Many times you wouldn’t know this as a home buyer or seller while out shopping for a Realtor. It seems that many agents’ marketing materials don’t seem to get this point across – that not only is this agent a master at closing sales in a particular neighborhood or area, he or she is also an expert at all things local. At Commonwealth, our agents are community experts. In addition to being real estate professionals, they also know the right plumbers, contractors, inspectors, landscapers, cleaning services, florists, and interior decorators. You name it.

Commonwealth agents are neighborhood connoisseurs, specialists, experts. Of course you want an agent with an impeccable track record of selling houses in your area or area of interest. You want a master negotiator, a well respected and well connected professional. But you also want someone who’s going to be able to either tell you exactly what it’s like to live somewhere, how close life’s essentials are, and so forth or connect you directly with the people who can answer those questions.

Buying or selling a home is still one of the largest transactions a person will take part in in their lifetime. Where you live is an essential part of your being – and can have serious consequences on your family’s future. Our agents don’t lose sight of this high-touch aspect to being an agent – that sometimes through all the complications of a jargon-filled transaction, what a consumer really needs is for someone to understand their more intangible needs that help them realize whether or not they can actually live in a particular home or neighborhood. This is one of our greatest strengths as real estate professionals.

Contact a Commonwealth agent today and discover the Commonwealth difference.

Now, there’s pretty much a standard rate that’s determined by FNMA and by the mortgage backed securities market, and the differences between lenders are pretty small.

Still, borrowers will shop.

The internet has, of course, played a big role in this. A borrower can spend a few minutes at a computer and get rates from 20-30 or more lenders. The rates won’t vary a huge amount, but it can be very seductive.

If we do the math, though, borrowers are focusing on the wrong thing. The monthly savings by saving an eighth in rate just don’t amount to much. Let’s look at a 30 year fixed rate loan for $300,000. At 4-1/8% the monthly payments will be $1,432. Now let’s assume the borrower shops all over town, spends hours on the internet, and he finds a lender at 4.0%. Guess what, his payment drops by only $21! That’s $252 a year, and even if the borrower stays in the house for eight years, it’s barely $2,000.

It just isn’t all that much and in today’s world where the wrong lender can mean no closing.

Wouldn’t buyers be better off negotiating a lower price of $3,000? Or a $4,000 credit towards termite repair.

When a Commonwealth agent recommends a lender, it’s because he or she knows that lender to be dependable. And closing on time can be a lot more important than saving an eighth of a point in fees.

Rates matter.

But it’s more important for borrowers to have a good Realtor to negotiate the best possible deal. Contact us today to speak with a Commonwealth agent.

This does not mean that it is not a good time to sell. What it does mean is that sellers need to be ready to compete when putting their homes on the market. What can a typical homeowner do to make their home more appealing in a market where buyers may be looking at dozens of other similar homes in the same neighborhood?

Here are the top 4 things sellers can do to up the ante and ensure their home is in the right condition to get the best offer:

1. Get a bird’s eye view on how your home compares. Take a sweep through a few open houses next Sunday to see what’s on the market in your area that’s comparable to your home. Take good notes on what you notice is common in all these houses. Do they all have new carpet? New hardwood floors? A fresh coat of paint? New windows? You may not be ready to invest in a large project for your home before selling, but often something like painting or installing new carpet can pay for itself in the end – especially if all the other comparable homes for sale have these things.
2. Remove all your clutter and store it away while your home is on the market. There’s no bigger turn-off to buyers than a house that is filled to the brim with objects and furniture. Buyers need to be able to look at your home and envision their lives in it, which includes all their own furniture and belongings. That is much harder to do the more stuff you have in your home. This is by far one of the best things you can do to help the sale of your home!
3. Consider staging. Staging basically means removing all your clutter as outlined above and having someone – either your real estate agent or a staging specialist – look at your home and make recommendations for how to set up the furniture and décor. Often, a stager will even remove some of your furniture and bring in other furniture to best accentuate the space of your rooms.
4. Research your market and price accordingly. This may seem like a no-brainer, but the one tactic that agents say over and over again makes the biggest difference in selling a home is how it is priced from day one. This means you need to do a lot of upfront research with the help of your agent. Look at as many comparables as possible and decide on your listing price based on what has recently sold and what is currently for sale. This is how your buyers will be calculating their offers to you so it’s best to be realistic and not try to play price games.

There are dozens of other things that sellers can do to help their homes sell quickly and at the best price. Ask your Commonwealth Real Estate agent for pre-list tips.

Just as the housing boom gave rise to house flipping shows, the housing fall is now giving rise to home foreclosure shows. The Wall Street Journal reports that this summer and fall, several TV networks will premier reality shows about buying foreclosed homes.

While last week’s foreclosure report from RealtyTrac showed that foreclosures decreased in 84% of markets across the U.S. in the first half of the year, there’s still an excess of foreclosed homes out there to buy. This is the year of the real estate investor, and where there’s money to be made, there is TV to be made.

Here are the shows, the WSJ mentions will premiere soon:

• Spike TV has a new show called “Flip Men” coming in September. It’s about a duo in Salt Lake City trying to make a profit in foreclosures.
• Bravo’s reality show, “Flipping Out,” starring Jeff Lewis starts its fifth season later this summer. Apparently, Lewis wrangles with lenders in a quest to buy a foreclosed house to live in.
• DIY Network has a show in development about flipping foreclosed houses that’s expected to air in 2012.
• A&E Television Networks reportedly tapped a former “Survivor” contestant to star in a new show later this year about flipping houses.

Tune in and see how it all unfolds!

Buying a distressed property can be complicated but the opportunity is pretty amazing if you’ve got it.

