Signs It’s Time to Sell Your Boston Home

Are you thinking about selling your Boston home? Have you been considering this for awhile, but haven’t been sure when the right time is? As your Boston real estate agent, I’m here to tell you that when you’re ready to be a Boston home seller, the Boston real estate market is ready for you!

Home sales are up, because Boston homebuyers are eager to buy while mortgage rates remain historically low. Home prices are up, because home values and equity are returning, and also because inventory is still low. In fact, Boston home prices soared in the first few months of 2015!

When the inventory of homes for sale is low, this means that as a Boston home seller, you might receive multiple offers from buyers, and you might score an offer higher than your listing price! Bidding wars are very common right now. Boston homes are also selling fast after being listed.

So if you’re ready to sell your Boston home, now is definitely the time to do it. But how do you know when you’re ready to sell? Here are some common signs that it’s time:

• You’ve outgrown your space. Is your family growing as you have children, purchase pets or make room for aging parents or relatives? Do you need office space, or bigger closets, or more bedrooms for your growing children? If you feel like a bigger home is your next step, now is definitely the time to sell, so you can score a low mortgage rate when you purchase your next home.

• Your neighborhood is booming. Notice if other homes in the area are selling. Contact me, your Boston real estate agent, to find out what homes in the area are selling for, compared to what they were listed for, and how quickly they are selling. Get your home reappraised to find out if your home has positive equity. The housing recovery is in full force!

• You stopped caring about maintenance. Did you used to get excited about home projects, but now the paint is chipping and the gardens are overgrown? This could mean that you’re ready for maintenance-free living, or maybe you just need a change in scenery. Take it as a sign that you are ready to move on, and ready to perhaps downsize to a smaller home, or even to a Boston condo or townhouse.

If any of these signs ring a bell for you, or if your life has changed recently and you are just ready to move on, contact me. As your Boston real estate agent, I can answer any questions you may have, and I would love to help you through the home-selling process in Boston!

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

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How to Increase Your Boston Home’s Property Value!

Are you ready to sell your Boston home soon? Now is the time to do it! Housing supply is low, so bidding wars are high among buyers. Plus, mortgage rates are still low and rents are rising, so Boston homebuyers are eager to buy. As your Boston real estate agent, I am here to help you with the home-selling process!

Before you put your home on the Boston real estate market, consider taking some steps to increase your Boston home’s property value. To help you out, I’ve summarized some  recent tips from Realtor Magazine.

• Repair. The first things they say to check are the foundation, roof, plumbing and electrical.  Take a good look at every aspect of the home, inside and out, and make the necessary repairs. The home inspectors will find what you find!

• Declutter. Spring clean your entire home, including inside closets, cabinets, drawers and storage areas. Donate, sell, recycle or toss whatever you no longer need. Clutter turns buyers off fast!

• Lighten up. Allow natural light in by replacing heavy window curtains with lighter options or blinds that you can easily open. Clean the windows. Replace any burnt out light bulbs around the house.

• Add eco value. If you need to upgrades in the house, such as kitchen appliances, toilets, furnaces, water heaters or windows, opt for more energy-efficient options. Buyers appreciate green, eco-friendly upgrades right now.

• Refinish. Pay attention to your floors. Give your wooden floors a refinishing, along with your outdoor deck or front porch. Consider replacing worn carpeting with wooden floors, or at least have the carpeting professionally cleaned.

• Update kitchen. Kitchens are major focal points for buyers. Make small upgrades that won’t cost you your savings, such as replacing or painting cabinets, or upgrading the faucet.

• Update bathroom. Buyers also pay attention to bathrooms, so consider adding a double vanity or a walk-in shower. Upgrade the cabinets, floors or wall paint if necessary.

• Remodel. If you’re going to go all out and remodel, consider remodeling the attic or basement before adding on brand-new space to the home. Remodeling the space you have is a more cost-effective option.

• Spruce up. Add curb appeal with low-maintenance gardens, tree trimming, and lawn watering and mowing. Give the front door a fresh coat of paint, and consider replacing the address numbers or mailbox.

As you can see, there are plenty of simple, cost-effective ways to add value to your Boston home. Deep cleaning, decluttering and depersonalizing go a long way, too. Staging to sell is key to attracting interested Boston homebuyers!

Don’t let this great opportunity for selling your Boston home pass you by. Contact me, your Boston real estate agent, when you’re ready to get started with the home-selling process!

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

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Use A Real Estate Agent When Selling Your Boston Home!

