Alice as you can see there is more information needed to give you the right answer. Everyone is making assumptions.
Initial offer - not accepted no risk no matter how many negotiations.
Accepted offer - possible risk
Accepted offer after inspection negotiation - possible risk
Accepted offer before signing p&s - possible risk
Accepted offer financing contingency - possilble risk
Why I say possible risk above is there is always the chance, although unlikely, that the seller won't release you and want to hold the deposit. Which can require an attorney to represent you to obtain it back. However your attorney should of been protecting you from the P&S stand point and your buyers agent should of been protecting you from the offering standpoint. Very simple language in the offer is all it takes. Subject to a mutually acceptable purchase and sales agreement. Subject to a formal inspection and approval of the premises by the buyer and or their agents. Subject to the buyer obtaining a mortgage and or an appraisal at or greater than the purchase price.
Keep us posted.
Louis... more
Welcome to the area Amy!
There are only hairline differences between the middle schools in the Newton community, as they are all terrific institutions in their own right. That said, I tend to read more "We're doing great!" style articles about Brown and Bigelow.
Student to teacher ratios at both schools are about 11.5 : 1, and both schools scored in the top 25 schools in state for the combined MCAS scores. Source: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/MA/schoolrank.aspx?pagetype=top10&level=2
If you have any other questions, or would like assistance with your housing search, don't hesitate to contact me directly!... more
Look at the demand in rentals housing. Newton is one of the highest demand because of the school system. Some other towns can have a better cap rate on paper, but if your property is vacant for a month or two, that won't be good.
Another factor is to look at the appreciation of the property value, Newton definitely has a good rate of the appreciation.
Rule of thumbs here; Capitalization Rate, Vacancy %, Debt Coverage Ratio, Cash Flow, Appreciation %... more
I would hire a local rental professional to save ime and money.
(Please note: when you choose an answer as a Best Answer, or at least give a thumbs up, it helps those who answer questions here.)... more
My 3 kids went to The Children's Cooperative Nursery School (848 Beacon St, 617-527-8539, childrenscoop.com). The teachers are warm, caring, very appropriate with children. As a coop, the school has very involved parents. The teachers' wisdom from their extensive experience and continuing education was a real plus for me, both as a first time mother and later with understanding and finding help for my special needs child (ASD). Scholarships are available, funded by parental fundraising efforts. All in all, the Coop nourished my entire family. I recommend it unreservedly.... more
I think the Q/A forums like this are great for lead generation because in a sense they are much like a buyer/agent interview process. Said client asks a question about a property or market or process of buying/selling and agent has an opportunity to answer and show their stuff/knoweldge. We have gotten quite a few clients off this forum because they have appreciated our honest tailored responses. Plus we have NOTHING to sell anyone therefore all of our answers are transparent and data driven which gets us great feedback.
I am unsure about advertising listings / ROI as we are an exclusive buyers agency with nothing to sell but my guess is the exposure to more buyers is positive (trulia ranks high on google).
People do tend to choose realtors based on friends / family suggestions and word of mouth. Buyer's should still beware and make sure they understand that - even if "referred" - in this business unfortunately not everyone's interests are aligned and 9 times out of 10 it is the buyer who ends up losing the most.
Interesting question and look forward to seeing other responses.... more
Hi Bria!
It was (and is) a very competitive market (lots of competitive bids depending on the season) yet very insulated so it's a great place to invest your money. They have great schools and it is close proximity to downtown. Almost every offer scenario we were in with clients was a competitive bid.
Here are some numbers to give you a sense of where the market stood at the end of this spring season compared to 2011. I chose the below dates because the average time to close is about 60 days and the spring market really heats up end of April/all of May leaving July and August as prime months for closings, giving a general synopsis of that yrs market.
7/1/2011 - 9/1/2011
Total Single families sold:132
Avg. Days on Market: 69
Sale Price to Listing Price Discount: 3%
Sale Price to Original Price Discount: 6%
Median Price: $772,500
7/1/2012 - 91/2012
Total Single Families Sold: 170
Avg. Days on Market: 80
Sale Price to Listing Price Discount: 2%
Sale Price to Original Price Discount: 4%
Median Price: $862,450
As you can see by the numbers the spring market was red hot this year! The median price increased in 2012 about 11% which is astounding. You can also see there were smaller discounts in sale prices compared to the previous year which was probably a reflection of the competitive bid scenarios (drives prices up).
