Four Columns Realty Blog

Teaching Tech Skills in Athol MA

In my last post of 2008, I pointed out how Athol High School students are learning about technology from Chris Dawson, a respected authority on education technology who is the Technology Director of the Athol-Royalston Regional School District.

Take a look at the revamped technology curriculum that Chris is proposing for the Athol MA High School.  From Microsoft office to Google Docs, from web design basics to Web 2.0, CSS and XML, from programming to database design, these Athol courses will teach students up-to-date technology skills. Students who graduate from Athol schools will be prepared for today's careers.

I wish I were back in high school.

Starrett Cuts Its Work Week

L.S. Starrett Company, Athol's biggest employer, "will reduce its work week for most of the 600 workers at its Athol factory and offices," according to today's Greenfield Recorder.

Ouch! While Starrett deserves credit for keeping everyone on board (although with less hours) instead of socking some of its workers with layoffs, the cutbacks are going to hurt.

The ups and downs of Starrett have been intertwined with the prosperity of Athol for more than a century. Starrett's web site says "it is not uncommon to see devoted generations of toolmakers with 30 or more years of experience" employed in its Athol MA facility. Those of us who have lived here a while know this is true.

Will the big stimulus bill coming out of Washington produce a rebound for companies like Starrett and towns like Athol? Probably not as much as all of us would like. The bill is bloated with wasteful spending, like 200 million dollars for grass replacement on the National Mall.

For so much money, we deserve better.

Paul Riendeau Ranks #1 in Real Estate Sales

Paul Riendeau of Four Columns Realty in Orange ranked #1 in 2008 for real estate sales in the nine-town North Quabbin Region, topping a list of local agents released last week.

Among active real estate agents, Riendeau sold the most North Quabbin Region property and was involved in the most North Quabbin Region transactions during 2008, based on information provided to and compiled by the MLS Property Information Network, Inc., covering the period from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 for the Massachusetts towns of Orange, Athol, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, Wendell, New Salem and Erving.

Read the full announcement...

CSI Athol

Athol law enforcement is up to date. Last week, Athol MA Police Officer Todd Neale and Athol MA Deputy Fire Chief Tom Lozier used satellite technology to track down an allegedly abducted Athol girl.

Using GPS coordinates obtained through the girl's cell phone, they traced the girl to a highway intersection in Virginia. From Athol, Massachusetts, they used Google Street View to scan around the intersection and identify the motel where the girl was being secluded. The Athol police then contacted Virginia police, who went to the motel and found the girl.

Good work, guys!

Read more here, here, here and here.

As Time Goes By: 2005 vs. 2009

Remember 2005? The real estate boom was fated to go on forever. But fate had other plans.

Four Columns Realty offers readers of Orange MA Real Estate 10 ways to understand what's hot and what's not in today's real estate market:

1. Trophy McMansions are so 2005. Letting the Jones keep up with themselves is 2009.

2. Buying a home to flip is so 2005. Buying a home to live in for years is 2009.

3. Overpaying for a ritzy address is so 2005. Finding bargain tech-friendly communities with improving schools is 2009.

4. Excessive extras are so 2005.  Simple comforts are 2009.

5. "No cash, no credit, no problem" is so 2005. Choosing a home you can afford is 2009.

6. "So what if we're buying high, the market will catch up" is so 2005. Buying smart is 2009.

7. "Let's inflate our asking price and see if there's still a sucker out there" is so 2005. Pricing a listing right on Day One is 2009.

8. Rooms full of wasted space are so 2005. Energy efficiency is 2009.

9. Multiple vacation homes are so 2005. Living where you can be happy staying home for vacation is 2009.

10. Smiling through it all is so 2005. Smiling through it all is 2009, too. Some things never change.

Athol Ranks #16 in Technology

The Town of Athol ranks #16 in the state in its support for technology development and growth, according the Massachusetts High Technology Council's latest MassTrack municipal rankings.

The High Tech Council ranks all 351 Massachusetts towns "to measure the support of state and local officials for the priorities of the technology economy."

