- Existing-home sales up unexpectedly in October!
Sales of previously owned homes in the US unexpectedly rose in October, a sign falling prices may be attracting buyers. Click to read full Bloomberg News article from Boston Globe.
Archive for the ‘Advice for Buyers’ Category
Existing-home sales up unexpectedly in October!
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011Is now the time to buy? Let us help you navigate the changing mortgage market.
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011The end of 30-year fixed- rate mortgage?
FANNIE MAE and Freddie Mac are wretched, toxic organizations that have soaked good working people for $134 billion, and counting. They will be put down as quickly as Congress and the US Treasury can manage. That, we know. What happens once they disappear is largely an unanswered question. Click to read more…
Mass. December Home Sales Increase After 5 Months Of Year-Over-Year Declines
Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
Posted Jan 25, 2011 – Banker & Tradesmen
By The Warren Group
Single-family home sales in Massachusetts jumped 6.9 percent in December to 3,581, up from 3,350 in December 2009, according to new data from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The increase in home sales is a reversal from the previous five months of year-over-year declines.
Continue Reading This Article Here
Is Arlington a Buyer’s Market or a Seller’s Market?
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010First, let’s put the Arlington market in perspective with the rest of the country. In many areas prices, sales and future expectations are grim. High foreclosure and unemployment rates, short sales, and millions of owners “underwater” with their mortgages are creating serious pain. In many markets, there exists a huge inventory of unsold homes and virtually no buyers.
Although we are experiencing some of the same problems, they are not as severe. We are benefitting from some of the national policies designed to help the rest of the country. The decision by the Feds to keep interest rates historically low is creating a mini-boom for us. As I write this blog, I note that Leader Bank, an Arlington based lender, is offering a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, with no points, at 4.375%. In my 40+ years as a real estate broker in Arlington, I have never seen rates this low.
When you stir the ingredients of low mortgage rates, lower sales prices, a diverse employment base, proximity to a world class city and many other desirable area components, then add-in the benefits of living in Arlington, it is no wonder that buyers want to buy.
This market is different than previous markets. Buyers rightfully agree that sales prices are apt to trend down a bit more. Although it may feel as if we are at the bottom, we can only determine this with hindsight when we look back at the statistics.
Today’s buyers are savvy, intelligent, well trained and willing to buy only if the right combination of circumstances is present. They’ll buy a home if it is well located, in great condition and priced aggressively. Homes that exhibit all of these qualities will sell quickly and at a very good price. If one or two of these factors are not present, the home may not sell, and, if it does sell, the differences will be reflected in the price.
I’ll summarize by saying, if you are selling, you are fortunate to be in a market where there are qualified home buyers ready to buy, but you must be open minded to the realities of the marketplace. If you are buying, you are blessed with lower sales prices, amazingly low mortgage rates and a reasonable expectation of continued employment. It is rare that a market offers so much for both sides.
We will soon post the Jan-July sales stats….
Bob Bowes
Buyers Interested in Walkability… Arlington Has It!
Monday, July 12th, 2010Park the car and put on the walking shoes. Homebuyers are ranking a home’s walking distance to schools, stores, neighborhood parks, and more as high on the list of influences to buy a home. Buyers are interested in purchasing a house that allows them to get around without the car.
According to one study of 90,000 homes in the U.S., being able to walk to nearby amenities can increase the value of the home by as much as $3,000 and if there is “location efficiency”—a calculation that measures transportation costs—the number of foreclosures in a neighborhood is impacted. “For a lot of Americans, the whole problem of traffic congestion and having to drive everywhere to do almost anything has made other choices more attractive,” Kaid Benfield, director of the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council’s Smart Growth Program told the Wall Street Journal.
Other influences increasing the appeal of a home’s walkabilty are two demographics: the baby boomers and the first-time homebuyers. Both of these groups don’t want to be isolated. They want the convenience of having stores and restaurants close by. Also, unstable oil prices, make parking the car a well-liked idea.
Does this mean everyone is moving to the city? Not at all. The home doesn’t have to be in the heart of downtown but if the home has walking-distance amenities, it’s likely to attract more buyers. With that in mind, sellers should pay close attention to how their homes are being marketed. A website called Walk Score, (read my column, Can Walk Score Improve the Value of Your Home?) figures out the distance from any address to various amenities. However, it is a “as the crow flies” measure. In other words, it won’t tell you how easy the terrain is, such as if there are hills or rivers that must be walked around because they’re lacking a bridge. The website developers are looking into making some adjustments to account for these issues. The website does give buyers an idea of how close a home is to stores and restaurants but it doesn’t provide information on safety, upkeep of the neighborhood, whether there are sidewalks or other street designs.
Sellers who want to emphasize their home’s walkability can use the Walk Score site to calculate their home’s rating. Then they can use neighborhood pictures to show the ease of access to amenities, the topography, and couple that with detailed information about the area to gain more interest from buyers. Topography is a vital influence in determining if people will actually walk in a particular neighborhood. If there are 4 lanes of traffic and lots of congestion, even though the distance is short to a store, many will opt to drive. Being specific in your marketing materials (especially online) about the proximity to desired locales, but also the ease of pedestrian access, may be a selling point that gets buyers to physically drop by your home for an in-person look rather than just perusing it via the Internet. So while many sellers are used to talking about good schools and low crime in their neighborhoods, it seems buyers now want more—they want a walk in the park that’s going to take them to the corner market, the dry cleaners, restaurants, the pharmacy, and back home using an accessible pedestrian route.
By Phoebe Chongchua
Copyright © 2010 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
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