
He cites a recent Texas study that found a dearth of serious buyers at open houses.
He also notes that luxury condo towers are increasingly barring or restricting open houses for security reasons.
And he believes his move is already starting to pay off.
On Tuesday, Ford brokered a deal to rent an $1,800-a-month one-bedroom on Beacon Hill to a young Brighton couple who had watched video of the unit just the night before on YouTube.
?You can?t really lie if you show a video,? said Chris Kursel, who rented the apartment after seeing Ford?s YouTube posting. ?It is a little easier to bend the truth about a place when you say ?gleaming hardwood floors.? ?
Date: 6/20/2007 - John Ford comments on a price record breaking Boston Condo in the Back Bay.http://www.fordrealty.net/boston_herald_June_20_2007.asp

Date: 6/17/2007 - John Ford comments on the strong luxury Boston real estate market. http://www.fordrealty.net/boston_herald_June_2007.asp

Date: 6/8/2007 - Ford Realty featured on Ezine Articles on the Boston real estate
market. http://www.ezinearticles.com/?expert=John_C_Ford

Date: 4/3/2007 - Ford Realty was mentioned in the news regarding how crime impacts the Boston condo market. http://www.fordrealty.net/Boston_Herald_April_3_2007.html

Date: 2/19/2007 - Ford Realty was mentioned in the news regarding Boston real estate and the price for security. http://www.fordrealty.org/Boston_Herald_Feb_18_2007.html

Date: 1/29/2007 -John Ford comments on the tough Boston real estate market. http://www.fordrealty.net/Boston_Herald_Jan_29.html

Date: 12/15/2006 - John Ford comments on the Boston real estate housing market regarding poorer neighborhoods. http://www.fordrealty.org/Boston_Herald_Dec_12.html

Date: 11/24/2006 - John Ford was interviewed by the Boston Herald on the upcoming winter Boston real estate market. www.fordrealty.net/Boston_Herald_Nov_24.html

Date: 11/7/2006 - Aliza Dash from Ford Realty comments on the million dollar home sales in Brookline and Newton. www.fordrealty.org/boston_herald_aiza_dash.html

Date: 10/26/2006 - Ford Realty predicts that the Boston real estate
condo market will have a soft landing. www.fordrealty.net/Boston_Herald_Oct_26_2006.html

Date: 10/15/2006 - Ford Realty was featured in the local Boston real estate
section of the Boston Herald on how the condo
market priced $400,000 or under is still as competitive as ever for Boston real estate buyers . www.fordrealty.org/boston_herald_october.html

Date: 10/14/2006 - Kama Cicero of Ford Realty in Brookline Village
is featured in the Boston Herald with one of her Cambridge real estate listings. This rare gem of a single-family home www.fordrealty.org/boston_herald_oct_14_2006.html

Date: 10/6/2006 - Kama Cicero is featured in a real estate news article on the great benefits of buying or renting in Brookline Village. To read more on Brookline real estate www.fordrealty.org/boston_herald_-1.html

Date: 9/30/06 - Ford Realty is featured in the Boston Herald real estate section on how million dollar condos and single-family homes are getting tougher to market and sell www.fordrealty.org/boston_herald_-_2.html

Date: 6/21/06 - Janet Lamb of Ford Realty was interviewed by the Boston Globe on the Boston real estate rental market. www.fordrealty.org/Boston_Globe_Rents.html

Date: 2/13/06 - Ford Realty was featured in Fortune Magazine and CNN about the Boston real estate market.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/13/real_estate/twomarkets_fortune/index.htm
Date: 5/4/06 - John Ford spoke to local reporters on how realtors are becoming more and more selective in accepting real estate listings in the changing Boston real estate market. http://business.bostonherald.com/realestateNews/view.bg?articleid=137805

Date: 1/26/06 - John Ford was interviewed by the Boston Globe on the current Boston Real Estate market. http://www.fordrealty.net/Boston_Globe_Jan_26.html

Date: 10/28/2005 - The Boston Globe mentions Ford Realty on how the Boston real estate market is changing from a sellers market to a Boston real estate buyers market. http://boston.com/realestate/articles/2005/10/28/suddenly_areas_housing_market_favors_the_buyers/

Date: 3/6/2005 - The Boston Globe Magazine interviewed John Ford on the pros and cons of buying versus renting. www.fordrealty.org/Boston_Globe_2.html

Date: 4/5/2004 - Ford Realty was mentioned in NewsWeek magazine on how Boston real estate brokers are using such tools as craigslist.org to lower their advertising costs. Ford Realty has saved thousands of dollars and has passed those real estate savings to their sellers. To read more. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4615817
(NewsWeek) 
John Ford and Arlene Lehane and their associates are pleased to help you with all aspects of buying and selling real estate! Please call today for professional and courteous assistance! If you are in the market for Boston real estate
or a Brookline single-family home
give us a call and we will help you find your new home.
Phone : Boston Real Estate
: 617-720-5454
Brookline Real Estate
: 617-232-1049
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