What’s the Role of a Home Inspection in a Real Estate Transaction?

Home inspections give homebuyers a thorough evaluation of the property they want to buy so they know exactly what they’re getting into before they sign on the bottom line.

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What is a home inspection? How does it benefit you as a homebuyer?

Whenever you purchase a home in the state of Massachusetts (or anywhere in the US), it’s wise for you to have a professional home inspector who’s designated with the ability and credentials to inspect that property.

What happens during an inspection? First, the inspector will go through all of the home’s systems (i.e. heating, electrical, air conditioning) and structural elements. They’ll also review the history of the home and any conditions regarding contaminants such as lead paint, asbestos, mold, etc.

The purpose of the home inspection is to evaluate the property, identify any issues that may be concerning to you as a buyer, and provide a scientific evaluation of all the aspects of the property general so when you purchase it, you’ll know if there are any defects, how to handle them, and what the value of the property is with regards to any of the negative characteristics that arise out of the home inspection.

If the home inspection reveals problems that are insurmountable, you may want to walk away from the property.

A home inspection benefits you in that it can reveal problems that may be insurmountable. If some of the defects aren’t correctable or can’t be negotiated over with the seller, it might be in your best interest to walk away from that property.

Lastly, it helps you know exactly what you’re doing before you sign on the bottom line, make a 30-year mortgage commitment, and start living in the home.

If you have any other questions about home inspections, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. I’d be happy to help you.

If Your Debt Has Become Too Much, a Short Sale May Be the Answer

What do you need to know about short sales? Today, I’ll go over some key information.

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Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

Short sales occur when a homeowner can no longer sustain the debt incurred by their property and therefore decides to list it.

So, who wins with a short sale? Truthfully, everyone involved in a short sale will benefit.

By conducting a short sale, all of the debt would be forgiven subject to your satisfaction and approval from your lender.

Also, the buyer is able to purchase the property for approximately market value. They do not have to pay the amount you owe.

Short sales are really a win-win situation

The lender also benefits from short sales because they no longer have to service a non-producing asset. Short sales are really a win-win situation.

If you are thinking of moving forward with a short sale, it’s important that you work with someone who has experience. A knowledgeable agent or a company with a professional division managing short sales are both great options.

On average, a short sale can be facilitated, approved, and closed in two to four months.

Also, if you have no other adverse credit issues, you can purchase your next home just three years after your short sale completion.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What Preliminary Steps Should You Take Before Buying a New Home?

When you're planning to buy a home, there are several important preliminary steps you need to take.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

When you’re planning to buy a home, what are some preliminary steps you should take during the process?

First of all, you should meet with an experienced real estate agent. There are many benefits of being represented throughout the homebuying process. When you work with a given agent, you should build a relationship with them so that they can provide you the highest level of personal assistance.

Once you’ve established this relationship, you should obtain a pre-approval or a loan approval prior to getting out into the marketplace. It’s also helpful if you can utilize a daily digital update that is driven by your specific search criteria. This will help make you aware of properties on the market that fit your needs and interests.

A really great agent can also expand your opportunities beyond what is on the multiple listing service. They will be able to give you access to things like private sales, upcoming sales, expired listings, and more.

A really great agent can also expand your opportunities beyond what is on the multiple listing service.

Also remember that a loan approval is preferable to a loan pre-approval. There are even companies right now who can get you a full approval subject to purchase, sale, and appraisal. This enables you to act as if you’re a cash buyer even if you only put down 3.5%.

If you’re selling in order to buy your next one, find out whether your agent can handle both of these transactions. This would optimize your entire experience.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

A Few Things Massachusetts Home Sellers Should Know

How can you help your home sell for more money this fall? Here are five of our best tips.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

If you’re thinking about selling your home anytime in the near future, here are a few ways you can achieve a quicker and more profitable sale:

1. Clean the property thoroughly. When buyers come into your home, they want to see it sparkling clean. That’s going to give them the best first impression possible.

2. Investigate any potential defects with a pre-listing inspection. Any major defects in your home should be found and addressed prior to putting it on the market. Minor defects should be fixed as well, or at the very least, disclosed.

3. Establish the lead paint status of the home. If your home was built before 1978, it will need to meet the compliance laws about lead-based paint that were established by the state of Massachusetts. They are some of the strictest in the nation.

Declutter the home and stage it for success.

