House Hunting

What is a “captured room”?

In real estate a “captured room” is a room that can only be accessed by going through another room. Captured rooms can make the house less usable, thus less valuable. Does it matter? Whether a captured room matters, for value, depends on whether it changes the way people can use the room. Types of captured

By |2022-01-25T14:02:58-05:00January 26th, 2022|Categories: House Hunting, Problems and repair|Tags: , , , , , |

Exploring Community Style: Elfland

One of the hardest things for prospective buyers to figure out is what town to house hunt in. This is especially true for relocating buyers and buyers who are making a lifestyle change, such as urban condo to suburban house or vise versa. Before Covid, I recommended that people “test drive” their potential new town.

By |2021-12-03T11:35:29-05:00December 8th, 2021|Categories: House Hunting|Tags: , , , |

Winter House Hunting

Who wants to buy a house in the winter? People who want to be in a house before the spring. People who hate the hoopla of the competitive spring market. People who want to save money. Since August, 2021, 4 Buyers Real Estate has been rocking it in the softer, less competitive market. I am

By |2021-11-28T11:24:19-05:00December 1st, 2021|Categories: buying process, House Hunting|Tags: , , , |

Moving: Life’s Real Estate Decisions

Are you thinking of moving? Planning is key to any successful move. Some decisions are economic. Others are purely personal. Today, I share some examples of how to create your own plan for identifying your next housing search. Selling your primary residence while buying your next property is more complicated than your first-time purchase. Please

By |2021-11-05T15:38:04-04:00November 10th, 2021|Categories: House Hunting|Tags: , , , , , |

Our real estate advice through the end of 2021

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

By |2021-12-18T13:00:15-05:00October 6th, 2021|Categories: Buying trends, House Hunting, Market data and conditions|Tags: , , , , |

WBUR, You Disappoint Me

Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and in the hot a humid part of the summer. What does WBUR do? It publishes a “scare the buyers into giving up their rights” article. It is seller propaganda. It is not helpful to buyers. The advice “for buyers” mostly serves the seller’s needs. What’s

No Dogs Allowed: condos and pet restrictions

House hunters who love cats or dogs have one more thing to think about when house hunting. Some condo associations restrict all pets. Some  associations restrict cats or dogs. . Some restrict dogs or cats, unleashed or uncrated, but only in the hallways. Some big associations ban dogs only. Some that don’t ban dogs will

By |2021-08-10T12:03:39-04:00August 11th, 2021|Categories: House Hunting|Tags: , , , , |

The Landlord is Selling!

The landlord’s point of view: 2020 was a hard year for landlords. Vacancy was higher than normal. It was difficult to keep apartments full. Tenants had legitimate problems being unable to pay the rent. It was difficult to get repairs done, since workers were heavily booked and tenants were reluctant (legitimately) to let them in…

By |2021-07-25T12:04:31-04:00July 28th, 2021|Categories: House Hunting|Tags: , , , , |