The black line which shows the median sales prices. Not surprisingly, prices peaked in July – the reason why I say it’s not a surprise is because home prices are negotiated when the buyer’s offer is accepted and it takes about 2 months from then for the closing to happen and the sales price to be made public. This means that sales in July were from prices agreed upon in May during the spring market which is historically the most active selling season of the year.

Because of last year’s extremely snowy winter, the real estate market stalled for a while. Stay tuned to see what 2012 will have in store for real estate prices in Somerville!

Location + condition! Meticulously maintained 1 owner home on quiet, dead end street. Picture relaxing in front of the fireplace on a cold winter night. The kitchen features plentiful cabinets and opens to the dining area. The house has been freshly painted & the beautiful hardwood floors just refinished. One bedroom has sliding glass doors to the deck. Great yard ready for summertime fun. The storage shed & all appliances included as gifts. 1 mile to restaurants & shops in Woburn Square.

45% of the buyers who responded to the survey said that they did not even consider purchasing a foreclosure when they looked for their home.

Although the survey didn’t ask respondents for reasons, purchasing a foreclosed property can be a frustrating process. With a typical real estate purchase, you submit an offer and within 24 hours the seller responds. If you are buying a foreclosure, receiving an answer in a week is a fast turn around for a bank and waiting up to a month to get a response is not unusual. Foreclosures are sold in “as is” condition meaning that you have the right to have a home inspection, but if you aren’t happy with the results, your only recourse is to back out of purchasing the house.

I’ve seen banks do some pretty illogical things, too. In one recent sale, it took the bank 6 weeks to have the house dewinterized for the home inspection. Then they said if the closing didn’t happen by the end of the month (which was 3 weeks away), they were going to put the property back on the market. They were the ones that had caused the delay! Even their attorney told them it was irrational.

The moral of the story is that you can get a good deal buying a foreclosed home but you need to have patience and fortitude and be prepared for frustration as you go through the process.

Beautiful top floor 3 bedroom condo nestled on a cul-de-sac in Forestdale. Picture curling up in front of the fireplace on a winter’s day. Renovated eat in kitchen has granite, plentiful cabinets, stainless steel appliances and detail moldings. Check out the elegant bath. 3 good size bedrooms with hardwood floors. Lots of closets. 2 year old hot water tank, 5 year old roof, FIOS. Economical to live in – seller’s average monthly electric bill is $118 and that includes heating, cooking, hot water and laundry.

As far as your tenants, as long as they pay market rent and keep their apartments in reasonable condition, an investor will be happy to inherit the tenants with the sale. Hopefully you wrote provisions in your lease allowing you to show the apartments to prospective purchasers. Even if your tenants are tenants at will and go month to month without a longer term lease, it’s best to have a written tenancy at will agreement.

Of the 3 different “Selling with a Tenant” scenarios we talked about:
Selling a Condo
Selling a 2 or 3 family house
or
Selling a 4 unit or larger – this last scenario is the easiest at least as far as the tenants go. Since owner occupants won’t be a potential buyer, you don’t have to worry about your sale hinging on whether or not a tenant moves out when they are supposed to in order to satisfy the buyer’s bank’s requirement that they have a vacant unit to occupy. Your biggest hurdle in selling a larger investment property is ensuring that your buyer can secure financing.

If you own a 2 or 3 family home you’ll want to look at who the most likely buyer will be:

• If your property is in great shape and has been extensively updated, your most likely buyer will be an owner occupant.
• If your property needs some updating (and you price the house to reflect this) or you are willing to price it a little bit below the market value then you open up the potential buyer pool to investors as well

An owner occupant must occupy the property within 30 days of the closing. This means it’s easier to sell a 2 family or 3 unit home with at least 1 vacancy. This way your closing isn’t subject to whether or not a tenant moves out on time. Owner occupants normally prefer to live on the top floor of a multi family home.

If your property is fully rented with good tenants paying market rents, this will normally make the property more attractive to investors. If your property needs work, then investors are okay with vacant units since it makes it easier for them to do work on the property.