4. Declutter the home and stage it for success.

5. Hire an experienced agent. This should actually be the first thing on your list. When you have an experienced hand guiding you every step of the way, you’ll be able to get the best price and terms possible for your sale.

If you have any questions for me or need any help buying or selling a home in Massachusetts, give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Requirements When Selling a Home

Do you know your local smoke and carbon monoxide detector regulations? Here’s how you can find out.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

Today I wanted to quickly talk about smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and the requirements for them in the state of Massachusetts when you buy or sell a home.

Whenever you convey a residential property in the state of Massachusetts, you have to have the fire department come to that property prior to conveyance and issue a smoke detector certificate. It can cost anywhere from $25 to $100. The purpose of the document is to mandate that the fire department has inspected the property and ensures that it’s safe with respect to fire and carbon monoxide regulations.

When you are conveying that property, you want to make sure that you contact the local fire prevention office and find out their requirements. Usually, if you have four bedrooms, you need to have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors within three feet of each of the bedrooms. Also, you need to have a fire and a carbon monoxide detector in the basement of the home if there is one.

Contact your local fire prevention office for more information.

For more detailed information, you can always call your local fire prevention office. These regulations are important because they ensure that when a property is conveyed, people moving into the property will be protected against potential hazards like an accidental fire or carbon monoxide exposure.

If you have any other questions for me, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Listing in Massachusetts? Make Sure You Know About This Law

Homes built before 1978 in the state of Massachusetts are actually subject to a law you may not have heard of before. Not abiding by this law could cost you thousands and could pose a massive health threat to anyone occupying the home.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

Today I want to talk about a very important process that’s involved in selling homes built before 1978 in the state of Massachusetts.

The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Property Transfer Lead Paint Notification (or CLPPP) is essentially a law that states you must disclose whether a home has been tested for lead paint.

As a seller, you are obligated to sign a document stating whether your home has been tested. You also have a legal obligation to disclose the results of any test that was conducted.

This is state and federal law. Penalties for not abiding by this mandate range from a $1,000 to a $10,000 penalty.

Ultimately, the law is designed to prevent lead paint from affecting children under the age of six.

The law is designed to prevent lead paint from affecting children under the age of six.

Also, buyers who come into ownership of a property which does contain lead paint are obligated to ensure the property becomes lead-free or lead-safe. The government will rebate you up to $1,500 per unit to have your property de-leaded.

Lead paint can be seriously detrimental to a person’s health. It can affect red blood cells, the kidneys, and even the brain.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How Can a Digital Tour of Your Home Attract Buyers?

How is obtaining a high-definition photo or video tour of your home beneficial in today’s modern world? With as much technology as we use every day, a digital tour actually presents a great deal of opportunity for your home.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

Presenting your home in the most attractive way possible is going to have a massive benefit on the sale of your property.

Today, I’d like to discuss how high-definition photo and video tours, specifically, can help you as a seller. First of all, both of these things can greatly impact your listing in terms of exposure.

Because these tours are virtual, agents are therefore able to send them out to a wide variety of clientele. We can not only circulate it through websites, but also through our database as well.

High-definition photo and video tours can also be implemented as a real estate tool on social media. Once a digital product is created, it can be utilized and spread on a number of social media platforms—including Facebook, Google+, and many others.

The digital nature of these tours also allows for us to give your property a great deal of visibility on both YouTube and Google.

In today’s modern age, exposure on the Internet is absolutely essential to any real estate transaction. This is in part due to the fact that when it comes to virtual platforms, people can access your tour from any device. Whether a buyer is at the airport, at home, or anywhere else, they have the chance to view your property.

Your tour will be available to you forever, and will help you maximize the opportunity of your home.

A final advantage I’d like to mention is that photo and video tours will never expire. Because the tour is digital, it is not time sensitive and doesn’t require homebuyers to fit viewing your property into their schedule. Your tour will be available to you forever, and will help you maximize the opportunity of your home.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What's the Role of Customer Service in Real Estate?

Customer service is critical to the success of any real estate transaction. There are a few reasons why this is the case.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

When conducting a transaction in today’s extremely competitive seller’s market, your agent should be putting great focus on providing you with intelligent and expedient customer service.

In fact, customer service is critical in any real estate transaction. There are a few reasons why this is true—especially in our current market.

First of all, while it may not happen each and every time, it isn’t uncommon for sellers to receive a high volume of multiple offers within the first week of their listing going up on the market.

