2-Step Method to Find the Right Acton Home for Sale   It was fascinating reading: especially if you currently have, or are looking for, an Acton home for sale. The New York Times’ headline was “After You Read the Listings, Your Agent Reads You.”  I thought that sounded sort of hokey — especially since I’m one of the agents who is supposed to be doing the ‘reading.’ I had to agree with one of the signs for reading a client’s reaction to a given home for sale. If their “progress from the hall…through the living room…through the dining room…to the kitchen takes 30 to 45 seconds…that’s not so good.” I began to think I must be one of the agents who is an expert at reading clients. But then the article said, “If they linger for a long time in any one room, that’s telling you that there is som... 06/29/2013

Acton Home Buyers May Skip ‘Starter Homes’ Altogether   The concept of “starter homes” cropped up after the end of the Second World War, when millions of young families took advantage of low-cost new developments to gain a foothold in homeownership: the emblematic first step in fulfilling the American Dream. Today’s first-time Acton area home buyers are a lot less predictable—just as the market itself is altogether different. As we recover from the previous years’ economic declines, which temporarily suppressed the number of Acton home buyers, the combination of low interest rates and historically affordable home prices allows many to aim for bigger and more accommodating housing— skipping the starter home altogether. For sure, the market hasn’t completely abandoned the starter home ide... 03/28/2013

  The Next 4 Things No One Tells Area First Time Homebuyers   Of all the things first time homebuyers in our Acton area are told, some that turn out to be pretty important are too often overlooked. Here are four items first time homebuyers will find useful to know:  4. Remodeling costs more than you think You’ve found a fixer upper, your energy is to be applauded. But before you write that offer, if you are one of our Acton first-time homebuyers, be certain to have penciled out the bottom line cost of bringing the home up to the standard you require to be move-in ready. You may well be able to live with some items that you will fix over time, but in all areas, budget 20% more than your estimate.    5. What matters is what the bank’s appraiser thinks the house is worth  Getting a loan ap... 03/20/2013

7 Things No One Tells Acton First Time Homebuyers   First time homebuyers in Acton are told a lot of things —  “Save your money,” their parents advise. “Location, location, location!” their friend’s friend cautions. Reasonable advice, for certain. But there some important elements of the home buying process which a typical local first time homebuyer doesn’t usually hear. I’ve listed some of the most important ones, in no particular order:  1.Mortgage rates you see advertised aren’t usually what you get The banner ads are everywhere online: “3.2% rates!” “No money down!” But the truth is, mortgage rates vary greatly. The only way you’ll know what rates you actually qualify for is to go through a complete mortgage application including credit pulls and income verification. One more point ... 03/17/2013

Why the Newest listings for Acton Sometimes…Aren’t!   You are doing some serious house-hunting.  You’ve been Googling ‘newest Acton MA listings’, but when you click on the most popular sites, somehow the ‘newest Acton listings’ are the same ones you’ve seen before. Worse, some of them turn out to have been sold! Or the price was wrong! Or the agent isn’t even the agent anymore! What is going on? Doesn’t Google (or Bing, or Yahoo!) promise to show you sites with the newest listings in Acton? How can the most popular sites (at the top of their results page: Zillow, Realty.com, Trulia) be showing ‘newest listings’ that were sold last month? Or contact numbers that take you to an answering machine that never calls back?  The answer is not mysterious, but it can take a while to catch on. The... 02/24/2013

  Home Prices Predictions: Reliable for Acton Homeowners?   Who doesn’t want to know what will happen in the future? That’s a very small group, for sure, since good planning is a cornerstone of good management -- for households as well as for organizations of every kind. So, whenever Acton,MA homeowners see headlines like “Home Prices Up ‘Unsustainable’ 5.9% in 2012,” above a MarketWatch article that explains that price growth is expected to slow, they probably would like to gauge the reliability of the forecasters.  In this case, MarketWatch is part of the relatively stalwart Wall Street Journal, so credibility goes up. But closer examination finds that the author is just reporting information real estate site Zillow compiled. Zillow is indeed an internet behemoth -- but can Acton home... 02/22/2013

    The Best Day for Listing Your Acton Home is…   “Mansion” is the Wall Street Journal’s entry into the high-end real estate magazine world. Well, not quite a magazine -- it’s an extra section they run on Fridays. It’s a nice diversion for those who want to read about really rich people selling their properties. More than that, it could actually be an important source of information if you decide to buy a vineyard in the middle of Los Angeles (Bel-Air, actually -- that one was featured last week).   It was another article that caught my eye on Friday, though; one that dealt with a topic we agents have long debated. The article was headlined “THE BEST DAY TO LIST A HOME IS…”.  It summarized an elaborately executed study by a national brokerage revealing hard statistics on which day of t... 02/10/2013

