I live in a four-unit condo near Harvard Yard (see the epic tale of my purchase back in 1996). The ground floor unit recently went on the market for $429,000. Very shortly five bids materialized, all over the asking price. The accepted bid was for $480,000.
What was bought? The broker, from perhaps Cambridge’s largest real estate firm, listed the apartment as 1363 square feet in the MLS (realtor.com entry for 5 Irving Terrace). The city lists 5-7 Irving Terrace, Unit 2A as having 713 square feet and being worth $349,300 (property database). What is actually inside the unit are two rooms: one bedroom plus a combined kitchen/living room. If you hired someone to refinish the floors they might find 500 square feet. How did the realtor manage to find 1363 square feet for this small one-bedroom? An old version of the condo docs had this apartment combined with another. They were later (20+ years ago) split into two separate condos. Folks who showed up expecting 1363 square feet and found a small one-bedroom were apparently not discouraged, though, based on the number of bids.
If we take the city’s 713 square footage, the place sold for $673 per square foot, but in terms of usable interior space I think the total square footage is closer to that of a 500 sf place in a modern building, which gets us to $1000/sf, i.e., what people pay for an apartment in Manhattan. The apartment includes a driveway parking spot, which is a plus, but the kitchen and bathroom would need $30-50,000 of work to bring them into the modern era.
This supports my theory that the suburbs will be abandoned by the wealthy (May 2013 posting) due to the horrific traffic congestion in our metropolitan areas. Rush hour getting out of Cambridge through Alewife now extends until about 8 pm, but you can buy your way out of sitting in traffic if you’re willing to spend $480,000 on a one-bedroom apartment (plus kitchen/bath renovation costs and, very possibly, your share of a new roof (see below)).
Separately, in case you are ever tempted to trust a realtor…. the broker selling the unit had previously been managing the place for the owner as a rental. He thus became aware of an issue with leaks from the 125-year-old slate roof that might cost more than $30,000 to repair and thus result in an assessment to the new owner. The condo’s master insurance carrier had sent a letter refusing to pay for water damage because of “age-related deterioration” of the roof. I asked the realtor if he’d shared the letter, which he’d had in his possession, with the buyer. “No. That’s not my responsibility. It is up to her home inspector to discover any problems.”
[Finally, what do readers know about old slate roofs? At the end of almost every winter there is some ceiling damage from ice and snow melting through the slate/flashing/whatever. There is occasional additional damage from random events, such as a slate being kicked out of place or falling off. We hire a roofer who goes up there, charges us some money, pronounces the leaks fixed, and then departs. We repeat the cycle the next year. An experienced slate roofer (not our regular contractor) told me that the nails on our roof are copper and that they corrode after about 85 years, resulting in the slates being very easy to dislodge. This is why the life of a slate roof is not infinite. He said that the only real fix was to remove the slates, install ice and water shield material, and then reinstall the slates over the ice and water shield with new nails that will last another 85 years. Have any of the readers done this?]
Re: slate roofs, yes it’s all true.
I spent a decade doing the annual dance with fairly expensive roof guys replacing bits at a time. The eaves and the valleys, most often, but every now and then a random patch of field tiles.
Eventually you have to give in and get it all done. They call slate the “100 year roof”, but I replaced mine in 2000, and the house was built in 1912.
On the plus side, the newer nails apparently will last longer. That’ll come as some comfort to someone I’ll never meet, who is probably not yet born. Presuming the Charles River isn’t += 8 feet by then, of course.
Phil,
That agent violated some serious ethics clauses if he truly did not disclose a known problem with the roof and yes, what your roofer is telling you about the nails is likely accurate.
Slate is great, until you gotta fix it.
Andrew: They call slate the “100 year roof”, but I replaced mine in 2000, and the house was built in 1912.
The real world is analog. “100 years” is approximate (92 years is very close).
In Texas the agent would have violated the law concerning disclosures
http://www.texasrealestate.com/web/1/11/more/George022111.cfm.
Andrew: What is under your slates? A heavy ice and water shield that is impermeable even if slates do get knocked loose or off? Why would the new nails last longer? Is copper no longer the best material? What’s the alternative? Stainless steel? I guess they didn’t have that back in 1888 when this house was built. Cambridge is reasonably close to salt water but typically the winds blow from the west so we shouldn’t be getting a lot of salt corrosion.
We recently purchase a townhome in Northern California with a tile roof, Southwestern-style. From what I understand, the tile itself lasts a *very* long time, but the waterproof felt underneath the tiles, not so much. Taking off the tile to replace the felt is not inexpensive, to put it mildly. Estimates for roof longevity range in the 20-50 year range, according to my source, depending on the quality of the materials. The weather here is mild and no salt, which might help. YMMV.
My current Brooklyn condo now has a green roof but I previously lived in an older brownstone with a slate roof. Was being replaced as I moved in so I got to see first hand what it takes. Copper nails are easier to pull and not damage nearby tiles. Better alloys I would imagine let the nails last longer. Given the Cambridge climate the best waterproof barrier you can afford would probably be warranted. Too bad you can’t flatten your roof and dump a couple of tons of soil on it (great insulation), some platings and a small deck to watch the sunset with a drink!!
PS Went by ET Modern, some nice new sculpture there.
My church built in 1916 with tile roof had major leaks every few years, particluarly for corroded flashing materials at troughs. Finally two years ago, removed all tiles (saved for reinstall) and replace the metal flashing.