Banish the Boston Condo Search Overwhelm!

October 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Are you totally overwhelmed by the idea of looking for a condo in Boston? Are you curious, and just don’t know how to start looking? If you are regularly thinking about becoming a first time homebuyer, but don’t know what to expect, t
his post is for you.

When prospective first time homebuyers are curious about Boston area condos, I suggest the following steps to overcome homebuyer overwhelm and make sense of the idea of becoming a condo owner.

First, choose some areas you think you’ll enjoy. Condos in Boston greatly very in prices and styles so narrowing down your search to specific neighborhoods is important. If you’ve been searching on Zillow or Trulia for condos in Boston , Cambridge, or Somerville, no wonder you are overwhelmed. Just narrowing the search by price range will not be enough.

Second, go look at condos during Sunday open houses with absolutely no expectations to buy. Open houses serve such a purpose for buyers, while you have an opportunity to meet real estate agents who may be eager to be helpful. Focus on one or two areas per weekend to make good use of your time. You’ll learn the area, different types of homes, and start developing a sense of home values.

Third, hire a real estate agent. We are here to help, even in you very early stages of the search. In fact, we can make the search a bit easier for you by focusing your efforts, and giving you step-by-step input and advice. Hire someone you like and trust, and fire someone who is not doing her job.

Do not try and make sense of the real estate market online. The web is a great resource for information about homes and for open house schedules. But to learn what your Boston neighborhood has to offer, you’ll have to go do some offline searching.

Even if you feel you are far from buying, and just browsing, I’d love to see you at any of my open houses!

Customize you home search here.

 

photo by: Manu_H
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Accepted Offer, Open House and Annoyed Buyers

October 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I annoyed many people on Sunday. After an offer was accepted, I went ahead and hosted an open house. Why would I host an open house if I have an accepted offer? Isn’t it a waste of time for me and the prospective buyers?
Before you go huffing and puffing because you came to a condo too late, let me suggest to you this open house wasn’t wasteful for the buyers or the seller.
Why isn’t an open house after an offer was accepted a waste of time for buyers?
First, as a buyer, looking at property is never a waste of time! Every property you see makes you wiser about the market. How can that be bad? Several buyers learned the nature of the market, and the necessity to move quickly on properties. Don’t wait for an open house if you are serious about buying a home.
Not all buyers will like the property. In fact, the overwhelming majority of prospective buyers coming through an open house are not a match to the property. This is true of every open house everywhere. Going to open houses helps buyers shape the criteria list, narrow down the search and become more focused. It is likely you wouldn’t have bought it anyway.
Several times I was asked some version of the question, “What is the purpose of this open house?”
Remember, I work for the seller. It is my job to generate as much interest for her condo as possible. Even if we accepted an offer, who’s to say the buyers and sellers won’t have a falling out. These days, transactions are falling apart and often don’t close. This is why backup offers are commonplace. Another buyer can put an offer on the property, ready to be accepted by the seller, should the previous offer fall through. Between inspection, tight credit, and human indecisiveness, deals are fragile.
Lastly, and most importantly, wouldn’t you rather have a friendly face greet you at the property than a sign on the door that says, “open house canceled?” It was a pleasure greeting every single person who walked through the doors today. That’s what being a real estate agent is all about.
Learn your market, and don’t wait for open houses when you are ready to buy a home. If you want to learn about my listings before they debut on Multiple Listing Service, follow me on twitter @bostonruth or better yet, come join the fun at G+.
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Brighton Condo: New Listing at 137 Englewood Ave

September 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Pre-war architecture associated with ornamental details, high ceilings and thick walls. Cleveland Circle is known for pre-war low rise brick buildings, built in the 1920-1930′s. And even though the buildings always catered to modest (1-2 bedroom) households, you can still find period charm in these solid homes.

Now available is 137 Englewood Ave, Unit 25. Enter into a spacious foyer where you will immediately see the condo’s high ceilings and arabesque passages. The one bedroom home has a large living room and a eat-in-kitchen. The hardwood floors are in wonderful condition. Overlooking the landscaped courtyard, you’ll love peaceful atmosphere just a couple minutes walk walk from the B, C, D lines.

Englewood Heights is a complex of three buildings in the heart of Cleveland Circle. It has the characteristics you would expect from a high owner occupancy building: tidy hallways and excellent condition. With an elevator and laundry, this is one of the most sought after buildings in Clevleand Circle.