  Clearing the Way to Decluttered Local Open Houses    Why so many open houses in Acton? The reason is because they are so effective -- not only by instantly spreading notice that a property is seriously entering the market, but also by creating a firm target date for the seller – a day when all concerned agree that the property will be in peak ‘showability’ condition. Open houses are like showings on steroids. With dozens of visitors in the offing, there’s little doubt that every effort will go into preparing for them. Along those lines, every agent will tell you that a tidy home is far more tempting than one that looks too lived-in.  The New York Times recently offered the assessment that decluttering is vital because "most real estate is aspirational, and buyers want to see themselve... 02/09/2013

  Acton Bathroom Remodels Can Boost Sale Value   Though things are looking up in real estate these days, selling a home in Acton is as demanding as ever. As in any serious business proposition, looking for ways to increase the value of your offering will always pay dividends.  One of the major ways you can make your own Acton home more marketable is to do a bathroom remodel. It’s always a key focus for prospective buyers…and yes, it does sound like a lot of work (and a lot of money) -- but there are a number of ways you can cut down on both. First, step back and give a hardheaded look at the conditions a remodel would correct. In a surprising number of cases, all a bathroom really needs in order to look more glamorous and inviting is to add a fresh coat of paint or a change in lighting.... 01/31/2013

Selling a Local House Starts with Some Basics   According to a recent survey, nine out of ten REALTORS® believe that clients who make improvements before selling a house are more likely to secure a successful sale. Why, you may wonder, would anyone take the trouble to run a survey to discover anything that obvious? Possibly because of a follow-up question Realty Times came up with: 65.9% of real estate agents – virtually two out of three – agree that a common mistake among homeowners is not making "the right" home improvements for the local market.  Uh-oh! Remodeling in the wrong direction can cost you twice! If it’s such a common mistake, it’s safe to say it might be best to consult an agent before rolling up your sleeves (or opening your checkbook). Active Acton agents are constantly ... 01/31/2013

  Buyer Beware: Strategies That Get You Nowhere   Anyone who is buying a house in Acton -- or even just checking up on the market -- is likely to find that some of the rules of the game seem to have shifted. Particularly anyone expecting to be deluged by the kind of amazing deals being offered in 2008 and 2009 should see what I mean. As the latest housing statistics continue to paint an upbeat picture, at least when it comes to bargain-priced properties, the days of multiple bids and ‘offers over asking’ are back.  If you are weighing the advantages of buying a house in Acton before interest rates and prices rise in earnest, it should be useful to take a look at some strategies that work -- and some that virtually never work: Blanket Low-balling – Running around writing up a bunch of lo... 01/28/2013

Long Planning Sets Homeowners Ahead of the Pack   “Longevity planning” is not something most youthful or middle-aged Acton residents spend a lot of time thinking about. “Getting old?” Who wants to dwell on that? Joseph Coughlin, the director of the AgeLab at MIT, pushes for changing that attitude when it comes to home sale decisions. He points out that a 65-year-old woman today can plan to live past 85 -- far longer than her parents did. If her budget plans match theirs, the result will be a serious shortfall in later years.  It may be more doable than you’d think. The Brooking Institution recently reported that a home sale in a good school district, such as Acton, totals (on average) 2.4 times more than one in a less child-focused district. Once schooling is no longer at issue, being w... 01/27/2013

  Real Estate Sales in Acton MA, December 2012 Sales in December are typically slow, but this December, Acton sales were strong.  Another sign that the market continues to improve is that the average Days on Market for homes in Acton, compared to December of 2011 was 156 compared to 208 a year ago.. down by 52 days!! Home sales in the $400,000 to 500,000 range sell very quickly, often with multiple offers, leading to over-asking price accepted offers.  Buyers in this price range should be prepared to act quickly and decisively to be successful in purchasing an Acton MA home.  Pre-approval for a mortgage has to be current.   To find your perfect home the day it comes on the market, sign up for Alerts on www.searchingActonMAhomes.com As an Acton Realtor and a long time resident of this gr... 01/22/2013

