Merrimack Valley Real Estate- Massachusetts, Essex and Middlesex County

Dormers can be a great way to expand the living space as well as increase the value of your home when renovating.  Dormers are a great addition to any house but especially homes with living space under a roofline like a cape home, or the attic space of an American Four Square or a bungalow.What I...

As I did some research on a prevalent older house design in my city, the American Four Square, I also stumbled across the fact it was one of Sear's most popular house designs in their mail-order catalog.I find it fascinating you could buy a whole house through a catalog. As a child, I remember th...

I have been blogging about real estate for about 20 years and really started to get serious about it 8 years ago. There are a few things I know today, that I wish I knew years ago when I started a real estate blog. Having this knowledge from the beginning would have saved me time, money and aggra...

Buying a house is a massive undertaking. As a home buyer, you are probably relying on a mortgage to get the funds they need to purchase a new home. Lenders consider various things before they give these buyers a mortgage loan. One area they consider is one's credit standing.Your credit score show...

Here is a good article on how to become a winning bidder with multiple offers on a home. It is definitely tough for home buyers and the first step is to understand what your competing home buyers are willing to do to strengthen their offers and be noticed by the seller.  Your buyer's agent should...

You have created great curb appeal for your home, refreshed the interior, neutralized the decor decluttered and done a deep clean to prepare your house for the market.  But give your home some extra sizzle by staging your closets!If you are truly wanting top dollar for your home don't forget to s...

A popular home improvement prject for the do-it-yourselfer is installing laminate floors.  Installation of laminate floors is seemingly easy and for the most part it is a realistic project a homeowner can tackle on their own.Laminate floors are layed down and are easily interlocked together. The ...

One of the more critical pieces of selling your home is pricing it correctly and getting the price just right.  Of course, you don’t want to leave money on the table but pricing too high can leave your home stagnating on the market.A home that sits on the market too long leaves home buyers leery ...

So, you have decided “I want to sell my house”. Selling a home is complex on many levels. You need an understanding of what buyers are looking for so you can properly prepare your home for sale. Setting a house price that attracts the right buyers can sometime be more of an art than a science. Th...

Massachusetts smoke and carbon detector laws require a seller to get a certificate of compliance for their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors before the transfer of a property.Smoke and CO detectors save lives. Massachusetts law helps provide properly working detectors in the event of a fire or ...