In single-family houses, the air conditioner compressor can be a problem for you or for your neighbors, depending on where you place it. If it is your machine, your windows will be closed when it is running, so it has to vibrate a lot before it will get on most people’s nerves. Where houses are
Public information: The Department of Education publishes district profiles. To open a report card, write the town or district into the box for “Search for your Report Card.” Then use the hyperlinks below that to see the information. Within this data, you will find information about not only test scores, but stats on the qualifications
Here’s a quick primer on how to read the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and alternate real estate listing sites. Most of my clients “web around” to sites like Trulia and Zillow to look at images of properties for sale. We create customized searches with our database, but the raw data is out there for everyone
What is good about distressed properties: In a market where prices are this high, any discount is a discount. What is wrong about distressed properties : Many conditions of these sales require that you give up your right to inspect, your right to get your deposits back, and any leeway for delays in your financing. The
The spring market is coming, and so is the spring marketing. If you are reading headlines and looking at charts, you will likely come up with the wrong conclusion. Below, I will show you some liar’s graphs. But first, the data those graphs were based on. The actual data (from Zillow): The real estate economy
There's a new scam in town. It is the child of an old scam. It is very lucrative for the perpetrators, until they get caught. Here's how it goes: Unsecured emails have been tapped by the evil-doers. The perps write to the buyers, just before closing, from the email address of their agent, lender, or
In summer, my heating system is set to 55 degrees. Yes. I am a wimp. I do not want to wake up some night in August because I am cold. When it becomes “autumn,” the temperature gets cold enough to start running the program on the thermostat because it could be below 55 degrees any
Merry Christmas to all Christian house-hunters. Mary, Mother of Jesus, can be seen in yards throughout the region. On December 13, I ran into this pretty Mother in front of an open house. She was a well-maintained pious statue in front of a house that was in generally poor condition. This Blessed Mother is considered
When there is a yellow sticker like this on a hot water heater, it means that the unit has been replaced under warranty. That's good news, right? Wrong. If the unit was replaced, there is no warranty on the replacement unit. If you buy this house, you will not get a new hot water heater
Merry Christmas to Frosty and his twin. Old asbestos-covered boilers are nicknamed "Snowmen" here in New England. These boilers were installed in local houses until the early 1960s. Many have been around so long that they used to burn coal and were later adapted to burn oil or gas. Over the years, I see fewer