This condo is now available, debuting on MLS on Thursday 10/4. First open house will be Sunday, 10/7. But you can schedule your showing before the big rush. Price is $229,900. Visit the property website at http://137englewoodave25.canbyours.com/

Schedule a Showing for a Listing

Beat the crowd of home buyers by scheduling your showing now. *YOUR INFORMATION IS CONFIDENTIAL AND WILL NOT BE SHARED WITH OR SOLD TO ANYONE, EVER!*
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Buying Your First Home This Fall? Your First Three Must-Do Tasks

September 4, 2012 By 2 Comments

Boston real estate agents are making their way back from the Cape getting ready to put up some For Sale signs. The Fall real estate market is here. According to Realtors, it officially begins the day after Labor Day. The general expectation is for a vibrant, busy and tight real estate market in Brookline, Boston and Newton in the coming months.

First time home buyers lead the market, and more them are taking the plunge. Going about it correctly will make the difference between a good or bad investment, a positive or negative experience. If you are considering making this fall market your opportunity to buy, here are your three must-do tasks. Do these three things, and you’ll be well positioned in the busy market.

  1. Hire a buyer’s agent. There are many ways to find an buyer’s agent, and trust me; there are a lot of us. You can ask a friend for a recommendation, meet agents at open houses or call on some advertising. But whatever you do, hire someone after a thorough interview and once you’ve made a genuine connection. It is more important you work with an agent you feel understands your needs and respects your pace, rather than your friends’ recommendation for his cousin’s neighbor’s mom.
  2. Get Pre-Approved! A pre-qualification does not count. Speak with a human mortgage broker (rather than simple online forms), and learn what you need to do to finance a home. Once you speak with a professional and knowledgeable mortgage broker, you’ll be much wiser. Furthermore, having a pre-approval in hand is a solid foundation for making offers. Don’t guess how much you can spend and hope to get everything done later. It doesn’t work.
  3. Prepare for a big change in your life. I’ve worked with many first time home buyers over the past ten years. Buying your first home is a time of great change. And although it is a change for the better, the task can be daunting. Break it down to small pieces. Focus on each stage of the home buying process, such as looking at homes, or inspection. If you’ve done task one and two, the whole process will feel manageable, and you will have a team working with you to make it all happen.

If you are ready to take advantage of low mortgage rates and a rising real estate market, buying your first home can prove a terrific investment. Take a deep breath, and say hello to the Boston real estate.

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The Risks of an Exclusive Buyer Agency Contract

August 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Finally buyer agency contracts are becoming more popular in Greater Boston. As a first time home buyer in Boston you should be especially interested in signing a buyer agency contract. Boston, Newton, and Brookline Realtors are usually happy to discuss the contract and demonstrate how it protects you.

The goal of a buyer agency contract is to cement a relationship between broker and buyer for a set period of time. The broker is obligated to meet fiduciary responsibilities to the buyer, which essential means the buyer’s interests and instructions always trump the broker’s interests and advice.

Like in any contract, there are risks and benefits to both the agent and the buyer. Let’s clarify what they are so you can judge if you need the buyer agency when you buy a home.

Risks to Buyer

To the buyer, there are two main risks. First, the buyer is obligated to work exclusively with the buyer agent for a set period of time, as outlined in the contract. But what happens after a couple of months the agent proves unhelpful or a bad match?

This risk can mostly be averted by interviewing agents and asking for referrals. Some agents happily work with you for a bit to ensure there is a good match between broker and buyer.

The second risk to the home buyer is the possibility of an added cost. But, that’s not really the case – it only seems like a risk. The prices of homes almost always include the buyer agent’s commission. Most For-Sale-By-Owner homes pay a buyer agency commission.

What about a listing with a discount commission. Say you are a first time home buyer in Boston and you are looking at small condos. Some of them may have a commission paid to buyer’s agent of 2%, and your contract is for 2.5%. Where is the missing 0.5% coming from?

You can build the added commission into the offer price and it can still come out of the seller’s final price. Alternatively, you can pay the balance at the closing yourself remembering sellers who discount commission usually negotiate badly – meaning, you probably have a decent deal on your hands!

Risks to Broker

The broker also takes risks in these contracts. First, just as the buyers, we may not want to spend six or twelve months committed to you. Sometimes agents don’t like their clients, and fat chance we’ll get referrals from a client’s accountant / attorney / financial planner / parents to learn if you are reasonable.

But the guarantee of getting paid has brokers working a bit harder for clients and more committed to the process regardless of how unreasonable.

The other risk we have, and the biggest of all risks, is somehow failing to meet all the obligations spelled out in the contract. We can’t miss a house! This is especially daunting in a very tight market where everything sells so quickly.

