real estate - Marblehead Current

Local brokers: Effect of NAR proposed settlement has been overstated

3Apr

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

Local brokers: Effect of NAR proposed settlement has been overstated

The proposed settlement of litigation against the National Association of Realtors has been portrayed as a sea change and a huge win for homebuyers, but members of the local real estate industry are not so sure. Technically, the proposed settlement eliminates the requirement that listing brokers or sellers make offers of compensation to buyer brokers. If such offers are made, there will no longer be any requirement that they be “blanket, unconditional or unilateral,” according to the language of the settlement. But local real estate professionals do not expect such offers to disappear — or even change in any material way. If the settlement is approved, offers of compensation for buyer brokers or representatives would also disappear from the industry database known as the Multiple...

Petition opposing MBTA zoning proposal surfaces

28Mar

By Will DowdNo Comments

Beacon Hill, Local News, Municipal Matters, Politics, real estate, Top Stories, Town Meeting, Uncategorized

Petition opposing MBTA zoning proposal surfaces

EDITOR'S NOTE: In the article "Petition opposing MBTA zoning proposal surfaces," there were two inaccuracies regarding the proposed overlay district in Marblehead. First, the correct maximum building height is 35 feet, even for multi-family buildings. Second, the correct minimum lot area per dwelling unit in the three proposed districts (Broughton Rd, Pleasant Street, and Tioga Way) would range from 2,200 to 2,500 square feet. The Marblehead Current regrets the error. A Marblehead man has initiated an online effort to challenge the town’s proposal related to the MBTA zoning, arguing that the state-mandated measure could detrimentally alter the town’s character and overburden its infrastructure. John DiPiano started the Change.org petition specifically targeting the 2024 Town Meeti...

MUNICIPAL MATTERS: Assessor placed on paid leave; audit of valuation process underway

26Mar

By Will DowdNo Comments

Local News, Municipal Matters, real estate, Top Stories

MUNICIPAL MATTERS: Assessor placed on paid leave; audit of valuation process underway

The Board of Assessors has placed the town’s chief assessor, Karen Bertolino, on paid administrative leave while an independent firm hired by the board audits Marblehead’s property valuation process, Chair John Kelley told the Marblehead Current on Thursday. The move comes amid concerns from residents over the equity of recent property revaluations and significant hikes in their property tax bills. The Mary Alley Municipal Building houses the town assessor’s office, which will be undergoing an independent audit of its property valuation process. CURRENT PHOTO / WILL DOWD In a phone interview, Kelley said Bertolino will be on leave so as to ensure the independence of the audit and to allow the firm to conduct its review without any potential influence. “If we have someone comin...

Property tax bills, abatement requests due Feb. 1 amid assessment controversy

31Jan

By Andrew OliverNo Comments

Local News, Municipal Matters, real estate, Top Stories

Property tax bills, abatement requests due Feb. 1 amid assessment controversy

The deadline to apply for a property assessment abatement is Thursday, Feb. 1. Realtor, market analyst and referral specialist Andrew Oliver posed several questions to Assessor Karen Bertolino. See her responses below. Q. How is my property assessed each year? All property is valued every year and is based on calendar year market sales in Marblehead. Fiscal year 2024 began July 1, 2023, and is based on what existed January 1, 2023, so the preceding calendar year 2022 primarily is used for the basis of valuations. Assessed values are based on fair market value using “arm’s length sales” in 2022. Our analysis does not use any foreclosures, short sales, family, estate or private sales. Components of an arm’s length transaction are a willing buyer and seller who are: unrelated, ac...

Select Board, Kezer lambasted over tax bills, property reassessments

25Jan

By Will DowdNo Comments

Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Municipal Matters, real estate, Top Stories

Select Board, Kezer lambasted over tax bills, property reassessments

Tempers flared near the end of the State of the Town address Wednesday night as residents angrily interrogated the Select Board and Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer about recent spikes in property tax assessments they called exorbitant and unjustified. Marblehead residents hit the Select Board and Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer with a barrage of questions about property assesments and tax bills. COURTESY PHOTO / ROBERT PECK The back and forth came after Kezer delivered a presentation spotlighting a slate of fiscal initiatives and the town’s broader financial picture. But a public comment period exposed mounting taxpayer distrust and resentment over increased tax bills. Local residents, like James Full, are angry that some assessments vastly exceed home values and set danger...