An Acton MA home buyer should receive a brochure, Home Inspectors Consumer Fact Sheet, at the time of the signing of the first written contract to purchase from the Seller or Seller's agent. Since MA Home Inspector licensing in 2001, a consumer must have a signed exclusive buyer's agent agreement with a Real Estate Broker or Salesperson before the Real Estate Broker or Salesperson can refer a home inspector. Without a signed exclusive buyer's agent agreement, the Real Estate Broker or Salesperson may only refer the buyer to the list of all MA Home Inspectors from the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Home Inspectors. Finding your Acton MA Home Inspector from the list of all MA home inspectors can be quite a challenge. An internet search for "Acton MA Home Inspector" may help you na... 11/11/2012

Acton Open Houses Need Staging (Not Upstaging)   Open houses are one of any agent’s most effective tools when it comes to selling houses. The 2011 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found that 45% of buyers use open houses as a research tool when they are serious about buying a home.    Acton open houses can draw potential buyers, then effectively demonstrate not only an attractive physical living space – but a canvas that invites them to project their own ideal living situation onto it.    Nevertheless…be warned! Obvious, clichéd staging can have exactly the opposite effect -- even for properties that are standouts in every other way. The danger arises when staging becomes upstaging: when décor rather than the house itself becomes the star. Additionall... 08/04/2012

As moving time approaches, most internal stress meters start twitching around the time we have to figure out how many cartons it’s going to take. A cross-town move is one thing -- sometimes you can even handle it yourself (with the help of bribable friends and relatives, of course).   But suppose you have just accepted a new job promotion in Acton. Of course, you’re immediately excited by the adventurous prospect of the summer's relocation.  But suppose Acton is a new zip code for you – and maybe even a new state. Your move up the professional ladder could also mean spending a lot more time and money on the move itself…and once here, the demands of your new position will double your need to pay attention to business.    Fear not: your Acton area real estate agent has seen how clients ac... 07/02/2012

For quite a while, Acton MA residential real estate holders – that is, homeowners  – haven’t had to work very hard to come up with a description for the U.S. real estate market. ‘Lousy’ certainly came to mind. ‘Bleak’ was a strong contender. ‘Cautiously optimistic,’ at best a distant third.   So this month’s Wall Street Journal report came as a quiet reminder that, for serious-minded investors who view our situation from a less-involved perspective, our residential real estate outlook is neither lousy nor bleak. In fact, the combination of lower residential prices and the international currency environment has created a ‘property-buying binge’ by Asians, Canadians, Europeans and Latin Americans – more than 60% of whom pay in cash.   “There’s this international view that America is on sa... 06/27/2012

    There’s nothing like being able to bask in the warm glow of well-being an Acton homeowner gets after finishing a thorough spring cleaning. It's especially true when you realize how important the annual ritual can be in protecting your greatest asset: your Acton property.   That warm glow results from doing more than just cleaning your home's interior, though. It involves maintaining the property in the ways that will prevent having to take more costly steps later. There are three different tasks you can complete to get your home ready for the warm weather that's on the way. If you follow these basic tips, your home will be looking its best – and the resulting beauty will be more than skin deep.   One of the most overlooked areas for most Acton homes is its foundation. It is importan... 05/12/2012

A home inspector working in Acton MA is required to perform a home inspection to the Massachusetts Home Inspector Standards of Practice. A copy of the standard will be provided to the client by the home inspector.The MA Home Inspector Standards of Practice is written for the professional home inspector. United Inspection Service has created some easy to read Consumer Information Sheets illustrating what is included and excluded in a Standard MA home inspection. Clear client communications (3c) are one of our core values. See the easy to read one page consumer information sheets for each of the systems in a MA Home Inspection.Visit the Acton MA Home Inspection web page from United Inspection Service for some useful information about homes in Acton MA and the Massachusetts Home Inspection... 11/13/2011

By admin posted September 25th, 2011   Octoberfest in Acton, MA Acton likes to ring in October the right way. If you’re around next Saturday, October 1st, stop by and join the community to celebrate Acton’s annual Octoberfest. The fun starts with a 5K run or walk and a kids’ fun run sponsored by the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce. You’ll see lots of local vendors selling delicious food and drinks, and there will also be plenty of singing, dancing, and merriment among the entire community. Kids enjoy going on the rides and visiting the fire station’s annual open house, but most of all, they love seeing mom and dad get soaked in the dunking tank! From 10am to 4pm, you and your family can experience some of the best performances, food and fun Acton has to offer, as you help welcome th... 09/26/2011