Christian Rea is going to be on the television show, Split Ends, and he is putting on a fundraiser and all profits are going to Aids Project Worcester. Aids Project Worcester has been around for over 20 years. Aids Project Worcester enlightens people about HIV/AIDS and help individuals and their families who have been infected. The number of people being infected with HIV keeps increasing and this is a non-profit organization which offers support services. There are three offices to Aids Project Worcester, the main office is in Worcester, and then there is one in Southbridge and Leominster. The benefit is this Saturday November 22, 2008 at the Temple Emanuel located on 280 May Street, cocktails start at 7pm and the premiere starts at 8:30pm. The sponsors include 86 Winter, Calabria Ristorante, Carmella’s Italian Kitchen, KJ Barrons Wine & Spirits, Polar Beverage, Shaw’s Supermarkets, and Wings Over Worcester.  The Donation levels are: $500 to be a Salon Diva, $250 to be an Artistic Director, $100 to be a Master Stylist, $50 to be a Stylist, and $25 to be an Associate. You can make a donation upon arrival.

Tom Heinsohn and Bob Cousy shaking hands

Tom Heinsohn and Bob Cousy, legendary Boston Celtic team players, were honored yesterday at Holy Cross College. Both players were all-star alumni and were honored by retiring their shirts. Bob Cousy who recently turned 80 had great skills on the court and knew how to play the game. Tom Heinson was known for his shooting skills and was an amazing offensive player. Having a jersey retired is every basketball players dream. Both players are in the Basketball Hall of Fame and played for the Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s.

Nicole Luparelli from our weRENTcentralmass team will be singing the national anthem at the Worcester Shark’s game on November 19, 2008. The Worcester Shark’s will be facing the Norfolk Admirals! The game starts at 7:05 and we hope to see you there and support Nicole. It should be a good game to attend and it is a good place to hang out on a Wednesday night!  Nicole has a beautiful voice and it is definitely worth your time to stop in and listen!

Hope to see you all there

~ The weRENTcentralmass team

Elm Park in the Winter

Elm Park is one of the first public parks in the United States. Elm Park was given to Worcester in 1854. Elm Park is located in the center of Park Avenue, Highland Street, Russell Street, and Elm Street. Worcester’s Elm Park includes historical bridges, a gorgeous ice skating area, and a nice playground to bring your kid. This Worcester park has the Iron Bridge which is one of the most photographed in Central Mass. Also because Elm Park is so beautiful especially in the fall it is a very sought after place for weddings. Elm Park also has stunning basketball and tennis courts so Elm Park is a nice place to come all year round.  Winter is a great time too with the skating area to skate or play a hockey game!

Iron Bridge

The Main South area has recently declined because of World War II. In the late 1800s there were very nice Victorian houses in this area. There were also nice profitable establishments and this area was good until about 1950 when it dramatically declined. Eventually rent became too high and people with low or even moderate income could not afford it. The owners of these nice Victorian houses started renting out the other floors and Worcester became known for its 3-decker apartments. Once these 3-deckers were being filled the crime and poverty became a major problem. Now most of the people living in this area have low or moderate incomes and about one-fourth of this area fall below the poverty line.  

Last week we took at look at the Westborough apartment rental market this week we move head up Route 9 to Shrewsbury, MA.  The Shrewsbury apartment rental market has a lot of interesting dynamics that affect it. The main dynamic is the Worcester apartment rentals.

So what is going on with apartment rentals in Shrewsbury? 

Let’s look at the number of rentals in Shrewsbury from 2004 - 2008.  Seven rentals in Shrewsbury in 2004 all the way up to sixty-one apartment rentals in Shrewsbury in 2008 how does this happen?  Each year the number of apartment rentals in Shrewsbury almost doubled but why?  I think this has everything to do with rentals in Worcester being harder to come by.  I attempted to come up with some data that would back my feelings on this but I was unsuccessful.  Below you can check out the average price of apartments rented in Shrewsbury from 2004-2008.

Shrewsbury’s average rental price has done some interesting things over the last 5 years but shows us nothing.  I’m going to shoot from the hip with this one and try to explain without data.  As I explained last week the amount of available units in Worcester is down.  The amount of units that are not selling is up in Shrewsbury along with the majority of the country.  The client groups with decent income that would have purchased a home or a 3 family house cannot because almost no one is getting financing these days.  This is creating something the Central Mass rental market may have never seen before a large amount of client groups who can spend $1,400+.  With the inventory of high quality rentals in Worcester low this is creating a demand for apartment rentals in Shrewsbury and home owners having trouble selling are meeting the demand of these renters by renting out there units.

To sum it up Shrewsbury property owners are getting a lot of great renters at great rental numbers.  With the restriction on lending likely to be tight for the foreseeable future the market in Shrewsbury has a strong future. 

Landlord Tip:  In Shrewsbury keep an open mind with client groups who apply.  Listen and verify people’s explanations of bad credit, foreclosures and evictions.  It’s not always the person’s fault you may turn down a great client group. 

Renter Tip:  Look at apartments in both Worcester and Shrewsbury you may be surprised what you can get for your money in Shrewsbury.

