Town of Holliston
My favorite town, being born and raised in this community of 14000 residents. Tucked into a location 24 miles from Boston, and 30-40 minutes from Providence and Worcester, this small community features a quaint downtown. Throughout the Fall there are antique shows, fairs, and community celebrations with your neighbors.
Many residents use the commuter rail stations in the neighboring communities to get into the city. More and more workers are finding employment on the very fast growing Route 495 highway belt. This “technology corridor” is home to EMC Corporation, Waters, and many others.
Demographic Information on Holliston
Holliston Water Failing in Only 2 Ways?
February 15th, 2010
Holliston Aquaduct?
In reading the Holliston TAB the other day I came across the following article:
Five of Six Holliston Wells Have Significant Problems
As a citizen in town who likes to keep up with how the town is managed, I was amazed to hear this news.
Even more disappointing was the early quote in the article from Larry Weise, Chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners. Mr. Weise was reported to say the town has two issues threatening the town’s water supply: Quantity and Quality.
WHAT? That sums up water supply… Quantity and Quality! There is nothing else.
For several years I have followed the water supplies in the Metrowest region as perhaps a “more informed Layman”. I don’t pretend to understand the geology of aquifers, but I certainly understand that there is science behind the water supplies. I understand that even private wells pull from a common source.
On the flip side, homeowners generally don’t follow this stuff. They hate water bans during 2 weeks of rain showers. Townspeople hear high levels of X in the water supply and immediately start showering in Poland Springs. I swear, Ashland residents still think water is contaminated from the old Nyanza paint factory. Fact is… water wells are upstream from the site and Hopkinton even buys some of their water from Ashland wells!
One thing that I DO know as a taxpayer, I would much rather deal with water wells than ignore them. The Holliston Water Commissioners have obviousily ignored the problems. 5 years ago it would have been a lot easier to make the case for taxpayer money to go to well improvements. Little tougher now!
Medway just is fighting thru the terrible situation of waiting too late for replacement/repair of a well.
Medway MA Master Water Plan 11/09
The Town of Holliston presented an all-around State of the Town recently and here is the presentation:
Holliston Plans of the Town 11/09
The latest report I could find regarding the Report on the town’s water was the Annual Report for 2008:
Water Report for 2008 - Issued 6/09
On September 3rd 2009, the Water Department issued a notice because the DEP required it. The town had discovered some level of surface water getting into one of the town’s wells. The DEP regulations required that they notify the residents. In this notice, they also stated:
We are currently completing a Master Plan of the entire Holliston Water System evaluating the best approach for cost effectively continuing to meet all federal and state regulations and provide all our residents with the highest quality water.
Upon searching for this Master Plan for the Water System, no mention of it on the town’s website or thru a google search. I will keep hunting for it. I am also interested as to why the last meeting minutes posted to the town site for the Board of Water Commissioners is from 8/26/09??
As a Realtor selling Holliston real estate, Buyers get access to all the press and reports on the internet, and we will have property values affected negatively if we don’t get our act together. The town needs to feel confident about water Quality AND Quantity, and this is a non-negotiable!
Ed Daniels is a local Holliston resident and taxpayer, concerned citizen over water supplies in the region, and a Realtor hoping to sell many homes to families moving to Holliston. To talk about everything regarding Holliston Real Estate, or other Metrowest homes, call 508-341-7880.
Categories: Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway, Town Hall Info
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Holliston Company – Limbs for Soldiers
February 8th, 2010
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.
All the local politicians have visited the company to show off how the federal funds are being put to good use, like this video of a recent visit .
Holliston does not have a very large commercial base, primarily due to the restrictions caused by private septic systems. Some people in town believe this helps to keep Holliston feeling like a “small town” that they have grown to love. On the flip side, increased local business helps with the tax burden and employment for local residents.
Great job to Liberating Technologies and the work they do!
