Six condominium units on Littleton Road have sat unoccupied since they were built in 2010, but a new developer says that with a price reduction and marketing push, the condos will sell.
That new developer is John Burns. Through his Hopkinton-based company Black Brook Realty, Burns took over the development from the North Andover-based Massachusetts Housing Opportunities Corporation. Last week, Burns and Linda Early, of Coco, Early & Associates, which started marketing the property about a month ago, showed the Press around the model condo.
Under the new ownership, the cost for the condos is about $100,000 lower than it was with the former developer, Burns said.
“Essentially what happened is when we agreed to buy these, we bought them at a price that allowed us to offer them to buyers at today’s prices,” he said.
Depending on size and layout, the market-rate condos range in price from $299,900 to $349,900. Two of the six are being sold as part of the state’s 40B Local Initiative Program. Those are restricted to buyers who meet certain income guidelines: no more than $45,000 per year for one person, $52,000 for two people, $58,500 for three people, and so on. Although roughly the same size as the other four condos, the 40B units cost $173,000.
As a result of the lower prices, Early said, there’s been “interest and activity” in the homes.
“I think time will tell us if we’re still priced correctly, but we’re very encouraged by the activity that we’ve had, and I think it’s just a matter of time before we sell these units,” she said.
Perched on a hillside at 15 Littleton Road, the six units are part of a planned larger complex of 12 townhomes called Harvard Commons. Burns said he wants to market and sell the existing units before moving on to complete the other six.
Each unit has two bedrooms. Most of them feature the master bedroom on the first floor and the second bedroom upstairs. A large part of the upper floor is an open loft area that overlooks the living room below.
“It could be anything,” Early said of the loft area. “It could be a study. It could be an activity area with kids…It could be whatever you want, whatever your needs are.”
Downstairs features a kitchen with granite counter tops and a living room with a gas fireplace. Hardwood floors are throughout. All the condos have a one-car garage except the one currently being shown as a model, which has a two-car garage.
“The nicest thing about this is each unit is totally different. They have their own designs,” Early said. “What we’re finding people are liking about them is they come in and say, ‘Oh my god. They’re all different.’ And it’s hard to find that in a condominium complex.”
At the weekend open houses her firm has been hosting, Early said, visitors have represented a wide range of demographics.
“We’ve seen 50-ish range people actually looking on behalf of a parent. We’ve seen the young divorcee that has maybe one or two children, definitely looking to take advantage of the Harvard school system. We’ve seen single people coming through,” she said. “So it definitely runs the gamut.”
They’re finding that most prospective buyers don’t already live in Harvard and are looking to move to town for its top-ranked public school system or for the small-town atmosphere, Burns and Early said, and so that’s where they’re focusing their marketing efforts. The easy access to state highways is also a draw for commuters, Burns said.
“You can get in the car right now or tomorrow morning or whenever and be at 495 in the same certain amount of time,” he said. “It might take you five minutes on a Sunday morning and five minutes on a Monday morning.”
The open houses so far have been well attended, Early said, about 20 people in three weekends.
“We’ve had three second showings and we’ve had one third showing, which, to me, is interest,” she said.
The developer attributes that interest to the marketing push and, especially, the lower price.
“In my opinion, there has never been more reasonably priced property in Harvard,” Burns said. “We were able to acquire this at a good price and pass it on to buyers at a good price.”
Early said part of her marketing plan is to publicize the condos online. The website is www.harvardcommontownhomes.com, she said.
