What stays and what goes -- by law and custom -- in real estate in Massachusetts? Personalty or chattel is everything in the house that was not built into it or built specifically for it. Chattel includes washers, dryers, refrigerators, furniture, chairs, bookshelves, rugs, curtains, and such. Realty is everything that is attached to the house, wired
In July, last year, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors® sent an advisory out that brokers were receiving demand letters regarding the inaccessibility of their websites. A group called Access4All, Inc notified Massachusetts and Florida Realtor® associations that having property information sites that were not accessible violated Fair Housing Laws, since blind, vision impaired, and other
I had clients who got fed up with bad designs in expensive new construction. They set out to find land to put a modular home on. When they looked at what modular homes had to offer, they were pleasantly surprised. Since then, two of my clients have chosen the modular route to a new home.
Happy New Year. Today, I am nerding-out on you about hot water tanks. The basics of hot water: Direct-fire tanks are typical in Massachusetts. These are the gas or electric tanks that run a flame under a tank of water. When you open your faucet, you use some of that 30- or 40- or 50-
2020 was the year of pandemic engagements. 2020 was a year of rising divorce rates. 2020 was the year to organize and declutter at home. 2020 was the year to move. What do we expect in 2021? These affect when things go back to normal: How well infection
Santa has a hard time in eastern Massachusetts. So many of our chimneys are in rough shape. Some are no longer in use, but stick out of our roof lines, nonetheless. In truth, the big guy couldn’t come down a modern chimney, even one in good shape. They tend to be two-foot square, at best;
Direct vent heating systems are the ones that run so efficiently that they can vent through a PVC pipe instead of a chimney. Why does the efficiency matter? If the air coming out of the boiler is still very hot, it cannot travel through plastic PVC pipes. Newer high-efficiency boilers and hot water heaters use
One of the features that people want more than usual since 2020 is a big bedroom, preferably with an attached bathroom. I have some ideas about why. Bedrooms are multi-tasking in 2020 Home office: When physical school closed last March, students and their parents scrambled for spaces where online work and online school could happen
If you are thinking about how to spend money for gifts this “holiday season,” consider yourself lucky. There are large numbers of people in America who have no discretionary income for gift giving this year. What do you buy? All year long, what you spend on is what you use. You choose where to
Is someone who participates in discriminatory speech (or hate speech) in their social settings trustworthy to practice Fair Housing Laws? The National Association of Realtors® says, “No.” There’s a new standard of practice being added to the Fair Housing Section of the Realtor Code of Ethics. It prohibits discriminatory or hate speech by Realtors®. How