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May 25th, 2010
From the Boston Globe:
Getting cities and towns to shift toward clean energy was such a cornerstone of Massachusetts’ 2008 energy legislation that the law is named The Green Communities Act. Click here to read the rest of this article and find out which towns were named Green Communities.
Posted in Announcements, Arlington MA | No Comments »
May 12th, 2010
As World War II ended, two returning servicemen, Gordon Thompson and Walter Pennell joined forces and formed what has become Arlington’s most venerable real estate company.
For sixty-five years, the foundation of ethics, integrity, honor and trust, are the basis for every transaction and customer experience. Gordon and Walter grew their business, one satisfied customer at a time.
 Walter Pennell, Bob Bowes, Frank Bowes, Gordon Thompson Guided by that same set of principles, they would be amazed to see how their business has evolved. We are on the cutting-edge of all real estate companies. We are driven to be the best that we can be. Our mantra is “we reinvent ourselves every year” and our sales and support teams are the most knowledgeable, best trained and best equipped in the industry.
We have created an award winning website, with the best search and mapping available. Our customers love it and we add new customers every day. Last year, our site was named as the best website nationally by our franchisor and named the #1 website in Massachusetts, by the Mass. Assoc. of Realtors. Google Analytics tracks our site and we surpass our peer groups in every category. Sales in recent years have grown exponentially. We now out-list and out-sell our number one and number two competitors—combined.
We have created a remarkable customer service platform. Several years ago, we retained an independent, third party company that evaluates every one of our customers, after the transaction. We post the results of every survey on our website to be read and reviewed by all. We proudly report that our customer satisfaction rating is over 99%. Also, in 2009, we received the award for the # 1 customer satisfaction rating in North America.
We are proud of our heritage, our team and our accomplishments. And, without hesitation, we are most proud of our customer satisfaction rating. On a personal note, I believe that our founding fathers would be very proud of our stewardship of their 65 year old company.
Bob Bowes
Posted in Arlington MA | No Comments »
April 16th, 2010
1st QUARTER 2010 vs. 1st QUARTER 2009
The first quarter MLS sales results have been analyzed. Some readers may be surprised; some may not. If you are a buyer, early indications are that 2010 may be a great time to be a buyer. We are still enjoying the benefits of the tax credit, mortgage rates are still hovering around five percent and the inventory has grown. And, more importantly, prices are lower than last year.
Whenever we compare real estate prices over a single quarter, it is important to note that it is almost never the same home being sold twelve months later and if there are more sales in the lower price range, the data can be misleading. In other words, if in the first quarter of 2009, there were a number of higher priced single family homes sold, and, in the first quarter of 2010, there were a greater number of lower priced condominium sales; the average prices would be less. As we move into the second and third quarters, we will be able to present a more accurate snap-shot. With that caveat, here are the numbers.
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2009
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2010
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Change:
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| Closed sales: |
53
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78
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+47%
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| Dollar Volume: |
$25,546,597
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$35,880,525
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+40%
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| Avg. sales price: |
$482,011
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$460,006
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-4.5%
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If you are a seller, it is very obvious that more homes are being sold. The days on market have decreased and Arlington continues to attract financially qualified buyers with good down payments, good credit scores, and the ability to get the seller to the closing table.
We continue to be very fortunate to call Arlington our home. We are in a position unusual to most of the country. We are neither in a strong buyer’s nor seller’s market, but a market where people can buy and sell property within transactions which seem to be fair to both parties.
We like that!
Posted in Advice for Buyers, Advice for Sellers | No Comments »
February 2nd, 2010
The year has ended and the stats are in. The question – did Arlington real estate continue to perform well in 2009? I have just completed a summary of single family home sales and condominium sales for the two years. The categories are: a comparison of the number of sales for each property type and average sales price for each property type. All of the statistics are based on all sales data provided by MLS-PIN, the primary multiple listing service for Massachusetts.
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SINGLE FAMILY HOMES
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2008
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2009
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% Change |
| # of Sales |
218
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248
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+14%
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| Avg. Price |
$511,018
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$509,975
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-0.002%
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CONDOMINIUMS
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2008
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2009
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%Change |
| # of Sales |
226
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215
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-5%
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| Avg. Price |
$372,900
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$350,222
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-6%
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It is important to understand that the properties that are sold from one year to the next are almost never the same properties. Therefore, we are never making an apples-to-apples comparison. What the data shows is a strong indication of value, but not an exact comparison.
Single family home prices may have hit the lowest possible one year change of less than $1100.00 from the previous year. Condominium sales prices are frequently skewed, due to a new conversion, or some other block of sales occurring in a single year.
The numbers confirm that Arlington continues to be extremely resilient to volatile market conditions and the economic down-turn.
Mortgage rates are hovering around 5% for a 30 year fixed rate. Many experts are expecting mortgage rates to increase in 2010, as the government borrows money to pay for the deficit. With prices that may have hit bottom and very attractive mortgage rates, this may be an excellent time to buy. Also, do not forget the $8,000.00 and $6,500.00 tax stimulus incentives that are currently scheduled to expire for sales that are not under contract by April 30, 2010.
Posted in Advice for Buyers, Advice for Sellers | No Comments »
December 28th, 2009
It was another nice Christmas for any Arlingtonian eating alone on Christmas Day. Over fifty meals were served, or delivered, by an amazing group of volunteers. Although this was the 32nd year of our event, it seemed to be one of the best.
Special thanks to the Arlington Lodge of Elks for donating their facility (for 32 years), the Council on Aging for the use of their van and to a great group of volunteers. Our chefs, Pat Casey and Lynne Cabral, our drivers, Don Boudreau and Ted Griffin, our team of helpers, Dan and Margaret Haywood and their three daughters, Kim, Emily and Megan, Steve Rae and daughter Molly Casey, Peter Corwin, Casey West (daughter of Pat Casey), , Bernie Scannell and Elaine Bowes. Festive gifts were provided by Don Conroy through the generosity of the TJX Companies.
We are looking forward to next year.
Posted in Announcements | No Comments »
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