Powder House Square: a Perfect Place to Buy or Sell a Home

This square in Somerville is walking distance to Davis Square, Ball Square, Porter Square and the Somerville Community Path cuts through much of this area within Somerville. This is a nice area because it provides access to both the Green and Red lines and if you are a walker, runner or biker, you have excellent access to the community path throughout this neighborhood. I also find this area to feel a little quieter compared to some other areas in Somerville but you are just a few minutes from the action in multiple directions - whether you are heading towards Davis, Ball, or Porter Squares. 

What is your specific real estate need in Powder House Square?

Selling a single family in Powder House Square

Powder House Square is actually a relatively large neighborhood and within it, there are multiple vibes. I find that depending where exactly you are in Powder House Square, you are going to attract different single family buyers. Closer to Lexington Park tends to skew heavy families, but other chunks that are further off the Community Path may skew more young professionals on a budget. 

You also need to factor in the condition and size of your house. A single family on its’ last legs is likely going to be marketed to a developer. A small house with 1,100 square foot layout may be sold to an individual or couple who is actually more focused on a condo purchase. 

You must know your demographics if you want to truly maximize your resale price! Give me a call and I can help talk all this through with you - my cell is 617-833-7457!

Selling a condo in Powder House Square

While some parts of Somerville have relatively narrow pricing bands when it comes to sold price, Powder House Square actually has a fairly stretchy range, particularly when it comes to the larger condos (think 3+ beds and 1,800+ sq ft). While I am a firm believer that great preparation can influence sales price for all properties, I think these larger condos in Powder House Square stands to make or lose six figures in additional sold price when properly prepared. 

So please, whatever you do, make sure you are working with someone who truly understands how to properly prepare your condo to deliver outsized returns on your updates! It’s an absolute must-do and it makes me sad when I see a seller unknowingly leave tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table! Call me to discuss how we can maximize your ROI at 617-833-7457!

Selling a multi-family in Powder House Square

I have helped multiple buyers purchase multi-families in the Powder House Square neighborhood of Somerville and the truth is, we are looking for sellers who don’t know how to properly prepare their home. Because that means the extra juice that you could have squeezed out of your property is left for my buyer client. Then we go in, do the work required and capture that extra value.

As a seller, I don’t want you to leave your property un-juiced! Let me help you squeeze every drop of value out of your property by properly preparing it for sale. Just give me a call and we can do a complete walkthrough of your multi-family and I will ensure you will land at a significantly higher price than you would have, had you left the property as-is. Give me a call when you’re ready at 617-833-7457!

Selling a development opportunity in Powder House Square

For most sellers in Powder House Square, you won’t have a development opportunity on your hands. But occasionally I’ll see a large lot (for this part of town, think 5,000 square feet at a bare minimum) or I’ll see a very large 2 or 3-family with 3,500 or more square feet. 

Neither of these items above guarantee you have a development opportunity on your hands, but it does mean there’s more digging worth doing. If you fall in either of the above buckets, just call me and we can sort out what could be possible. My cell is 617-833-7457.

Buying a single family in Powder House Square

If you are thinking of buying a single family home in the Powder House Square of Somerville, you are going to find a few buckets of pricing.

The first bucket tends to be - needs a serious overhaul and/or smaller house (most frequently 1,500 square feet or smaller). These tend to land in the $850k to $1M range. Expect to spend many hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the property truly updated and nice again. Sometimes as much as $500k+ if you really want to go all the way with these.

Next up, you’ll occasionally see the smaller and updated single families. I don’t see a ton of these, but they typical land somewhere around 1,500 square feet and typically have 3 beds and 1 or 2 bathrooms. These tend to land in the $1.4M to $1.6M range.

The final bucket are the updated, well-sized and nice Powder House Square single families. Most of these are 2,000 square feet and can go up to 3,000 square feet. They typically start around $1.7M in price and can go up into the low $2Ms. 

