Boston, MA

Landlords in Greater Boston may have to start paying their own broker fees

Published

9 mins ago

July 16, 2024

Landlords in Greater Boston may have to start paying their own broker fees

BOSTON – Rent in Boston is already sky high, but sometimes renters are asked to pay the first and last month’s rent, security deposit, and broker fee. The total is all too often as much as four months’ rent upfront. Newly proposed Massachusetts legislation aims to put the broker fee on the landlord’s dime.

“When I first heard about [the broker fee], I thought it was a scam,” said Madison Survin, a renter who moved to Boston from Dallas. She wasn’t used to these upfront costs. “I personally don’t have any savings, and I’m grateful that my parents do.”

Broker fees a Boston area issue

Some experts call the broker fee strictly a Boston area issue where renters will pay anything to find a place in a tight market.

“If you have a broker working with a landlord outside of Boston, typically the landlord pays for that,” explains Doug Quattrocchi, a landlord and the Executive Director of Mass Landlords.

He says the state’s legal framework only allows a landlord to ask for first and last month’s rent, along with a security deposit and locks fee. He puts broker fees in a gray area, much like pet fees.

“The law already makes it clear that landlords shouldn’t be asking renters to pay for it, but there’s a lack of enforcement,” said Quattrochi, who says a large portion of their members do not ask their renters to pay broker fees.

This of course, doesn’t mean that renters will be free of the financial burden even if the law passes.

“All they have to do if this law were to pass is to raise the rent to cover the broker fee,” adds Quattrochi.

How did broker fees start in the first place?

Quattrochi says it has become increasingly difficult for landlords to evict troublesome tenants, making it crucial that they select the right one. This is where a broker comes in.

“Last time I rented a three-bedroom apartment in Worcester, I had 192 applicants for one apartment, so brokers are wading through that,” said Quattrochi. “We know if there is a mistake in tenant selection that the buck stops with us. We are the ones who have to pay for that eviction. This wasn’t really as necessary when it was possible to evict misbehaving tenants quickly, so you didn’t have to screen carefully.”

“They choose to get a broker to do this so credit can be run, references can be checked from former landlords,” said Nicole Vermillion, a real estate broker with Lamacchia Realty. She is also a landlord.

Clients weighing whether to rent or buy

Vermillion now has clients weighing whether to drop that money on rent, or to find a way to buy instead.

“That’s almost a small downpayment on a house for some people. I always tell people, if you can live where you are living for maybe a discounted cost, be that at home, at an in-law, or with a friend, save up because your money is only going toward your landlord’s mortgage,” said Vermillion. “When you are putting that much money down, it should make you wonder, should I put that toward something equity buildable rather than washing away with rent?”

Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan is a multimedia journalist for WBZ-TV. He returned to his home state of Massachusetts after reporting in the Midwest for more than ten years.

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Boston, MA

2024 NBA Draft: Breaking Down Boston Celtics Draft Class

Published

7 hours ago

July 16, 2024

Press Room

2024 NBA Draft: Breaking Down Boston Celtics Draft Class

The Boston Celtics are your 2024 NBA Champions and have arguably one of the most well rounded starting five in NBA history. As they look to repeat they added more depth to their bench as they had a first round and second round draft pick this year.

Let’s dive into each selection they made and the summary of their draft.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

With the final pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft the Celtics selected the fifth year senior out of Creighton, Baylor Scheierman. The 6-foot-7 wing had an excellent college career as he started out at a mid-major school then proved that he’s a high caliber player then ended up transferring to Creighton for his final years in college.

Scheierman is one of the top pure shooters in the entire draft as he has limitless range, good shot mechanics and amazing touch. He spaces the floor so well and opens up the floor for the rest of his teammates. Outside of being an elite sharpshooter he has a very good feel for the game and is a solid secondary playmaker.

Scheierman can make plays happen out of ball-screens and does a good job of finding open teammates. The skilled wing is also very crafty which makes up for his subpar athleticism. He’s an NBA ready player that has a chance to contribute within the next three years for a team that’s heading into next season as the championship favorites.

Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

With one of the last picks in the entire draft the Celtics selected Anton Watson out of Gonzaga. The 6-foot-8 forward spent five years at Gonzaga and will be traveling across the country as he moves to Boston. Watson was one of the best defensive players in the entire country this past season.

He brings great defensive versatility as he’s comfortable defending up and down a lineup. Watson has a good combination of size, length, anticipation and quickness. All of his value is on the defensive end but he also has shown to be a connector piece on the offensive end. He’s a smart cutter, hustles and can make basic passing reads.

He knows his role and excels at that role which is typically what you look for in the second round. The next step for Watson is improving his jump-shot as oftentimes he has bad misses and is quite inconsistent as an outside shooter. If he improves his consistency as an outside shooter then he has potential to be a valuable 3-and-D forward in the NBA.

