0 Brian Kitchens Real Estate Agent Boston MA

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Northeastern University Alum and real estate entrepreneur, Brian Kitchens, has teamed up with Encore Realty, a leading real estate agency with a focus on educating clients prior to the procurement of a sale. Listed as a co-founder and partner, Kitchens’ primary business responsibilities will include marketing and business development. Brian Kitchens is a licensed real estate agent with a background in marketing and construction.

Brian’s professional work experiences vary in industry with a common thread of branding and service. Brian etched his branding and marketing expertise from his tenure at fortune 500 powerhouses, General Electric and EMC. Brian most recently spent 3 years working with Brookline based, Metro Realty Corp, as a leasing specialist. There, Brian was responsible for bringing the undergraduate market into Metro’s previously limited business model.

Since joining Encore Realty, Brian Kitchens has been responsible for the strategic partnership between Encore and Dave Monheit with AllAccessBoston.com, a leading real estate content vehicle in Boston’s saturated real estate market. AllAccessBoston is strategically positioned as the backbone to Encore Realty’s content sharing program and lead generation. Brian and Dave are responsible for implementing the cross-branding campaign between the two businesses yielding the creation of the newly redesigned www.allaccessboston.com.

In the past 5 years, Brian Kitchens has stepped out as a prominent rental real estate agent in the Greater Boston area. He has worked within a variety of neighborhoods within Brookline, Boston, and Cambridge. Brian, who currently resides in Audubon Circle, has also lived in The Back Bay, Coolidge Corner, and Brookline Village.

Brian’s role will include, but will not be limited to, continued involvement with the development of the business as well as marketing and public relations initiatives. Brian Kitchens will also continue to serve clients with outstanding guidance in finding and procuring real estate solutions. If you are looking to contact Brian Kitchens, you can do so at brian@allaccessboston.com or 216-287-2807.

0 Brighton Apartment Rentals

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Encore Realty is pleased to present you with some fantastic new Brighton apartment rental options. Our team visited these buildings today in order to take some pictures for you and become more familiar with the particular units that are available now. Take a look at the listings below. If these Brighton apartment rentals look like something that may interest you, don’t hesitate to contact one of our staff today to schedule a showing.

Commonwealth Ave:
In the 1700 block of Commonwealth Ave in Brighton sits a very nicely cared for building with some very well priced two bedroom apartments. These spacious units have kitchens stocked with dishwashers and gas ranges as well as modern bathrooms featuring sliding glass showers and pedestal sinks. Landlord fees are negotiable so if you are looking for a great deal on a Brighton apartment rental, these may be perfect for you.

Bathroom in Brighton MA apartment

Sutherland Ave:
Along quiet Sutherland Ave off of Commonwealth Ave in Brighton is another well maintained building with apartment rentals that are perfect for someone looking to keep rental costs reasonable without sacrificing on quality. These apartments feature the same attention to detail and updated bathrooms as the building on Commonwealth Ave. The layouts here are cozy without being restrictive. If you are in the market for a Brighton apartment rental in a quiet building, these are the units for you.

Kitchen in a Brighton MA apartment

0 Purchasing A Condo And The Loan Process

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Guest Post – Jason Deeb is a Senior Loan Officer with MSA Mortgage and is specifically focused on guiding busy professionals through the loan process as smoothly as possible.  We have over 20 years of experience financing condominium purchases in the Greater Boston area and have recently been named one of the top condominium lenders by Banker & Tradesman. 

For a vast majority of mortgage loan applicants, purchasing a home is one of the most important transactions that they will ever make. As a result, they usually come armed with a laundry list of questions covering every aspect of the real estate and loan process.  However, very rarely do prospective condo purchasers ask how this transaction is different from purchasing a single family home or if there are any areas for concerns that they are not considering.  So, during a pre-approval meeting, I always explain that the condo associations must also go through its own an approval process. Even very strong borrowers, who would otherwise qualify, could be denied a loan if the condo they are buying into doesn’t meet Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or FHA guidelines.  This can be a confusing concept but when one purchases a condominium, think of it as buying into a business partnership with every unit owner’s decisions adding or subtracting from the value of the units in the complex as a whole. While this is also true of a bad neighbor who lives in a single family house, the dynamic of unit owners in a condo association can cause major problems for maintaining the value of your property, which is a shared goal of the lender and borrower.

While there are many different questions asked about the project, I will highlight the three most common problem areas you should be aware so that you can ask informed questions.

Budget – The association must have a line item for a reserve account on the budget that is equivalent to 10% of the total budget and have sufficient reserves to meet current obligations.  Although it cannot be applied to every situation, history has proven that condo associations with weak financials tend to cut back on the property maintenance and/or increase condo fees and issue a special assessment to all the owners.

Occupancy Rates – The association must be at least 51% owner occupied to be eligible for financing.  This is more of a concern for lower priced condos and areas where there is a high concentration of renters but something that should be considered before making an offer.   Lenders are concerned about these levels for obvious reasons – owners and tenants of rentals apartments do not take the same care as they would with a home which is owner occupied.

Concentration of Ownership – The association cannot have one owner that controls more than 10% of the units (adjusted for complexes with 10 or fewer units).   This is more of a problem on new projects where the developer has turned a large portion of the units over to rentals because they did not sell.  From the lenders point of view, this is an additional risk because any condo fees or assessments not paid by this individual may need to be made up the remaining tenants, causing financial strain or even forced sales.

These are just a few of the major items we review during the loan process and if these conditions are not met, the condo project may be deemed to be unwarrantable – unable to be sold to any government agency (and 90% of all mortgages are) – and may require higher down payments.  Keep in mind, that every situation is not the same, so before beginning your search, I strongly suggest working with local lender who is well versed in condominium financing to help you avoid unnecessary time and expense on your part.  For more information on condo eligibility guidelines in Great Boston, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island or New Hampshire please contact me.

