Very 1st Step for Buying a Home
March 8th, 2010 Categories: Mortgage Updates, Real Estate
Most buyers of a new home will be financing that home with a mortgage. Since this will be likely your largest debt, doesn’t it make sense to get the lowest interest rate?
I participated in a website tool today that could get you started down the right path!
Credit.com offers a tool to consumers to “grade” their credit report. Best yet, it is FREE, no detrimental ”inquiry” is created, and I completed it in 8 minutes!
Go to the Credit Report Card on www.Credit.com
The site will give you a score of A+ thru F on several scoring categories used by credit scoring firms. They also describe what to do and not to do in trying to fix the issues.
Also review my past blog post on credit reports and your score. MetrowestHome.com Blog Post on Credit Scoring
The Money Magazine article I found this in also recommends www.CreditKarma.com as a 2010 recommended website. It will show you how changing one factor might affect your credit score.
Ed Daniels, of Re/Max Executive Realty in Hopkinton, Massachusetts can be reached at 508-341-7880 with any MA real estate questions. Covering the Metrowest Boston real estate market, the MAhome Team has served clients in buying and selling homes since 1998.
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The Bounce of Zillow
February 25th, 2010 Categories: Real Estate
I picked out a few of the Metrowest Boston towns to display price graphs. Check out this tool to see how your MA home value has been doing the past few years.
The real estate market peaked around June of 2005, so swallow hard and check out your Massachusetts hometown!
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Holliston Company – Limbs for Soldiers
February 8th, 2010 Categories: Holliston, Preferred Business, Real Estate
A Holliston company, Liberating Technologies , was brought to my attention by a Metrowest Daily News article. I wanted to share it as a great local company that is using our federal funds well, plus doing a service for our brave soldiers.
Over the past 4 years, $8.8 million has been secured to work on the prostheses needed for lower limbs. This company also works on technology for arms and hands, but the leg technology has more challanges to get right.
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2009 Review of Massachusetts Housing
January 26th, 2010 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors released the year end numbers for Massachusetts this morning.
Statewide the single family home sales increased 4.1% over 2008.
Single family median selling prices fell 6.8% compared to 2008, falling from $311,000 to $290,000.
MAR separates out these reports into “regions”. Metrowest area of Massachusetts falls within the region of Greater Boston. This region saw the following results:
- A 2.6% increase in sales over 2008
- Median prices declined 3.6% compared to 2008
- Median price is $434,000 in this region
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Holliston MA Market Review Jan 2010
January 13th, 2010 Categories: Holliston, Market Conditions, Real Estate
Would I be surprising you if I made the statement that it is a Seller’s Market in Holliston MA right now? The Median Sales Prices have remained steady compared to the year earlier, which should be considered a WIN for homeowners in this economy.
Here is a quick bullet of Holliston’s Marketplace:
- Average selling time over the past year has been 122 days on market.
- Median price is $350,000 over the past 12 months. Same as previous year.
- There are currently 36 Active single family homes on market.
- Holliston has 3.2 months of inventory currently – Under 4 months is considered a Seller’s Market
- Sellers are getting 95% of Listing Price over the past year. 91% of Original Asking Price.
Just so that I am not coming across those readers that think I am a typical Realtor reporting only the “positive” stats, I have reported Median prices as opposed to Average prices. This is because Average prices create a higher weight to the higher end priced homes and Median prices do not.
That being said, the average prices for the past 12 months were $388882, down from the 12 months previous of $396328. This results in a 2% decline in average prices in Holliston.
I have a buyer currently looking to spend up to mid $500K in Holliston, Medway or Hopkinton. I just mailed a postcard to 400 Holliston households asking them if they were considering a move. In 12 years as a Realtor, I can say I have never done this before.
I believe this type of low inventory will result in upward price pressure for Holliston housing stock in 2010.
Ed Daniels of Remax Executive Realty is on the MAHome Team serving Metrowest Boston. Contact him at 508-341-7880 with any questions about Holliston’s real estate market.| Discussion: No Comments »
No Housing Bubble for MA
November 25th, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
I was reviewing the Massachusetts Association of Realtors latest housing data that was posted and came across a nugget. It was a historical graph for single family home sales. It shows 18 years of sales data in the month of October.
OK, the MAR reported 3,828 sales of single family homes in October state wide.
This number of sales is very close to the same number in 2005 and about 17% more sales than last year.
Were 2001 and 2002 good years for home sales? This 2009 number is stronger than both of those years!
I read about all the naysayers out there about the housing market (just look at comments on Boston.com real estate articles) but the stats above provide perspective.
Sellers don’t fell as good these days to hear that their property has fallen in value over the past few years, but the fact is that the strength of the housing market is there. Whether this is because of buyers taking advantage of tax credits, distressed properties, or pent up demand, the fact is that houses are still selling.
Ed Daniels is part of The MA Home Team servicing the Metrowest Boston area. Under Re/Max Executive Realty, he has been a full time Realtor for over 11 years. Contact him at 508-341-7880 for any questions you may have with the local market.
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Holliston Homes on Trulia
November 14th, 2009 Categories: Holliston, Real Estate
As a local Realtor, my best resource for marketing a home is on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). In addition to that, I go onto the major sites that offer home searches and tools for home shoppers.
Today I was posting my listings on Trulia.com and came across the widget below. The full feature version on the Trulia home search is very cool!
This is a widget of Holliston Real Estate sorted by the newest listings. Searching for real estate using this tool is different and interactive. Home searches are coming a long way since I started selling real estate 11 years ago! Very cool.
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New Tax Credits for Buyers Explained
November 9th, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
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NEW Home Buying Tax Credit for ALL
October 29th, 2009 Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
Home buyers have been anxiously awaiting word on an extension of the very popular First Time Home Buyer $8000 tax credit.
MarketWatch is reporting this morning that the Senate has struck a deal to expand on this program.
Many Realtors are seeing this tax credit as the main motivation of home sales this year. In 2008 there was a “tax credit” that was really a no interest loan to First Time Buyers. This year that was changed to a real tax credit of $8000 for these buyers.
The report is that today’s agreed upon credit would extend to ANY buyer who has lived in their home for 5 consecutive years, as well as the First Time Home Buyer.
Here is the report from MarketWatch:
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Senators have struck a deal to extend a popular tax credit for home buyers beyond those buying their first house, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office said Wednesday.
Legislators also have agreed to extend the tax credit through the end of April, according to a Reuters report.
An $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers is set to expire at the end of November. Under a compromise reached by senators, the credit would be expanded to those who have lived in their home for five consecutive years, a Reid spokeswoman said.
The credit for repeat buyers would be $6,500.
The credit reportedly would be available for individuals making up to $125,000 a year and couples earning up to $225,000 per year, up from the current income limits of $75,000 and $150,000, respectively. Reid wants to attach the tax-credit measure to a bill that would extend unemployment benefits.
All the buyers rushing to get into that home by the November 30th deadline are breathing a sigh of relief. I believe the additional feature for people who already own their homes is going to certainly help home sales in the mid-priced price points.Ed Daniels of Re/max Executive Realty is a Holliston native and full time Realtor. Contact him for more details on this brand new tax credit at 508-341-7880 or Ed@MAhome.com.
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Affordable Condo Options Newly Available
September 28th, 2009 Categories: Featured Listings, Holliston, Natick, Real Estate
Over the past few weeks there have been 2 condo options that have come available in our area that could become really good deals. I mention “could” because one is an auction property and one is an income restricted option.
Natick has luxury condominiums Read the rest of this entry »
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