Spring is a time to clear out attics, switch out clothes for the season, and file those taxes.  What better time to come down to this event to take care of:

• Donate clothing, books, toys, shoes to PlanetAid
• Securely shred old files with an on-site Shredder from Universal Shredding
• Recycle unused electronics being hauled away by Gallo Moving/COWS

From 9am-noon, this FREE event can take care of all these Spring jobs in just one location.  Visit the link at http://www.mahome.com/ for a full listing of things to bring!

My wife, Doriane, and I (The MAhome Team of Realty Executives) put together this first Earth Day event, but plan on making it an annual tradition.  We are local residents and will take full advantage to clear out our attic and basement!

A raffle for a personal shredder and a home safe may mean that you don’t have to be empty handed when you leave!

The Friends of the Holliston Trails is the organization that we are supporting this year, and ask that participants consider making a small donation to this very worthy cause for our community.

Lastly, visit the people of Second Generation Energy to learn about solar panels for use on your home.  They have great information on rebates and programs to save you money on your electric bills.

See you Sunday- come say HI!

Most people need the funds from the sale of a home to help purchase the next home they wish to buy.  10 years ago the selling process was so fast, and for such a profit, that the risks faced were minimal. Let’s clear up a few realities now though:

• The chances of locating your perfect home that accepts a condition for you to sell 1st are slim to none.
• The mortgage industry does not have bridge financing programs that you remember, forget it.
• The buyers really don’t care what you “need” in order to buy that next home. Your needs don’t affect Market Value.
• There is no guarantee with this process, so come up with backup plans, even when tough to consider.
• GOOD NEWS ALERT: If you are “upgrading”, the home you are buying is much cheaper than 6 years ago… A SALE!

Here are the Top 4 areas to consider when going thru this process:

1. Advice: There are many steps in this process, and the balancing of getting a strong Buyer on the hook for your home, and moving ahead on buying that next home aggressively, is nerve-racking.

An experienced Realtor will be able to price your home correctly to meet your goals, take steps to keep deals together (see #2), find you that next home, arrange temporary options if needed, and hook you up with professionals in the area to help on every step.

2. Preparation of Selling First: You will need to sell your home first, in a marketplace that has been beat up over the past several years, but is facing low inventory and heading back up.

Here are tools that I refer:

• Price the home correctly - Get a Market Analysis from an experienced Realtor
• Conduct a pre-listing home inspection - Find out what the Buyer will hear, address things ahead of time
• Stage the home - I have hired a professional for years on my listings, and all I can say is It Works
• Move out “most” of your clutter - Storage lockers, moving companies, Containers on Wheels (COWS)
• Clean and repair - Yes, spend money to make money.

3.   Keep One Eye on the Marketplace: There is very low inventory of homes to buy.

You need to get educated on the prices of homes that are selling so that you can be decisive and confident when it is time for you to submit an Offer.

Shop casually when you are on the market, and crank it up when you get that contract on your home.

Also keep your Mortgage Pre-approval updated.

4.   Understand your Plan B and Plan C: The number 1 concern that people have who are faced with this situation is “What happens if I DON’T LIKE homes available when I sell my home?”

The only response I have is that we need to be ready to look at backup plans like living with friends, family, extended stay hotels, renting, etc.   I can tell you it happens less than a successful “back to back” closing, but there are no guarantees.

This job is most enjoyable when I complete a process that had dozens of variables, and over the course of several months of work, comes together at a closing table.

Ed Daniels is a Realtor since 1998, working with The MAhome Team of Realty Executives – Boston West.  His team services the Metrowest Boston communities of Framingham, Holliston, Franklin, Ashland, Milford, Medway, Hopkinton, Southboro, Natick, Marlboro, Westboro, and others.  They serve both MA home buyers and sellers and can be reached at 508-341-7880 or Ed@MAhome.com

Many housing statistics take overly broad numbers into account, like nationwide foreclosure reports or major city trends.  Other housing numbers compare today’s numbers to last month.  Well, in a town like Holliston, it is too small of a sample to indicate anything substantial.

If you are a homeowner in Holliston, all the important details are the broad numbers of the town.  Here they are:

Number of Sales:

124 Sales in 2011,  110 Sales in 2010, and 123 in 2009.  Conclusion:  No big changes over the past few years.

Average Days on Market:

134 days to sell in 2011, which is a significant jump from 90 days in 2010, and still a bit higher than the 124 days in 2009.  Conclusion:  hummmm… are home sellers being too aggressive with prices, because my experience through 2011 has been plenty of Holliston buyers?

