The blog gods smiled upon me this morning and gave me 180 Cherry. Just so much to work with here you guys.
Let’s start with the price. So you have a couple new construction homes in the immediate vicinity sold or under agreement in the $1.4M range. 48 Cherry Place ($1.399M), 14 Talbot ($1.435M) and of course my favorite, 62 Cherry Place ($1.499M).
Now 180 Cherry is bigger than all 3 of these homes. But like how do you arrive at $1,768,888 as a list price? WAY above anything else in the neighborhood. And on Cherry Street. Directly across from Franklin School. I think what happened here was the seller was like all the comps are $1.4M but my place is better and heres why:
This room is peach and has a non-working fireplace. That’s an extra $55k.
Oh yeah we tiled the foyer. $24k.
Kitchen is just insane so there’s another $102k.
Master bath with shower from the year 2023. Tack on another $78k.
And pretty soon you arrive at $1,768,888. Makes total sense to me. Gonna keep an eye on this one you guys.
Wow you guys. 161 Randlett was listed for $699k. Closed today for $850k. Think I like the new owners already. These people clearly understand the vale of America’s favorite street, Randlett Park.
Lots and lots of decisions being made on the kitchen lately. Went to LeaMar Industries in Marlborough last week to choose countertops. Never heard of this place in my life but it’s a football-sized warehouse filled with stone slabs.
Walked into the place and told the guy I was looking for countertops. He said are you the decision maker? I said are you kidding me? Do a lot of husbands come in here and say that shit? He laughed like a bastard, then we waited quietly for Management to arrive.
So Mike took us through the warehouse. We told him we’re looking for inexpensive marble. He said I got you brotha — so I knew we were straight. Mike showed us about 10 slabs of carerra and they all pretty much looked the same. Some different veining, some shiney, some honed. No real rhyme or reason on pricing — kinda like cabinets you guys. The price scale is alphabetical and the slab is graded based on color, where it came from, etc.. The slabs Management & I liked the best were actually the least expensive. We wound up choosing a marble called Grigio Adriatico with a honed finish.
Weird thing about countertops is you don’t know how much you’re spending until your cabinets & island are measured by the installer. Pete told us to expect to buy 3 slabs and pay around $5k — which was pretty accurate. The 3 slabs cost $5300. Remember we went way over budget on the Home Depot cabinets so the entire cost of the countertops is above-budget. Countertops are set to go in sometime next week.
65 Fairway closed earlier today for $849k. The house was listed in April for $849k and the seller quickly found a buyer. Nothing says welcome to the neighborhood like me telling everyone how much you paid!
First ever Randlett Pork yesterday. Maybe our best event yet? We roasted a 40lb pig and 15lbs worth of pork shoulder. 2 kegs. Beer pong. Maybe even a little moonshine. Kids had ice cream, smores and watched like 4 movies. Just anther day on Americas favorite street, Randlett Park.
We basically had no idea how to roast a pig but then watched a bunch of YouTube videos and then said whatever lets do it. Huge shout out to the Roys and Cravens (again). You guys are true party people.
A few weeks back, Management and I took a field trip to Lamson Lumber in Hudson to pick cabinets. Pete met us there and we worked with a guy named Dusty, who already had the kitchen layout and seemed to know what’s up. He showed us a few different styles and helped us pick some white, wood Kraftmaid cabinets.
You guys are probably saying hey can’t you buy Kraftmaid at Home Depot? Yes – yes you can. But we went to this place instead. I think because Dusty is good and works a lot with our countertop guy Jamie. I pretty much had no idea what was going on. Was like high school all over again.
Before you know it, Dusty was like ok that comes to $18,000. Huh? How did we get there? We went $3k over our cabinet budget but somehow didn’t get high-end cabinets. Pete and Dusty kept saying well you have a shitload of cabinets. I didn’t see one price tag or a calculator but everyone agreed cabinets were $18k. Um…ok?
Anywho cabinets are being installed in the next few days. Think they will look nice but again I just have no idea. I feel like when someone says cabinets I just blink and nod my head a lot.
Well that escalated quickly. Last time I told you guys this place needed some renovation. Uh that was an understatement. This renovation turned into a 2nd full time job. Here’s what we did: new custom steel stairs & railings, built-out the loft level, new appliances, new toilet, all new light fixtures, new carpet, some plumbing and painted the place.
Putting the apartment on the market this week for rent. If you like lofts, or Terminal A at Logan, you are going to love this place. $2,200 USDs per month. After pics below…
Sheetrock and plaster was done earlier in the week. So Pete decided to knock out the mudroom today. Pete is not a general contractor, he’s a builder. He doesn’t show up for a few hours each week and tell the subs what to do. He builds shit. There was nothing in this room at 7am this morning. Now we have a great mudroom. Management is so excited her texts are all emoticons. Salsa dancing. Beer mugs. All kinds of stuff. 🍔🍻👌🎉
49 Lindbergh Ave is a 4 bed/1.5 bath with 2,579 sq/ft. Updated house on good size lot (.19 acres) you guys. Check out the fitness equipment in the basement with the giant wine fridge. Um — call me to work out?
417 Waltham is a 4 bed/2.5 bath home with 1,764 sq/ft. Built in 84 but needs some updating. 1/2 acre lot with big backyard you guys.
Just a quick shout out to everyone that’s hosted us for dinner or brought over food while we’re out of a kitchen. Had some great meals and times with the old gang on the street. Another reason I love Randlett Park. I mean people have brought over dinner, desserts, breakfast stuff — even a sixer of Coors Light. I think about it and get a little dusty and am like — aw you guys….
