Boston, MA

In 2009, Dorchester sales volume and selling prices slightly underperformed the values achieved in 2008. The numbers are as follows: In 2008, there were 844 residential properties sold vs. only 804 in 2009. This represents a 4.7% decrease in volume. The average sales price in 2008 was $251,248.00 and fell to $220,112.00 in 2009. This is a 12% decrease from the previous year. It is clear that the market has continued to trend downward in 2009, but this represents an opportunity for Dorchester buyers to purchase while the market is still recovering. It is only a matter of time before the real estate market rebounds and when it does, it will be to late to take advantage of the great deals that a presently on the market. Now is the time to buy. Let Bentley Real Estate Group help you purchase or sell your Dorchester Home.

I got this is an email earlier yesterday. Boy, did I get lucky! Looks like I'm going to have a great year!

Message details:
From: Henry Kweku
Email: (hidden)
Subject: consultant (Sent via Activerain)

Am financial consultant based in Accra-Ghana my client has funds to invest in a farm project or real-estate,but I have see that you are very good in farming and see it right to consult you on this matter.Her interest is in companies with potentials for rapid growth in long terms and estate development. My client is interested in placing part of her fund in your project, if your country's by laws allows foreign investment.l will detail you more the moment l have your reply.Mr.Henry

I replied with the following message:

This sounds great! I have a ton of invesment opportunities in farm project or real estate. Please send along an investor package with all the pertinant information including bank name and account number. If you have a routing number, that would help speed things along as well.

Thanks a lot for the opportunity and I look forward to doing business with you.

Warm regards,

David Cahill

I got a response, but for some reason it showed up in my spam folder. Why does this not surprise me?

"Greetings David Cahil

Thanks for accepting my proposal, l believe its an indication of your interest and willingness to participate effectively in this business transaction.

Like I previously said, l represent a private investor who is willing,ready and able (wra) to provide investment funds for any trust worthy entrepreneur who has a viable project without custodian. She has indicated willingness to invest in farming or real estate whether commercial or residential as we will depend on your advice and presentation to decide.l would like to know how much is required for your investment proposal, how much equity percentage you offer my client for
participation and what is the Return on Investment (ROI).What is gesticulation period of the investment and what input has your
company made in this business investment.

Also l would like to know if you have a balance sheet at least for three years of this business plan or any other business you have
handled in the past. l want you to know this is a great opportunity to me and l would be grateful if you can assist me with the best of your knowledge, experience and expertise to maximize this opportunity.

More importantly,My client wish you to stand as his investment manager to the security company where her late husband deposited the $15.5m in two metallic trunk boxes,which her late husband instruct the security company that if his wife did not present a viable foreign investment manager for the funds to be invested in a lucrative business they
should not release the money to her,But now that you have showed interest to be her investment manager,i will notify my client so we send you all the documents of this funds and the security company full contact.

This will also be achieved if you show serious interest so that we will foster this business relationship as soon as possible.I will
detail you further when l hear from you.PLEASE TRY AND SEND ME YOUR CONTACT NUMBER.

Best Regards,

Mr.Henry Kweku.
Financial Consultant
Direct Mobile:+233-242-353-256"

I wonder whose phone number I should give them. I asked for their account numbers, but did not get any. Should I be suspicious??? He also spelled my name wrong. Perhaps I will not do business with this person after all...

Consistency

When I look at 2009 versus 2008, I see a lot of things that remained constant while there were a lot of changes as well. Surprisingly, my total income was only about $86 more in 2009 than it was in 2008. While the number of homes remained the same (20 both years!), the roads I took to each tally were quite different.

Different Types of Sales

While the amount of total of homes sold were the same, what I noticed was the type of sales differed in almost ever other way. The most obvious was the amount of listings vs. buyer sales. Last year, three quarters of my sales were from listings. This year, it dropped to half as it became more of a buyer's market and it was easier to find ready, able and willing buyers than it was to find reasonable sellers ready to list at a reasonable price.

Have License, Will Travel

I also noticed a large increase in the amount of cities I sold homes in. Last year, only 5% of my sales were outside of the Boston city limits. This year, a whopping 40% of my sales were outside of Boston. I have not looked yet, but I'm sure I set a record for mileage for my car! I've always said that for a good client, I'd drive anywhere, but this year, I seemed to really take that to heart. New towns and cities added to my career tally this year include Woburn, East Boston, Melrose, Rockland (twice), and Southborough (same house twice!).

Short Sales and Foreclosures

If there was ever a year to take on new types of transactions, 2009 was it! In looking at my numbers from this year to last, I doubled my foreclosure sales and quintupled my short sale transactions! By looking at my pending transactions going into 2010, these numbers will continue to rise as over half of my pending sales are of these types. I also wrote five commercial leases this year compared to none the prior year.

Changing With The Times

Can you imagine if I was one of those agents who did not like to change and only wanted to work in the neighborhood where my office was located? Who insisted on taking only listings or not wanting to deal with foreclosures because they were "messy and complicated" and thought that short sales were "not worth it because of all the phone calls and waiting"? I just ran the numbers to see and found out that if I was not willing to change and go where the money was, I would have only made about HALF of what I made in the prior year.

Thanks to you!

In reviewing the numbers, I see that once again over HALF of my sales came from either repeat clients or referrals. It's because of your continued support and trust that I can help you and your friends and family, that I have been able to continue to be successful in my real estate career. I truly appreciate it!

The median price for single family homes in Massachusetts rose 10.4 percent in December. The price rose from $267,250 in December 2008 and $295,000 in December 2009 according to the Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks real estate activity.

The December home sales volumne jumped 16.8 percent to 3,350 from 2,868 in December 2008. Condominiums sales surged almost 29% and the median condo price rose almost 6%.

Still, when the entire year was taken into account the Warren Group still saw the Massachusetts residential sales activity to reflect a sluggish market and a struggling economy. Over the course of the entire year compared to 2008 the home prices dropped 6.6 percent and were almost 20 percent lower than the 2005 market peak.