Drum roll Please… the most important number for Holliston home owners…

Median Prices:

For 2011, the median price was $390,000, with sellers receiving 96% of the Listing Price.  This is consistently heading north of the 2010 median of $380,000 and $350,000 in 2009.  Over these years, sellers received 97% and 95% of List Price.

The median price rose 2.6% from 2010 to 2011, after shooting up 8.6% from 2009 to 2010!

Congratulations Hollistonians, we have a strong town that is weathering this challenging economy!

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. 

The Realtor community is hearing from the in-house staff often, letting us know that they are “almost completely sold out“.

(90% sold was stated in last email from them)

I have put together some information on the 1st quarter sales that I gathered from MLSpin, the Massachusetts MLS service.

In the 1st quarter there were:

8 sales ranging from $369,900 to $599,900. 

(Avg. of $438,275)

Unit N345  1 BR, 2BA + study with 1244 sf of living area   $369,900

Unit T922  2 BR, 2BA with 1330 sf of living area              $399,900

Unit S609  2 BR, 2BA with 1382 sf of living area              $413,900

Unit T736  2 BR, 2BA + study with 1472 sf of living area   $419,900

Unit N243  2 BR, 2BA + study with 1545 sf of living area   $424,900

Unit N251  2 BR, 2BA + study with 1658 sf of living area   $430,900

Unit N543  2 BR, 2BA + study with 1545 sf of living area   $446,900

Unit N741  3 BR, 2BA with 1720 sf of living area                $599,900

Note:  N = North, S = South, T = Terrace (floors 6-9)

For comparison for this same time period in 2010, Nouvelle had sold 16 units in this quarter. 

Average price in 2010′s 1st quarter was $455,856.

Is Framingham selling more or less homes these days?

Less.  In 2010, there were 429 single family sales in town.  This is a 3% decline from 2009 sales of 442.  Going back to 2008, the 469 sales results in a drop of 9%.

Is Framingham having an increase in Selling Prices?

Yes, in 2010, Framingham increased the median selling price from $300,000 (in 2009) to $305,500.  This is a 1.8% increase.  For anyone who wishes to use the less pertinent Average Selling Prices, they were flat – $322,000 in ’10 vs. $321,227 in ’09.

Are homes selling faster or slower when they come to market?

The Days on Market numbers have dropped consistantly over the past few years.  In 2010, the average time on market was 93 days, vs. 106 in 2009 and 118 in 2008.  Therefore, homes are selling faster!

Considering the differences in the housing stock of North and South sides of Framingham, is one side doing “better” than the other?

In some respects of the single family housing market, the South side (01702 zip code) has done fine, but overall the North side 01701 zip code shows more strength.  The Average Selling Price has gone up 1.4% from 2009 to 2010 in South Framingham, but the North side decreased 1/2%. 

On the flip side, North homes sell faster (79 Days on Market) compared to the South side marketing time of 122 Days.  There are also more than 2 times the number of Sold listings on the North side.

With a diverse housing stock around the town of Framingham, there is a house for everyone.  Homeowners are still able to sell their homes in reasonable amounts of time, but during 2010 there was a noticable shortage of options for people who wished to move to another local home.   This is improving for Buyers, with 151 Active listings compared to 120 last year at this time.

If The MAhome Team can be of service in your desire to make a move, please don’t hesitiate to contact Ed Daniels at 508-341-7880.  Over 2010, Realty Executives – Boston West was the real estate firm that sold more homes in Framingham than any other.  Put the experience of our team, combined with the best real estate firm in Framingham, to work for you.

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!

I feel that Massachusetts does a pretty good job, either thru grassroots organizations or towns saving money, in providing recycling opportunities to the local residents.

Ashland Recycling Program Info

Framingham Recycling Program Info

Holliston Recycling Program Info

Hopkinton Recycling Program Info

Medway Recycling Program Info 

Milford Recycling Program Info

Millis Recycling Program Info

Natick Recycling Program Info

Sherborn Recycling Program Info

Check out the previous posts regarding related sites:

Hazardous Waste Dates

Asbestos Removal Article from 2008

I hope you find these links as a useful source of information whenever you are searching out information on your town’s recycling program.

1. Are there a bunch of foreclosures driving down home values in our area?
2. How much of a discount can I get if I buy one of these foreclosure properties?
3. Is the market getting worse or better out there?

Foreclosures in Massachusetts

RealtyTrac reports that Massachusetts is one of the top 5 states in % of foreclosure sales for the 1st quarter of 2010. (June 30th – Not really sure why it took so long to issue these stats??)  As alarming as this sounds, let’s look a bit closer…

Number of foreclosure sales were 2,111 in quarter 1, which is 42% of all sales!  Sounds bad, right? 

