Location matters so much. How do you choose to house hunt in a town or city where you don’t live now? It is no simple matter. I generally advise would-be house hunters to test drive the town. By doing what you normally do in an evening or on a weekend, you will find out if
Below are two tales. One is a story about a squirrel and one about a raccoon. Neither should live, rent free, in your home. The squirrel: It is baby squirrel season. Sometime this winter, squirrels find romance in attics and other indoor spaces. Babies start moving around in April or May. So, if you are
Several times a year, my agents get feedback from the seller’s agent that our client’s offer was similar to another offer, but our clients got the house. Why? Because their letter identified them as the right people for the house. We have been able to tell the story of our clients--without demographic information that could
A guest post by Patrick Young When it comes to house hunting, everyone is working to find a home where they can live safely, comfortably, and happily. However, disabled people can have a far harder time with this than able-bodied house hunters. After all, most homes weren’t created to be accessible or with accessibility in
Locks: what kind of lock adds to your security? I took this picture in a condo building. It was the kind of building that had one hall, with a front and back stairwell that led outside. There was an elevator in the middle of the row of units. My client was a single woman. As
After our (virtual) client appreciation party this year, I heard from one of our happy homeowners about their vacation home search. She wrote: We are working with the agent who previously helped us with a rental. He is absolutely not at the caliber of working with you and your team, but I think for second
In every market, I run into buyers who do not look at Fair Market Value (FMV) when they decide what a property is worth. That's a mistake. To negotiate the lowest possible price for a property, a buyer needs a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to determine the Fair Market Value (FMV). Properties sell for what
What stays and what goes -- by law and custom -- in real estate in Massachusetts? Personalty or chattel is everything in the house that was not built into it or built specifically for it. Chattel includes washers, dryers, refrigerators, furniture, chairs, bookshelves, rugs, curtains, and such. Realty is everything that is attached to the house, wired
In July, last year, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors® sent an advisory out that brokers were receiving demand letters regarding the inaccessibility of their websites. A group called Access4All, Inc notified Massachusetts and Florida Realtor® associations that having property information sites that were not accessible violated Fair Housing Laws, since blind, vision impaired, and other
I had clients who got fed up with bad designs in expensive new construction. They set out to find land to put a modular home on. When they looked at what modular homes had to offer, they were pleasantly surprised. Since then, two of my clients have chosen the modular route to a new home.