Every obligation and task on the contract is a potential lawsuit if not done correctly. The buyer agency contract carries a huge responsibility for the broker. This is not a bad thing, but it is important to point out.

The Benefits

Signing a contract awards the buyer benefits of fiduciary obligation and commitment from the broker. You have someone working for you, no need to ponder the agent’s agenda. As a serious buyer you want to hire a buyer agent so you are guaranteed a level of service, which you deserve.

The broker benefits from the guaranteed income if he should successfully sell a home. It is very frustrating for agents to work for buyers only to find they walked into an open house and bought a home direct from the listing agent.

We don’t get paid if you don’t buy, but if you do buy, we want to get paid. The buyer agency contract guarantees the buyer receives services in return. This begs the buyers to consider their agents more carefully, which is a very good thing.

Buyers often mistakenly think the buyer agency contract was developed to protect agents, when the buyer is the one who has most to gain.

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Choosing the Best Real Estate App

August 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Finding best real estate app for buying a home in MA.

Real estate apps have put the real estate market in the hands of the buyers, making searching for homes easier than ever. You can now see what is available at anytime, anywhere, learn a great deal about the homes, and have open house times at your finger tips.

After trying several apps on my Android, I’m reviewing the pros and cons of each so you can choose the one best suited for your needs.

Zillow. Zillow is a huge name in online real estate resources. I appreciate some of the information they gather and redistributed, but I’ve never been a big fan. Mostly because their “Zestimates” are so ridiculous.

Zillow’s app gives a lot of options and great flexibility in creating searches. But make sure you have the “Type” of home checked correctly. The default is to show homes for sale, for rent, sold, and estimated values all on the same map if you are not careful. For me, this app is too busy, and has lots of ads popping up.

I’m sure Zillow is proud of its estimated value on each home on the map – but the Zestimates are notoriously inaccurate and misleading. It has my West Roxbury home estimated at $327,321, and the square footage at 1,351. Wrong wrong wrong.

Pros: flexibility, ability to draw your area of interest, sold homes.

Cons: busy layout, pop-up ads, too much information, pop-up survey.

Trulia. The Trulia app, like their website, is clean and easy to navigate. It also has a keyword search and lists for sale, for rent, and sold properties separately – which makes sense. Looking at listing detail is a breeze and Tulia makes it simple to contact the listing agent with questions. You can email, save or share any listing easily.

The Trulia app has ads. I almost bought some ad space until I realized that I’ve never responded to a mobile app advertisement. Since advertising just started a couple months ago, you may be spared the pop-downs in most areas, but not for long.

The agent you will see both on the Zillow and Trulia ads are NOT the listing agents. You will find the listing agent or office on listing detail page.

Note there are two Trulia apps, one is Trulia for Agents, which I use, but makes no sense for non-agents.

Pros: easy to navigate, keyword search.

Cons: ads, no ability to draw area of interest.

Realtor. Realtor.com’s app is my favorite one, which I use constantly. It feels it was build around buyer needs and who knows buyers better than the National Association of Realtors? It has the ability to search for homes easily, with as wide or as narrow criteria as you like. You can save searches or save individual homes.

This real estate app allows you to save your friends’ and agent’s email addresses in the settings. You can then send listings of interest in just two clicks. It has been easier for me to plan my open house tours with this app, and I love that it saves all my recently viewed homes.

Search options are for homes for sale, or rent, open houses, recent sales, saved searches, recent searches or area highlight – where you draw the area of interest. Despite the many options, the interface is intuitive and does not feel busy or overwhelming.

Another feature I’ve found nowhere else is “scout.” When using the area highlighter on a map, the “scout” option gives you basic sales averages around a particular neighborhood.

Pros: easy to navigate, area highlighter and scout feature, saves your agent’s info, directions and street view, organized and complete.

Cons: I don’t know if they’ll have ads, I’ve seen none yet.

Raveis App. This is the William Raveis’ Real Estate App. Because I’m a Raveis agent, I’m partial. I used this app the most before the Realtor app, but I still open it regularly. Like most things Raveis does, the app is clean, easy to navigate, and intuitive. When you open a listing, you can have a street view, navigation, nearby amenities, and community info. The amenities information includes area restaurants, schools, supermarket, hospitals and public transportation options!

You can start your mortgage pre-approval and insurance quote directly from the app – and I highly recommend both the Raveis insurance and mortgage companies. The Raveis logo and phone number is the only promotion you’ll find. There are no pop-up ads and no distractions from your home search.

Pros: easy to navigate, community information, area amenities information (!!!), no ads, easy to share.

