An interesting and informative workshop on "Insulating Your Older Home" will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2008 from 1 to 4 pm at the Newton History Museum at  the Jackson Homestead, 527 Washington St., Newton, MA.  The workshop will be presented by the Green Decade Coalition and the Newton Historical Society.  Admission is $30 or $15 for Newton Historical Society or Green Decade members.  You can registed at www.greendecade.org/events.  For more info you can call 617-965-1995 or e-mail info@greendecade.org.Insulating your home properly is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to minimize your energy waste and maximize your energy dollars. And despite what you may have heard, it is possible to weatherize your older home without compromising its historical character. This wo... 01/30/2008

The city of Newton, MA has a First Time Homebuyer Program  and a Newton Connection Homebuyer Program that offer up to $115,000 toward the purchase of a home.  The programs are open to applicants who live or work in Newton or have children in school in Newton.  The family income cannot exceed federal income limits.  For example,  a household of four people cannot have more than $66,150 grosss income.  Applicants can select the home of their choice in Newton and then may receive up to $115,000 to buy down the price of the property.  Homebuyers make no payment on the funding assistance.  Homebuyers must execute a deed restriction that limits the amount of appreciation that may be earned upon resale. Go to city of Newton site for information on these programs.                               ... 01/24/2008

A training course for landlords and property managers on Fair Housing Basics will be held from 9:30 am to 12 noon on Wednesday, January 30, 2008.  It will be held in Room 202 at Newton (MA) City Hall at 1000 Commonwealth Ave.  The curriculum of the course is as follows:Applicable laws: protected classes, exemptions, prohibited actsLandlord rightsBest business practicesConsequences of housing discriminationSpecial topics: the lead paint law, disability and Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers                                               The course will be conducted by the Fair Housing Center of Boston.                                                                      GO SEE MY WE SITE - www.georgekoppel.com  01/17/2008

Newton, MA is not only a great place to live, it is a safe place to live. Every year Morgan Quinto Press, an independent research publisher, located in Lawrence, Kansas, publishes a list of the 100 safest and 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S.  They look at 371 cities.  For the last five years, Newton, Massachusetts has been in the top 25 safest cities in the U.S.  For 2007 they rank as the 4th safest city in the U.S., up from being the 13th safest city in 2006.  In 2004 and 2005, Newton was ranked as the Safest City in the U.S.  Newton was ranked as the 8th safest city in the U.S. in 2003. For a list of 2007's 25 Safest & 25 Most Dangerous Cites go to infoplease.com. It great to be in Newton. See my previous blog - Newton, MA A Great City To Live In.                                 ... 11/20/2007

Newton Corner is one of the thirteen villages of the City of Newton, Massachusetts.  Newton Corner straddles the Massachusetts Turnpike. Like all the villages in Newton, the boundaries of Newton Corner are not well defined, but for a map of its approximate boundaries click here. Newton Corner has a shopping area at Centre Street and Washington Street. Also, at Centre St. and Washington St. you can get express buses to both downtown Boston and the Copey area of Boston.There are two elementary schools in Newton Corner: Lincoln-Eliot and Underwood.  Also, Newton Corner is the location of Bigelow Middle School, one of the four middle schools in Newton. Newton Corner is the home to the Jackson Homestead, the City Museum of Newton. 11/18/2007

Waban is one of the thirteen villages of the City of Newton, Massachusetts. Like all the villages in Newton, Waban does not have exactly defined boundaries, but it is roughly equivalents to Zip Code 02468. Waban was named for Waban, the first Massachusetts Indian converted to Christianity, in 1646.  The area around the present village of Waban was his favorite hunting ground.Waban has two elementary schools - Angier and Zervas.  Waban has a small village center/shopping area at the intersection of Beacon St. and Windsor Rd.  The village center has a branch of the Newton Free Library and an MBTA commuter line station.  Also, a very good deli, Barry's Village Deli is located in the village center on Windsor Rd. 11/06/2007