As you can see, it’s a bit more difficult to give a hard and fast rule for multi family properties – it depends on the location, condition, rents and price you want for your 2 or 3 family home. If you need some advice, just call me at 781-608-4692, or email or text me and we can discuss your property and what makes the most sense to attract a buyer in today’s real estate market.

When a buyer is buying your condo to live in, one of the conditions of their offer will be that your condo must be delivered vacant at the closing. Not only will the buyer require this but their bank will as well so the next question is whether your tenant has a lease or not. If your tenant is a tenant at will (where the rental period is 30 days and automatically renews each month when your tenant pays you their rent) then you can put the condo on the market at any time. If the tenant has a lease, then you’ll need to do some backwards checking with a calendar. It takes 45 – 60 days from the day you accept an offer to the closing. Determine what the average days on market is for your area and then put the condo on the market giving you enough time to find a buyer and close on the sale.

NOTE: When you give your tenant notice either that you are not renewing their lease or given them a 30 or 60 day notice to quit as a tenant at will, make sure you give them the notice before their next rental period begins. If you have a tenant at will that starts on the 1st of each month, you must serve them notice before the 1st of the month. If you give them notice on the 2nd of the month, then the current month doesn’t count and the 30 day notice doesn’t start until the 1st of the following month. The best idea is to have your attorney send the letter. If you’re doing it yourself, make sure to send a registered letter with a return receipt so you have proof you served the notice in time.

There’s one more piece to this puzzle – your tenant needs to cooperate and move out when they say they will or when their lease expires. Just one more reason to have a good relationship with your tenant. You don’t want to have your sale fall apart because they refuse to move out.

Selling with a tenant can make a sale more complex, but as long as you (and your agent) keep a good relationship with your tenant, it can work.

I know how busy it gets when you’re close to a sale. Don’t put extra stress on yourself by waiting until the last moment to pack. There is one way to not live surrounded by boxes and still keep your sanity – hire professional movers. If your budget doesn’t allow that, then start the packing process early by boxing up the things that you don’t use often. Things that can be put away early include:

• Off season clothes
• Books
• Kitchen items (will you really be making waffles or a souffle in the last few weeks in your house?)
• Some toys (the plus side to this is when you unpack those old toys at your new house, they’ll seem like new toys to your child!)

Take the day off from work on moving day even if you’ve hired professional movers. You’ll want to oversee the move.

There’s a lot of stress involved in moving out of a house especially when you have a deadline with the buyer’s walk through. To stay on track, begin packing early, download a moving checklist and plan for the move to take longer than you expected.

RECYCLE DAY!
SATURDAY OCTOBER 1 FROM 9-1
In the Brooks Elementary School Driveway
388 High Street, Medford, MA

Drop off your used and/or broken electronics and appliances. All items will be unloaded from your car/truck and sent to a facility for proper recycling.
FEES:………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
$5- unlimited amount of small electronics – CD Rom/DVD Drives Mice, Keyboards, Plugs, Speakers, Wires and Parts/Accessories of Computers, Walkmans, Ipods and accessories
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Fee per item:
$10-medium electronics- Laptops, CPUs, Servers, Copy/Fax/Scanner/Printers, Phones of any kind and Phone Systems, UPS (computer battery back-up systems), Camera/Video/Audio Equipment, DVD Players, Stereos, VCRs, electric lawn mowers.
$15- larger electronics and all appliances-Computer Monitors, Microwaves, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Freezers, Dehumidifiers, Hot Water Tanks and Heaters, Washing Machines, Dryers, Stoves & Dishwashers.
$20- All TV’s

This collection event is open to the public.
Please help spread the word about the bargain prices for recycling!
Questions? Contact Cathy Aliberti cathyaliberti@yahoo.com

So much house for the $! Stately Col built in 2004 has lovely kit with granite counters, distinctive backsplash & SS appliances. Step up to the huge great room with gas fireplace. MBR has a private bath with whirlpool tub for relaxing. 3 add’l rooms in lower level. Check out the media room ready for full wall projection for the big game. FR has direct access to yard. 2nd fl laundry. Walk up attic for storage or expand your living space even more. Quiet dead end street just 1 road from Burlington.