Ed Daniels of Re/Max Executive Realty markets real estate in Metrowest Boston and can be reached at 508-341-7880 or Ed@MAhome.com
Categories: Holliston, Preferred Business, Real Estate
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Metrowest Election Results for Senate
January 20th, 2010
The election results are IN for Senator in Washington. The Metrowest region had a great turnout and for that we can all be proud that democracy is working!
Below are results from each Metrowest MA town and the vote counts for either Scott Brown (R) or Martha Coakley (D):
Town - Winner - Vote count
Ashland Brown 3467 vs 2897
Bellingham Brown 4090 vs 2179
Framingham Coakley 10329 vs 9149
Franklin Brown 8828 vs 4470
Holliston Brown 3725 vs 2921
Hopkinton Brown 4123 vs 2600
Marlborough Brown 6817 vs 5037
Medway Brown 3641 vs 2044
Milford Brown 5432 vs 3561
Millis Brown 2430 vs 1383
Natick Coakley 7208 vs 6954
Northborough Brown 3816 vs 2486
Shrewsbury Brown 7867 vs 5242
Southborough Brown 2689 vs 1845
Upton Brown 2125 vs 1138
Westborough Brown 3822 vs 2996
Results for other towns not posted here can be found by
Good luck to Scott Brown as he heads to Washington to help all citizens of Massachusetts. The people have spoken with their votes and now it is his job to take care of us!
Ed Daniels of Re/Max Executive Realty is a local Realtor and home owner in Metrowest Boston.
He can be contacted at 508-341-7880 for help in learning about the Metrowest area and buying/selling a home.
Categories: Ashland, Bellingham, Framingham, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Local Communities, Marlborough, Medway, Milford, Natick, Southborough, Town Hall Info, Westborough
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Holliston MA Market Review Jan 2010
January 13th, 2010
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.Categories: Holliston, Market Conditions, Real Estate
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Holliston Football Player Needs your Vote
December 15th, 2009
Holliston High School had a great season in 2009, with their only loss coming in the Superbowl against Austin Prep. Fox News is holding a vote on their website for determining the top HS football “Team Player of the Year”, and our own Sean Mayo is one of the nominees.
One of the terrific parts of the Holliston High Football team’s success is seeing the town’s excitement over their hometown. The crowds were awesome all season long, and there is great pride from our school children.
This vote takes about 15 seconds, so click here and lets show how spirited the citizens of Holliston are!
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/sports/hs_friday/high-school-friday-team-player-of-the-year
Holliston did one of these votes a few years back with a local electric company. The company was going to give lights for a playing field for the most votes. Holliston won that contest and we now have Granite City Electric lights over our baseball field. Let’s show that spirit again!
Categories: Holliston, School Info
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Holliston Homes on Trulia
November 14th, 2009
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.
Categories: Holliston, Real Estate
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Affordable Condo Options Newly Available
September 28th, 2009
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 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.
Ed Daniels of Remax Executive Realty is an 11 year veteran of the real estate business, as well as a lifelong resident of Metrowest Boston. Contact him at 508-341-7880 with any questions or comments.
Categories: Featured Listings, Holliston, Natick, Real Estate
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Holliston: Real Estate is Local!
September 9th, 2009
So, if you are living a busy life like me, you catch sound bites about how the world is doing. Lately it has been health care, stock markets, and of course, real estate values.
If you own a home in Holliston, you are not concerned with national real estate numbers… you are concerned with Holliston values!
Real estate is local. So let me provide you with some bullet points of how our town is doing in the real estate department:
Median prices up 2%
Thru August, the median home selling price was $357,000 for the year. It was $350,000 at this time in 2008.
Taking longer to Sell
It takes 136 days on average to market a home in Holliston to sell. In 2008 it took 117 days on average thru August.
More homes Sold in 2009 vs. 2008
We have 83 sales in town for 2009 compared to 74 over the same period in 2008.
Holliston did not go through this economic downturn unscathed. Going back in time just one more year and we find that the town’s median price is still down 10% since 2007 ($397,900 median sold values Jan-Aug 2007).
