Below, a complete list of all single-family and condominium homes with open houses scheduled for the weekend of July 24, 2011.

Please contact me for detailed information and to set up private showings.

Above, 1 Lime Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. Paul Whaley of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is the listing agent.

A penthouse condominium in the W Boston Residences sold yesterday, the 35th in the 123-unit mixed-use building.

The penthouse sold for $3.7 million. It has ~3,082 square feet of space, three bedrooms, three and ½-half baths and came with one parking space included in the price.

Warren Residential Group (us) represented the buyer on the sale.

It is the third penthouse sale in the building and, because of our skill at negotiating, the lowest-priced per square foot. The other two penthouses include PH4, which sold for $3,537,000, ~2,631 square feet at $1,344 per square foot, and PH3, which sold for $3.2 million, ~2,574 square feet at $1,243 per square foot.

The internal sales team at the W Boston Residences has now sold 28% of the units in the building but many remain of all sizes in all prices. A ~427 square foot, 19th-floor studio, for example, is listed for $445,000. An 18th floor two bedroom, with ~1,286 square feet of space is listed for $1,265,000.

Please contact me for more details on recent sales in the building and to discuss buying strategies.

An advertising company has come up with a way to brand its clients’ messages while putting money in homeowners’ pockets.

The Adzookie advertising company will come to your house and paint the outside of it with ads for one of its clients. As long as the house is painted this way, Adzookie will pay your mortgage (with a minimum agreement for three months).

CNN / Money reports that the idea has sparked a massive response; over 3,000 homeowners signed up as interested in the idea.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of them will end up disappointed. Adzookie is a start-up company, according to CNN / Money, and has only budgeted $100,000 for the program. With the painting / repainting of the homes estimated to cost $8,000 each, that leaves little money left over to pay for mortgages.

Even more unfortunately, I’m pretty sure South End Landmarks wouldn’t allow you to paint the brick on your building.

Details from the Adzookie website:

We’re looking for houses to paint. In fact, paint is an understatement. We’re looking for homes to turn into billboards. In exchange, we’ll pay your mortgage every month for as long as your house remains painted

Here are a few things we’re looking for: You must own your home. It cannot be rented or leased. We’ll paint the entire outside of the house, minus the roof, the windows and any awnings. Painting will take approximately 3 – 5 days. Your house must remain painted for at least three months and may be extended up to a year. If, for any reason, you decide to cancel after three months or if we cancel the agreement with you, we’ll repaint your house back to the original colors.

As the economy shifted, it became harder and harder for developers to get financing for new condominium projects. No one wanted to risk their money on new condo developments if they couldn’t guarantee buyers were going to be there. Lenders had clamped down hard on home-buyers, with tightened credit requirements making it difficult for anyone to qualify for a home loan mortgage.

The developers still have land to build on and still have bills to pay, so they’re turning now to building apartment complexes. The financing is easier to get, since banks realize that people have to live somewhere, and if not in condos then in apartments.

Here in Boston, we’re seeing several large, high-profile apartment projects being proposed and about to break ground. Some of these are already approved projects that are modifying their plans, taking out condos and putting in rental apartments. Others are brand new proposals. Driving the new construction is the relatively-easy financing as well as a simple lack of supply – the vacancy rate in Boston is expected to drop to 4.5 percent.

From the New York Times:

In the last several weeks, [Boston] officials have allowed developers of three buildings with nearly 1,000 units to decrease or eliminate condominiums in favor of additional rentals. Over all, the Boston Redevelopment Authority expects construction to start this year on 21 buildings with a total of 1,855 apartments, nearly all rentals, compared with just 600 starts last year. Of those units 830 were once planned as condominiums, said the authority’s director, John Palmieri.

Some of the projects on-tap for downtown Boston include:

Hayward Place – Downtown Crossing across from the Paramount Theater, 265 units (mostly apartments)
(Parcel 24) – Chinatown on Hudson Street, in the shadow of a Rte-93 on-ramp, 345 units (mostly apartments)
Kensington Place – Chinatown on Washington Street (previously the site of the Gaiety Theater), 381 units
Garden Garage Towers – near Boston Garden, part of the Charles River Park complex, 500 units
AvalonBay – on Exeter Street, on the Prudential Center Plaza, another apartment tower, 188 units

This is all good news; increased supply means more options for renters of any age: college graduates, young professionals, empty-nesters.

Whether or not the supply will bring down notoriously-high rents is another question. There seems to be an insatiable demand for apartments, right now. The developer of Hayward Place “said he could build high-quality apartments that would rent for about $5,000 a month.”

How many people are in the position to pay that? Hopefully, it will bring down prices overall, or maybe just keep them from going up?

More: As Boston’s Economy Grows, Demand for Rental Units Outpaces Condo Market, The New York Times

The New York Times ran a story about how the “little touches” are what end up getting homes sold. So, if you’re thinking of selling, make sure your real estate agent makes your home look good, even if it means a bit of an investment on your (or his) part.

Brokers say small moves can alter the ultimate sales price of an apartment by 5 to 10 percent. The calculations are irrational, and buyers are usually unaware they are doing it. But chipped plaster or broken bathroom tiles can knock $500 to $5,000 off an offer, $1,500 floating walls can add $50,000 to $70,000, and a $10,000 paint job easily adds $50,000 to the price …

Some of the tips, some of which cost more than others:

* Unclutter the property (free!)
* Get rid of the dirty rugs! (under $500)
* Fresh pillows and towels (under $200)
* New appliances ($1,000-$2,000)

More: To Sell an Apartment, No Detail Is Too Small, The New York Times