Kendall Square: a Perfect Place to Buy or Sell a Home
Kendall Square is another square in Cambridge that is extremely desirable. There is high demand in this area for a few reasons. First, it's mere minutes to the MIT campus. Next, throughout Kendall Square is a biotech hub and so it makes for a highly desirable place for buyers and renters. The result is sky high rents particularly for the newer luxury buildings and condos and also very high numbers for single families and larger condos. There are quite a few older multi-families on the outskirts of Kendall Square that are actually a bit more affordable compared to some other parts of Cambridge.
What is your specific real estate need in Kendall Square?
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Selling a Single Family in Kendall Square · Selling a Condo in Kendall Square · Selling a Multi-Family in Kendall Square · Selling a Development Opportunity in Kendall Square
Buying a Single Family in Kendall Square · Buying a Condo in Kendall Square · Buying a Multi-Family in Kendall Square · Buying a Development Opportunity in Kendall Square
Selling a Single Family in Kendall Square
If you’re thinking of selling your single family in Kendall Square there are a few things you should know. The first piece is good news - single families are quite rare, in fact as of 12/10/2025 only three single families sold on-market in 2025.
Because there is so little inventory, generally single families in good condition go very quickly in Kendall Square. At the same time, there are a number of steps in my opinion you must take to ensure your home sells for the highest price, in the least amount of time and with the best terms:
First you need to determine what sort of preparation is required to make your single family home as valuable as possible in the eyes of a potential buyer. Kendall Square tends to attract a lot of young professional couples and young professional families - so making updates to the property geared towards that demographic often has the biggest return. I work with each seller to ensure that we make the updates that will have the greatest return on investment and yield the most buyer interest, which ultimately translates to the most offers and highest prices with the best terms
The next thing you need to do is seriously consider staging. Most single families are occupied and so it’s not always possible to stage a home. If at all possible, I highly recommend we stage the property in most scenarios because excellent staging can be the difference between getting a great sold price quickly or a property sitting for many months. If you aren’t able to stage the property, I will work with you to figure out best to declutter and rearrange the existing space to maximize the potential in the eyes of prospective buyers
From there we need to properly price your home - I believe it’s important to make pricing decisions very close to the listing date but it’s a good idea to have a good sense of where your property will land before we get started. So I typically will run an initial analysis on the value of your single family and then go back and run the process again close to the listing date.
If you are thinking of selling your single family home in Kendall Square, give me a ring and we can hop on a call to have an initial consultation. My cell is 617-833-7457!
Selling a Condo in Kendall Square
If you are thinking of selling your condo in Kendall Square, there’s a few things you should know. In general, condos in Kendall Square can take a bit longer to sell than in other parts of Cambridge. As of 12/11/2025, the average days on market for Kendall Square condos was 60 days - so two full months before an offer was accepted.
But it really depends - I find the large luxury condo buildings like The Esplanade located at 75-83 Cambridge Parkway and the River Court Condominiums located at 10 Rogers St tend to take longer for units to sell. There are multiple reasons why:
First, units in these buildings tend to be expensive. For example 2-beds at The Esplanade sold for between $1.7M and $2.3M in 2025. High-end units tend to have a smaller buyer pool and as a result they days on market tends to be higher.
Second, luxury buildings tend to have a lot of amenities. With a lot of amenities, comes high monthly HOA fee - you could easily spend $1,000 - $2,500/month please in fees. These high fees will push some buyers out of the market, which again results in a longer days on market before your property is sold
On the flip side, I do find that units in smaller buildings (two or three families or even 6 to 12 unit buildings) tend to sell faster in this part of Cambridge. And at the end of the day the most important piece in how quickly your units sell as well as how you ensure the highest price possible comes down to preparation of the property, staging, correct market pricing, marketing and negotiation - so I focus virtually all my energy as a seller’s agent on these key points.
Below is an example of a condo I sold in Kendall Square at 339-341 Hurley Street, Unit 5 in Cambridge. This was a small 1-bed apartment. It very well may have sat for a few months, but because we properly prepared the property with low-cost updates, then went ahead and staged it and priced it right we received an accepted offer in just one weekend of open houses! It ended up selling for $595k, that is $23,000 over asking price and it was an all cash offer with no contingencies.
If you are thinking of selling your Kendall Square condo, give me a call anytime at 617-833-7457!
Recent condos that I helped clients sell in Kendall Square:
339-341 Hurley St, Unit 5: My seller client was working with his parents to sell their long owned condo in East Cambridge. They were hoping for a smooth sale, strong sales price with easy to work with terms. We got an over asking, no contingency, cash offer in one weekend. I attribute the quick and high sales price to strong preparation and excellent staging geared towards the likely demographic - young professional owner occupant. When you market right, you can get outstanding results like this in record time!