While Athol slipped a bit, from #8 last year, Athol stayed in the top 5% of all Massachusetts towns. Neighboring Orange ranks #32, placing it in this year's top 10%.

Our friends in Somerville (#73) are astonished. Noting that Cambridge ranks #213, they ask, "How is the home of MIT behind Athol?"

A long time ago, I lived in Somerville. My home was in the Winter Hill section, a gritty neighborhood where they understood towns like Athol. For the benefit of those who have forgotten that there's intelligent life beyond Route 495, let me help you:

• Do you know which of the 3 towns has the highest percentage of its workforce engaged in technology? If you guessed "the home of MIT", you blew it. According to MassTrack, over 28% of Athol's workforce works in technology, compared to a bit more than 22% in Cambridge and less than 10% in Somerville.  

• The tech jobs are close to home, too. According to MassTrack again, the typical Athol worker spends 24.2 minutes commuting to work, only slightly more than the typical Cambridge worker (22.5 minutes) and less than the typical Somerville worker (27.1 minutes).
  

• Athol High School's most recent MCAS scores were 77% in reading proficiency and 72% in math proficiency, comparable to Cambridge Rindge and Latin and 10 points above Somerville High.  

• Athol High students are learning about technology, not just testing. Chris Dawson, the Technology Director of the Athol-Royalston Regional School District, is a nationally respected authority on education technology.   

• Athol gives you something Cambridge and Somerville lack: sensible real estate values. Just take a look at Athol real estate prices, Orange real estate prices and similar deals in other North Quabbin Region towns.
  

Hey Somerville - Athol is just 86 minutes away. Come on out.

Mahar Regional Earns Silver Medal Ranking

Mahar Regional High School, which serves the Massachusetts towns of Orange, New Salem, Petersham, and Wendell, has earned Silver Medal status in a national rating of best high schools, according to this report in the December 24th Athol Daily News (subscription required):

Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School has been ranked among 2009's best high schools in America, according to the U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best High Schools" annual rating of more than 21,000 public American high schools.

Mahar was one of 27 high schools in the state to receive the prestigious "Silver Medal" ranking, and the only high school in the Franklin County. Only two Massachusetts high schools received a "Gold Medal" ranking.

The Orange MA Real Estate Blog congratulates the students, teachers and staff of the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District for their good work. Keep it Up!

(The announcement from Dr. Reza Namin, Superintendent of the Mahar Regional School District, is available here. The U.S. News & World Report data for the school is available here.)

Why It's a Buyer's Market

As we approach the end of October, there are 340 single-family homes on the market in the North Quabbin Region, which includes Athol, Erving, New Salem, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick and Wendell.

These 340 homes have been on the market for an average of 223 days.

The 340 homes for sale in Athol, Orange and the surrounding towns are close to a 21st century high for this date.

The average of 223 days on the market is a clear 21st century high in our region on this date.

That's the supply side. What about demand?

From January 1, 2008 through October 22, 2008, 173 single-family homes in the North Quabbin Region were sold through the MLS. (This number does not include private real estate sales, such as family transactions or for-sale-by owner homes.)

These 173 homes sold in Athol, Orange and the surrounding towns took an average of 191 days to sell.

On average, these 173 homes took twice as long to sell as the 439 homes sold in Athol, Orange and the same surrounding towns in 2004.

If the current rate of sales continues, 2008 will see less homes sold in the North Quabbin Region than in any other year of the 21st century.

Also, if the current rate of sales continues, buyers would take over a year and a half to go through the current inventory of Athol-Orange area homes for sale... even if not a single new listing were to come on the market.

That's slow demand. And with the economy faltering and lenders tightening up, demand is likely to stay slow.

A high supply of homes for sale + a slow demand for homes = a buyer's market. That's how the law of supply and demand applies to real estate.

We are not alone. The buyer's market in Athol MA real estate and Orange MA real estate resembles the real estate buyer's market across most of the USA.