Edward J. Murphy
CEO | weRENTcentralmass.com
a Park Realty Boston Company

Clark University has been working hard since 1985 to try to revitalize the Main South area in Worcester. Clark is trying to turn their low income community to a more vibrant and established community. Clark University has been working with the Main South Community Development Corporation to work on getting affordable housing for this neighborhood. They have also been trying to help out residents and businesses in that area and give them an opportunity to be successful. Clark has been working very hard trying to fix this area and its appearance. They have cleaned up abandoned and polluted buildings on Main South, hoping to get better home buyers to come to their neighborhood. Clark also reached out and tried to get faculty members to buy homes nearby and encourage them to do their part in this revitalization process and hope someday soon it will be a complete success.

weRENTcentralmass.com is having our First Annual Food Drive! For all of our clients who bring in at least 5 can goods to our Worcester office located on 100 Grove Street and you will get $10 off your application fee. All benefits will go to the Worcester County Food Bank. The Worcester Food Bank consists of local non-profit volunteers who strive for “relief of hunger” to people throughout Central Mass. They have provided over 50 million pound of food to people who needed it most all throughout Central Mass. Even if you are not looking for an apartment from us and would like to better your community please stop by our office and drop off can goods. This will make our community strong and help the people who need food especially as the cold winter season is on its way. This food drive will be going on now thru Christmas. So please find time within the next month to come in and drop off your donations.

The Worcester Regional Airport is located in a very convenient area right on Airport Hill in Worcester. Starting November 22, 2008 there will be non-stop flights to Punta Gorda and Orlando, Florida. These flights will be on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays! So when you are sick of this cold New England weather hurry and book your flight from the Worcester Airport to Florida! The Worcester Regional Airport is run by the Massachusetts Port Authority. The airport has spent $15.7 million on a new passenger terminal and about $12 million for airside developments, new lighting, and a new control tower! Worcester also has good security for this airport because that is a major issue in airports now and Worcester is up to date with all the best technology for first-rate security.

Tell me about the Rental Market…

With the lull in the housing market I have been getting a lot of phone
calls from friends and family asking about the rental market in the
Metro West and Central Mass areas.

My go to answers:

Metro West: The Metro West apartment rental market is very strong right now because there are a lot of young professionals who would have purchased properties was a few years ago but simply do not qualify for a mortgage now.  Then there are also other people who do not want to sell in this market and they have to move so they choose to rent out their property instead of selling it.  This alternative has made a spike in inventory and also for apartment rentals in the Metro West.

Central Mass: The Central Mass apartments and Worcester apartment rental market is a little different.  Worcester apartments have been greatly affected by the subprime mortgage disaster and it is lowering the amount of livable units in the city and effectively lowering the cities vacancy rate which makes it one of the best rental markets ever in Worcester.

Let me explain:

When a building is foreclosed the bank empties that building of all their tenants prior to putting the building up for sale.  There is about a six month to a one year process to vacate those tenants, put it on the market, find a seller, and finally complete all the proper paperwork. Which means that around 200 + apartments in the city of Worcester cannot be lived in right now.  Hypothetically this makes  Worcesters vacancy rate lower and makes inventory of available apartments at an all time low.

Market Reviews:

Interests seem high in knowing what the Central Mass and Metro West rentals markets are doing. Each Friday for the next few weeks I will take a look at some rental statistics in some of the towns and cities within these communities and share with you my findings and thoughts.  I decided today to take a look at the Westborough, MA rental market.  This is what I found:

To get started i took a look at the amount of apartments rented in Westborough over the last 5 years.  Westborough has had a 1,100% increase in rentals from 2004 to 2008 (year to date).

2004 - 2008 YTD Apartments Rented in Westborough Ma

With the huge increase in rentals I was interested to see where Westborough rental prices went.  We cannot look at the numbers from 2004 and 2005 as Westborough only had a combined 10 Rentals.  I think the telling numbers are from 2006 - 2008 as the average Westborough rent is steadily increasing.

2004 - 2008 YTD Apartment Rentals in Westborough Ma Average Rent

With the amount of Apartment rentals and average rent up in Westborough I decided to look to see if apartment took longer to rent.  A surprising difference of only 25 days from the lowest average days on the market of 41 in 2006 and the highest average days on market of 66 in 2007.

2004 - 2008 YTD Average Day on Market for Westborough Apartments

So what do we take from this?  The rental market in Westborough is extremely solid and balanced.  It is safe to say if you put your unit on the market for the right price it will rent within two months.

Landlord & Renter Tips:

Landlord Tip:
When signing a lease for a Westborough Apartment you might want to consider a 90 day notice to renew from your tenant.  If the tenant decided they do not want to renew it gives you a month’s time to consult a real estate agent and make an informative decision on what you would like to do with your unit going forward.  If you choose to rent the unit you will have 60+ days to get it rented and as the stats show us that is plenty of time for an apartment priced right in Westborough.  Using this approach should help you keep your unit filled continuously without gaps in tenancy.

Renter Tip:
When signing a lease make sure you sign a lease that works for you because you do not always have to sign a one year lease.  So make sure you have your lease revised by someone who knows contract law because some landlords might put clauses in leases that are not legal.

Until next week…

Edward J. Murphy
CEO | weRENTcentralmass.com
a Park Realty Boston Company