A Complete Guide to Finding the Best Apartments for Rent in Boston
Maybe you’re looking to move to the city proper from a nearby suburb. Maybe you’re looking at changing neighborhoods, moving out of student housing and living off-campus, or simply finding a new pad within Boston, one that better suits your needs. Or maybe you’re considering a move to The Hub, and wondering whether or not to make the jump? For the latter group, there’s one big question that needs answering before we go any further.
Should I Move to Boston?
It’s no stretch to say that Boston is one of the great American cities and a phenomenal place to live. Catch any Bostonian in the middle of a rant about whatever’s frustrating them today, and ask if they’d rather move somewhere else. The look of “are you kidding me?” says it all: Bostonians love their city, full stop.
5 Health Tips for Breastfeeding Moms
Breastfeeding your child can provide a long list of benefits compared to formula. It promotes healthy immune function while providing vital vitamins and nutrients to your growing baby. So just as it’s important to eat healthy during pregnancy, it’s just as important to do so during the postpartum phase if you’re breastfeeding. In addition to seeking support for breastfeeding moms, here are some tips to maintain optimal health that will benefit both you and your baby!
Up Your Caloric Intake
You’ll be amazed at how fast your metabolism works if you are breastfeeding. It’s recommended to add about 330-400 calories to your daily diet to support breastfeeding.
NYC vs. Boston - Housing Cost Comparison
Over the past decade, Boston has been rapidly ascending the list of most expensive places to live in the US. As the metro region has grown, real estate and rent prices have soared due to an ever-increasing demand for housing and a limited supply of apartments and property listings. In January, the Herald reported that Boston could soon surpass San Francisco as the second most expensive city behind New York City.
So it appears that we now have a new type of rivalry with the Big Apple: sky-high housing costs. But how high is the Boston cost of living compared to NYC? In this article, we’ll compare the two in terms of median sale prices, average rent, and median household income.
Tips for Maintaining Postpartum Mental Health
Baby blues are very real and actually quite common for new moms. The CDC estimates that 1 in 8 moms suffer from postpartum depression, which is a staggering figure. It’s important to know that feelings of depression are actually quite common during postpartum, and they are nothing to be ashamed of. Still, there are some tips you can use to promote healthy mental health after giving birth to your baby. In no order, here they are!
Give Yourself a Break
Caring for an infant can be exhausting. It is quite literally a full-time job during the first few months. It’s very important to take breaks and ensure you’re giving yourself plenty of time to decompress and recharge. Sleep deprivation is a hazard to your mental health, so you’ll need to take the necessary steps to make sure you’re not burning yourself out.
Boston’s Apartment Shortage Has Reached A Tipping Point
According to the most recent apartment data from Boston Pads, apartment occupancy in Boston is currently sitting at 99.29%. The current real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) for apartments in Boston is 0.71% with four months to go until it reaches its cyclical low point in late August. It’s only a matter of time until it surpasses its historic low set in August of 2019 (0.62%). It’s hard to believe this is happening, considering that RTVR hit an all-time high during the pandeic. Remote learning and remote work took its toll on rental demand, launching the vacancy rate to a record 9.12% in October of 2020.
Now coming out of the pandemic, apartment availability is lower than it’s ever been for this time of year. The current real-time availability rate (RTAR) of apartments for rent in Boston is 4.88%. Just a year ago in late March, that figure surpassed 13.53% in Boston for the first time in history. So in just 2 years, we’ve seen a red hot rental market go into a deep freeze, and then go right back into the pressure cooker.
Tips to Stay Healthy During Pregnancy
If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, it’s important to understand the causal link between your health and your baby’s health. By maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle during your pregnancy, you decrease your risk of pregnancy complications and birth defects while increasing your chance of having a safe and successful delivery.
Of course staying healthy sounds easy in theory, but putting that theory into practice can be tough for new moms-to-be. What foods should you eat and what foods should you avoid? What exercise habits should you continue to practice, and which ones should you stop? What should I avoid to reduce my risks of birth defects and miscarriages? There are many online resources and apps you can use to develop a pregnancy health plan. This article will cover the basics on how to stay healthy during pregnancy.
Charlestown Apartment Rental Market Report 2022
The apartment rental market in Charlestown, MA has undergone some changes over the past two years. Charlestown did not experience the same apartment supply disruption as most of the neighborhoods in Boston during the pandemic. While Boston’s real-time availability rate (RTAR) peaked at 13% last year, Charlestown’s RTAR recorded a much lower yearly high of 6.42%. Now, both RTAR and real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) are below the historical averages for May, and the RTVR currently sits at an all-time low of 0.44%.
Despite the relatively stable rental supply, rent prices for Charlestown apartments have dropped by a larger margin than most neighborhoods in Boston. This may present an opportunity for renters in 2022.
Best Foods for Pregnant Women
For pregnant women, your diet is the primary source of nutrition for your developing baby. It’s essential to maintain a balanced and healthy diet during pregnancy to ensure you’re giving your baby what it needs to grow strong and healthy. Still, there are some nutrients that are even more important for pregnant women and their developing baby.
This article will cover the best foods for pregnant women that you’ll want to include in your pregnancy health plan.
Know Your Rights: Breastfeeding at Work
Many new mom’s don’t know what to expect when returning to the workplace after having a baby. Especially for those who are still breastfeeding, there may be concerns that their workplace won’t provide an environment conducive to breastfeeding. This article will cover your protected rights as a breastfeeding mother, and what you should expect in your place of employment.
Fair Labor Standards Act and Breastfeeding
In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide reasonable breaks for employees to express breastmilk for up to a year after childbirth. For a new mom, this could mean taking a break every 2 hours for 20-30 minutes each time. This is a protected right for workers in the United States, and should be the expectation for new mothers returning to work after maternity leave.
Boston Real Estate Market May Soften for Buyers in 2022
Real estate sales in the city of Boston have slowed over the first few months of 2022, indicating a cooling housing market. Since the beginning of the year, the average 30-year fixed APR has increased by over 70%, as rates jumped from 3.183% to 5.422%. This has slightly softened the market for buyers, as the total number of listings on market has increased since January. While home prices have increased so far in 2022, they’ll likely decelerate during the latter half of the year considering both housing supply and interest rates are on the rise.
Boston’s Real Estate Inventory Growing While Number of Property Sales Sluggish
Boston’s total inventory of for sale properties has been growing steadily over the first four months of 2022. We began the year with 90 single family homes for sale in Boston. The supply of single family properties has since increased to 162 for-sale units as of May 1. That marks an 80% increase in the city’s total single family inventory since the beginning of 2022.