229 Hurley St, Unit 1: While most of the time I recommend to my condo seller clients to do significant preparation and staging, this was a unique scenario where the renter took excellent care of the unit. We were able to position this property as a turnkey investment purchase with the option to buy as an owner occupant as well (by timing the sale correctly). Ultimately we had over a half dozen offers on this one and it sold for over $100k over asking. A great outcome for my seller clients!
Selling a Multi-Family in Kendall Square
If you are thinking of selling your multi-family property in Kendall Square, the first thing you should know is Kendall Square multi-families tend to take a bit longer to sell. Even though not that many of them come up, the demand for multi-families in Kendall Square tends to be a bit lower than some other parts of Cambridge like Central Square, Cambridgeport or Harvard Square.
As a result, it’s that much more important to ensure you are doing everything you can to properly prepare the property. Below are a few things you must consider before listing in my opinion:
Should you list the units vacant or occupied?
If the property can be vacant, what work should you do to prepare the multi-family for sale?
Is there a world where it make sense to update the units, rent them out at market rate and then list the property with all units occupied?
When should you time the sale to attract as many investors as possible?
How do you communicate showings to your current tenants if one or multiple units are vacant?
How do you communicate that you are selling to your current tenants?
These are just a few things that I run through in my mind when advising clients on preparing their multi-family for sale in Kendall Square to ensure we are maximizing resale value and terms. If you are thinking of selling your multi-family in Kendall Square but do not know where to start, give me a call at 617-833-7457!
Selling a Development Opportunity in Kendall Square
Kendall Square is often an area of investor interest for gut renovation condo opportunities. Why? One of the main reasons is the purchase price for multi-families in this part of Cambridge are often lower compared to some other neighborhoods in Cambridge.
At the same time, condo sales prices are often fairly strong compared to many areas in Cambridge. In other words, the numbers can often work in the Kendall Square area of Cambridge when it comes to developments. If you are a developer there’s a good chance you already know this!
If you are looking to purchase a potential development opportunity in Kendall Square, whether a small condo flip or a large 10-30+ unit development, let me help leverage the many, many hundreds of landlords I know in Cambridge to help find the right project for you. Just call me at 617-833-7457!
Buying a Single Family in Kendall Square
If you are looking to buy a single family home close to Kendall Square, the first thing you should know is do not expect a ton of options. In fact, as of this writing (12/10/2025), there were just 3 single families that sold within a ½ mile of Kendall Square in all of 2025.
They ranged on the low end of $1.4M (for a small 2 bed 2 bath 1,300 sq ft attached home) to $2.79M for a larger 4 bed 3.5 bath attached single family with 3,117 sq ft of which 2,225 sq ft was above grade.
In fact, you will find that all 3 single families that sold in Kendall Square in 2025 were either attached or right on top of each other. In general, that’s what you’ll find for most single families in Kendall Square.
In terms of budget, for most single family buyers I work with who are looking for 3+ beds, expect to pay $1.8M or more for a single family in this part of Cambridge and expect that it could take 6 to 12 months to find a home that could work for you.
For this sort of purchase, you may want to consider looking for off-markets where a developer is actively working on the property before you purchase. I helped a client buy an off-market through a developer which was located at 141 5th Street in Cambridge. Given the slim on-market pickings for single families close to Kendall Square, this can be a great route to go if you know what you’re doing.
The advantages of buying off-market in that scenario were quite a few:
There was no competition, meaning no bidding wars - we negotiated a price that worked for my clients without over paying
We were able to get the property inspected before everything was closed up. Often times during inspections, inspectors can’t get access to plumbing, electrical or heating - not so when you inspect a property while it is being gut renovated
We were able to choose the finishes in the bathrooms and kitchens, plus small details like door knobs and security systems - being able to choose how you want your home to look is awesome and not something most buyers get to experience
So if you are thinking of buying a home in Kendall Square, but aren’t quite sure where to start in the process, give me a call to discuss at 617-833-7457!
Recent single-families that I helped clients buy in Kendall Square:
141 5th St, Cambridge: My client was looking in a very narrow neighborhood within East Cambridge. We worked together to identify this property that was in the process of being gut renovated. We were able to make contact with the developer directly and put in an offer with zero competition. In addition, we were able to make multiple selections in terms of interior finishes to the unit as the unit was being finished. In the end my clients ended with a great purchase price, no competition and tons of customization.
10 Michael Way, Cambridge: My client was a professor at a local university that was looking for a detached single family home in Cambridge under $1.5M. They wanted enough space for themselves, their child, plus guests. They wanted an outdoor space. And they needed to be on a quiet street close to where they worked. On the surface this task seemed really tricky, but we were able to find this gem and after purchase my client did substantial work on their home. The result is a beautifully renovated single family home in Cambridge for well under $1.5M!
