Beverly, MA

Beverly Massachusetts Real Estate Homes Activity Report

The Beverly MA Real Estate homes sold report indicates that 212 homes have sold YTD in 2009 with an average sales price of $436,259. The average days on market (DOM) was 99 and the sales price to list ratio was 97%. The selling range was between $120,000 and a high of $5,000,000. As of November 30, there were 63 homes on the market with an average list price of $910,611 and a range of $249,900-$5,750,000 and an average DOM of 159. There are only 6 home under contract with an asking price of $491,133 with a range of $249,900 to $895,000.

Additional resources for Beverly MA real estate :

Beverly MA Real Estate - Community, relocation and school information with town demographics.

Beverly MA Foreclosures - Obtain a list of foreclosed and bank owned real estate and short sales

Beverly MA MLS Search - View all listings in the statewide MLS. For a condo search, visit Beverly MA Condo.

Beverly MA Homes for Sale - Map Search - Search by location, neighborhood and commuting.

Virtual Homes Real Estate provides search tools to asist you in learning about the community, listing and market conditions. Click on the following links for your choice of services.

Visit NH Homes for Sale and MA Homes for Sale for direct MLS access to all listings. To obtain school, demographic, commuting, relocation, home buying and selling information, go to New Hampshire real estate, Massachusetts real estate, Connecticut real estate, Maine real estate and Rhode Island real estate. For information regarding foreclosures, visit Massachusetts foreclosures, New Hampshire foreclosures and Connecticut foreclosures.

The Beverly MA Real Estate homes sold report is based on activity reported from the MLSPin MA MLS system and is not guaranteed to be accurate. It does not represent all of the listings that have sold during the specified time frame.

The time to get started is now!

Do you have any idea how many homes are going to be going on the market in January and February? Seeing what is going on and speaking to other agents on a regular basis, I can tell you that it will be more than you think. Most agents that have clients waiting to go on after the Holidays already have a plan in motion. My clients that are looking to buy right now are getting bored with the lack of new inventory and are chomping at the bit to have new homes to look at. Here are a couple of things to think about that may help you plan your market strategy.

1. With the newly expanded Tax Credit it will be in the first time home buyer's best interest as well as some qualifying Sellers to get under contract by April 30th and close before June 30th.
2. Pricing your property correctly and marketing it to the highest number of Qualified Buyers is going to be more important than ever to have a successful transaction.
3. The FHA rules and guidelines are changing daily. Having a Mortgage Professional that is willing to answer quick questions will help you determine if an offer has the chance of getting through underwriting
4. Offering out a fair percentage of sale to a Buyer's Agent will keep you competitive with Sellers that are using a listing agent.
5. If you plan on posting to Craigslist, be prepared for a large number of spam/scams.
6. Do some research now and get an idea of what legal forms you will need in order to get your transaction completed
7. Contact your Local Fire Prevention Department to assure that you have the proper equipment in the proper locations in order to pass a Smoke Certificate Inspection. These rules are changing as of January 2010.

Getting organized and being able to provide the right information in a quick response time will keep from scaring away a buyer that wants to close sooner rather than later.

Get ready for a crazy Spring!

The Pipeline is full of clients ready to sell, buy or both once the Holidays are over. I meet with 4 other Agents in my office on a weekly basis to brainstorm and they all said the same thing. It looks like we are going to have an early "Spring Market". Getting a head start on things could prove to be beneficial to you.

Here are a few tips that may help put you a step ahead of the competition.

Selling:

1. Get the Handyman in now!-- getting all of those little projects done so your home stands out once the inventory starts rising will help attract offers.
2. Take Exterior Pictures Now! -- We've been lucky but the snow will fly. Having snow free pictures will not only stand out but it is psychologically appealing to buyers.
3. Get a tune up on the Heating System -- Without fail the minute you show a buyer the heating system the reach for the tags to see when it was last cleaned.
4. Start Saving Your Utility Bills-- You can always give estimates but having the actual bills to show buyers gives them peace of mind. If you have oil heat you will want to have your last oil bill to in order to get reimbursed for the remaining oil.
5. Start looking for your Realtor now.-- Being on the same page from day one will help and this will give your Realtor time to take care of all the "due diligence" details.

Buying:

1. Find a Mortgage Professional-- Find out where you stand and how much you will need to accomplish your goal.
2. Don't run up the credit cards-- You will lower your credit score by increasing your credit card debt.
3. Get a Buyer's Agent-- Sit down with a Realtor to go over the entire process and costs involved with buying a home. It is not as simple as looking,finding and buying.
4. Get on an MLS e-mail alert listing service. Be as specific as possible when setting your property profile(number of Bedrooms, garage spaces,square footage etc...) Most agents have access to these systems. Feel free to use mine
5. Don't go to open houses without having a Buyer's Agent, but if you need to, be very careful of what information you are sharing with the hosting agent.

Remember that in order to take advantage of the extended and expanded tax credit you need to be under agreement (signed purchase and sales agreement) by April 30th and close before June 30th. Agents,Banks and Lawyers are going to be swamped and having all of your ducks in a row will increase your chances of a quick closing!

Think Twice before taking your home off for the Holidays!

Believe it or not, this can be a great time to sell your home and maximize your bottom line. I have already seen the number of new listings shrinking every day and expiring contracts ready to give up until the "spring market".

Last year in my home town of Beverly, 46 residential homes went under agreement between Dec. 1st and Jan. 31st. That's pretty good and the market has picked up since that point in time. With the extension and expansion of the tax credit, there is no reason to believe that these numbers won't go up this year.

The tire kickers take the Holiday's off too! This means that although there are fewer buyers out there looking, they are serious and in some cases need to be in a home sooner rather than later. Motivated Buyers with less inventory to look at usually will give you a little bit more leverage when negotiating the Sale Price.

I understand that it can be difficult to accommodate showings and open houses around this time of the year and weather can play a factor, but people that need to buy will be more willing to work with you to see a home that meets their needs.

I hope you all have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season!

To keep your eye on your neighborhood activity please use my free market watch service at http://www.pinpointmarketwatch.info

Stay in control and overcome the fear!

I have heard this question too many times in the past 12 months. "We want to upgrade, but we owe more than we can get for our home. What are our options?"

The truth of the matter is that you will need to absorb the difference between what you owe and what you can realistically get for your home and have at least a 3 1/2% down payment on the new home. You can make any offers contingent upon the seller paying you closing costs and escrows to avoid those upfront costs.

If you have lived in your current home for at least 5 years you can count on the expanded tax credit of up to $6500.

How do you stay in control? By overcoming the Fears and taking the right steps!

You need to consult with a Realtor that is active in your community to have a market analysis done. You can get on line estimatesfrom Zillow and Cyberhomes by simply typing in your address. Depending on where you live these figures can differ greatly as you will see by using the above link. You may also use my Free Market Survey System which will show you what is and isn't selling in your neighborhood and for how much.
A Realtor will take more of an appraisal approach and will be much more accurate than these systems.

Once you have an idea of what your home may sell at, you need to sit down with a Mortgage Professional to go over exactly what it will take to accomplish your goals. At this point you should have a pretty clear idea of whether or not you can proceed with the process.

If you decide to go forward, you need to get your home ready and on the market. You should make it clear that any offer will be contingent upon you finding suitable housing. You now have the numbers needed to know what you would be willing to accept and have control over the process.

Staying alert to what is on the market and being ready to make an offer once you receive an offer will take the stress away when you get to this point.

The FEAR usually is not getting what you want in order to be able to make the move. The only thing you can be sure of is that if you do nothing, you will definitely be in your same home next summer.