Bart Foster: Keller Williams Realty Boston MA Real Estate Services

A recent Boston Herald article on home sales for the Greater Boston area hints to the possibility that the market in Greater Boston is off to a quick start with low inventory. Further many agents within Keller Williams Realty Boston-Metro are reporting that this has resulted in property being put undergreement in days not weeks or months and that buyers need to react quickly. Is it possible that many sellers finally get it (pricing their homes to sell as opposed to pricing high for room to negotiate)

Medford MA Single Family Market Update As of February 24, 2012
Units On The Market: 42 homes (of which 13 are flagged as having offers pending satisfaction of some form of commitment like financing).
Units Under Agreement: 26 homes (of which 9 have market times less than 45 days).

This compares to Medford MA Home Sales for previous years as follows?
today - 6 months: Sold 118 Avg. Liv.Area SqFt: 1,707.04 List$: $365,522 List$/SqFt: $222 DOM: 98.97 Sale$: $351,168 Sale$/SqFt: $213

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. Contiued below

This post on Medford MA Single Family Real Estate Market Update origionally appeard on http://www.DistictiveBostonRealEstate.com/

Market sales across Massachusetts are showing some real signs of stabilization especially within those communities inside of Route 128 North and South of Boston, MA. Detailed here is a snap shot for Stoneham, MA Single Family Homes Sales. Stoneham situated about 10 miles North of Boston is ideal for those buyers who work North of town, along the 128 technology beltway or those who live in town who are out growing their condos however wish to be close enough to all Boston has to offer. If you have an interest in selling and wish to know your property's potential market value, please give me a call or submit a request for a no obligation review of your home.

A picture is worth a 1000 words, so without going into the details too much, presented here are the market dynamics for Single Family home sales in Jamaica Plain with a total living area of under 2500 square feet.

Origionally posted at: DistinctiveBostonRealEstate.com

I came across this post today ...

Listing Appointment must have tool..the Reality Hammer.

that got me thinking... What's my "Realty Hammer", my tool of all tools that I and only I have that sets me apart from other agents. And why would this be important to a Seller. Approaching this from the intended result, which is selling a clients home for the most amount of money and in the shortest time, it's really quite simple. My Marketing! And since 80% of marketing is price, it would have to be getting the the seller to list their home with me at or near it's fare market price. So here it goes........

... Well Mr./Mrs, Mr., Ms, Mr./Mr., Mrs/Mrs. (Boston's very diverse okay?) Seller(s), it's perfectly normal and quite honestly I would be surprised if we did not have differences of opinion over pricing your home. You see, I'm not your average agent. Some agents will happily agree to list your home even though its over priced because it will help sell one of their other listings. Or they'll be hammering you to get a price drop every two weeks or so.... So here's what I am prepared to offer. I’ll reimburse you out of our commission for any independent appraisal that you choose to have done. <I take out a list of "approved appraisers" and continue> Here's a list of three appraisers that I believe to know this area best. I've selected them from the many because they are the only appraisers trusted by certain private lenders for their portfolio loans. So why not choose one today and I'll set the appointment up. All you'll have to do is write a check when they visit. An added benefit is i'll include the report with marketing material here when potential buyers visit so hopefully they'll be more comfortable with your price and know ahead of time that they are not over paying. . . .

Yes I know, there are likely many agents thinking why would I give up any part of my commission? Well this approach clearly may not be for you. Fortunate for some, there are plenty of agents who continue to wow sellers with promises of $$$ in the sky, accept that expired's are par for the course, and yet watch another agent (smarter, sharper or not) come in, demonstrate that the prior listing was overpriced, get the price needed, sell the home in short order and smile all the way to the bank with YOUR payday. So stop advertising yet another overpriced home, we know who you are.

If you are a seller, consider this. You can never really under price your home, only over price it. Buyers just won't allow it! Market priced homes attract more interest and often multiple offers, and some pretty aggressive buyers. I say this from my own experience as a buyer, and as a Seller's agent. So if you're in the Greater Boston area and you like my ideas, please Call me today; expect to have some fun and the results you desire. If your not in my market area, I would be happy to refer you to a great agent in your area.