The 3rd Annual Newton Art & Craft Show will be held at the Newton Cultural Center on Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9.  The Newton Cultural Center is located at 225 Nevada Street in the village of Newtonville.  The show will be open from 10 am to 5 pm of December 8 and from 11 am to 4 pm of December 9.  I attended this show last year.  It is a small show, but the quality of arts and crafts was excellent. The admission fee is $5 and children under 12 are free.  You can obtain information on the show by calling 617-796-1540 or 617-527-8283 or at the web site www.ci.newton.ma.us/parks.                                                                  GO SEE MY WEB SITE - www.georgekoppel.com  10/29/2007

The Newton Open Studios Fall Art Show & Sale will take place on November 10 & 11 from 11 am to 5 pm at the Newton Cultural Center.  The Newton Cultural Center is located at 225 Nevada Street, off of Watertown St.  The admission is $3.00 or $8.00 for a family. Art includes, paintings, photography, jewelry, mixed media, prints, ceramics, collage, pastels, sculture, glass, etc. You can obtain info at NewtonOpenStudios.com. 10/26/2007

I just took a look at the MLS statistics for the last three months (7/23/07 to 10/23/07) compared to the same three months last year (7/23/06 to 10/23/06) for single family, condos and multi-family homes sold.  Here they are:                                                        Last 3 Months                             Same 3 Months Last Year                                                        (7/23/07-10/23/07)                     (7/23/06-10/23/06)                          Total Sold                       280                                                246                          Avg. Days on Market          80                                                 104                             Avg. Sale Price                828.764                                      797.994    ... 10/23/2007

The following are various craft fairs and other fairs in Newton and surrounding towns during the next month:10/26 to 10/27 - Night of the Funk @ Return of the Belgian Beer Fest! Boston, Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, Boston, MA 0245510/27 - Archangels1 Craft Fair 2007, Hellenic Cultural Center, 25 Bigelow Ave., Watertown, MA 0247210/28 - Colors of Autumn, Art & Jewelry Fair, 1845 Commonwealth Ave., Temple b'ney Moshe, Brighton, MA 0213510/28 - Sunday Brunch - The Return of the Belgian Beer Fest!, The Publick House, Brookline, MA 0244711/2 to 11/4 - Christmas Craft Fesitval, Seaport World Trade Center, South Boston, MA11/3 to 11/4 - Sacred Heart Parish Holiday Boutique, 311 River Street, Waltham, MA 0245311/10 - Brookline Market Place Craft Fair, The Park School, 171 Goddard Ave., ... 10/21/2007

From the first Tuesday after July 4 to the last Friday in October there are two farmers markets in Newton:                                              Every Tuesday:  At Cold Spring Park on Beacon Street from 1:30 PM to 6 PM                                              Every Friday: At American Legion Post 440, 295 California St. in Nonantum from !:30                                                                  PM to 6 PM.These markets go on rain or shine.  I have been to the market at Cold Spring Park several times and it is great.                                                     GO SEE MY WEB SITE - www.georgekoppel.com  10/21/2007

Newton is a great place to live.  I have lived in Newton for 28 years.  It has a great school system and has many great amenities.  It is served by excellent transportation, includiing the MBTA green line, commuter rail and many buses. The buses include express buses to Newton Corner to downtown Boston.  It is also adjacent to I-95/Route 128 and the Mass Turnpike.  Newton has great parks, great shopping and many excellent restaurants.  During spring, summer and fall there are two farmers markets in Newton.The City of Newton is a rsidential suburb of Boston.  It is abutted by Boston (the Brighton and West Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston), Brookline, Watertown, Needham, Waltham, Weston and Wellesley.  The population of Newton is almost 84,000 (according to the 2000 census).  It is the tee... 10/21/2007

I am writing this blog only because there is a Active Rain Blogger who despite being told that he is being overly negative, and posting things about other companies as the subject of his blogs. This Blog is based on a artical first published in RISmedia, I know I have writen Blog posts in the past that lampooned RISmedia, but in any event they are putting up facts in a usable format and the artical is really not that bad.  Here is a link to the artical if anyone wants to read it rather then what I am going to excerpt from it in this Blog post.  http://www.rismedia.com/wp/2007-03-30/who-is-leading-the-race-for-best-real-estate-brand/ Swanepoel Trends Report 2007: TOP 5 Established Real Estate Franchise Brands1. Coldwell Banker2. RE/MAX3. Century 214. Prudential5. Keller Williams Although... 07/16/2007