Are you getting ready to sell your Boston home? Now is a great time to do it! New home construction is on the rise, so the longer you wait, the more competition you’ll have from new homes and other sellers. Pending homes sales were at their highest level in 18 months, so the real estate market is already active! Once spring weather arrives, it’ll get even busier.

As a Boston real estate agent, I want to help you understand why it’s a smart idea to use an agent to help you sell your Boston home. With so much technology at our fingertips, it might seem like a breeze to sell on your own. That isn’t typically the case, though.

You may have heard that in a recent survey, 92 percent of buyers have used the internet in their home search. However, it’s important to also know that 96 percent of those that used the internet purchased their home through a real estate agent! Only two percent of buyers bought their home directly from a seller.

Buyers responded in the survey to say that they work through an agent to find the actual home they’ll buy, to negotiate terms of the sale and price, and to understand the process. There is a lot of information out there, and a lot of paperwork involved in closings. As the Boston home seller, you don’t want to be left to figure all that out and to connect the dots on your own!

There are a couple other good reasons to work with a Boston real estate agent, too.

We keep emotions out of it. Chances are, you’ve lived in your Boston home for a long time. You’ve grown attached to it. It’s much harder to sell the home that way. As an agent, I can lend you tips on staging your home to sell in a neutral way that suits most buyers. I can listen to the criticism from buyers without taking it personally or getting offended. I know what  buyers will be willing to pay for your home according to market trends, instead of overinflated figures that stem from pride of ownership.

We also sift through the paperwork and explain the process to you. Unless you’ve sold a Boston home in the past, you won’t realize all the steps involved in the home-selling process. It gets tricky! There is also a lot of paperwork to be filled, a lot of negotiating to be had with the buyer’s agent, and a lot of steps to follow during the closing process. I can lead you each step of the way.

When you’re ready to sell your Boston home, or you have questions about selling, contact me, your Boston real estate agent! I would love to help you understand the process, and help you sell your house as fast as you can, for as much as you can. Let’s get started!

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

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Presenting you with your monthly market stats for the Greater Boston area single family homes...

For single family Boston properties in zip code 02129 there was a total of 4 homes listed as of January 23rd.   With an average of 1,425 square feet and 2.5 bedrooms, the median list price comes out to $649,450. One of the homes was newly listed. Finally, with an average of 82 days on the market, 1of the 4 homes were absorbed.

The numbers for Boston condos in zip code 02129 are promising. The median listing price was at $639,000 at a total inventory of 37. The average condo size is currently sitting at 1,312 square feet, along with an average of 2.23 bedrooms and 1.92 bathrooms. With an average of 50 days on the market, 11 of the 37 condos were absorbed.

Below is a graph that shows the median price for Single Family Homes and Condos in 02129.

Data provided by ©2014 Altos Research LLC

Data and charts are based on the last 2 weeks, but are current to the day.  I have the ability to focus on different zip codes in the Boston area.  Please contact me with whatever your area of interest is; 02116, 02118, 02129 and I will be glad to help you, just let me know!

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

Search Greater Boston Area Homes

Sell Your Boston, MA Home This Fall!

Have you been putting off the home-selling process in Boston, even though you’ve been ready to sell for a while? Are you ready to move up to a better home? Have you wanted to relocate closer to family, or closer to your job? Are you ready to retire into assisted living, or downsize as empty nesters? Whatever the reason, as your Boston real estate agent, I’m here to tell you that now is an excellent time to sell your Boston home!

Here are some reasons why KCM Crew says you should consider selling this fall:

1.  Demand from Boston homebuyers is strong. Mortgage rates fell last week and remain at yearly lows, which was not predicted for this year! Still, economists predict that rates will rise by at least one percent in the next year, which means that buyers can save a lot of money by purchasing a home now. The more buyers that are eager to buy, the more interest you’ll get in your home, and the more negotiating power you’ll have!

2.  Now is the time to move up. If you want to sell your Boston home and move up to a bigger or better home, low mortgage rates affect you too. If you buy a Boston home now, you’ll save yourself hundreds of dollars per month on your monthly mortgage payment by getting a low mortgage rate. Start the pre-approval process now and see what type of rate you can get!

3.  There is less competition. Inventory is still below normal levels, and while new home inventory is expected to make a comeback soon, it hasn’t yet. A recent survey showed that 41 percent of buyers prefer a new house, over 21 percent who prefer an existing house. Take advantage of the low competition by selling now, while buyers are eager! This is an ideal situation.