How does this compare to other states they reported on?  It works out to .9% of Total foreclosures in the United States.

Still digging a bit deeper, I checked MLS data for number of sales in MA for the 1st quarter.  MLS reports 6628 total single family home sales, which works out to 32% of all single family home sales are foreclosure sales.  Since they report 2,111 were ALL sales, let’s add condos and multifamilies to that number… now it is over 11,000 sales, or about 19% of all sales. 

Remember, this MLS data does not include any For Sale By Owner homes either.

OK, I know what your thinking… It is still a high number, Ed!  I agree.  So, because I am not feeling this strain on the marketplace as a Full Time Realtor in Metrowest Boston, I want to dig even deeper!

In the Metrowest towns of Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick, and Southborough I pulled data from MLS regarding bank owned property.  Here are the findings using only single family properties since the start of 2010:

17 out of 552 Active homes are labeled Bank Owned (3%)

13 out of 158 Under Agreement homes are Bank Owned (8%)

34 out of 597 Sold homes are Bank Owned (5%)

I don’t know about you, but there are two results from this investigation. 

     Number 1 is that I feel better now than I do after reading RealtyTrac’s data.

     Number 2, where the heck are they getting those numbers from?  

Some explanations is that they classify homes in “pre-foreclosure” or “scheduled for auctions” and MLS is only as good as the agent that enters in the data as “lender owned” or “Short Sale”. 

In my test of RealtyTrac’s data, the 1st property I checked was in Ashland.  It was listed as a fairly new addition to the property site.  Come to find out it was sold months ago on MLS.  So for some reason their data is not updated as it should be.

Discounts when Buying a Foreclosure Property

Realtytrac reported that there is quite a discount that a buyer of a foreclosed property can receive.  Again, take this with a grain of salt since the way they create these numbers is, in my opinion, flawed. 

Massachusetts’ average Foreclosure sales price is reported as $161,089.   This is about a 35% discount to non-foreclosure sales in the marketplace for the 1st quarter.

They seem to compare Average Sales Prices of all Foreclosure Sales to Average Sales Prices of Normal Sales.  Since the majority of Foreclosure properties are on the lower end and are trashed by the past owners or lack of upkeep, OF COURSE they are going to be a discount.  Classify this stat as

“worthless data for people who think for a moment!”

From my experience, if you are handy and have some cash… there are lots of great deals out there to go after.   These are both foreclosures and non-foreclosures!

Local Market Conditions are Improving

The best evaluation of the local marketplace, in my opinion, contains the following:

A Local group of towns

Use a Specific category of housing, such as Single Family Homes

Look at past several years data to compare it to

Use 6 mos. or a year worth of history

When I do this for Metrowest Boston towns (specifics I am happy to share if you wish), I find the marketplace is showing strength even though Home Owners have taken a hit on property values over the past several years.  So, better for Buyers than it is for Sellers.

Here are two tidbits:

     Average Days on Market is 96.  Over the past 5 years this has ranged from 85 days to 119 days, so very reasonable.

     Ratio of Selling Price to Listing Price is 97%.  Over the past 5 years this has ranged from 96-98%, so again, very reasonable number.

I put together a graph of the Selling Prices over the course of the past 5 years for these Metrowest towns.  There is a 17% decrease in Median Home Values over this time frame.   This is data from July to July in each one of these years.

Here is a graph of the Total Number of Sales for these local towns.  Look at that promising increase of sales over the past year!  The area is running 10% fewer sales than we had 5 years ago.

Everyone under the sun is forecasting that the economy is faltering again, and it is very rare to hear that any uptick in this marketplace has legs to it.  Therefore, my report is that the local marketplace numbers right now have strength.  We will have to evaluate in this way, often, to see if this continues.  I will keep you posted on these numbers over the second half of the year.

Framingham MA

The home is very nicely updated.  The owners, David and Maria Shapiro, worked very hard to update all areas of the multi level home. 

The hardwood flooring is gleaming, the kitchen has all new appliances to go along with tile and new cabinetry.  Bathrooms renovated, heating system is updated, and everything has a fresh coat of paint. 

The asking rent for this home is $2000 per month, and the tenant cares for all utilities.

This is the best type of showing I could ask for as a local Metrowest Realtor!

Renovated Kitchen

So, the report is IN… the Framingham rental market is alive and well!  Plenty of strong candidates applied for the home, and it looks to have a great match in only a few days!