When this is the case, working with an agent who can adequately assist you in multiple offer situations will be critical to your success as a seller.

Multiple offer situations generate a lot of fast-paced, complex challenges that the right agent will be able to help you tackle. Being able to discern facts will help you to make a smart business decision instead of an emotional one.

Next, quality customer service is important to real estate because people are simply too busy for things to operate without it. Buyers, for example, will find it essential to be able to work with someone who can respond promptly to their needs.

In a seller’s market, some things can’t afford to wait. Sellers, too, don’t have the time to wait for advice. Getting critical questions answered right away is key.

In a seller’s market, some things can’t afford to wait.

Having an appropriate support of services is also a large part of providing good customer service. On our team, for example, we are affiliated with BNI—Business Network International.

This partnership enables us to expand the base of our service to over 45 professionals who we know, like, and trust.

Additionally, clients need agents who are excellent problem solvers. In order to get the maximum results, clients will need the help of real estate professionals who can navigate complications quickly and efficiently.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What Does It Take to Be a Great Listing Agent?

Today I’m back to share a few more traits of a great listing agent.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

You may have seen my past video on how to be a great listing agent. Well, today I wanted to share with you a few additional qualities of great listing agents.

First of all, risk takers question everything. This means going over all the details in order to have a conversation with sellers about any of the concerns, issues, or challenges you might face.

A great listing agent is in the people business, not the home business. We want to understand both your fears and aspirations so we can provide the highest level of service possible.

A great listing agent is in the people business, not the home business.

Additionally, a great listing agent doesn’t rest. They should and will work tirelessly to help sellers achieve their goals.

Great listing agents also don’t buy into or accept the word “no.” When making a deal or striving toward a goal, listing agents should think of the word “no” as a stepping stone to a “yes.”

This is because we want to help you overcome obstacles in your sale.

Whether those roadblocks are large or small, a quality listing agent will be excited by challenge. Someone who is a really smart listing agent will always get to the bottom of an issue either by their own means or by reaching out to someone who can help.

With this kind of determination we are brought to our final point, which is that a risk-taking agent always has a mind full of crazy ideas. Agents like myself will always be thinking of new ways to make things happen for our clients. No matter the goal, we want to help make it happen.

If you have any questions or would like more information, feel free to reach out by giving me a call or sending me an email. I look forward to hearing from you, soon.

The 4 Characteristics All Great Listing Agents Have

Becoming successful as a listing agent means a number of things. Here is a list of just four of the characteristics that all great listing agents have in common.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

There are a few key things that a listing agent must have to be truly successful. Today, I’d like to share just a few of the characteristics that make a listing agent great.

1. You have to be a big thinker. As real estate listing agents, we must be more afraid of regret than we are of action. Taking risks, opportunities, and getting the job done will all require you to think, and do, big. Leave no stone unturned.
2. Understand the importance of being impatient. Great listing agents pursue every avenue toward success in getting homes sold. Waiting around simply isn’t an option. Making things happen on an hourly and daily basis is key.
3. Ask a lot of questions. Especially when issues arise, you will need to ask important questions to be successful as a listing agent. Get to the core of issues, be inquisitive, and actively seek success.
4. Always look for the solution to a problem. Problems are inevitable, but a great listing agent will know that the best way to tackle them is by focusing on the solution instead of the problem itself. Problems will always exist, but we are problem solvers.

If you have any other questions or want more information, feel free to give us a call or send an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Juergen Keller’s Secrets to Success After 45 Years in Real Estate: Part II

Today we're back with the second part of my interview with my friend and colleague, Juergen Keller. 

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Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

Today we're back with the second part of a great interview I had the privilege of conducting with my dear friend and colleague, Juergen Keller. If you missed the first portion of our interview, you can see it here.

To see the second portion, check out the video above.

Juergen stresses the importance of being honest and keeping negative thoughts out of his life. He even has a sign in his office that says, "You do not have the luxury of negative thinking."

Juergen stresses the importance of honesty and avoiding negative thoughts.

He also talked a bit about working as an opera singer during his days back in Germany, as well as some other work background. It's fascinating stuff!

I hope you enjoyed my interview with Juergen as much as I did. If you have any questions for me, you can always give me a call or send me an email. I'm happy to help!

