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

After a Foreclosure:

If you are purchasing a home using conventional financing it will take 7 years from completion of the foreclosure to get approved.

If you use some other popular programs to finance the home purchase, like FHA or USDA, it will take 3 years from completion.

After a Short Sale:

The waiting period for buying a home after a Short Sale has many more variables.

Using conventional financing, you would be all set after 7 years, but sooner if more of a down payment amount.  If you put down 10% than the waiting period is 4 years, and if the down payment is 20%, only 2 years.

USDA is 3 years, but FHA has one big distinction… If you were current with mortgage payments during the entire short sale process, than you don’t have any waiting period.  If you had late or missed payments, the FHA financing will require a waiting period of 3 years in order to buy again.

After a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing:

Conventional financing can be approved only after a waiting period of 4 years from your discharge date.

FHA mortgages may be approved after only a 2 year waiting period, and USDA will run a 3 year time period before getting approved.

Here is a YouTube video produced by a CA mortgage professional talking about this topic.

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.

So lets just give you the facts and you tell me!

Single Family median home prices were UP for the 11th straight month in September.  This is compared to year-over-year months.

Single Family home sales in September fell 13.8% from September 2009 results.  This is the 3^rd  straight month of year-over-year declines.

Want a larger sampling of data to digest?  Let’s look at quarterly results:

Single Family median home prices rose 5% in the 3^rd  qtr compared to 2009′s 3^rd  qtr.

Single Family number of sales fell 20.7% last quarter, compared to the same quarter of 2009.

Conclusion (end of the facts): 

If you are a Buyer in this market you are in high demand, but don’t be late to get in the game because prices of the best homes are heading up.

If you are a Seller, it may take you longer to sell but if you are priced accurately, show great, and are reasonable in negotiations, you will be doing just fine (compared to last year).

Ed Daniels of Realty Executives –  Boston West can be reached at 508–341–7880.  His MAhome Team covers the Metrowest Boston region for both home buyers and sellers.

As with anything else, I have found that perspective is the first step to a response on this subject.

Well, I found a great bit of 2009 info from the US Census Bureau and the Tax Foundation:

The median property taxes paid on homes in Massachusetts was $3,511, which is the 6^th  highest in the country.

Now for some further perspective:

The median home value is $338,500, and the taxes are 1.04% of the home value.  This puts MA at a rank of 21^st  nationally.

The median income for homeowners in MA is $83,915, which makes the taxes 4.18% of our incomes.  This puts us at the 9^th  highest ranking in the country.

Ok, there you have it… They’re too high… but not the highest!

Who wins that honor??  1^st  in all categories listed above…

New Jersey!

Ed Daniels of Realty Executives –  Boston West is a homeowner in Holliston MA and paid $6,000 in property taxes this year!  Averages are fine, but thats enough to make me grumble.  If his MAhome Team can be of service he can be reached at 508–341–7880.

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.

There’s nothing to sell!!

Compared to 2009, the number of available listings fell 15%.  In 2009 there were 67 listings, today there are only 56.

The Big Picture:

The Warren Group reported on the February real estate market for all of Massachusetts:

• Single Family Median Prices jumped 8.4% vs. Feb 2009
• Single Family# of sales climbed 13.5% vs. Feb 2009
• Year to Date Median Prices are up 9.8%

• Condo Median Prices jumped 6.8% vs. Feb 2009
• Condo # of sales climbed 8.9% vs. Feb 2009
• Year to Date Median Prices are up 10.6%

Is this a trend?

Median home prices have risen for 3 consecutive months (year over year).

Number of Sales in homes have risen year over year for 8 months in a row.

What is happening more recently?

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors tracks Pending Sales.  This tracking of signed Purchase & Sale Agreements provides reliable information about upcoming sales numbers. 

The number of homes put under agreement in March was up 27 percent compared to the same time last year.  Condos jumped 38%.

See full report from MAR on pending numbers.

Specifically Holliston:

Over the 1st 3 months of 2010, there were 20 sales, with a median price of $336,000.

Compared to 2009 sales, there were 15 sales and median price of $315,000.

Average time on market was 97 days.

Compared to 200 average days on market in 2009.

Sellers received 97% of their Listing Price, and 93% of their Original Asking Price last quarter.

That, my friends, is strength in the local real estate market!

This Sunday, April 11th, it is forecasted to rain, so go check them out.  As part of a national push by Realtor associations, 35 states have agreed to increase open house availablity on this weekend. 

As of Friday, there are 27 open houses planned in Ashland, 27 in Holliston, 64 in Framingham, 77 in Natick, 28 in Hopkinton, and 66 in Franklin, to name a few.

Goals are to increase awareness of the available homes, kick off the Spring market, and capture home buyers prior to expiration of generous tax credits.

Many potential first-time home buyers are feeling pressured to find a house because they need a purchase-and-sale agreement by April 30 to qualify for an $8,000 tax credit. A similar deadline confronts so-called “move-up” buyers who want to use a $6,500 credit to help buy their next house.

MassHousing is also holding their annual Home Buyer Fairs called Opportunity Knocks.  Check out the website for locations and times.  The event offers free counseling services for prospective Buyers.

Where are the Open Houses?  Go to www.MARealtorOpenHouses.com for a quick search.

Better yet, call Ed Daniels for a private tour of all the homes available on the market!

Click here for report on National Website Traffic. 

Realtor.com has been on the scene for a long time and has consistantly reported more traffic than all other sites.  Here is a report out that lists the top websites dealing with real estate.  Are you listed there?

Being a home seller in today’s marketplace requires you to be found on most of these.

Because the MLS data is shared with almost all of these sites, just by getting your home listed on MLS will cause it to be found on most of them. 

Do you get added exposure on these sites when you list with your agent?  This includes additional pictures, attaching a virtual tour, links to your listing agent, floor plans, etc.

Ed Daniels of Remax Executive can be found at www.MAhome.com, which just misses the number 1 spot of 7 M unique visitors per month!