Buying a Condo in Kendall Square
If you are looking to buy a condo in Kendall Square, I have some good news for you - you have OPTIONS! In fact, as of this writing (12/10/2025), there were 43 condos that sold in all of 2025 within ½ mile of Kendall Square. Here are a few numbers to give you a rough sense of what to expect to pay:
For a 1-bed condo close to Kendall Square, it will depend on if you are looking at the more luxury buildings or a smaller, older building. Older buildings generally will go for $500k to $700k in my experience. A 1-bed condo close to Kendall Square in a luxury building, expect to pay $750k to $900k. When I say “luxury building” I am talking about buildings like The Esplanade located at 75-83 Cambridge Parkway, the River Court Condominiums located at 10 Rogers St or Thomas Graves Landing located at 6 Canal Park.
For a 2-bed condo close to Kendall Square, they can start at around $800k for a smaller updated unit in a small building and they really go up from there. For example, if you want to be in The Esplanade located at 75-83 Cambridge Parkway, you can spend between $1.7M to $2.3M+ for a 2-bed! A key thing to consider here is do you need the luxury building with all the amenities that come with it or are you OK in a smaller/more dated building without all the bells and whistles. If you are OK without the amenities, you can often spend half the money you would otherwise. This is a personal decision but it will help you very quickly hone in on your budget and buildings that will make sense for you!
And finally for 3-bed condos close to Kendall Square, I would plan a budget of at least $1.2M and again, if you want a luxury building you can easily spend $1.8M to $3M or so at the high part of the range here.
I recently helped a first time home buyer purchase a condo in Kendall Square at 121 Sciarappa St, Unit 1. This was a 1-bed/1-bath with just under 800 square feet of living space, plus garage parking, central AC, washer/dryer in-unit and beautifully updated kitchen. She purchased this condo with my help for $750k, just $10k over asking price and it’s an awesome place for an owner occupant! In the future she could sell it and likely make a nice return or hold onto it and convert it into an investment property with strong rental returns.
If you are thinking of buying a condo in Kendall Square but don’t know where to begin, give me a ring and I am happy to talk through with you - my cell is 617-833-7457!
Recent condo that I helped a client buy in Kendall Square:
121 Sciarappa St, Unit 1: My client was a young professional renting a studio and hoping to upgrade to their first condo in Cambridge. They needed a small office nook, a nice kitchen and off-street parking. We got all 3 plus a really nice shared backdoor area and an excellent price given the condition and amenities.
Buying a Multi-Family in Kendall Square
If you are looking to buy a multi-family in Kendall Square, the first thing you should know is that not a ton of options come up. In fact, as of 12/10/2025, only 2 multi-families sold within ½ mile of Kendall Square in 2025.
Many multi-families around Kendall Square are attached or very close to each other - it’s a feature of this section of Cambridge, so you should be aware of that. I find that multi-family prices close to Kendall Square are often on the lower end when it comes to multi-family prices in all of Cambridge. I also find that most multi-families around here are early 1900 builds and the units tend to have low ceilings, smaller bedrooms and many are not super updated…so just be aware that this is what is typical for this section of Cambridge.
I often see a typical 3-family in so-so condition selling in the $1.2M to $1.5M range in this part of Cambridge. More updated or larger multi-families can sell between $1.5M to $2M+.
This area in Cambridge is a double edge sword for investors. On one end, you will see some of the lower price points, highest cap rates, and best cash flow numbers in all of Cambridge. That’s the good news. On the other end, these units can take longer to rent as this area of Cambridge is less in demand compared to places like Central Square, Harvard Square, or Cambridgeport. So it’s important you build in a higher vacancy rate compared to some other areas in Cambridge.
Also, because demand tends to be lower in this part of Cambridge, expect lower rent prices compared to some other neighborhoods in Cambridge. The mistake I see a lot of buyers make is their rental numbers are reflecting OTHER neighborhoods in Cambridge and not reflective of the actual numbers for the Kendall Square neighborhood.
If you want to buy a multi-family in the Kendall Square area, give me a call and we can talk in more details about your goals and budgets and finding the right option for you - my cell is 617-833-7457!
Buying a Development Opportunity in Kendall Square
If you look on MLS, you won’t see any development opportunities in Kendall Square in all of 2025. The reality is, many development opportunities happen offline. If you are a developer - whether season or new to the game, and are interested in a flip or larger development, your best bet is via off-market listings.
I have a strong off-market network, both through other agents, property managers and of course the many hundreds of landlords I know throughout Cambridge, including Kendall Square.
If you share more about what you are looking for in a development, I can keep you on my radar and advise you on the pluses and minuses of particular deals as they come to me. If you’d like to learn more, give me a call at 617-833-7457!
Read more about the selling and buying services that I can provide here:
Above are samples of properties I’ve helped clients sell or buy. Read more about my past work here.
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