In the area just north of Boston, Massachusetts we are starting to see the low end of the real estate market start to heat up. Buyer's, especially first time home buyers are losing homes they want due to competition among buyers. It is not necessarily the buyers market, that buyers have been led to believe by the media.
The real estate market in a community can vary drastically with-in price brackets. A $400,000- $500,000 price bracket can be absolutely dead in a community while the $150,000- $250,000 market in the same community can be flying. see an absorption rate spreadsheet A good buyer's agent, can provide you with market information that will help you make an informed decision.
As a buyer, you need to decide:
Do I want to steal a house?
or
Do I want to buy a home?
If you want to steal a house, it is definitely possible in this market, but you need to realize that you can not steal a home in great condition, in a great neighborhood priced fairly. You can definitely steal the properties that need a ton of work, in less than desirable locations or a property that has languished on the market for ever because it was overpriced. Most buyers, I believe, are trying to buy the perfect home... not steal any old house and try to make it work because it was a steal.
A well known fact among agents.
Real estate agents know, that if you underprice a house between 3-7% below the low end of fair market value, as it enters the market for the first time, you will flood the home with showings and create competitive bidding among buyers, driving the puchase price above the asking price and eventually sell for fair market value. All we have to do is slightly underprice a home that has been on the market overpriced to get the seller fairmarket value for thier home.
So what does this mean to the buyer? You are not going to get a good house(good condition, good location, priced fairly) for 30% or 20% or even 10% below fair market value. If you want to steal a house, sure, go ahead make a low ball offer. If you are out to by the perfect home, understand what fairmarket value of the home is and negotiate accordingly with the expectation of buying the home in the range of fair market value.
The longer you drag out the negotiations, the more you aggravate the seller and the more oppurtunity goes by for a better offer trump your offer. Another little secret to remember, you can aggravate a seller enough that they will accept an offer that is similiar to yours and they will not even go back to you and give you a chance to be in the negotiations again. And, oh boy, isn't that buyer shocked and angry when that happens!!
In the past several weeks, I have seen several buyers lose properties in the negotiating process, only to have the property scooped by another buyer. Some of them are on their second or third time of losing a property, because they feel they need to "steal" the property. Meanwhile, they have opened the door for another buyer to walk in and purchase their ideal home out from underneath them.
Understanding the real estate market for a given community and price bracket is important to buying the home you want for a fair price.
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This post was provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate In Tewksbury MA. If you are looking for buyer or seller representation, you can contact Kevin by email at kevin@kevinvitali.com or call 978-360-0422.
I pride myself in the quality of my work while helpingbuyers and sellers make dreams come true.
Real Estate Services in the northeast Massachusetts, around the Merrimack Valley, Southern New Hampshire including the towns of Andover, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Dracut, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Merrimac, North Andover, Newbury, Newburyport, North Reading, Rowley, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, Wilmington, West Newbury
Apsorption rate for single family homes in Tewksbury Massachusetts. The lower end of the market is moving briskly while the higher end has been stagnate.
This tool is used for sellers to gain insight into how long it may take to sell a home priced in a certain price bracket. This is just a guide for sellers in Tewksbury MA and a real estate agent shoul dbe consulted to gain insight into the data.
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This post was provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate In Tewksbury MA. You can contact Kevin by email at kevin@kevinvitali.com or call 978-360-0422.
I pride myself in the quality of my work while helpingbuyers and sellers make dreams come true.
Real Estate Services in the northeast Massachusetts, around the Merrimack Valley, Southern New Hampshire including the towns of Andover, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Dracut, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Merrimac, North Andover, Newbury, Newburyport, North Reading, Rowley, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, Wilmington, West Newbury
Margaret Innis, who is a home stager that I have much respect for is hosting Massachusetts Association of Realtors Webinar Wednesday. Margaret has been by home stager for 2 years now and brings much knowledge and enthusiasm to her job.
Description: MAR Webinar Wednesday Series- Register Here
Home Staging 101 with Margaret Innis from Decorate to Sell
This webinar will cover:
Members of Free Christian Church in Andover Massachusetts who live or work in the town of Tewksbury Massachusetts will be in front of the Market Basket at Oakhurst Plaza between 5-8pm tonight and 9am to 12 pm tomorrow. They will be handing out a list of items that has been requested by the Tewksbury Food Pantry to anyone who would like to give a helping hand.
