Tarot Cards for the Massachusetts Economy
March 2nd, 2009
There is an awful lot of data out there on the state of the market. Many of these articles give projections of how long this recession will last, and others how a buyer/investor could take advantage of this housing crisis. One of the best sources I have found is the Greater Boston Housing Report Card.
In October 2008, The Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University put together this report card. Here are my summary of some interesting sections:
Building permits are an indicator that new homes are not being added to the marketplace. This results in Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Market Conditions, Real Estate
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National Dec Housing Numbers
January 27th, 2009
All real estate is local. National numbers are important to the country, but your local town holds the numbers that you really care about as a homeowner. CNNMoney.com posted an article with December sales and median price results nationally.
Here is the national summary:
Annual number of sales in 2008 was 4.91 million units.
This rate in 2007 was 5.65 million units
The rate in 1997 was 4.37 million units.
In the Northeast specifically, the sales pace in December was 720,000 units, down 14.3% from December 2007.
Median existing home price was $175,400.
Median price in Dec 2007 was $207,000, which is a 15.3% drop.
The report states that home prices were pushed lower by the high volume of distressed sales, which accounted for 45% of December transactions.
Take a look at the local numbers that we report on www.Metrowesthome.com for a better feel for numbers critical to you. We are seeing very low inventory right now and something has to break, either more inventory or it is going to put upward pressure on pricing.
Ed and Doriane Daniels are part of The MAhome Team, a Metrowest Boston real estate group ready to answer any questions or concerns regarding our local market. They can be reached at 508-341-7880.Categories: Market Conditions, 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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Unique Tool to Sell a Home
October 17th, 2008
This past month I have decided to add a feature to a few of my listings - Floor Plans.
The floor plans give an internet consumer a better perspective. Combined with the virtual tour, the site allows the user to click on a particular location on the floor plan to stand in the room.
Click here for 80 Dalton Rd, Holliston tour
Click here for 82 Fisher St Medway tour
I feel that I have to be selective when using the tool, since the rooms have to be large enough to be highlighted. Doing a floorplan to show a small layout home means less visitors, not more!
This tool falls within the Presentation category. Success selling in this market requires the 3 P’s:
Pricing
Presentation
Patience
There is a report done every year to evaluate Buyers of real estate and determine how they are looking for homes. The statistics from this report tells me that internet presentation is the most efficient use of real estate exposure. Since over 90% of home buyers look to the internet to start the process, this is where your home needs to be.
For this and additional tools that I use in my marketing plan, please call and we can share them with you. A challenging real estate market requires experience and proven marketing ideas to get a home sold.
Ed Daniels is a Realtor with The MAhome Team of Re/Max Executive Realty. He can be reached at 508-341-7880.
Categories: Featured Listings, Holliston, Real Estate
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Top 5 Celebrate Holliston Day Events…
October 15th, 2008
Do I need an example of why Holliston is the town I choose to raise my family? I look no further than Celebrate Holliston Day at the end of Sept. These are the top 5 best things from the day:
- The Parade - Doriane, my wife, and daughter Lara participated in the Newcomers Club pirate ship float down Central Street. How did Lara get convinced to throw candy instead of eating it, I don’t know!
- Meeting a Fireman - Walking in full gear, Lara was a bit scared but amazed at a fireman up-close. Plus she boarded the firetruck for a tour.
- Face Painting - Not me, but again Lara was happy, so Dad is happy.
- Meeting Local Business People - What a great bunch of business owners out there! There is a renewed drive for our family to spread the word about these good people doing great service.
- Community Service Groups - The Masons table had videotaping of the kids, along with teeth impressions and fingerprints as a great service we never want to use. Putting off this important step of safety is easy, but they made it a fun activity! Thank you Masons!
Don’t miss it next year. We will see you there and make sure you say hello!
Ed and Doriane Daniels are residents of Holliston and part of The MAhome Team, real estate agents with Re/Max Executive Realty. Call them at 508-341-7880 for any community insights or real estate help.Categories: Events in Community, Holliston
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