Buying or Selling Homes
Come Visit Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA this Thanksgiving Season
Pilgrims enjoying a hearty meal
It all began way back in 1620 when the Pilgrims completed their overseas journey from England to America. The Mayflower landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts and America spread out from there. Today, Plimoth Plantation is an authentic recreation of the historically significant colony that was made up of the original first settlers of the new land.
Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on our history and there is no better place to take in the meaning of the moment than Plimoth Plantation. Located approximately 40 miles south of downtown Boston along Route 3 in Plymouth County, the area attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists and vacationers every year. From the time the Pilgrims sat down to the first thanksgiving dinner up until today, it is a joy to follow the early history of our country.
One can see how tough a life the early settlers had to deal with. There were no modern conveniences, very little infrastructure and you had to have a true pioneer spirit and be able to fend for yourself if you wanted to survive. That same hearty stock still exists in Americans, but it is always good to remind ourselves of our humble beginnings.
Among the many attractions in and around Plimoth Plantation is the Plimoth Rock, supposedly a monument to the spot where the Mayflower touched land for the first time. There are also numerous historical monuments and statues paying tribute to some of the more famous officials of the early Colonial period.
Plimoth Plantation is close to many of the Boston area colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning. In fact, there are 52 institutions of higher learning including research universities, junior colleges, 4 year colleges and specialty institutions. Among the most famous are Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern. Students have a wide choice of housing options in and around the Boston area. If you go to school in Boston, you might want to look for Boston apartments. As most students are on a limited budget, they may need to consider sharing an apartment with several roommates. You can choose to live just outside of Boston and perhaps get an apartment for a little lower rent.
Brookline apartments are just outside of Boston and very close to the Chestnut Hill location of Boston College. Other nearby Brookline colleges include the liberal arts college, Pine Manor and the New England Institute of Art.
Students who may attend Wellesley College or Babson College about 12 miles west of downtown Boston can find excellent, modern Newton Ma homes and apartments for rent or sale. The more suburban setting is often preferred by students and young people who like the wide, open spaces that are hard to find in the middle of Boston.
No matter whether you choose to rent a Back Bay Condo near Fenway Park or choose one of the nice Allston apartments convenient to your school or place of work, be prepared for a bit of sticker shock. While you might be able to find a small, nicely furnished or unfurnished one bedroom for about $1200 per month, that is considered the low range in the Boston rental market. If you are on a tight budget, you may look to rent a room from a private homeowner or consider rooming with several others and splitting the rent.
On average, expect a 1 bedroom apartment to run between $1500-$2000 per month, a 2 bedroom around $2200, 3 or 4 bedroom close to $3000 and anything bigger or in a prime location can set you back $4000 or even more.
Care For a Cocktail? Spotlight on Boston’s South End
As the weather starts to cool down, why not warm up a bit? Boston’s South End has many great destinations for grabbing a cocktail after work or before a show, not to mention that it’s one of Boston’s best neighborhoods to enjoy a walk through New England’s Fall foliage in an urban but quaint setting. Here’s a list of some great places in Boston’s South End where you can enjoy a great atmosphere with a great cocktail:
The Gallows
1395 Washington Street
The Gallows is a great place to meet friends or work colleagues for almost any occasion. The cocktail list is amazing and clearly concocted by a master mixologist. The cocktail menu is great, but also try asking the knowledgeable staff for their recommendations. There are many specialty cocktails that the bartenders will make that are not on teh menu. The Gallows is also a great place for dinner, but for those who just want an appetizer with cocktails, try the poutine. Trust me, it’s delicious.
The Beehive
541 Tremont Street
The Beehive seems to satisfy any crowd. Their menu includes clever cocktails with a special section for champagne cocktails, as well as a non-traditional list of bottled beers and beers on tap and a decent wine list. Live music in an intimate setting on most nights draws many customers.
Fritz Bar
26 Chandler at Berkley street
If you are leaning a bit more towards a classic Boston Bar setting, or you would like a place in the South End where you can catch a game in a sports-bar setting, Fritz Bar is the place for you. Generally populated by a fun crowd of young professionals, Fritz Bar is never a bad call.
Toro
1704 Washington Street
Toro is a fun, posh, modern take on a classic Barcelona-style tapas restaurant. This means lots of small plates, a social atmosphere, and a great all-Spanish wine list. Toro has a great drinks menu featuring Spanish and classic inspired cocktails alongside everything you would expect at a nicer cocktail lounge, including an above average sherry menu. Toro is a great location to bring a group of friends for drinks, but it’s a small venue, and serves on a first come first serve basis.
Stella
1525 Washington Street
Stella is a great place to have dinner or drinks, or both! This place attract a really fun and eclectic crowd that adds to the classic South End atmosphere. For those less fond of colorful cocktails, Stella’s wine list can satisfy the snootiest connoisseur. Stella also features certain appetizers for only $5 from 4-6 pm Monday through Friday as well as a special pre-theater dinner for the area’s showgoers.
Interested in real estate in Boston’s South End? Contact Phoenix Realty today!
Featured Boston Luxury Condo Building: Zero Marlborough
Top Luxury with an Unbeatable Location
Zero Marlborough has many unique luxuries to offer besides just a great address. Its residents enjoy valet service and a 24 hour concierge. Each home within Zero Marlborough is complete with hardwood floors, and in-unit washer/dryer, and storage. Many units also have outdoor space and fireplaces.
These features would certainly be luxurious anywhere, but Zero Marlborough also benefits from a location that’s difficult to top. The building resides on the edge of the Boston Public Garden which makes for unbeatable views of Downtown Boston and the Boston Common, as well as easy access to the city’s historical urban park. This location is the center of Boston’s theater and hottest nightlife, as well as some of the city’s top restaurants.
