[blml] Housing

[richard willey]

So, I spent the morning looking at condos...

Despite all the talk of a downturn in the housing market, money
doesn't go nearly as far as one might hope.  I looked at a couple
place in Natick center that I ruled out almost immediately.
I did see one place that I sort of liked, however, its far from perfect.

Some folks converted a LARGE abandoned brick mill in Framingham into
pretty nice condo.  Hardwood floors, 15 foot ceilings, exposed brick,
hardwood plank ceilings.  (All stuff that I really like)  There's also
granite counter tops, washers and dryers inside the apartments,
microwaves, dish washers, etc.  All of the apartments have the HVAC
outside the apartment which gives you extra space.  Better yet, all of
the apartments have their own individual 10x10 storage rooms in the
basement.  (Given that I often devote some of my living space to boxes
full of crap, this significantly improves the amount of usable space
that I have)  Also, these are all brand new apartments erected inside
an old building.  Its a very nice combination of old solid brick
construction [built to last] and nice new appliances, plumbing, etc

  Last but not least, the complex has bought out a big chunk of
neighboring property and is putting in a large park.

Anyone who wants can check out the place at http://www.dennisontriangle.com/

Here's are some of the down sides...

1. The complex is located at the intersection of 135 and 126.  This
isn't a particularly nice area.  Also, the train tracks run quite
close to the apartments.  Admittedly, its an easy walk to the commuter
rail, but the trains blow their whistles when they breeze through
town.

2.  Things aren't cheap.  2 bedroom 1100 square foot apartments on the
ground floor where people can look in to your bedroom are running
close to 300K which is a fair amount of change for a condo.  If you go
up to the second floor, the same apartments run an extra 50K

3.  Central Framingham is (roughly) a 15 minute drive to work.
Realistically, this is quite good, but I'm spoiled

I was able to identify one apartment that seems intriguing.  Take a
look at apartment 201 in the floor plans.  Here are the key points:

1. Apartment 201 is one bedroom with a "den".  (The aforementioned den
is actually an old elevator shaft that has been converted into extra
rooms)

2. I could happily use the den as a bedroom.  This would allow me to
have a dining room South of the kitchen and use the "Master Bedroom"
as a TV / computer room.  The whole shebang is only about 800 square
feet, which is a bit cramped.  However, I think that I could make
efficient use of the space

3. The room has a quite nice view.  A lot of the apartments look out
over a roof which is covered by weird industrial stuff  (Its all
vaguely reminiscent of old NYC tenements).  This one has a nice view
to the East.

They want 282K for the apartment, which still strikes me as quite
steep.  (Houses look to be much more cost effective than condos).
Still, I'm vaguely intrigued.  If nothing else, this will serve as a
useful data point when I look at some other places.

Hopefully, the housing market will crater over the next few months and
I'll be able to snag this or something similar for a lot cheaper.

-- 
I think back to the halcyon dates of my youth, when indeterminant
Hessians had something to do with the Revolutionary War, where
conjugate priors were monks who had broken their vows, and the
expression (X'X)^-1(X'Y) was greek

Those were simpler times