The last visit to a property before a buyer closes is a walk-through. Most of the time, the property is empty and ready for sale. When there are problems, the solution is a holdback. A holdback is created at closing. It is a legal agreement between the buyer and the seller. The seller will get
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” In home buying, that is true. There are many sources of data out for house hunters. Some are not meant to manipulate you. Some are. Some will confuse and overwhelm you. When you need help sorting the information overload, ask your agent. Here is an example of perfectly
The Downpayment Toward Equity Act proposes up to $25,000 in financial assistance to cover the upfront costs of a home purchase for first-time homeowners. Who is a first-time homeowner? Hint: Some “first-time homeowners” have actually owned a house or condo before. A first-time home buyer is anyone who hasn’t owned a primary residence in the
Somewhere around May or June, I started mentioning to my agents that we might experience an election slump. We’ve had one every Presidential election year, except 2020. Would the pattern begin again in 2024? If there is an election slump, it’ll be happening any minute. Hint to buyers: any reduction in demand is a good
Everybody wants a house that abuts a park, right? Well, no. It is one of the many “it depends” situations in real estate. If the noise issue is noticeable, some buyers will be turned off. So, even if it doesn’t bother you, it might bother future buyers, when it’s your turn to sell. What are
Q: I just graduated from college and want to buy a condo in Boston or Cambridge. I am pre-approved for $-----. I would like to be within a 10-mile radius of Boston. A: I took a look at the Multiple Listing Service (the database properties for sale that is generated by licensees). There are a
The Spring Market The spring market begins when sellers start listing their properties in larger numbers. We’re in it now. Just when you want to be outside on the weekends, you will be starting to house hunt. Open studios time? House hunt. Porch fest time? House hunt. The spring market is driven by increased
This seems to be the number-one question. It is a terrible question based on terrible assumptions: How much over asking price should I offer, on average? Don’t assume that asking prices are based on Fair Market Value. In reality, asking prices are a made-up number intended to get the highest number of offers, so that
It happens almost every year. Sometime in winter, buyers come to us thinking they might get a leftover/mismarketed property for a good price. Or they come in, excited, to get a jump on the spring market. Sometimes this leads to great results. There will be some properties that didn’t sell in the fall where the
Real estate sites like Zillow use the data from local Multiple Listing Services (MLS), and then add additional properties for sale by people who are not using the MLS. If you are looking at Zillow, all the properties read, “(type of property) for sale.” That works. However, you then need to click on the property