If you would like more information about Zero Marlborough or other Boston condos and apartments, contact Phoenix Realty today.
Buying/Selling Your Boston Home
When purchasing or selling your Boston home there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. The process can sometimes be quite overwhelming. In both cases a good first step to take is to find a reliable real estate agent to help in the process.
Selling Your Boston Home
An experienced real estate agent from Phoenix Realty can help you determine the financial value of your home based on the constantly fluctuating environmental factors – such as the economy, interest rates, and supply/demand. In the process of selling your home one of the most important steps is the home inspection. Getting your home inspected can help you determine potential problems you might run into when dealing with prospective buyers. Contacting a Massachusetts home inspector early in this process can help you prioritize possible repairs or upgrades you might need to make when trying to sell your home.
Buying Your New Boston Home
Buying a new home can be a much more involved process. There are many decisions to make throughout the buying process before making your final purchasing decision. Consequently, there are many questions you must consider before beginning your search of Boston homes for sale. For instance, do you want to live in the city or the suburbs? If you have children, what type of school system do you want them to attend? What is your budget when purchasing your new home? Once you have made these essential decisions it will be much easier for your real estate agent to find Boston properties for sale which meet your criteria.
Finding the right agent can alleviate a lot of the stress that can build up when making such a significant life decision as buying or selling your home. Contact a Phoenix Realty agent today to get started off on the right foot in the process.
Bed Bug Myths Debugged
10 Need-to-Know Myths to Protect Your Boston Apartment
Your parents used to say “don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Now that you’re moving into your own Boston apartment, it’s time you give this advice another thought! As reported in the NBC New York news story, “Beware of Bed Bugs: Cases Set to Surge This Summer,” bed bug complaints in New York City apartments are up 8 percent from last year with over 13,000 bed bug complaints in 2010. Jeffrey White, a research entomologist for bed bugcentral.com anticipates worse bed bug outbreaks this year than last. Boston apartment residents are lucky that our city hasn’t shown up on the Top Ten Worst Bed Bug Infested Cities, but the bed bug problem persists even here.
You need to know the myths and facts about bed bugs in order to identify and fight these bugs. We’ve compiled a list of 10 bed bug myths to help you protect yourself and your Boston apartment from the Back Bay to the West End.
Myth 1: Bed bugs only show up in dirty apartments and on dirty people.
Bed bugs aren’t attracted to dirt; they’re attracted to exhaled carbon dioxide and heat. They feed on blood and can infest any location regardless of how clean it is. Bed bugs have been known to show up anywhere from South End to North End apartments. You can bring bed bugs home with you merely by coming into contact with a person or location contaminated with bed bugs.
Myth 2: Bed bugs only live in beds and mattresses.
Bed bugs spend 90 percent of their time hiding and can live almost anywhere: on furniture, walls, clothing, carpets, or pictures. Don’t think that just by throwing away your mattress will solve your bed bug problem because they often spread to areas around your bed as well: within the cracks of furniture, along the baseboards of walls, inside electric outlets, laptops, and even cell phones!
Myth 3: Bed bugs are too small to see.
So you’re sitting in your Brookline or Charlestown apartment; can you spot a bed bug? Adult bed bugs are relatively easy to spot; they are reddish-brown and 3mm–5mm in size. Recently hatched larvae tend to be harder to see at 1mm–2mm in size. Until the larva feed on blood, they remain a pale white.
Myth 4: I have bite marks, but my partner doesn’t. I can’t have bed bugs!
Bites can differ in size from person-to-person based on individual allergic reactions to the bites. Bites may leave no marks, small bumps, or even large welts. If your partner doesn’t have bite marks but you do, your Boston apartment could still harbor bed bugs.
Myth 5: Bed bugs are killed by the cold.
Houses heated to 70 degrees Celsius for 3 hours only kill about 78% of bed bugs on average. Cold temperature treatments don’t fare much better. In fact, bed bugs can survive for a long time in below freezing temperatures. Overall, the cold treatment is unreliable even during a Boston winter. Although hot steam treatments work, you must remember that you may not be killing all of the bugs that are hiding.
Myth 6: Bed bugs transmit diseases.
Many scientific research studies have found that luckily bed bugs don’t transmit diseases; however, scratching bed bug bites can lead to secondary infections. Make sure to get medical attention if your bites appear infected.
Myth 7: You can feel a bed bug biting you.
Bed bugs inject their saliva before feeding on blood so you won’t feel their bite. However, like a mosquito bite, bed bug bites can be itchy later based on how allergic you are to their saliva. Also, beg bugs are generally more active at night and may bite you while you are sleeping.
Myth 8: You can kill bed bugs with any insecticide.
Although bug bombs may kill a number of bed bugs, their use generally causes the bed bugs to scatter and actually make your Boston apartment’s infestation worse. Directly spraying bed bugs with insecticides may kill the ones you hit; however, you can’t count on getting all of them with a direct spraying. Also, many insecticides will not work on all the stages of the bed bug life cycle.
Myth 9: Bed bugs are resistant to all pesticides.
Not all pesticides kill bed bugs, but many pesticides do. Consult a professional exterminator to determine which methods will work best for your situation.
Myth 10: Leaving bed bugs alone in an empty house will kill them.
Adult bed bugs can live for a year or more without feeding so ignoring the problem will only make it worse.
Understanding these myths will hopefully make you more aware so that you can effectively deal with any buggy Boston real estate situation. Your best bet is to consult with a professional exterminator to prepare an integrated pest management solution, which involves a regiment of spraying, vacuuming, steaming, laundering and sealing in order to kill and prevent the infestation of bed bugs. We hope you sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite! Now, let’s hear your bed bug stories!
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