Juergen Keller’s Secrets to Success After 45 Years in Real Estate

I recently got to interview my dear friend and colleague Juergen Keller, who has 45 years of experience in the world of real estate.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

I recently had a wonderful interview with my dear friend and colleague Juergen Keller, who is 90 years young and has been in the real estate business for 45 years. I've had the distinct privilege of working alongside Juergen for 33 years and today, I wanted to share the first of two parts of this great interview.

You can see the full excerpt in the video above.

Juergen's secret to longevity is to never think about your age.

What is Juergen's secret to longevity? To never think about your age and in general, have a healthy life. His philosophy for good business is honesty on all fronts, he said. He also has a great personal example of why trustworthiness is so important in business.  

Stay tuned for some more insight from Juergen in our next video. In the meantime, feel free to give us a call or send us an email with any questions you have about buying or selling a home here in the Merrimack Valley. We're here to help.

How Much Can I Afford to Spend on My Home?

Determining your affordability is one of the most important steps of buying a home. Here's where the process starts.

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Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

When you buy a house, how can you determine your household affordability budget?

First, take a look at your combined gross household income. Typically, that's you and your spouse, but your kids might be on the deed in some cases. About 33% of that gross income should be the maximum amount allocated toward your principal, interest, tax, insurance, and private mortgage insurance. If one-third of your monthly gross income exceeds your monthly payment, you're probably spending a little bit too much.

It can also be very helpful to talk to a bank or lender to consider your monthly debt like car payments and credit cards. Add them in on a monthly, prorated basis with your projected housing expenses; this monthly debt shouldn't exceed 42% of your gross monthly income.

An experienced agent can put you in touch with a great lender.

If your unique situation is too complicated to handle on your own, there are mortgage calculators online that can help you find a budget orientation. Speaking with an experienced and skilled real estate agent can also help get you the right professional resources to determine your affordability. They can also help you assess the pros, cons, tax benefits, and appreciation benefits that come with homeownership, among other things.

If you have any questions about home affordability or you're thinking of selling your house, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be glad to help!

Why You Can’t Trust Zillow

Zillow is one of the most popular real estate websites out there, but the home values it provides can be extremely unreliable. Here's why.

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Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

Zillow has become one of the largest active real estate websites that people interact with online. So why are the home values determined by Zillow so unreliable? There are a number of reasons.

First and foremost, Zillow uses algorithms that take millions and millions of pieces of information and funnels them through a generic system. Many times, it's based on tax roles and generic information about homes, so Zillow doesn't have any information about a home's interior. It can't account for whether a home has been cared for or if it was used as a meth lab.

Additionally, Zillow can't take home upgrades into account, so it doesn't know if the kitchen was recently renovated or the basement is finished. All these details can add or subtract tens of thousands of dollars from the home depending on its condition.

Zillow can't take home upgrades into account.

Zillow's home value calculators are a guideline. You don't want to stake your hope in the value of a home based on Zillow's potentially false set of hypotheses. If you really want an accurate value of your home, one way is to hire a successful real estate agent to assess the property from the inside out and compare it to recent area sales. You could also hire an appraiser for a benchmark value for your home.

If you have any questions about your home's value or you're thinking about selling it, give me a call today. I'd be happy to help!

The True Pros and Cons of Homeownership

If you’ve been thinking about buying a home, it’s important to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of homeownership. Here are some of the main ones.

Selling your Massachusetts home? Get a home value report

Buying a Massachusetts home? Click here for full MLS access

I ran into a funny card I wanted to share with you today. Take a look at the video above for a picture of 'the young couple that waited for the price of real estate to come down.'

The fact of the matter is that the price of real estate has appreciated gradually and regularly over the years. There was a lapse in 2006 with about five years of declining real estate values, but over time, real estate definitely increases in value. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of owning real estate?

Let’s start with the advantages.

When you own a home, you have greater privacy, it will tend to increase in value over time, and your costs are predictable and more stable since you will have a mortgage based on a fixed interest rate. The interest on your mortgage and your property taxes are both tax deductions. Finally, there is the pride of homeownership and the sense of community.

As a homeowner, you have more privacy, predictable expenses, and the pride of homeownership.

As for the disadvantages, remember that it’s a long-term financial commitment. You’re also responsible for all the maintenance in your home and you’re tied to one particular area. Additionally, while mortgage payments are generally fixed, they can be higher than rent payments. Buying a home also requires a down payment, closing costs, and moving expenses.

If you have any other questions or you’d like to examine more of the advantages and disadvantages of buying a home, give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to help you!