Voters to get their say on local meals, room taxes

17Jan

By Will Dowd and Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Business, Local News, Municipal Matters, real estate, Top Stories, Town Meeting

Voters to get their say on local meals, room taxes

Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer is proposing a meals and room tax in Marblehead and hopes Town Meeting voters will approve it this May. People staying at the Harborlight Inn could be hit with up to a 6% room tax. CURRENT PHOTO / LEIGH BLANDER Kezer discussed the new taxes at a recent Select Board meeting when he previewed several articles he has prepared for Town Meeting. Town departments have until Jan. 26 to submit articles for the Town Meeting warrant. Several of the plans are aimed at creating more income for the town to help close its structural deficit. Kezer is proposing a 0.75% meals tax and up to a 6% tax on rooms. Marblehead could also adopt a short-term rental community impact fee of 3%. “It would generate a really significant amount of revenue that would help ...

Marblehead homeowners stunned by ‘outrageous’ tax hikes

17Jan

By Will DowdNo Comments

Local News, Municipal Matters, real estate, Top Stories

Marblehead homeowners stunned by ‘outrageous’ tax hikes

When Brenda Kelley Kim opened the mail this month, her jaw dropped in disbelief. The town had increased her home's assessed value by 29% from $649,500 to $836,800 – adding nearly $200,000 overnight. Even with accounting the tax rate decreasing from $10 in Fiscal Year 2023 to $8.96 in Fiscal Year 2024, her taxes shot up about 15 percent, the type of spike that Proposition 2 1/2 was designed to eliminate. Photo slugged taxes. CUTLINE: Marblehead resident Brenda Kelley Kim didn’t anticipate her home’s valuation to rise as much as it recently did. COURTESY PHOTO "I looked around my house going, 'Hey, where's the addition to justify this?'" said Kim. "Because this is crazy." Kim soon learned she was far from alone. As tax bills landed in mailboxes across town, a swarm of baffled homeo...

Local couple plans to knock down historic harbor-front home, upsetting residents

9Nov

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Local History, Local News, real estate, Top Stories

Local couple plans to knock down historic harbor-front home, upsetting residents

A Marblehead couple plans to demolish a historic house on the harbor and is asking the town for permission to build a larger one on the same lot. The request has prompted an outcry from some neighbors and residents around town. Holly and Jerome O’Neill purchased 84 Harbor Ave. (not far from the Eastern Yacht Club) in April 2023 for $3.65 million. They currently live on Orchard Street. New owners of 84 Harbor Ave. on the Neck plan to knock down the historic home and build a new one. COURTESY PHOTO / RICK DODGE At a Conservation Commission meeeting on Nov. 9, the O'Neills' land development engineer Scott Patrowicz explained that the new house and pool will be built farther from the shoreline and 50 feet away from the so-called buffer zone. He also spoke about landscaping plans. ...

BALANCING ACT: MBTA zoning mandate generates hopes and fears

3Nov

By Will DowdNo Comments

Local News, Municipal Matters, real estate, Top Stories

BALANCING ACT: MBTA zoning mandate generates hopes and fears

A public forum on Massachusetts' controversial housing zoning law gave the Marblehead Planning Board a sense of where residents stand on the charged issue. Marblehead residents huddle in small groups during Thursday's MBTA zoning meeting to discuss concerns and ideas regarding compliance with the state mandate. CURRENT PHOTO / WILLIAM J. DOWD Nearly 60 residents engaged in an information session and workshop to share their input on how the town can comply with the impending state mandate requiring denser multifamily housing. “No decisions have been made yet on where to put this district or districts," Town Planner Becky Cutting told residents. "We're still in the idea phase, soliciting input to develop something that will work for Marblehead." 'An incredible opportunity'...

At MBTA-zoning meeting, residents raise concerns over impacts to schools, traffic

1Nov

By Will DowdNo Comments

Local News, Municipal Matters, real estate, Top Stories

At MBTA-zoning meeting, residents raise concerns over impacts to schools, traffic

***Thursday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m.: The Planning Board holds its second public meeteing on the new zoning mandate. It will be held in-person at the Veterans School Performing Arts Center. More than 150 people Zoomed into a virtual public meeting Oct. 26 to discuss new state zoning requirements that mandate denser, multi-family housing. Marblehead is classified as an 'adjacent community' under the law since it borders two MBTA communities with train stations, Swampscott and Salem. COURTESY IMAGE / TOWN OF MARBLEHEAD The meeting, led by the Planning Board, aimed to gather community input on how best to comply with the law which requires MBTA communities to adopt zoning changes allowing multifamily housing by right in certain districts. Marblehead is classified as an "adjacent com...