not saying the dept of education is a liar, or that the information is incorrect.....i'm pretty sure in fact, that college grads do generally make more money....however, i wouldn't trust the dept of education--who makes money off of education-- to give stats...there's a little bias there...that's just like the whole scheme of the real estate assocations convincing the world that owner occupied homes is their biggest financial investment, as jon loves to point out

@Eric Hathway, A friend of mine, Kim Quirk, has a business in Enfield, NH called the Energy Emporium www.energyemp.com.

My point was your friend was incorrect on pricing(I can get matter port pics cheaper than that), and your original post mentioned making a business out of it.

I guess it's a gut feeling and probably incorrect, but the Somerville/Cambridge/Medford market must be somewhat cyclical, right? 

If the house has been on the market longer than the average, it's most likely because it is priced incorrectly.   

I know each commercial sale has its own quirks and many brokers have a list of clients that they aren't able to market locally, or at all, so they rely on face to face to get business done

The bank REO depts are not equipped to handle 1 and 4 properties at a time, and seek a very quick way to move "size".Do not undersestimate that this title and settlement process varies from state to state, and county to county and, if incorrectly managed, is very time consuming, costly and could put any investment in jeopardy.

In my experience (at least how I use it), "substantial completion" generally means that everything is done, but it reserves the right of the client (you) to ask for additional fixes or repairs should you find out that something was missed, something was done incorrectly, etc.

I challenged on of my rental properties in Baltimore City and they didn't move it a penny even though they incorrectly has it listed as a 2 bedroom when it was a 1 bedroom. 

This is incorrect.