This home is situated in a private setting, with a circular driveway flanked by tall trees.  The rear yard rolls down to a large swath of woods, with no rear neighbor in sight.

Inside, the traditional colonial home displays beautiful hardwood flooring that welcomes you straight into the renovated kitchen.  

The stainless appliances in this home are all included in the sale!  Lots of maple cabinetry creates a bright work area on the granite countertops.

Here are some quick bullets on other highlights:

•     Central Air
•     Highly Efficient Replacement Windows
•     Fireplaced Family Room
•     Dining Room
•     4 Bedrooms
•     Finished Basement
•     Replacement Windows

The basement room is a wonderfully usable space, with a full bank of windows and a wood stove.  It is a large open space and is versitile enough to be a playroom, entertainment room, or office area. 

This 4 Bedroom, 2 1/2 Bathroom home is offered for $479,900. 

90 Johnson Drive is located in a beautiful neighborhood of homes known as Cedarbrook.  It is 14 years young.  We have heard that it has stood vacant for over a year.   The last buyer for the property was in mid 2007, for $784,000.

Holliston's 90 Johnson Drive

The previous listing had a floor plan done.  Take a look.

The auction process is a very difficult process to get through. The fact is that you will not get to inspect the property before you bid on it, or for that matter, even get to look inside!  You will need to show up within 30 days with cash to buy the home, so normal financing routes are not likely.

That is right: no guarantee of clear title, no keys at closing, no septic system inspection, and if there were people inside… they become your tenants at closing!  Not for the faint of heart!

Of course I am biased, but I would recommend hiring a professional Realtor to guide you through options and tell you about all the risks.

Johnson Drive is being auctioned at it’s Holliston location on Thursday, December 2nd.  The auction company is Commonwealth Auctions.  $15000 certified funds will get you a seat at the table and maybe a steal!

The MAhome Team

I just spoke to the Sellers good friend and described it as “the easiest short sale transaction I have successfully sold.”  I think he was shocked at that response to it since he was intimately involved, for the Seller is a co-worker friend. 

The fact is that the bank responded to us in about 2 weeks!  That is unheard of in this marketplace.  I have another short sale that is on the 4th buyer and we have waited for 6 months for a response from the bank.

The Buyer is a great local family using the home as an investment.  They got a great deal. 

The Seller had some unfortunate scenerios come up in their life during a very tough marketplace.  They got out, survived a difficult situation, and are moving on!

The only loser in this may have been the bank, but I guess it was better than the cost of a foreclosure.  See – everyone is a winner.

Welcome to the Neighborhood, Grimes Family!

Ed Daniels of Remax Executive Realty is the new neighbor for the Grimes Family on Morton St in Holliston.  Come by and say hi to the new neighbor and Ed (at 24 Morton St) anytime!

Natick has luxury condominiums at the Natick Mall going to auction on October 4th.  The minimum bids are significantly less than what the asking prices have been over the past year.

Some people may respond that they were overpriced to begin with, but only time will tell whether these unique Metrowest properties will hold their value.  The fact is, there is nothing else like them in our area.

The auction process is also difficult to determine what will be the result.  This process requires attending the auction with a $10,000 cashiers check, signing a Purchase & Sale Agreement that day, and closing within a month.  Not a process to be going thru blindly!

Holliston is now offering affordable condo options at The Orchards at Holliston.  This 72 unit complex is currently under construction.  The location is 353 Highland Street, towards the Ashland town line.  Four of these units are available for buyers who fit certain income criteria.

The selling price of these few units is $166,500.  The deadline for applications on these units is November 9th.  The luxury units have 1,580 square feet of space and are townhouse style.

If you meet the following income guidelines, it is a great opportunity:

$46,300     one person Household

$52,550     two person Household

$59,550     three person Household

$66,150     four person Household

There is an informational meeting at Holliston Town Hall in Room 105 on Oct 21st from 6-8pm.

We find ourselves in a time when mortgage rates are close to 30 year lows, affordability indexes are looking their best in decades, and there are some motivated sellers.  Nobody will be able to determine if we have hit the low point in the real estate market until we look back in history, but indicators show it is a good point, if not the low point.

Natick has one-of-a-kind luxury condos that are going on the auction block next month.  The Nouvelle at Natick is a 215 unit project that is connected with the mall.  About 20% of the units are going to be auctioned October 4th.

The developers are in trouble.  They built this development just as the economy was going into a tailspin.  They have sold or put under contract only a total of 37 condos.  Ouch! 

Using town records, I was only able to verify 18 sold units, and selling prices ranged from $369900 to $1.2 million.  The following are the units being auctioned:

• 1 Bedroom & 1 BR + Study     $160K-$210K

796-1078 sq ft units

• 2 Bedroom & 2 BR + Study     $220K-$315K 

1068-1591 sq ft units

• 3 Bedroom (only 1 unit auctioned)  $350,000 

1774 sq ft

• Penthouse (2 units)          $375K-$475K 

1596-2110 sq ft units

The marketing department has tried everything to entice the local Realtor community to sell these units.  Incentives for months of condo fees or mortgage payments have not worked to bring in sales.  These prices have just been too high for such a unique housing option in Metrowest.  

You will need a deposit of $10,000 on auction day, and I would highly recommend doing all your homework about unit locations, pricing, and mortgage financing.  If you are an investor you likely will need 20-25% down payment to get your financing.

These very unique Metrowest condo options were never a good investment to consider, until now.  Feel free to contact me for all details of the process and the property options.  The developer will pay the commission of your Buyer Agent when bidding on these units, so take advantage of this guidance. 

The floor plans give an internet consumer a better perspective.  Combined with the virtual tour, the site allows the user to click on a particular location on the floor plan to stand in the room.

Click here for 80 Dalton Rd, Holliston tour

Click here for 82 Fisher St Medway tour

I feel that I have to be selective when using the tool, since the rooms have to be large enough to be highlighted.  Doing a floorplan to show a small layout home means less visitors, not more!

This tool falls within the Presentation category.  Success selling in this market requires the 3 P’s:

Pricing

Presentation

Patience

There is a report done every year to evaluate Buyers of real estate and determine how they are looking for homes.  The statistics from this report tells me that internet presentation is the most efficient use of real estate exposure.  Since over 90% of home buyers look to the internet to start the process, this is where your home needs to be.

For this and additional tools that I use in my marketing plan, please call and we can share them with you.  A challenging real estate market requires experience and proven marketing ideas to get a home sold.

Ed Daniels is a Realtor with The MAhome Team of Re/Max Executive Realty.  He can be reached at 508-341-7880.

 Here are a few:

Call Ed and Doriane Daniels of the MAHome Team to see these and other properties. We can be reached at 508-341-7880 or Info@MAhome.com.