The Tewksbury Food Pantry is currently helping about 150 local families a month that need a little help in this turbulent economic environment. If you can and want to help please stop by and participate.
Buyer's (and sellers) beware..... do you know who your agent is working for?
Let's face look at homes is fun!! Understanding some of the legal part of it is not. I see so much confusion among buyers who think their real estate agent is working for them when they really are working for the seller or even no one.
In Massachusetts it is state law that an agent reveals to a prospective client their agency relationship(how an agent is working with a client) to that prospective customer/client.
Let me ask you a silly but important question.
If you were a baseball player would you sit it the opposing teams dugout and let the opposing teams coach tell you how you should play your game ?
Of course not, and I know many of you are snickering. Yet many buyers will buy a home directly from a listing agent of a home and let them guide them through the process and then say how great their agent was. That is equally as ridiculous. They are working for the seller, not the buyer.
Take Suzy agent, you meet her at an open house:
But of course, her job is to sell you that home at the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time. She will do whatever it takes to sell you that home or any other home listed by her company.
As a seller's agent she owes her client a fiduciary responsipility. She must give her clients, complete obedience, loylalty, disclosure, confidentiality, accountability and reasonable care.
Her seller's needs must come before her own or your needs. If you happen to reveal something confidential about yourselves, like how much you love the home, your need to buy quickly...... she must immediately disclose this to her seller's. She is going to justify every red cent her client is asking for the home and spin a very positive light. A seller's agent can only paint a spin that benefits her seller with in the law. A seller's agent must do what is best for the seller.
In Massachusetts, you can now run into what is called a facilitator, a facilitator does not owe anyone obedience, confidentiality or loyality or reasobable care. There job is to put a deal together between buyer and seller and make the deal go as smoothly as possible. A facilitator will paint a spin that befits putting a transaction together with in the law basically you are on your own as far as negotiating, tracking timelines and making decisions.
On the opposite side of the coin, you can work with a buyer's agent. A buyer's agent owes their buyer complete obedience, loylalty, disclosure, confidentiality, accountability and reasonable care. A buyer's agent must do what is best for the buyer. They can provide you with an accurate opinion of value on a home, recommend vendors like attorneys, home inspector's, mover's and more... They can negotiate on your behalf and layout negotiating strategies that makes sense for you given the marketplace.
The great thing is most buyer's agents are paid by the seller at no cost to the buyer!! Most people are concerned about geting the best deal possible. If a buyer's agent can save you a $1000.00 would it be worth it?
What if a buyers agent could save you $2500 or even $5,000 or $10,000.
I think most of you would agree that even a $1000 would be worth it. As a full time real estate agent, I have the pulse of the real estate market. Many times I know what you want before you know what you want. I know the best negotiating strategies based on your needs and the given marketplace. (sometimes its negotiating to get the house you want and not the best price) I know what is standard and typical in the industry.... I know what repairs can generally be done by a seller after a home inspection in a given market. I know how to present those repairs to get the repairs done. I can tell you when a house is priced aggressively or is over priced. This is my bussiness I do it every day. There are many good buyer's agent, who can help you if you let them. You do not need to go it alone.
Agency law varies from state to state, as a buyer(even seller's need to pay attention, I have seen sellers hire agents as facilitators to list their home) take the time and learn how an agent can work with you. It can be the best decision you make. Don't let the other teams coach, guide you through the process.... get your own...it is free!!
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This post, "Buyer's, What you might not know could hurt you" was provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate In Tewksbury MA. You can contact Kevin by email at kevin@kevinvitali.com or call 978-360-0422.
I pride myself in the quality of my work while helpingbuyers and sellers make dreams come true.
Kevin has been helping buyers as a Buyer's Agent in northeast Massachusetts, around the Merrimack Valley, Middlesex County, Essex County, North Shore and Southern New Hampshire including the towns of Andover, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Dracut, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Merrimac, North Andover, Newbury, Newburyport, North Reading, Rowley, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, Wilmington, West Newbury
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