Boston rents are falling, the Fed just hiked, and Seth and Nick still found time to blind-rank Boston's top 10 steakhouses.

In this episode:

• Why the Fed rate hike does not set mortgage rates, and why a multi-year temporary buydown beats a price cut
• 45 active listings, condo rents down 10 to 20 percent, and 2021-2022 buyers now short selling
• Seth's $20K buyer savings guarantee idea for renters in Boston's luxury buildings
• Nick's bad deal: a pool heater, a 2,500-brick chimney and a buyer who walked
• The 8 a.m. showing, a lowball offer, and how buyer agency agreements and commissions really work in Massachusetts
• Blind-ranking Boston steakhouses, Hawksmoor Seaport, and Underrated vs. Overrated: pumpkin spice, lobster rolls, apple picking, NFL overseas

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open: sleep hacks and the Blue Line 10:13 Hawksmoor Seaport and the reserved bar seat problem 19:50 Blind-ranking Boston's top 10 steakhouses 38:04 The Fed rate hike and mortgage rates 40:53 Temporary buydowns vs. price cuts 43:59 45 listings, falling rents and short sales 48:16 Existing home sales hit a new low 51:00 70,000 Massachusetts sales a year and part-time agents 54:26 The $20K buyer savings guarantee 1:01:44 Bad deal: pool heater and 2,500 bricks 1:05:20 The 8 a.m. showing and a lowball offer 1:09:54 Buyer agency agreements and commissions, explained 1:16:04 An off-market sale and "just because it was fast" 1:17:57 Underrated vs. Overrated

Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate, sellinboston.com) and Nick Nardone (real estate and condo attorney).

Bad Deals Only is for entertainment only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Explicit language.

A post-closing mess, a commission check that bounced out of an attorney's IOLTA account, and how easy it is to fake a notary stamp.

In this episode:

• Why buyer agents should send every seller 20 to 40 questions, even if they never answer
• Mid-September to mid-November: the best listing window left in the Boston market
• How a California notary clause can break a Massachusetts closing
• COVID-era remote closings and how easy notary fraud really is
• A commission check bounced from an IOLTA account, and what the BBO does next
• A fried Florida Airbnb AC, the $10K paint protection film upsell, and the 2025 Storrowing count

Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:23 A post-closing bad deal we have to clean up 02:05 Why buyer agents should send sellers 20 to 40 questions 06:07 The bait-and-switch broker and why referrals depend on you 10:40 Florida Airbnb guest check-in and a fried AC 13:55 Why we skipped open houses Labor Day weekend 15:13 Boston fall market forecast 19:57 Luxury SUV repair saga and dealership concierge service 23:36 Dealer finance spread and the $10K paint protection film upsell 29:30 California notary clause vs. Massachusetts title standards 30:24 COVID-era remote closings in Massachusetts 32:40 How easy notary fraud is 35:54 A commission check bounced from an IOLTA account 40:50 Storrow Drive bridge strikes: the 2025 count 44:40 A 60-unit Cambridge development sellout 51:10 Listener shoutout and high school soccer

Hosted by Seth Williams (Reference Real Estate, sellinboston.com) and Nick Nardone, real estate and condo attorney.

This show is for entertainment purposes only and is not legal, tax or financial advice.

A condo questionnaire killed a loan, then two phone calls brought it back in four hours. Plus a live seller call comes in on air.

Boston real estate agent Seth Williams and real estate attorney Nick Nardone get into the August condo lending shakeup that is quietly wrecking Boston deals, a $25,000 re-trade after a clean inspection, and what clean versus dirty 6D really means at the closing table. Then the bat phone rings mid-episode and you get to hear a seller lead handled start to finish.

In this episode:

• The new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac condo rules: 15 percent reserves and the end of limited review
• A lender denied the loan over an unanswered questionnaire, and how Nick reversed it in four hours
• Self-managed associations with no condo fee, no reserves, and no shot at financing an $800,000 buyer
• A buyer came back for a $25,000 credit five days after giving the all clear
• The 6D certificate, super liens, and why a dirty 6D is not the emergency everyone treats it as
• P&S Section 52 and who eats an assessment levied before closing
• Net versus gross commission, and the closing disclosure nobody reads in time
• Insurance carriers auditing roofs by drone and canceling policies after the fact
• A live on-air seller call from an out-of-state owner selling a Jeffries Point single family
• Overrated or underrated: Labor Day open houses, balcony grills, suspiciously low condo fees, and listing into the fall market

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open: Nick has never eaten an Italian sub 13:38 How to actually grill wings, low and slow 28:00 Deal flow: a real Euro August slowdown 30:16 The $25,000 re-trade after a clean inspection 35:33 Two adjacent Chelsea four-families and the tear-down math 41:34 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: 15 percent reserves, no more limited review 46:05 A condo questionnaire denied the loan, then two phone calls fixed it 50:37 Why the agent has to be the mouthpiece or get cut out 55:53 The 6D certificate, super liens, and estoppel 59:39 Clean 6D versus dirty 6D at the closing table 66:25 Commission statements, net versus gross, and the CD nobody reads 71:41 Insurance carriers auditing roofs by drone 73:57 A live seller call, on air, from Kentucky 87:50 Speed to lead and tracked phone numbers 90:50 Overrated or underrated, Labor Day edition 98:22 Condo due diligence before you write the offer 100:38 Listing after Labor Day and the fall market 102:08 Over/under: trucks getting Storrowed on September 1

Seth Williams runs Reference Real Estate out of East Boston, a team of 14 agents on pace for over 200 sales this year. Buying or selling anywhere from Winthrop to the South Shore, start at sellinboston.com. Nick Nardone is a Massachusetts real estate and condo attorney who spends his week closing deals and untangling other people's paperwork.

Bad Deals Only is made for entertainment. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by listening. Talk to your own attorney and lender about your specific deal. Explicit language throughout.