Dan Derito

In perusing some older blogs of the best and brightest of the AR Community, I happened upon a piece by Broker Bryant on his opinion of Value Range Pricing in which he was in favor. In the many comments that followed he was praised, villified, called a genius, and threatened to be publicly thrashed in the Town Square at noon. Of course, I figured, he must be on to something good, so I gave it a try.

It worked!!! Perhaps it was just beginners luck, but this tiny bungalow that has been fully rehabbed brought a string of showings that resulted in a successful bid that fell right near the middle of the range. This home is really a condo alternative that never would have been shown to this buyer at the top price, yet it suited her needs and she was more than happy to offer a fair price.

Our market is not nearly as bad as many others but our inventory far exceeds the number of qualified buyers, and looks to remain that way for the forseeable future. My sellers' were skeptical, but open to suggestions and are looking forward to buying another distressed property to fix up as soon as we close on this one.

Please feel free to voice your opinion on Value Range Pricing. It did work in this case and I'm planning on using it on a short sale listing as well. It is within the law, and it meets a code of ethics that were ingrained in me by the good nuns long ago. By the way, this was a co-broke with an agent who had shown this buyer more that twenty properties prior to this one.

According to data from the MLS the following facts of record will show that:

in the first six months of 2011:

243 homes sold with an average List Price of $170,270 and a final sales price of $164,408

in the last six months :

268 homes sold with an average List Price of $174,352 and a final sales price of $$169,401.

These are statistics for single family homes listed and sold in Brockton MA in 2011 through the Multiple Listing Service.

Everything that I know about conservation I learned from my Aunt Emma. She and my Uncle Cyril made their way in the world during the Great Depression. He built a solid, though crooked, house in the early 1930's that still stands today. Most of the back yard was a vegetable garden, and what they couldn't eat Auntie would store in Mason jars, and enjoy during the cold months.

Liquids were served in glass or metal containers so that they could be cleaned and used again, she would be appalled by our use of disposible plastics. Old clothes and towels, when used up, would be cut into rags for cleaning and other uses. They generated very little trash.

Given how little they had, and how endless the work must have seemed, I never went to their house and found her less than thrilled with her life. In the summer she would have fresh lemonade and slap together some kind of sandwiches for us to eat. If my folks took them out to lunch or dinner she would order the grilled cheese, and take half of it home and, much to the consternation of my father, a nice handful of sugar packets.

Aunt Emma was my mother's aunt and my great aunt. I learned a lot of valuable lessons from her, the most important of which that she could make do if Cyril got slow at work. She had a hubby, a roof over her head and a cackle of a laugh that was infectious. If she ever had a bad day no one would know it.

The 25th Christmas Holiday Parade kicks off at 1:00 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, November 26. It looks like the weather will cooperate, with sunny skies and temps in the upper 50's. The festivities will take place in the Downtown section, near the site of James Edgar's Department Store. Mr. Edgar is known as the 1st Department Store Santa Claus in America back around 1895. It was about a week ago that Brockton set the record for most people gathered in one place to be wearing Santa Hats.

For the 4th year in a row the City of Brockton will host a 'SANTA HAT' day to break it's own record for the most people in one place to be wearing one. The Downtown event will be distributing more than 14,000 hats to school children and adults for the event. The City already holds the world record. Officials will record the count, which begins at 2:30.

In the late 1800's James Edgar became the first department store Santa Claus at his store on Main St. From there the idea was adopted by Macy's and other retailers throughout the country.