Perhaps this data will help to put into perspective how well most family’s largest investment is holding up.
“We Live Where You Live”
Ed Daniels of Re/Max Executive Realty can be reached at 508-341-7880 for any questions about the real estate market. Any member of The MAhome Team can service the entire Metrowest Boston area, but Ed grew up in Holliston and is completely biased towards the community
Categories: Holliston, Real Estate
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January Your Only Month to Deal with Property Taxes
January 12th, 2009
Once you recover from the Holiday season and the calendar changes, you now have only the month of January to do any official complaining about your property tax bill. Filing an Abatement with your town Assessor’s Office is the process you will need to go thru in order to dispute your home valuation.
Most town deadlines is the month of January. Therefore, the time to educate yourself on the process and collect all the necessary information is limited.
From my perspective, I have seen too many people (including myself) attempt to go thru the process of abatement, and it usually is unsuccessful. Before you attempt it, learn all you can about the way the individual towns evaluate property values and then attempt to collect factual data to support your case. Unless you have solid data, you don’t have a chance.
For an example of the frustrations of this process, a recent Boston Globe update on Holliston tax rates and assessments said the town is evaluated at 95% of market values but the Town Website FAQ’s describe the town as being evaluated at 100% of market values. Which is it??
Even with 10 years as a Realtor, and experience with going thru the process, there is no textbook on how to be successful. Frankly, they denied my applications without any reason, just a denial letter. I personally feel the town needs to clearly give a reason for the denials and why the data does not qualify to reduce a taxpayers tax bill.
Almost all towns in our Metrowest area evaluates property values based upon 95-100% market values.
Even though residential property values have declined in Holliston, the town had to raise the tax rate in order to pay the town’s bills. In years of increasing property values (ie. 1998-2004), the property tax rate should have dropped to stay at steady spending levels. Unfortunately new ways to spend tax rolls seems to find its way into the budgets.
The moral of the story, you can fight the tax man, but they usually win without explanation. If you have the stamina, get a Realtor to do an analysis of market values for the previous tax year, and get those forms into the Assessors Office prior to February.
Ed Daniels of Re/Max Executive Realty and The MAhome Team would be happy to provide interested readers with recent sold home statistics to help in the process of abatements. He can be reached at 508-341-7880 or Ed@MAhome.com.Categories: Holliston, Real Estate
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If you wait for the Robins, Spring will be Over.
October 28th, 2008
I couldn’t keep from creating this blog title after reading it in a Warren Buffett Op Ed piece. It was in the New York Times Oct 17th. Now, I understand that everyone will critize the Realtor speaking positive about the real estate marketplace, but I am excited about this Low!
When is the “Low”?
You won’t know it until you see it in the rear view mirror.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am a real estate agent in a very down market. I am working harder and dealing with more emotions then I have in my 10 years. If I can manage scraping up a little cash, I will be putting it into equities and real estate NOW.
I worked an open house a few weeks ago, and at least 3/4 of the visitors were interested, but waiting for a bit longer for the market to fall further. This was a very real display of pent-up demand.
Another contridictory real world example is a client looking for a $800K home in Holliston but not having more than a handful of options in the past 3 months. Do I really need to direct mail a neighborhood to let them know I have a Buyer for them? That is not the real estate market that the Boston Globe is reporting about!
In scanning over the region’s 3rd Quarter real estate stats, the median prices are reporting grim news to homeowners:
Holliston down 13.6%
Hopkinton down 8.7%
Framingham down 7.2%
Ashland down 7%
Natick down 5.4%
In regards to the number of sales, the region has 12.8% fewer sales!
OK, where you are ready to jump out a window, I am now salivating! Yes, I do own a home, but I am not ready to move yet. Therefore, no sweat.
Take a deep breath Massachusetts, the sky has not fallen and it is time to start figuring out how to take advantage of this market, not how to escape it!
Categories: Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Market Conditions, Real Estate
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