4.  The process is faster this time of year. The length of time it takes from contract to closing has increased this year, due to more requirements and paperwork from banks. The summer time is busy, because the Boston real estate market is very active. The winter months take a long time because of the holiday season. Right now, during the fall, is the best time of year for a smooth transaction!

5.  It’s time to move on. No matter what reason you have for wanting to sell your Boston home, why are you waiting to accomplish that goal? Home prices are up, mortgage rates are still down, home equity is returning, foreclosure numbers are way down, and the housing recovery is steadily continuing. Now is the time to relocate, or move up, or grow your family, or start a new job, or downsize, and move on with your life and your dreams.

When you’re ready to sell your Boston home, contact me, your Boston real estate agent. I would love to help you accomplish your real estate goals in the Boston real estate market!

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

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The 5 Most Common Boston Home Seller Mistakes

Chances are, you probably don’t go through the process of selling a Boston home very often.  This being said, there tend to be common mistakes that I see happen frequently with Boston home sellers.  Here are 5 that I probably see the most often, so If you’re looking to sell your home, take note!

Neglecting repairs and appearance.  No one wants to purchase a home that appears to be poorly maintained.  Unless they are searching for a “fixer upper”, buyers don’t want to have a long, expensive to-do list as soon as they move into a home. Inspect your home top to bottom for repairs, big or small.  Any repairs that aren’t particularly costly should definitely be completed.  If there are larger repairs that need to be done, you will need to decide whether completing them will be a benefit to the selling price of your home; however, keep in mind that all issues must be disclosed to buyers. Also take the time refresh the exterior of your home — repaint the front door, clean or update hardware, plant fresh flowers.  Anything that will make your home look more appealing when a buyer drives up.

Unappealing pictures.  Since so many start their home search on the internet, the pictures of your home have to make it look its best.  It can be a wise investment to hire a professional photograph.  A real estate photographer is trained to catch the best angles of your home and has the proper equipment to do so.  Great photos can definitely help your home stand out from the pack when a buyer is sifting through a sea of homes on a website.

Pricing your home too high.  Your home must be priced in line with those in the area that are comparable to it.  If your home is one the high end of those available, you will be turning away potential buyers.  It is best to price your home near the median of the available homes in your area.  This will allow your home to fall into as many home searches as possible.

Letting your emotions take over.  While difficult, you have to try to keep your heart out the sales process of your home.  If your realtor recommends that you remove certain taste-specific items from your home, it’s only because he or she wants it to have broad-base appeal.  Should a buyer come to you with a low-ball offer, try your best to not be insulted.  Much like you’re trying to get the most you can for your home, buyers are trying to get the best deal they can on their new home.  Use the low offer as a jumping off point for negotiation.  You cannot take anything that happens during the home sale process personally.

For sale by owner:  Since you don’t sell homes for a living, it is a good idea to enlist the help of a trained real estate professional.  Hiring a realtor who is experienced in your market will be able to assist you in pricing your home correctly to attract buyers.  A realtor will also be able to help you prevent all common pitfalls that sellers tend to fall into by giving you an objective point of view. Overall, enlisting a professional will alleviate much of the stress than can come along with selling a home.

These are just a handful of the mistakes that I have encountered with the sellers I’ve worked with over the years.  With all that’s involved with selling a home, it’s no surprise that this is the case.  As a seasoned Boston real estate agent, I work closely with my clients to help ensure that the sale of their home goes as smoothly as possible.  If you have been considering the purchase of Boston real estate, please contact me.  I look forward to helping you avoid these mistakes while finding the Boston home of your dreams.

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

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Most Popular Home Features among Boston Home Buyers!

As a Boston home seller, you want to know who your potential homebuyers are in the Boston real estate market, and what they are currently looking for from a home. Trends come and go, so when staging your home to sell, it’s important to be up-to-date with the latest information.

After all, inventory is rising, so you have more competition. Plus, some upgrades yield a high return on investment and will allow you to increase the asking price of your home!

As your Boston real estate agent, I’m here to update you today! A recent survey was conducted to see which upgrades Boston homebuyers are willing to pay more for. Here were the results:

• Central air conditioning. This upgrade was most important to buyers, with a whopping 69 percent saying they would pay more for a home that had this: up to $2,520 more.

• New appliances. Of all the kitchen upgrades available, new appliances was the one that 69 percent of buyers said they would pay more for: up to $1,840 more. Added bonus: Energy Star appliances!

• Walk-in closets. Buyers desire lots of storage, and walk-in closets fit into that category. That’s why 60 percent of buyers say they would pay more: up to $1,350 more.

