Category: Real Estate Transactions

According to a recent report, developers in increasing numbers are returning to projects abandoned during the housing recession.  For example, an office high-rise in Boston’s Financial District is reportedly in the works. If the proposed $1 billion project is finalized, the tower would be the first new high-rise addition to the downtown area in decades. …

Although it may not be a typical commercial real estate player, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has reportedly entered into a commercial lease. The church property, a parking lot, is located in Boston’s South End. The leaseholder has plans to transform the lot into a rental apartment building, complete with an underground garage and…

Commercial real estate deals can be some of the most rewarding — and risky — investments a business makes. Whether you’re buying, selling, or leasing property in Massachusetts, success depends on more than a handshake and a signed contract. Each stage of the process carries legal, financial, and operational implications that can affect your bottom…

According to a recent report, home equity lending is up by over twenty percent from a year ago. Specifically, one real estate data firm examined lines of credit issued to homeowners who wanted to leverage some of their home equity. Across the country, nearly 798,000 home equity lines of credit, or HELOC loans, were issued…

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh recently released his first official housing plan. The report calls for more developers of middle-class housing projects and includes several strategies for attracting them, such as property tax incentives and land deals.  The local administration hopes to spur more construction of middle-class housing based on recent real estate trends. According to…

Although it may be easy to understand the desire to preserve historical structures, disagreements can arise in their classification. In the context of land use and zoning, such efforts may impose a height restriction on skyscrapers or other commercial development projects.  Yet zoning is but one potential issue facing commercial developers. Some commentators question whether…

Although zoning laws may sometimes get in the way of a commercial developer’s brainstorming and design ideas, they are the law. Yet a recent article suggests that not every property developer may be held to the same standard.  If that sounds unfair to readers, there’s a good reason: A lot of money can be at…

In a recent post, we examined some of the ways that the commercial real estate market has responded to foreclosures. In some cases, the events have provided an investment opportunity. A real estate investment trust, or REIT, is another example of how investors might obtain foreclosed properties. A REIT is a type of real estate…

Have the guidelines for buying residential or commercial real property changed in the wake of the housing and foreclosure crisis? A recent article calls for greater caution. For example, conventional wisdom held that a home is a safe investment option. At a minimum, real estate ownership was considered more financially beneficial in the long term…

In an age of convenience and technology, it’s perhaps no surprise that real estate professionals are trying a new paperless approach to real estate transactions. The process utilizes new cloud-based storage technology. Around 3,000 real estate offices now use a platform called Dotloop. Agents with accounts can access mortgage documents, deeds, titles, or other transactional…