Buyer tip: A badly done listing sheet can save you money. Many buyers will reject a place based on bad pictures, or not enough pictures. Some agents don't do their job. There's plenty of them. Enough to fill humor sites like Lighter Side of Real Estate, Hooked on Houses, Terrible real estate photography, and often on
Here’s how James Morrison at Banker and Tradesman reported on Dave Twombly, my favorite agent of the week (wink!) Buyers Need Protection Just down Mass. Ave. at 4 Buyers Real Estate, also in Cambridge, the exclusive buyer agents tell the buyers they work with that home inspection contingencies are a must, according to agent Dave
It is impossible to judge the value of a house without calculating a rough cost of repair. The properties around here are frequently 100 years old. When a problem begins, it is much cheaper to repair than the same problem left for years to get worse. Tip one: deferred maintenance costs roughly five times more to
You are hearing the stories. I know. “…there were ten offers on every property and everything sells for $50,000 above asking price.” “NO ONE is buying with a home inspection…” “If you don’t have cash, you can’t buy in (name the town here.” The stories are true, but they are not true. Some properties are
Housing is all about the schools. This created the situation that springtime house hunters face in most areas around Boston. A little perspective: In the book The Two Income Trap, one of the ongoing tropes is that the pressure to send one’s children to “good” schools underlies the competition for houses in well-regarded schools systems.
Anyone trying to make a point will try to “sell” you on the idea. Try to make you agree. Try to make you fear the consequences of disagreeing. That’s how sales works. That’s how politics work. Our clients deserve better than that. When Exclusive Buyer's Agents attend classes for all agents, we learn what tactics
Danger! Open house It has long been obvious to us that open houses are not safe for the owners of the house. Agents for the seller cannot protect the house, were someone to come in with a notion to steal. Recently, an incident was reported to the police in Weston, where drugs were stolen from
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors® frequently has political initiatives that we are against. As a member, I refrain from assisting them in these actions. I notify my representative that I am a member of the association, but disagree on a particular policy. This summer, my association embarrassed me by fighting tooth and nail against mandatory
How well do exclusive buyer’s agents do, in the face of a tough seller’s market? Here are results for the hardest seller’s market we have faced, ever! Our report card for the first half of 2016: Total amount under original asking negotiated by -$213,500 Total amount negotiated after inspections: -$19,000 Total paid over asking price
Are you looking at buying a condo in a building that’s still being built? Here are the tell-tale signs that you are being given the hard sell: You are brought into a showroom. You are offered a drink, and sometimes food. You are shown the materials that will be used. You are shown a chart