Cons: no ability to draw your area of interest, no recent sales information, connects you with the Raveis call center, not a local agent.

Redfin: I learned about the Redfin real estate app from my client Matt last week. Redfin has property history on each listings, which no other app I’ve tried provides. Property history is interesting but more important once you are ready to make an offer. Regardless, if you are curious about recent history of properties, use this app.

The Redfin app only serves specific metropolitan areas, so don’t automatically assume this will work for you. It has worked well in Greater Boston so far.

Remember this app is company specific, so everywhere you look you are encouraged, with big yellow buttons, to sign-up for more information. Slightly annoying. A positive feature is your ability to add your own photo to the listing information, so you can better remember what you saw.

The “nearby open houses” feature has a defined circle of open houses and I haven’t figured out how to change it. I can’t say I enjoy using the app, as the emphasis is more about the company than the buyer’s needs.

Pros: property history, no pop-up ads (so far)

Cons: lacking information, less flexible than the other apps, not fun – doesn’t inspire exploration like the others.

I love that real estate data has been made transparent and readily available to the buyers. Now buyer agents are rewarded for guidance through a complex process rather than hording information. I hope I saved you some time in choosing the right real estate app for you. Have fun exploring!

If you find other interesting features or more real estate apps worth considering, write me.

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The #1 Deal Killer for Newton and Brookline Houses

July 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Last Spring market, which ended roughly a week ago, looked something like this: buyers want to buy, sellers unsure they want to sell, plenty multiple-offer situations and many deals falling apart mid-way to closing. This is the nature of a market with rising prices.

Homeowners, believing prices will rise, stay on the sidelines and don’t feel a need to sell their homes. On the flip side, there are not enough homes on the market to satisfy all the buyers, who are bidding up the prices of homes.

But many of the home sale transactions don’t make it to closing, or at least not without some disappointments and fighting. The dreaded appraisal is the culprit!

The appraisal is a third party evaluation of the home which the bank requires for a mortgage approval. An appraiser comes to the home and compares it to recent sales. In our market, the appraiser has a difficult job because there may not be enough recent sales of similar properties, and the price buyers are willing to pay is higher than it was just a few months ago.

Because of the formulas, regulations and rules the appraisers must follow; their evaluation is often coming short of the offer price, which the buyer and seller already agreed upon. What does this mean? Here’s an example:

Four offers are submitted on a house in Newton, and the best offer was accepted at $800,000. The buyer agrees to pay a 30% down payment, $240,000 and submits a mortgage application for a 70% loan, $560,000.

The appraiser uses the limited recent sales data for similar houses nearby, and comes up with an appraised value of $750,000. The mortgage company will still fund 70% of the appraised value, but now this number dropped to $525,000.

Once of several things may happen next:

  • The buyer may demand the price reduced to the appraised value. Why should he pay more than that?
  • The buyer can make up the difference in cash.
  • The buyer and seller can negotiate a price between the $800,000 and $750,000. The buyer will pay cash for anything over $750,000.
  • The buyer and seller may terminate the agreement, (if there is an appraisal contingency in the agreement, which I’ll discuss in another posting).

Whatever the decision, it is never a romantic time during a real estate transaction process. Both parties are usually upset – buyer fearing he is over paying and dreading the added cash expenditure and seller annoyed she is making less than expected. This is especially disappointing when there were several offers, four buyers is willing to pay more than the appraised value!

Five years ago appraisals were rarely a problem. But are and will continue to be an issue everywhere prices are going up, inventories are low, and buyers are ready, willing and able to buy.

Buyers and sellers must prepare themselves for the appraisal. I’ll discuss that in upcoming posts.

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Stupid Mistakes Home Buyers Make

June 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There are many multiple-offer situations these days, especially in Newton and Brighton. I heard of a buyer who put bids on four properties before giving-up and renting. Despite the stories, I still believe the biggest mistakes buyers make are rooted in the fear of losing a property.

Fear based decisions are usually wrong. In buying real estate, fear results in heart ache and overpaying. When a buyer fears losing a home she will offer too much money, overlook important inspection items, or not pay attention to the condominium documents or a building’s financial condition.

A careless broker will allow for this without regard. Even if the initial offer is for a reasonable price, the negotiations will be weak resulting in accommodating the seller excessively. Negotiating can be stressful and emotional, the best time to lose a sense of reality and get overly attached to a property.

Then comes inspection, where expensive issues come up. In fear of losing the property, the buyer will accept the home as it is or under negotiate. For major issues, the buyer should bring in professionals who can quote necessary repairs. A buyer’s agent understanding fiduciary responsibility will encourage this, and encourage the buyer to disregard a disgruntled seller.