• Granite countertops. Granite is still a popular option in the kitchen, and that’s why 55 percent of buyers said they would pay more for this upgrade: up to $1,620 more.

• Hardwood floors. This trend comes and goes, but right now, buyers desire hardwood flooring over carpeting. Make this upgrade and 54 percent of buyers will pay more: up to $2,080 more.

• Master Suite. Buyers want a master bedroom with an upgraded master bath. From second sinks to mounted televisions, 49 percent of buyers will pay more: up to $2,030 more. However, it’s important to note your area’s demographic. Younger buyers don’t care as much as older buyers do.

• Kitchen island. Buyers like their kitchen updates, and the kitchen island is an upgrade that gives them more storage and counter space. That’s why 48 percent of buyers will pay more: up to $1,370 more.

• Stainless steel. This is still the material that most buyers, 41 percent of them, prefer for appliances, even though they wear faster. They are willing to spend up to $1,850 more for stainless steel.

• Eat-in kitchen. The kitchen strikes again! Buyers, especially younger ones with kids, are looking for functional eat-in kitchens. Forty percent of buyers will spend up to $1,770 more for this.

• Fireplaces. This attractive, functional feature is even more popular in the northern states, and no surprise after the winter Boston, MA had! Forty percent of buyers will pay up to $1,770 more for one.

As a rule of thumb, kitchen and bath updates are always popular among homebuyers. The National Kitchen and Bath Association recently shared that extra-large, luxury showers with multiple shower heads and built-in seating are all the rage right now.

Have questions about selling your Boston home? Ready to sell with professional assistance? Contact me, your Boston real estate agent!

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

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Why You Should Sell Your Boston, MA Home This Spring!

In my last blog post, I shared with you why the ideal time to buy a Boston home is this spring. When that is the case, sometimes it means that it’s a buyer’s market and it isn’t the ideal time to sell. That is not the case right now! It is the ideal time to buy because if buyers wait, they’ll be paying more. However, the favor is in the hands of Boston home sellers. This is your time!

Housing Wire shared an article that stated that 2014 should prove to be the strongest year for housing activity since before the Great Recession, that demographics should start to favor housing activity, and that mortgage availability shouldn’t worsen and may improve. All of those projections set up the rest of this year as being ideal for buying or selling real estate in the Boston real estate market!

So, why should you sell now rather than wait for home prices to increase even more, as they are predicted to do? As your Boston real estate agent, I want to help explain that to you.

Competition will increase.

It is almost a sure thing that the Boston real estate market will heat up as the weather heats up, and since we had a slow winter market, this may be even truer this year than in the past! New homes are also on the rise around Boston, MA.

This means that your listing will be up against a lot more listings if you wait, and then potential Boston homebuyers will have a lot more options, which means that you lose some of your negotiating power and appeal. When you sell with fewer homes on the market, this forces more buyers to take an interest in your home, and to possibly even begin a bidding war on your home.

If you have lots of interested buyers, you can raise the price and perhaps get more for your home than if you were to wait for prices to appreciate on their own. And with prices and mortgage rates predicted to rise, it’s a good idea to sell now, while buyers are still out and eager! They might disappear if home affordability lowers too much all at once.

Buy up or down now.

If you are looking to sell your Boston home so that you can downsize, upsize or relocate, now is the time to do it. Rising mortgage rates and home prices will affect you, too. The longer you wait, the more you’ll be paying for your next house, especially if you’re looking to buy a bigger, better home. If you’re downsizing, you’ve got some more leeway. If you’re relocating, it depends on how the real estate market is doing in that area. But if the size or location of your current home is stressing you out, don’t put off changing your circumstances any longer.

If you’re happy where you are, and you have some time to wait for rising equity, that is a decision that is fully up to you. If you can afford repairs, perhaps you’d rather go that route. If you like your location, there is no reason that you have to move right now. Use this MSN Real Estate article to help you decide whether moving now or waiting is the right choice for you.

If you’re feeling unsure whether to sell your Boston home this spring, contact me, your Boston real estate agent. We can discuss your options! If you know you’re ready to sell, I am here to offer you professional assistance. 

Patti Fine

Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com

Patti Fine Real Estate

Greater Boston Area Homes

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4 Decluttering Tips for Your Boston, MA Home

As your Boston real estate agent, I’d like to take you back to the basics today. As homeowners, after we take down holiday décor, this is a great time to clean, organize and declutter our Boston homes! Market Watch has deemed 2014 the year to sell your Boston home, so if you’re gearing up to do so, it’s also a great time to prepare for staging your home to sell.