0 5 Inexpensive Ways To Fix Up Your Bathroom

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Yesterday I reached a milestone in my life. I keep thinking I’ve hit the age where I’m officially “old”, but then I’ll do something new to out do myself. My new mark in the never ending advance towards senility involved actually slipping and falling in my bathroom. It was a sad moment for 30 year olds everywhere. I was like the old women in the Lifeline commercial except with finely chiseled abs (*needs citation). This blog isn’t about being old however. It’s realizing how nicely I had redone my bathroom while I lay on the floor admiring my handiwork. So, since my freshly demolished knee has me stuck behind my desk for a day or two, I thought I’d share my tips on inexpensive bathroom renovations.

Like a lot of you, I rent my Boston apartment. This leads to two issues when it comes to having a nice bathroom. 1. Most bathrooms in Boston apartments look like they haven’t been renovated since Def Leppard was topping the charts, and 2. No one wants to spend a lot of money renovating a property that they don’t actually own. So, here are my five tips for renovating your bathroom on a budget…

Painting your bathroom

1. Paint – Seriously, I know this seems obvious, but most people skip this option because most landlords will slap on a fresh coat of white paint in the bathroom for them. However, a little color in your bathroom makes a world of difference. I went with a light blue which I accented with purples and yellows. This immediately took my bathroom from drab to lively and it only took a few hours.

2. New Towel Rods – I’m willing to bet that the rods in your bathroom are painted the same color white as the rest of your room. Lazy property managers won’t take the time to properly tape things off when they paint. They simply go over everything with a gigantic roller. Towel rods can be as inexpensive as $10. Some nice new shiny hardware can really break up a boring bathroom.

3. New Fixtures – You don’t need to spend a ton to replace the fixtures in your bathroom. Don’t live with that awful 20 year old shower head. You can pick up a nice adjustable head for around $25. Now you’re living the good life with an extendable shower head with massage settings. Let’s face it, a good shower head is second only to a good mattress in the list of things that make or break your lifestyle.

4. Accents – I don’t claim to be Martha Stewart, but I’m pretty decent at putting together a few simple decorations without breaking the bank. I’ve got a nice blue vase filled with glass beads and some dried flowers along with a few abstract paintings that compliment the color of the aforementioned paint. Altogether, they were under fifty bucks. You know how I know they look good? Women ask me if another woman did it for me. I know a compliment veiled in an insult when I hear one.

5. Install A Vanity – This is probably the most costly of the five options, but it can be a total game changer. My bathroom actually didn’t have a vanity at all when I moved in, just a huge counter top. Having all of your toiletries lined up for the world to see when they use your bathroom isn’t the classiest thing in the world. So, I went down to Home Depot and managed to get a nice looking vanity for $65. Sure, that’s money that goes into the landlord’s investment, but it’s an acceptable price to pay for the convenience. If you do decide to install a vanity, just make sure to get your landlord’s approval first.

I was able to go from a tired old bathroom to a bathroom with some style and life for about $180. I consider that a pretty good bang for your buck…especially if you live in that apartment for more than a year. So we’ve all learned something. I learned that I am no longer agile enough to avoid slippery tiles and you learned how to give your apartment a nice little makeover at a low price. Now, you go start painting while I ice this knee.

0 One Bedroom Apartments In Brookline MA

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It’s rainy out…still…but you have to look at the bright side sometimes. For instance, the Red Sox didn’t lose last night. Sure, they didn’t actually play, but remember, bright side. I like to take a bad situation and make it better. For instance, I couldn’t go out on the shared patio of my building last night. So what did I do? I called one of the ladies in the building that ALWAYS wants to hang out with me (I really hope she reads that) and offered to buy dinner so that we could grill under her overhang. Was it legal? Maybe not, but I am willing to denounce this as fiction if the Boston Inspectional Office comes knocking (except for the part about that woman having a crush on me…that is irrefutable).

So what does any of this have to do with real estate? Let me tell you. Right now we are renting one bedroom apartments in Brookline like they are paved in gold. There are always a few more hitting the market here and there, but they never last more than 48 hours before they rent. This inevitably leads to someone wanting to “think it over” which translates directly into “losing the apartment”.

However, since you are dealing with Encore Realty, the number one real estate brokerage in Brookline MA, you will always be taken care of. While you might have lost out on that one bedroom apartment in Brookline, we WILL find you another option. And, since we are looking on the bright side, it might be even better than the first option.

Brookline One Bedrooms

Pictured: Turkey taking the bright side too far on Beacon St.

Of course, this is no reason to delay when making a decision on a Brookline one bedroom apartment, but it does give you the security of knowing that an Encore Realty agent will go to their absolute limit to make sure you are taken care of.

Let’s face it. Real estate agents aren’t always known for their glowing reputations. If you watch any of that garbage on TV that shows us haggling over million dollar units and stabbing each other in the back, you probably think we’re all heartless sharks that feed on money and the souls of other agents. While I like a nice Kardashian marries (insert basketball player) TV show just as much as the next guy, I can assure you, that portrayal of us is far from the truth. I can tell you with confidence that Encore Realty only hires Brookline real estate agents with the highest of ethical standards. I’d even go so far as to vouch for some other agencies as well (just not publicly).

So, getting back to the idea of looking on the bright side, do yourself a favor. When you are searching for a one bedroom apartment in Brookline, come right to source and contact an Encore Realty real estate agent. We will make sure that you are taken care of and made to feel comfortable with your one bedroom Brookline apartment.

Call 617-981-6900 or simply contact us online!