Here’s a quick primer on how to read 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 now.
Considering buying? If you are thinking of anywhere in the northern third of this country, you need to remember that winter will always come. It is way too easy to forget the slings and arrows of winter living here, once the white stuff melts and flows away. Don’t! Snow conditions will affect you for weeks
If you have a new year’s resolution to buy a house in 2015, here are some things you can do to smooth the path to getting a mortgage. The paperwork does not have to be overwhelming, if you are prepared. Avoid – unless absolutely necessary • Don’t transfer funds between accounts within 30 days of
Some houses only sell in seller’s markets. That is when buyers are willing to do their deepest compromises. Buyers who are considering entering the market need to know that we are still in a seller’s market. When buyers get desperate, they look at seriously location-impaired houses. I am talking really impaired! Stuff like a house
We are pleased for our clients who have bought in 2014. They bought a house or condo in eastern Massachusetts without bidding wildly over asking price or throwing away their rights. Many had to make multiple offers before getting one accepted. But, in the end, they got the best property they could at the best
Distressed properties (short sales and foreclosures.) What is good about these properties is that in a market where prices are this high, any discount is a discount. What is wrong is that many conditions of these sales require that you give up your right to inspect, your right to get your deposits back, and any
It is no surprise that women are often lied to in negotiations. It is not even surprising to me that both men and women are more likely to lie to a woman than a to a man. People who are perceived as “warm” are lied to less, but that does not make up for the
For people who love their morning or evening shower, a wimpy spray can ruin their day. Are you someone who loves a strong shower? I, too, hate a wimpy shower. I owned a good shower head, even when I was renting. However, when house-hunters turn on showers to check the pressure, they often do not
When I am looking at properties in the metro-Boston area, it is impossible to judge their value without considering the cost of repairing and maintaining them. It is way too easy to be wrong, when getting specific about repair costs. When a problem begins, it is much cheaper to repair than the same problem left
A house hunter asked me, “….I wanted to ask your opinion... about something I saw recently. So if you saw a building with a basement ceiling like this:" So, I answered: "Basements used to all have to have plaster ceilings, for fire prevention. Then that regulation was abandoned as different fire safety requirements replaced it.