Anyone following real estate in the past three years or so has run into people who think that home inspection is (or should be) optional. Waiving home inspection has become a negotiation tool. This thinking plays into the interests of professional investors and hurts people who plan to owner-occupy their homes. It particularly harms first-time
I’ve gotten some messages from former clients who follow business news. There are some big-deal lawsuits flying around regarding the Multiple Listing Service and buyer agent compensation. The outcome of recent lawsuits is likely to increase seller awareness of the part of the commission that is paid to the buyer’s agent who brings an informed
According to Andrew Yun, the economic advisor for the National Association of Realtors, there has been a shift in buying patterns in recent years. The largest number of property buyers are Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964). This is not typical. What is more “normal” would be that young adults are the largest group of buyers. This
When should you start to plan buying a house? The answer is that you can plan long ahead, and it can only help you when the right time comes. I coach my clients to buy a home that will serve them — given their best guesses about the future – for the next seven to
The local real estate market looks a different from the national market snapshot, which I summarized two weeks ago. Eastern Massachusetts has an acute housing shortage, and that is allowing a seller’s market to remain despite the high interest rates that are reducing a buyer’s spending power. The bottom line is that prices are still
House hunting idea: two households band together and buy a two-family house together. Massachusetts allows owners of two-family and three-family houses to convert them into two or more condos. This is not typical in other parts of the country. There are lots of advantages to buying a two-family house, especially in our high-price condo market.
We’re in the discouraging time of the real estate year, as buyer’s agents. April and May are the peak months for competition among buyers for properties for sale. In other words, bidding war season. There are bidding wars all year, but more so in the spring. As properties are coming onto the market (which began
When should a pregnant buyer stop house hunting? That question came up at an office meeting a few weeks ago. It led to an overall discussion about housing hunting while parenting. First and foremost, our clients make all the decisions, we just give advice. Here it is. Pregnancy and house hunting: Pregnancy is not a
Do you trust what it says on property information sheets? Whether it is on Zillow, MLS, or Realtor.com, the information almost always starts in a Realtor® multiple listing site. So, the information is as good as the agent who typed it in. Bedrooms: If a listing sheet says there are three bedrooms, you are going
When you are looking for a real estate agent, the company culture matters. Among the common questions from prospective house hunters is. “Why should I work with a little firm, like yours, when I can work with a top producer in a big firm?” People who already own a home often name the agent who