If this January is any indication, the seasons are shifting in Boston area real estate. Usually between December 15 and January 15, no one is contacting us about buying a house. This year, prospective clients started calling and writing right after Christmas. Winter buyers: Some clients were looking to get on the road, heeding my
The porch made a strong comeback in American home architecture. In 1993, 42% of new houses were designed with a porch. By 2005, more than half of all new construction had porches. In east south central America (Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi) 89% of newly constructed houses have porches. Why does America have a love
Happy Groundhog’s Day 2022. It is the turning point from winter, looking towards spring. The holiday runs parallel to, and takes from, earlier practices that recognize that we are roughly halfway through winter. In metro Boston, that usually leaves us in the middle of winter, during the snowiest part of the season. This year is
Many of our clients read The Boston Globe for real estate news. In an October 4, 2021 article, entitled “(Some) good news for buyers in Boston’s (slightly) cooling housing market,” Zoe Greenberg gave some hope that the post-lockdown housing boom is showing signs of going back to the seller-favoring conditions we have had since the
House hunters with children, or hypothetical children, almost always ask about schools. Parents want good schools for their kids. Immediately, they run into the brick wall: houses and condos in high-scoring school districts cost more than houses and condos in lower-scoring towns. Why is that? There are two factors: Education is funded mainly by
Improvements. Which ones pay off at resale? I get asked that all the time. Once our clients become homeowners, they start thinking like sellers. Some improvements pay back at a high rate at resale. Some only pay back in your enjoyment of the place (and may help you sell faster.) Here's a list from Groom
Junk data hurts buyers by creating distraction from understanding market value. Buyers need to know market value in order to negotiate for the fair price. Assessed value has no relationship to market price. But, but, but…how can a property be worth more than what the town or city assesses it for? Don’t the town or city
If you are only vaguely curious, the simple answer to the question in the title is about $15,000, according to Daily Finance. When my client asked me about this, I decided it was time to do some checking. In a national study, the answer was qualified with more data. All PV (photovoltaic) systems are not
What is in a house affects the way you feel about it. That’s the reason that staging is used to seduce buyers into purchasing. Staging is the practice of setting out furnishings in houses for sale in order to give the impression of livability and high fashion. Our agents scratch the surface of this façade;
It's starting. My phone is ringing because landlords are notifying their tenants of their plans to sell the apartment. Some will renovate, some will just sell. When a seller puts an occupied apartment on the market, it takes some diplomacy to make it work. Someone lives there, and it's for sale: Showing rented houses and