Tips for Holiday Decorating on a Budget

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The holidays are approaching. Today, we thought we'd do something a little different and share this festive video on holiday decorating tips from HGTV. Designer Angelo Surmelis shares several great ideas to spread holiday cheer throughout the home. Here are some of our favorites.

1. Pay attention to the mantle. If you don't have some already, buy some kind of garland to drape over the mantle. Next, use leftover ornaments and candles to add light and texture. When choosing ornaments and candles, ensure they are in the same color-palette. This helps make your mantle a great focal point!
2. Use smaller Christmas trees. Every house has their main Christmas tree. In addition, you can also purchase smaller, inexpensive, eco-friendly trees to place throughout the home. Decorate these trees with strips of fabric from a T-shirt in holiday colors to save money for the main tree.
3. Use what you have. Be resourceful. Adding a plate charge and place mat to your everyday dining set adds some jazz to your table. Fresh-cut flowers and candles will help finish the look. You don't need grand, expensive candles -- a little candlelight goes a long way!

As you can see, it doesn't take much to make your home feel more festive. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

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!