Newburyport, MA

This is a useful link to a monthly publication that tells you about all upcoming events in the City of Newburyport. Worth subscribing to!

John

STAY in the LOOP! about everything NEWBURYPORT...This Summer!

Follow the link below to check out the AUGUST issue:
http://www.newburyportchamber.org/stayintheloop_ENL.shtml

Both MA and NH have now launched programs to lend the $8,000 tax credit to first time buyers at closing, thereby eliminating the need for a down payment on a house up to $220,000. The minimum requirements are $1,000 of the Buyer's own funds, a credit score of at least 620 and appropriate documented income.

But BEWARE! This program expires on Dec. 1^st! If you haven't closed on a house by then you don't qualify. From the time you start looking for a house to the time you close you really need to plan on three months, so if you aren't getting started now, you'll miss the boat.

I'll guide you through the process and help you find a home if you contact me.

John.wells@virtualhomes.com

978-462-9733

What Motivates Your Realtor: Listing

In the traditional real estate model, the more listings a realtor has, the more sales the realtor closes. Unilke my business, where buyers find me through my internet marketing (see www.virtualhomes.com), most realtors can only find buyers because they ask about their listings.

So for them, getting your listing is key. If you insist on overpricing your house, it won't sell, but your listing agent will still meet buyers that they can show other houses too. A good realtor should tell you that the price is too high; unfortunately, their business model may force them not only to accept an overpriced listing but even encourage you to believe in a higher than realistic value in order to obtain your listing.

Some realtors have built large business through consistent overpricing to get listings. Their signs might be everywhere, and they may be finding a lot of buyers this way. But are they serving their sellers? Beware. I rarely bother to compete for listings because I KNOW that another realtor is going to convince the seller that their house is worth more than I can honestly justify. My listings come from people who know me and trust my integrity and judgment, and that's all I want.

What Motivates Your Realtor: Buying

You hire a Buyer's Agent to find you the property that best suits your needs for the best price. While the Agent does much more for you than this, there should be no other motivation for showing you a house.

Realtors offer other realtors open house luncheons, extra commissions and other motivators to try and push their property. Why any good realtor should be influenced by that is beyond me. As a Buyer's Agent I sign a contract with my clients agreeing to a 2.5% commission; offering me more money is no reason for me to try and convince my clients to buy a particular house.

Realtor open houses were very important before we could find out almost everything about a property on the internet, and luring realtors to it was important. Not anymore. If a selling agent wants to help me sell the listing, make sure all of the attributes are correctly described in the MLS. Give me the room measurements. Tell me if there is room for an in-law apartment. Describe the lot or the waterfront. When I am picking houses to show to my clients, I am looking for the house that will meet their needs. If offering me a higher commission or a fancy luncheon makes a difference, shame on me.

And if you offer me a lowball commission, my clients and I will change that. You aren't doing your seller any favors.

Hello, CVS? Anyone Home?

The decision to greatly expand the CVS at the expense of the surrounding businesses shows incredible insensitivity to community needs, aesthetics and common sense.

White Hen Pantry, a privately owned franchise, has been serving the town well and importantly at the location for years. CVS, too, is very useful to City residents at that location. As it now is, not as a much larger market. Who wants a CVS like the one in Salisbury Square on the Bartlett Mall in Newburyport? That would look horrible, cheap and commercial - it's already a shame to have a strip mall in that location, let's at least keep it to scale.

Comments by residents about CVS being "greedy" are absolutely valid. The national corporation of CVS has clearly lost touch with the community it serves. If CVS proceeds down this path, it can expect a community boycott.

Ann Lagasse, New England Development's leasing manager, told me about CVS "if they didn't get the space they needed, they would be gone from the property." Where would they go? Is Newburyport so unimportant to them?

I am told White Hen is working with a broker to find a new location, and is close to a deal. But if CVS is being run by anyone with brains, they'll take the residents of Newburyport seriously and reconsider their decision.