Falmouth, MA

Here's a great idea! The goal of a local toy shop in Falmouth MA is to complete an 18,240 piece puzzle in the store by the end of February! The fastest know completion that Michelle Deutschmann (Kaleidoscope Toys' owner) has found is around 5 months. It might get done if you drop by and help. ;^)

The toy store on Main Street in Falmouth has an energetic staff that has been concentrating on the puzzle all month. If you are a puzzle aficionado, and think you can add to the success of their goal, stop by and see how they are doing! You might just fit the last piece in! (Wouldn't it be terrible if they lost one!? I hate it when that happens!)

While you are here in Falmouth, stroll the other Main Street shops and restaurants. There are many pleasant opportunities to shop and eat here in the village. Falmouth Mass has more waterfront than any other town in the US so we have lots of pleasant beaches to walk too. Come catch a sunset or a sunrise!

Its a beautiful day on Cape Cod!

There is something very important happening in Falmouth that directly affects the owners of a vacation home or visitors who vacation in Falmouth. The town is considering a new tax on all Falmouth vacation rental properties that could be as high as 9.7%.

We all know what this means! Landlords will need to pass this tax directly on to renters. Some Cape Cod towns, like Harwich, have already voted a tax like this down. If it passes, landlords will have another expense to cover when they are renting their properties. Real estate investors will have to adjust their their operating calculations to include this tax when they make you an offer on property.

This tax is not useful for landlords, bad for vacationers, certainly it is not helpful to the businesses that appreciate tourism, and it is not helpful to future property owners. You may not vote in Falmouth, but you deserve to have your voice heard. If you don't want to pay a new tax, and if you want your investment property to retain its value, please contact the town rep for your area and ask how they plan to vote.

The Town Hall phone number is 508-548-7611

and the website is http://www.town.falmouth.ma.us/ (although the website has been off and on lately.) The town warrant should be available on-line at the town web site.

Happy listing and selling!

Well it has been a long time since I saw a 3 bedroom home in Falmouth for under $100,000! But there it is in today's newest listings. A 3 bedroom ranch on a 1/4 acre with one bath.

So, if there is a reason to buy real estate in Falmouth MA, here it is! This one had the pipes burst, so it needs work, but if this isn't the bottom, I don't know what will be.

There are other new listings that are good values, too. I found another one yesterday that is a completely redone 3 bedroom 2 bath for $269K! It is on a good sized lot, and at the end of a cul de sac. The upper end has some deals too. There are new listings of beautiful homes over the million dollar mark that are very interesting values!

If people are waiting for "rates to go down," they may be waiting for a rate that may not come. And, the deals are here now. A difference of 1/2% on every $100K is around $32/month. Maybe if they are borrowing a huge sum the interest rate game is worth playing. But, while some are waiting for the rates to possibly maybe change a little more, others are going to be buying.

Massachusetts real estate has hit the bottom!

Happy listing and selling!

Hollywood East, also known as Plymouth Rock Studios, is starting to provide free acting classes. From the brief parts shown of the latest, it appears that they are preparing people to be extras. The class that their daily video (called what else, "The Series") depicts shows a large crowd being coached on cheering at a football game.

Other information is presented to prepare people for the reality of shooting scenes like, "Ok, now we want you to do that 20 more times, and it is cold and snowing." I think they are smart to prepare a local source of extras. They can train them with a fresh look and can prepare them with the realities of acting in a movie. With a fresh group of faces and a clean slate of trainable masses, they may find working here refreshing.

Nevertheless, movies are going to be made here in Southeastern Massachusetts! The town of Falmouth has already stated permitting certain locations so they will be pre-approved for shoots. They are also working on the permitting process so they have a streamlined system in place for requests as they come in.

Who knows, maybe the Cape will become a new getaway for the west coast Hollywooders.

The next class is scheduled for teh end of March +-.

Happy listing and selling!

When I dropped my daughter off at school this morning I noticed a news crew at the front entrance. After I passed them, I turned around and asked the lady reporter if there weren't some good news she could focus on as well as the recent mistakes of a few kids. (An 8th grader that was sent a picture in a text message on his phone, forwarded it to some other people's phones.)

She asked if I'd like to be interviewed about the issue, and after thinking about it I said ok. I said that I thought the boy knew what he was doing, but didn't understand the consequences of it. I also said that it was caught by parents because this community has great parent involvement. The VIPS (Volunteers In Public Schools) here is very strong, and parents in general take a strong interest in the schools.

I was trying to make the point that we have a very strong community of involved parents here! Of course they only showed me saying, "Its terrible. This is a problem that needs to be addressed." I don't see how they can expect us to trust their "reporting" when they change the intent of people's comments to sound bites that serve their needs!

One more example of the "news" bending what was said to make it sound negative! I won't trust anything I see that reporter do. And the news station was carelessly trying to amplify a situation that is being addressed and corrected. Why couldn't they report about how actively the community is addressing the problem and how parent awareness caught the actions before they got out of hand? Of course that would be positive, and I guess they don't like positive stories.