It was clear that the Celtics main goal heading into draft night was improving their depth by getting experienced college players that had an NBA ready skill and a clear role in the league. With Scheierman he’s an excellent shooter that brings other valuable skills to the table. With Watson you get an NBA ready defender who has a chance to be a solid connector piece on the team.

The Celtics will continue to look to add depth to their roster as they have one of the best starting five lineups in NBA history so the route they went with through the draft was very smart and strategic of them. It will be interesting to see if either of them get any minutes early on, but by the end of the season there’s a real chance Scheierman is giving valuable minutes off the bench. Celtic fans should be feeling very good with their new players on their roster.

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

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Boston, MA

Battenfeld: Young populist Midwest conservative JD Vance will be Trump pit bull

Published

14 hours ago

July 16, 2024

Press Room

Battenfeld: Young populist Midwest conservative JD Vance will be Trump pit bull

Only half of Trump’s age, Vance can say what Trump won’t say on the campaign trail, leaving it to the former president to stick to the high road and try to be a unifying voice in the wake of his near assassination.

Originally Published: July 16, 2024 at 5:17 a.m.

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Boston, MA

JetBlue Mint Airbus A321neo Review London to Boston

Published

22 hours ago

July 15, 2024

Press Room

JetBlue Mint Airbus A321neo Review London to Boston

I wrote this review using JetBlue’s free wifi while aboard an Airbus A321neo flying from London Gatwick to Boston. My wife and I bought economy tickets and used Move to Mint certificates to upgrade (we had these thanks to a very generous but short lived status match from Delta last year).

JetBlue Mint Airbus A321neo Bottom Line Review

Overall the JetBlue Mint experience on this flight has been excellent. The flight attendants have been great. I especially appreciated that once we were in the air, one attendant came to each Mint suite to ask if we had anything in the overhead bin that we’d like brought down to us. Additionally, the food has been very good, and the physical space is terrific. The suites feature very good seats, plenty of leg room, lots of near-seat storage, and plenty of privacy. Note that JetBlue has near-term plans to lock-open the suite doors (see this article for details). That’s a shame, but I don’t think it will detract too much from the experience. My suite seemed private even when the door was open.

Of course, Mint isn’t perfect. I found the seat to be slightly uncomfortable in reclined positions and a bit too hard when lying flat. Additionally, I found it weird that when offered champagne upon boarding, it came in plastic cups. It didn’t bother me at all — I don’t even like champagne much, but it made a poor first impression. Wasn’t this supposed to be a luxury experience? Maybe the idea was to set expectations low from the beginning and then to exceed them every step of the way thereafter. If that was the goal, it was firmly met.

Would I fly JetBlue Mint again? Absolutely!

Mint Routes to/from Europe

At the time of this writing, JetBlue flies to the following European destinations:

Amsterdam AMS (to/from Boston and JFK)
Dublin DUB (to/from Boston and JFK)
Edinburgh (to/from JFK)
London LHR + LGW (to/from Boston and JFK)
Paris CDG (to/from Boston and JFK)

Booking Mint

We booked a one-way economy flight and used Moved to Mint certificates to upgrade to Mint business class. Each upgrade required 3 certificates. I had 4 in my account and my wife had 2. I couldn’t upgrade online since my wife didn’t have enough in her own account, but a phone rep was able to push it through.

Another good option for booking JetBlue Mint is to use Qatar Avios. For Mint flights from the U.S. to Europe, Qatar charges 78,000 points plus $10.10. For flights in the other direction, taxes will be higher (and vary based on which country you depart from).

To find Mint seats bookable with Qatar Avios, use ITA Matrix and do the following:

Check the “Show Advanced Controls” button
Add the routing code “C:B6” which tells the matrix you want to limit the “Carrier” to JetBlue, since B6 is JetBlue’s carrier code. You can find an airline’s carrier code with a simple google search.
Add the extension code “F BC=I” which sets the fare basis code to Mint.
Select “See calendar of lowest fares”.
If a price shows up on the calendar, that means there’s availability on that date. So then you should be able to find this same result by searching for award flights on Qatar’s app or website.

Photos

Cabin & Seats

Suite Features

Next to each seat you’ll find this triangular storage bin and wireless charger (which didn’t seem to work). Below, you’ll find a small tray and a water bottle holder. Do you see the small tray to the right of the water bottle? **The iPhone 15 Pro Max fits perfectly and snuggly in there**. In fact, it fits so well that buttons on each side of the phone get pressed in a little bit. And when you press and hold both sides long enough, the phone emits **a loud alarm** and tries to call **emergency services**. Ask me how I know.

I was able to (just barely) wedge my backpack under this footrest.

On the floor, next to each seat is a bin holding comfortable slippers. The bin was big enough to store my sneakers. I love that. Most competing products don’t have a place for shoes if you use the space below the footrest for other things.

You can use your phone as a remote. I tried it but found that it was more trouble than it was worth.

Food & Drink

I thought it was very cool that you order food on the touch screen. On the other hand, it wasn’t cool that the welcome champagne came in a plastic cup.