This part of town is great to own a single family, generally you can walk a few blocks and arrive at a park, a cafe, a few great restaurants and a grocery store. You’re also typically not too far away from the Somerville Community Path regardless of where you are in Powder House Square.

If you are considering a single family home purchase, give me a ring at 617-833-7457 and we can find the right buy for you!

Buying a condo in Powder House Square

There are quite a few different bucks when it comes to buying a condo in Powder House Square. First you have your studios, which tend to be around 400 square feet. These tend to go for $300k to $400k range.

Next you have your 1-beds which typically start at around $500k for investor grade varieties and can go up to mid $700s for really nice 1-beds with high square footage (think 750-850 square feet) and nice amenities like laundry in-unit, central a/c, off-street parking, updated kitchens and so on.

Two-beds typically starting around mid $600s for smaller versions with 1-beds and more investor grade finishes. Higher end 2-beds in Powder House Square can go up to upper $800s to lower $900s and at that point often have more like 1,000 to 1,100 square feet of living area with many updates throughout and often a second full or half bath. 

Three typically start around $1.1M and 4-beds typically start around $1.3M. But I have found there is quite a range here for the larger condos in Powder House Square. For example, extremely large condos that live like townhouses and have 2,400 to 3,000 square feet with high-end finishes can easily go for $1.6M to $2.2M+ range. 

So regardless of your budget, there’s a good chance we can find you some very solid Powder House Square options, it will just depend on how much you’re willing to stretch your budget. If you’d like to discuss your options in more detail, give me a ring at 617-833-7457!

Recent condo I helped a client buy in Powder House Square:

190 Morrison Ave, Unit 2: My client was looking for a condo blocks to Powder House Square that they could owner occupy. The challenge was finding something with 4 true bedrooms, a renovated kitchen, a quiet street, and prime proximity to Davis. After a long search we landed on this condo, which ended up being an excellent value both to owner occupy and to eventually rent out in future years.

Buying a multi-family in Powder House Square

When it comes to multi-families in Powder House Square, there are a number of price buckets to think through.

The first is 2-families most typically between 2,000 to 2,800 square feet. They tend to land in the $1M to $1.3M range. Generally the higher price points have larger square footage but likely will need some updating and the smaller ones tend to skewer lower price point with fewer updates required.

Your next bucket is a mix of 2-families and 3-families, typically landing in the $1.4M to $1.6M range. The 2-families at this price point in Powder House Square tend to be large, oftentimes 3,000+ square feet and typically in fairly good condition with more cosmetic updates required. The 3-familes tend to be on the smaller range in terms of 3-family square footage, think 2,800 to 3,200 square feet. 

The final bucket is almost exclusively 3-families with an occasional, once-in-a-blue-moon 4-family thrown in. These typically land in the $1.6M to $2M range and these tend to be what I consider large 3-families. Most typically 3,500 to 4,200 square feet of living area. So whereas the $1.4 to $1.6M multis here might have 4 or 5 beds, these properties often have 6 to 7 beds and oftentimes have layouts that allow you to expand that bed count up to 8+ bedrooms. 

Regardless of your budget, I can walk you through what a great multi-family purchase looks like in Powder House Square - just give me a ring at 617-833-7457.

Buying a development opportunity in Powder House Square

Generally I don’t see a ton of development plays in this part of town but if you’re looking for one in Powder House Square I would target either large  lots with 7,500+ square feet or I would target multi-families with at least 3,500 square feet of existing livable square footage. Anything less on either of these points and I would not spend too much energy running numbers…it’s just really hard to make the numbers work otherwise. 

I suppose once in a blue moon crazy deals come up, either on or off-market at a crazy price and in those scenarios you could consider a quick flip, but we are talking about a needle in a haystack and you may be looking at a multi-year wait.

Regardless, if you would like to talk about your development criteria, whether in Powder House Square or elsewhere, give me a ring at 617-833-7457!

Read more about the selling and buying services that I can provide here:

Sage's Selling Services
Sage's Buying Services

Above are samples of properties I’ve helped clients sell or buy. Read more about my past work here.

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