Foam insulation gets blown in today. Pete told me “we’re gonna insulate the shit out this.” I gave him a thumbs up. We’ve gotta protect the flat rubber roof above from ice & snow — which means blowing in a ton of insulation. Pete says the addition will be the most well insulated part of the house. So insulation everywhere today you guys.
I know this book came out like 5 years ago but *Spoilet Alert* – Christian & Ana break up at the end of this book. This must be a huge relief to everyone in the book. Possibly everyone in America. I mean who really thought this was gonna work? Sure Christian has unresolved issues from childhood. But what it comes down to is he likes spanking and Ana doesn’t. So if you ask me what this book is about I say spanking. People who like it and people who don’t.
These 2 kids really tried to make a go of it in the last part of the book though. Christian met Ana’s mom and she was like damn this brother is fine. They also went gliding at sunrise while they were in Georgia. Was like a date from The Bachelor or something. They spent a bunch of time together and Ana was legit falling in love with Christian. Christian meanwhile was on Planet Dominant like me no what love is. Was just never gonna work you guys.
So I guess there are more books in this series that I won’t be reading. My thing is more like war books. Or books about impossible feats of survival. Back when men were men. Not reviewing 50 Shades on a blog. You think Ernest Shackleton gives a shit about a blog? Guy took a rowboat home from Antarctica.
Well well well – looks like the gang on Randlett had themselves a little block party. The only thing this party didn’t have was a flyover you guys. There was face painting, a tug of war, ribs, 2 kegs, Champions League soccer, lots of bike riding, music, ice cream. Josh even broke out the geetar. Oh yeah we also had a Triple Crown winner. No big deal. Just another day on the Americas favorite street – Randlett Park.
Should have our electrical and plumbing permit sign offs from the inspector tomorrow. Siding is up and almost done. Might not look like much but will make the the house a lot more functional.
We’re about at the halfway point and gotta say, been real happy with Pete Ekdahl and his crew. Honest guys that come to work everyday and enjoy what they do. We’re mostly on budget and hoping for an early July completion. When it’s done I’ll have everyone over for a look-see and group trip to Cold One City.
Some of you know we own a loft in East Boston that we rent out. Some of you don’t give a shit. Either way – we’re renovating it. Timing could not be worse with our kitchen renovation, but the place is 10 years old and needs work. Here’s the building – Porter 156…
It’s a 230 unit building near the airport. Management and I have owned it since 2005. Our tenants just moved out so we’re doing a bunch of work.
Building out the loft level you guys and adding new steel stairs and railings. The loft is basically a sleeping level and and the new stairs will be on the right side in the pic below. Replacing fridge and washer/dryer. Painting. Doing a bunch of plumbing and electrical stuff.
These are the before pics, hope to have some after pics in the next 7-10 days.
Mercifully I’m more than halfway through 50 Shades. Just a terrible book. I mean if Christian & Ana died in a helicopter crash, I would be most upset about the helicopter, Charlie Tango. But I said I was gonna review it so here’s part deux.
So most of the middle of the book is about Christian getting Ana to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) about their relationship. Honestly, the author E.L. James, spends like 50 pages on this. The NDA basically outlines all the stuff they’re gonna do. Like yes to this and no to that. Supposed to be a sexy negotiation.
I don’t know you guys. I’ve been out of the game for a long time. But a NDA? Seems like a MAJOR red flag to me. So does the fact that Christian has a room in his penthouse just for doing stuff. I guess he has a bunch of issues from childhood so now he likes spanking people. Like Ana says something wrong and his hand starts twitching for a spanking. Seems normal to me — lets get the parents together over thanksgiving!
Ana, meanwhile, is totally into this guy. Why I don’t know. But everything he does she’s like oh MY. Or holy shit. More like holy shit I can’t believe you’re going to sign a NDA to be this dude’s submissive. I mean heLLLLLooo! Anyone home Ana? I don’t care if someone buys me a new Mac or some old expensive books or a new Audi — I’m not into weird stuff. Ok — maybe for the Audi things could get a little weird. Just seems like Ana has switched her brain to the OFF position the last few chapters. She spends a lot time listening to her “inner goddess.” I don’t have one of those so I don’t know.
Virtually no mention of what’s going on at Grey Industries. Guess this company runs itself.
So the Samuel Wheat House — AKA Big Red — is back on the market for 995,000 shillings — I mean dollars. You guys may remember this place was built in 1735 for Dr. Samuel Wheat. Only 6 owners in 280 years. It was listed for 6 months last year at $995k and didn’t sell.
As a licensed real estate professional, I can disclose that this home isn’t an easy sell. I know you guys are thinking the market is on fire so the broker should hold an open house and then collect offers. Maybe even make up some shit for marketing like Paul Revere rode past this house or George Washington slept here. But Big Red has 3 things working against it: location on Waltham St, weird lot that’s been chopped up to make room for 20 Princess Rd in the back and the historical restrictions on what you can/can’t do with it.
This is the kinda sale where you only have 1 buyer. May take some time to find ’em. Hopefully not 280 years.
You guys may have noticed I put a period on the blog title. That’s because this is a statement of fact. RandlettPark.com’s official position on this mobile pub is we need it and we needed it yesterday.
This thing is called the Shebeen and is made by a cabinet maker in Galway. Like in Ireland you guys. Shebeen has a Galway-inspired pub, 2 draft lines and seating for 10. The inside looks like this…
Just like the old country. New England’s first Shebeen should be stateside in July. Fully stocked it rents for $700 per day. Total no brainer. Parktoberfest you guys?
RandlettPark.com 