Boston Realty Advisors is pleased to announce that the firm has been retained to sell the remaining units at the Macallen.

The Macallen Building at 141 Dorchester Ave. at the edge of Seaport, bordering the South End and South Boston, achieved a LEED Gold certification for its sustainable design and a Top 10 award from the American Institute of Architects’Committee on the Environment last year.

Completed after Pappas Properties redeveloped the adjacent old brick Court Square Press Building, which has 132 condos, the Macallen is a 14-story mixed-use complex with 140 residences, plus four retail spaces on the street level.

Between the two buildings, about 80 percent of the condos have been sold, said Rob Cohen, President of Residential Real Estate at Boston Realty Advisors, who is marketing the condos at the Macallen.

These condos appeal to a wide range of demographics, said Cohen, and the area has undergone a major transformation during the past few years with the construction of other residential complexes. More business people are in the neighborhood as well with this month’s relocation of P & G Gillette’s headquarters from the Prudential Tower to Gillette Park nearby.

The Macallen offers value too. Sale prices include one year of condo fees and a deeded parking space in the garage. For those units that sell for more than $1 million, two deeded spaces are included.

Read more about the Macallen and the specific units here.

The Residences at Charles Square in the heart of historic Harvard Square… Offering sweeping views of the Charles River and Harvard University Grounds, this established full service building offers 24 hour concierge, professional management and an exceptional location. Sharing it’s infrastructure with the world famous Charles Hotel, residents enjoy the close proximity to JFK Park, Regattabar offering live music, reputable restaurants including Henrietta's & Rialto, Hotel services, Spa offerings, a health club and garage parking on site.

Search all Boston Luxury buildings here.

Will it be love at first sight? The desirability of a home should be emotional and immediate. Yes, many home buyers will come with a checklist of their practical needs including square footage required, number of bedrooms, bathrooms and so forth. But in their hearts, they are also secretly hoping to fall in love with a home. They will be looking for that “oh, wow” moment even before they walk through the front door.

This is the reason it is so important to show your home at its most attractive. The appeal of a place can be as important as its functionality. It should be fresh and engaging. It should draw people in. “Staging” your home refers to the act of improving your home’s appearance and enhancing its ambience in an immediately positive way in order to appeal to the widest segment of potential buyers. Your goal is to sell it quickly at a fair price.

Did you know that a survey by a large national real estate brokerage firm showed that staged homes sell in half the time? Another survey of realtors showed that a $500 staging investment recouped 343 percent of that cost.

Staging is especially important in a slower market. Recently I had three identical units for sale (numbers 3, 4 and 5) in a Beacon Street building. Number 4 was the only one that was staged, and it sold first.

Read more here.

By Paul Santucci, BostonLofts.com

Wondering where the motivated sellers are in the Boston condo market?

Check the luxury high-rises and you’ll see slow sales giving developers and owners a wake-up call. According the Listing Information Network (LINK), the first 10 months of 2009 saw 206 condos sales above $1 million in Boston. That same time period in ’08 saw 408 sales.

Boston has also recently been introduced to three new luxury high-rise condo buildings – The W Hotel, 45 Province, and the Clarendon. All of these offer white-gloved service and immensely luxurious living, however, the sales at all three buildings are slow. The total available units for all three buildings give the buyers hunting in this market about 350 to choose from. Most of the action for units in this price range was seen at the recent auction at Bryant on Columbus, where 3 bed condos were sold at dramatically lower prices – as much as 41% off the listing price.

Where does that leave the buyer looking for luxury condos in Boston? In a position to choose from a fantastic array of options.