First, what is distressed property? A distressed property is usually one that is either in danger of going into foreclosure or that will be up for sale because the homeowner defaulted on his mortgage. These transactions are quite different from your average home sale because you’re dealing with the bank’s own red tape, which can add a lot of time to close.

Just remember these three things:

Be flexible. When buying a distressed property, it’s good to have flexibility – especially with your move-in date. That’s because closings often can get delayed and the closing date is more or less an “estimated” date. Take a bit of stress off your back by either having a back-up plan (crash at your in-laws’ place for a couple of weeks?) or trying to give yourself an extra month at your old place if you can afford to do so.

Be patient. With a distressed sale, you’re dealing not just with your lender and a seller, you’re dealing with the original lender on the property and its whole chain of command to get things approved and moving. This can be frustrating. But honestly, there’s not a whole lot you can do at times except be sure you’re on top of your own deadlines, deposits, inspections and paperwork, and sit back and be patient.

Work with an experienced agent. OK, so you can’t always sit back and be patient. There will be times when you might need to get a little aggressive to keep things moving. An agent experienced with distressed property will know how to handle those times. In fact, there may even be situations where the best outcome is to decide to walk away and find another property. It’s important to find an agent who knows the process, local market conditions and you (as in, your threshold for stress and panic, your motivations, your limitations, etc.).

Buying distressed property can be a pain, but it’s one that can also come with many rewards. Many markets are flooded with distressed properties so if you’re in the market to buy, now’s the time to consider whether it makes sense for you. Contact a Commonwealth agent today to find out more!

Let’s look at what we know:

• Home prices fell to 9-year low. According to data from the S&P Case Shiller Home Price Indices, home prices are back to 2002 levels. The national index declined by 4.2% in the first quarter after falling 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010. This means the national index hit a new recession low.
• Sales of new homes increased in April, for the second straight month. Sales increased 7.3% to a 323,000 unit annual rate, the highest since December, according to the Commerce Department’s report. April also marked the lowest inventory level of new homes in a year. These are certainly positive signs of underlying strength in this market segment.
• Inventory of previously owned homes remains high. NAR’s numbers show there were 3.87 million previously owned homes on the market in April. But economists estimate the number could be much higher – between 7 and 8 million if foreclosed properties and those at risk of foreclosure were taken into account. It’s the “shadow inventory” effect.

Buyers this summer have the best of all worlds: Low interest rates literally shave thousands of dollars off the price of a home; high inventory levels offer a shopper’s paradise in terms of choice; inventory also puts downward pressure on prices; prices are at a new recession low; and nothing major has changed in lending regulations that would cause issues.

Calling all home shoppers: This summer is the season of your real estate dreams. The fences are buckling under your weight, and the grass is much greener on the ownership side if you’re ready. For buyers in most parts of the country this is the perfect time to buy. Call us today to learn more. Remember, sales could pick up as more buyers realize conditions for buying can’t get much better than this!

 This is a national program on HGTV and we are so excited for Michele! Be sure to tune in and watch Michele at work!

“This is a tremendous honor for our company” said Nick Patsio, CEO. 
 
“This award is a true testament to the dedication and teamwork of our company,” Patsio said. Our entire team of sales associates, managers and staff are just incredible. There has been a lot of national media attention regarding the condition of the real estate market, but real estate is local, not national – and our market is in very good condition. Our company continued to grow in 2010,” said Patsio.

CENTURY 21 Commonwealth specializes in residential, fine homes and estates, and commercial sales throughout New England. The company has more than 500 professional sales associates with offices in Cambridge, Dover, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medfield, Milford, Natick, Needham, Newton, Somerville, Wakefield, Watertown, Westwood, Wellesley, and Winchester.  

We will be giving away one package per month with an estimated value of $500

Enter to win today!

To register go to www.commonmoves.com, or stop by any CENTURY 21 Commonwealth office or open house and fill out an entry form for a chance to win!

I often speak with homeowners who have lived in their homes for 20, 30, 40 or even over 50 years and I always like to ask, “If you had the chance to go back in time and buy more houses, would you?”

Their answer – always immediate and with ironclad certainty – YES!

This to me speaks volumes about the enduring value of homeownership. It is much more meaningful than the consumer sentiment surveys you see each month gauging consumer confidence in housing. If the nation’s veteran homeowners can still stand in their front lawns and unequivocally say they made the right decision and whose only remorse is not buying more property, then I’d say that’s the kind of consumer confidence other assets may only dream about.

Don’t be fooled by the sad stories of foreclosures or the owners who decided to walk away because they were underwater. These stories have nothing to do with the value we put on homeownership. These stories are often about people who were unlucky or got caught up in mortgages they couldn’t really afford, who lost their jobs or who were unprepared for a financial emergency.

Even through all of this, homeownership is still valued in this country. Do you think that homeowners who walk from their mortgages will never buy a house again? Of course not.

Do you think that marriages and babies and promotions will no longer lead to home purchases? Of course not. How do I know this? Because our veteran homeowners can look back through boom-and-bust cycles and still say with certainty that they made the right decision. Because even as the nightly news blasts stories about “plummeting” home values, our agents’ phones are ringing from customers eager to buy.

Housing is certainly an important market to our economy. But homes time and again prove that they are not simply commodities to be traded on Wall Street like stocks and bonds. They are not items on financial spreadsheets. They are homes – places where we create memories, live our lives, build our futures.

When we emerge from this lull and look back on the recovery years for answers, I have a feeling that more of us will say, “I wish I would have bought more houses before that market took off.” We will never regret all the years spent building wealth in our homes.