A nervous buyer may skim the purchase and sale contract, and not request an explanation of the parts from the attorney. Buyers must not be shy about asking the attorney to take the time to review the pieces of this 7-14 page contract. All remaining contingencies and the buyer’s pre-closing responsibilities are to be thoroughly understood.

Sometime between 24 to 1 hour before the closing there will be a walk-through the property to ensure it was left in broom-clean condition and any inspection issues were properly fixed. If you think this is simply a formality, think again! My own walk-through was a disaster, with the condo left a mess and still needing to have items removed. A few of my buyers found the property in unacceptable condition before closing.

There are ways to deal with this problem, too. Money paid back to buyer or held back in escrow are two options. The buyer has the right to demand seller pay for the property to be vacated and cleaned, regardless of how desirable the property and how many offers competed for it.

So don’t fear losing a property. You’ll be a much better negotiator if you remember this important truth: There will be another home.

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Condo or Single Family?

June 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Buyers sometimes shun the idea of a condo when they can find a single family in their price range. I can understand that. There are so many advantages to a single family! Privacy, control over the house, your own yard and driveway, etc.

Boston real estate prices are comparatively high. Thus I suggest, for those buyers who are searching in the lower end of the single family housing market, to also look at similarly priced condos.

Here are two West Roxbury homes for sale. Both are great option for anyone looking for a home priced in the $400,000′s. First, it’s the two level condo at 75 Russett Road and the second is a ranch at 8 Cricket Lane. Both are superb locations, have two full baths, and both homes are easy to love. The condo, priced 439K needs no work and has extensive well maintained beautiful wood details. The house, priced 449K is a single level and will need a facelift, especially kitchen and bath.

It’s your choice.

0 Matching Properties

 

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Losing Out to Better Offers? Who’s to Blame?

June 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There are many multiple-offer situations these days, especially in Newton and Brighton. I heard of a buyer who put bids on four properties before giving-up and renting. For a real estate agent, this is a sad story.

What went wrong? I can make a few guesses as to where the buyer’s agent didn’t do her job very well.

First, the offers were poorly constructed. Writing offers in a multiple offer situation is an art in-it-of-itself. An offer is not only about price, so if you meet the timing needs of the seller, you may have a better offer without bidding more money. A serious look at contingencies is another way to sweeten an offer. Can you wave any contingencies? If not, can you increase the floor on the inspection contingency? In the inspection contingency you can specify that you will only exercise the contingency if repairs needed exceed a specific amount. For example, if the floor is $10,000, you will only consider walking away from the property if the cost of repairs exceeds $10,000.

My second guess as to how the buyer ‘s agent failed the buyer is poor pricing. If the buyer lost one property, I wouldn’t think much of it. But FOUR?!? There is a pattern of mis-estimating the value of properties. The buyer broker’s job is to come up with an accurate range of value, which she should be able to do easily if she goes to showings with her client and they’ve seen what the market has to offer. Add to the mix the recent sales, a bit of foreclosure research, some statistics on inventory and days on market and you’ve got yourself a decent picture of the market.

Third, the buyer’s broker should have asked the listing agent how many offers they have and try to obtain as much information about them as possible. With one competing offer, the buyer will offer less money than if there are five others.

That being said, you don’t want to outbid by much. Ideally your offer will be for the same amount of money as others but stronger for other reasons. One of my crowning achievements with buying clients in the boom market of 2005 was to have a winning offer for LESS money. I am always nervous about being the highest bidder for anything…it means I am surrounded by people who think I’m over paying. It’s not like winning a game of checkers.

Fourth, the buyer was in the wrong market. I will receive a few phone calls from my fellow brokers scolding me for blaming only the buyer’s agent for all these losing offers. These kinds of patterns are often blamed on an unmotivated or unrealistic buyer. But let’s pretend that I know for a fact the buyer was both willing and able to buy, and she is a reasonable human being. If I give the agent the benefit of the doubt and assume she wrote intelligent strong offers reflecting the buyer’s wishes, I still believe the buyer was misguided.

If it was the buyer who ignored the agent’s good advice on pricing or terms and conditions, it means the buyer is in the wrong market. Either she can’t afford where she is looking, or looking at the wrong properties. Does she keep bidding on two bedroom condos when she can only afford a large one bedroom? Maybe. Does she keep making offers in Brighton when she should look in Allston? Maybe.

One of the broker’s job to figure out alternatives and look for different options for the buyer. Our job is to take your needs and wants and figure out a way to make it happen. We are agents, not observers.

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