This is a daunting task for most Boston home sellers, because most have lived in their homes for quite some time and have collected a lot of stuff. Whether it was freebies in the mail, good sales at the store, or nostalgic photos or art designs from the kids, much of what we collect is meaningful to us. It is not, however, meaningful to our potential Boston homebuyers.

To help you get your home organized and clutter-free this winter, here are some greats tips from Realtor Magazine that I’ve summarized for you here:

1.  Give your home a walkthrough. Pretend you’re a homebuyer and you’re seeing your own home for the first time. Walk through each room and really take notice. After living in a home for so long, we stop noticing the obvious messes and clutter after a while! Walk with a notebook and keep track of what you notice in each room, and what you’ll need to go back and change.

2.  Create piles. As you clean and declutter each room, create piles: keep, give away, donate, sell, throw away. These piles can be different for each homeowner, but the basic gist is to get rid of everything that is not a necessity. If you’re moving in the near future, you’ll be so happy you did! You could also have a pile for keeping, but storing away until after you sell your Boston home.

3.  Clean out closets. Closets tend to be the black holes in most homes, where everything you’re not sure what to do with gets thrown. Once you tackle the closets, the rest should be a cinch! Create your piles. Remove anything you haven’t worn in two years, and aim to get rid of 50 percent of your wardrobe (the average person only wears 20 percent of their clothes 80 percent of the time).

4.  Clear counters and bookcases. Take all of your appliances and gadgets off the counters in the kitchen and bathrooms. Leave only a couple items. Donate any books that won’t be reread. Replace with a few decorative, neutral items. Professional home stagers recommend grouping decorative pieces in groups of three.

Realtor Magazine shared many more tips in their article that is worth reading. If you have more questions, or would like a neutral point of view, contact me! I’d be happy to help you out.

As your Boston real estate agent, I am your go-to source for help during the home-selling process in the Boston real estate market.  I look forward to helping you reach your goals!

Patti Fine
Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com
Patti Fine Real Estate
Greater Boston Area Homes
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Why to Sell Your Boston, MA Home Now!

Would you like to sell your Boston home? Do you think that you missed your chance, now that summer is a distant memory and the holidays will be upon us soon? As your Boston real estate agent, it’s my job to tell you that this isn’t true. Now is actually a great time to sell!

Not convinced? The KCM Crew just shared a slew of reasons why home sellers should jump into the real estate market right now. I’ve summed them up for you here:

• Demand is high. You can’t sell your Boston home if there aren’t any interested Boston homebuyers. So, even if you think a different time of year will work better for your schedule, you should focus on the demand from buyers. Right now, that demand is high. Mortgage rates have fallen again, due to the government shutdown, so buyers want to act before they shoot back up! To prove it, home sales have increased for 25 months to a double-digit percent!

• Supply is increasing. The best time to sell is when inventory is low, because that’s when Boston homebuyers have few options and will negotiate in your favor to get your house. As inventory increases, buyers will have more options, and you’ll have to negotiate in their favor. Inventory has already slightly increased, but it’s expected to continue rising as more homeowners come out of negative equity.

• New construction is back. For a long time, Boston home sellers only had to compete with other sellers and not new construction. But it’s back now that the Boston housing market is recovering. This means that buyers will have the opportunity to buy your home, or that shiny new home down the street. Acting now is a smart plan, before the new construction hits the market!

• Interest rates will rise. Like I mentioned, buyers are eager to act now, before mortgage rates rise again. Almost all industry experts predict that rates will be up a full percentage point by this time next year. While this means less buyer interest, it also means that if you’re looking to move up or down, you’ll be affected by this too. Sell now, and you can snatch a low rate for your next house.

• It’s time to move on. There is a reason that you’re thinking about selling your Boston home now. Is it for a new job? To grow your family? To retire? To be closer to family? Whatever your reason is, you no longer have to wait. The housing recovery is here, and it’s a great time to sell. Why not move on and accomplish the life that you imagine?

Hopefully these points helped to show you what a great opportunity Boston home sellers have right now in the Boston real estate market. If you’re still coming up with excuses, see if yours is one of the top five bad reasons why homeowners decide not to sell. Realty Times created a rebuttal for each, so check out their article!

When you decide that it is time for you to sell your Boston home, contact me! As a Boston real estate agent, I’d love to help you out.

Patti Fine
Phone: 617-642-7585
Email: pf@pattifine.com
Patti Fine Real Estate
Greater Boston Area Homes
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