Today, in Athol, in Orange and everywhere, it's important for home buyers and home sellers to be realistic. With unsold homes in high supply and demand reduced by economic stress, the buyer's market is likely to stay with us for a long while.

Note: Four Columns Realty calculated the North Quabbin Region statistics in this post based on information supplied to and compiled by the MLS Property Information Network, Inc., for the periods of time indicated.

2 For 1 Sale

Have you ever thought, "I wish I could own two houses side by side?" Your real estate opportunity just knocked. These two homes, located at 267 - 279 South Main Street, Athol MA (map), are available for combined price of $189,900, a price you might have seen for just one home a few years ago.

Don't need two houses? Each is available separately. The home at 279 Main Street in Athol has three bedrooms and two baths. The home at 267 Main Street in Athol has four bedrooms, one bath and a 3 car garage. Each home is priced under $100,000, substantially below assessed value.

But why stop at one?

Glorious Weekend Around Orange MA

It's a glorious Columbus Day weekend in the Orange area. If you're out enjoying the Orange Harvest Parade and admiring the North Quabbin Region foliage, why not check out some Orange MA real estate here, here or here? Or take a scenic drive to Royalston for today's open house.

Looking for sensible values? There are over 300 homes for sale here in the North Quabbin Region. Homes around Orange and Athol are selling, on average, at a 20% discount compared to the average price of homes in the neighboring Greenfield and Gardner areas. 

On October 12, 1492, so they say, Columbus found the New World (the folks who lived there didn't know it was lost). On October 12, 2008, maybe you'll find your next home.

Open House Sunday, Noon - 3 PM

The drive from Athol to Royalston is spectacular this weekend. This real estate, a quintessential New England antique on 44 acres of land at 171 North Fitzwilliam Road, Royalston, Massachusetts (map), is worth the trip. Come to the Open House on Sunday, October 12th, Noon - 3 PM, to experience the North Quabbin Region at its best.

The Roots of the Crisis

How did we get into this jam? The Roots of the Crisis offers an answer:

...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were going through a crisis. In 2003 and 2004, an accounting scandal was revealed. The two public-private partnerships were cooking the books to show phantom profits. The Bush administration and its allies on the Hill pushed a strong bill to reform how these institutions operated. The measure came very close to passing, but Fannie and Freddie cut a deal. They would refocus on expanding mortgages for low-income borrowers if the feds kept out of their operations. The bargain worked. Virtually all the Democrats and a few Republicans backed the two companies and the reform effort failed.

Fannie and Freddie then went on a subprime bender. They made it clear that they wanted to buy all the subprime or Alt-A mortgages that they could find, eventually acquiring around $1 trillion of the paper. The market responded. In 2003 subprime mortgages made up less than 8 percent of all mortgages. By 2006, they were over 20 percent....

Unfortunately, after several years of a housing boom, the available pool of households who could responsibly use the more exotic financing products had dried up. In short, there were no more people who traditionally qualified for even a subprime mortgage. However, Fannie and Freddie were still signaling that they wanted to buy these products. At the same time, activist groups were agitating for more lending to low-income families. Banks realized they could make even more exotic loan products (e.g., interest-only loans), get the activists off their backs, and immediately diffuse their risk by selling the mortgages into MBSes. After all, Fannie and Freddie would buy anything.

In short, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "cooking the books". When they got caught, their friends in government allowed them to keep on cooking the books so long as they doubled down with more mortgages for people less likely to repay them.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at governmental urging, "went on a subprime bender". Because "Fannie and Freddie would buy anything", banks invented more and more "exotic loan products". The scheme eventually unraveled, causing the government to step in and bail out Fannie and Freddie and everyone in bed with them. 

Do you find it unsettling that the same politicians and their banking friends who dug us into this hole are now telling us that, for $7,000,000,000, they'll try to dig us out? They assure us that the bailout will help regular people, too, in regular towns like Athol MA and Orange MA, but do you wonder why "I"m from the government and I'm here to help you" carries such a huge price tag?

If you do, read the Roots of the Crisis.