Boston's 2015 Real Estate Market

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Today, we'll summarize the Boston real estate market. During the first quarter, we had about 20 feet of snow, so the number one sale item in Boston was either snow blowers or rock salt.

During the second quarter, we still didn't have much inventory. You could have listed a shack and gotten multiple offers, but there weren't enough homes available for the sellers to move into. Since inventory was low, prices went up, and during the third quarter, more people listed their homes. As a result, we had a more balanced market last quarter.

As for the fourth quarter, it's going to be fantastic. We still have a decent amount of inventory, but if you're looking to sell, there's no better time than right now. A lot of sellers take their homes off the market and re-list in the spring, which means less competition for you.

Interest rates are hovering around 4% right now. My clients have been able to negotiate rates of 3.5% due to my affiliation with local lenders. If you want to buy, do it now, because rates will go up next year. As a seller, these low interest rates will help you get the price you deserve. When rates go up, sales prices go down.

If you've been thinking of buying or selling a home, now is the time to do so. Give me a call before we get snowed in again, and I'd be happy to help you out. I look forward to hearing from you!

Why Aren’t Millennials Buying Homes More Frequently?

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One thing we know for certain about the real estate market is that it is never going to stay the same for long. Today we want to talk about an interesting trend we’ve noticed in real estate: millennials are waiting longer to purchase their first homes than their parents did. 
 
The typical first-time buyer now rents for an average of 6 years before buying a home, which is up from 2.6 years in the early 1970’s,according to Zillow.

  
We came across a great video on the topic from CNBC. To save you some time, I will give you my three biggest takeaways from the video.

1. Down payments are a huge factor
Renters in today’s market are struggling to save for down payments and qualify for mortgages. Most first-time buyers still depend on personal savings for at least some of their down payments, but rising rental prices have complicated the task of socking away money for a down payment.

2. Rising rental rates are complicating things as well 
Rental rates are causing 46% of renters aged 25-354, to spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent, up from 40 percent a decade earlier.

3. Job security is important to millennial buyers 
The Money Source, a mortgage lender, examined applications from 5,404 millennial buyers and found that these buyers averaged nearly 4.5 years in their field of work and had held their current job for slightly more than three years. Those figures point to how critical career stability is to a younger generation.

Thanks for joining me today. Talk to you soon!

How Accurate is Your Zillow Zestimate?

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

Today we are excited to be discussing Zillow’s Zestimates and their accuracy here in Boston. Zillow has become the #1 online resource for online home valuations, and many people log on to get an idea of what their home is worth through their very own automated “Zestimate.” But how accurate is this estimation really?

In Boston, the median error on Zestimates is an astonishing 8%, a pretty wide margin for error. By taking your Zestimate to heart, you could be costing yourself thousands of dollars, and seriously under or over-valuing your home. In fact, 65% of the values you see on Zilllow are off by at least 5%. The way a Zestimate gets your home’s value is by using an algorithm that includes things like the number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and square footage. 

Those are all good ways to determine a home’s value, but they are leaving out some crucial aspects in their formula. Home improvements and renovations can drastically improve the value of the house, as can its location. Zillow doesn’t take that into account, so they have no idea what your home is really worth, hence the 8% median error. 

If you’d like to get the true market value of your home, please give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you out.

How Should You Handle Early Offers When Selling Your Home?

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

Receiving an offer on your home early in the selling process is a great problem to have. However, it's not always easy to know what to do.

Our market has been very strong recently, as homes have been moving fast and bidding wars are the norm. In these situations, buyers are more likely to submit a strong offer quickly to avoid getting outbid by another buyer.

When you receive a quick offer on your property, the first thing to do is be excited. Secondly, you need to work with an agent you can feel comfortable relying on. A good agent will know what's going on with the market and what to expect from it. They should be able to help you make decisions that are beneficial to you!

When an offer comes in quickly, many sellers wonder if it's a sign that there will be more and better offers. An agent will know whether that first offer is worth taking. It can be risky to drag out the process after receiving an offer, as it may lead the sellers to make negative associations with your property if their offer isn't accepted or negotiated promptly.

Overall, working with an experienced agent is crucial if you want to get the best results when selling in this market. If you have any questions about what you should do with your first offer, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!