Since you asked up to 1.55M I thought you would be interested to know that in 2011 during the time frame above the most transactions happened in this price point: $1,000,000 - $1,499,999 and in 2012 it was the exact same.
I hope that helps! There is always more where this came from as it is our primary job as exclusive buyer's agents to educate home buyer's. Feel free to contact us anytime with questions about a market or home.
Territory.com
Massachusetts Leading Real Estate Agency for Buyer's... more
There is no central repository for rental searches as there is for sales searches (MLS), so you will have to check several sites such as craigslist, Zillow, Trulia and some agency sites that post a lot of rentals. A good agent can scout around and zero in on the right places to save you a lot of time and energy and leg work. Doing it alone is possible, but rentals is a bit like the Wild West as compared to sales.
Ed Lyon
Owner - EcoBroker
Preservation Properties
617-527-3700... more
Short answer: the one you choose. Taxes, schools, ammenities, town solvency, traffic, are just some of the factors that people weigh differently. The 1% rule may not carry your investment though.
You might also consider calculating what the condo fee will carry indebt, and adding that to a purchase price for a single family. Condos react last to a good market and first to a bad market. And, they can be hard to finance - for your buyer in 2-3 years - if the association has problems. Or you can hire a property manager equal to the condo fees for your single family that you buy for $300K. Still the 1% rule may not work at $300K. ($3000/month rent = 1%. People who will spend $3K/month can finance $625K for a purchase.)
(Please note: when you choose an answer as a Best Answer, or at least give a thumbs up, it helps those who answer questions here.)... more
Hello Ruchi,
I have some great apartments and single family homes for rent to show you.
Please contact me at the below:
rick@shilalis.com
Thank you,
Rick
It depends on what amount of money you are talking about, and turnover of seasonal or year round property?
There are many other factors that will affect an investment decision.
If you are just looking to spen an amount of money fast, I'd look in areas you would live in and shop there.
(Please note: when you choose an answer as a Best Answer, or at least give a thumbs up, it helps those who answer questions here.)... more
ps you are probably right about brookline, it has risen steadily, probably due to the influence of the nearby medical/research area. you can get some nice houses there but i have been told a good starter is over 1M.... more
It occurrs to me that you need a crash course in how they do an Appraisal:
(I would prefer to send you a mock up, but you'll have to rely on my communication skills.)
Visualize a series of COLUMNS, probably 4 or 5;
The First Column is the SUBJECT HOUSE and the others are COMP's.
Down the page we list FEATURES or FACTORS; such as # Bedrooms, # Baths, House Sqft, Lot Sqft, Fireplace, Pool, Roof, Garage, Fencing. Got it?
Now, in each box created, there will be a VALUE: Lets say the subject house is 915 sqft it would get --- or 0. And the first Comp house has 2500 sqft, it might get -100,000; which means that the house is WORTH $100,000 more because of the square-footage. (It is a negative number because the Selling price of that Comp house was approximately $100,000 more BECAUSE of the square footage and we have to deduct that $100,000 to bring them to equity.) Got it?
Now, lets say that the Subject house has $5,000 worth of new fencing and the Comp house has 25 year old OK fencing.: Then the SUBJECT house would get +5,000 and the Comp. house would get --- or 0.
When you go down the page, and enter everything, you get total Comparative Values on the two houses, which allows for the DIFFERENCES.
The two houses DO NOT have to be literally COMPARABLE, we MAKE then comparable with the VALUES.
So the house next door is larger, so what? We made up for that with the values.
Now, if you understand what I just did, then you will understand why;
1.) The two Appraisals came so close together, and,
2.) Why BofA will not listen to you about the results.
and in fact I will give you a third;
3.) If you hire your own Appraiser, he will end up with about the same numbers!
Also, please do not compare/equate the ASSESSMENT with the APPRAISAL: The ASSESSMENT is based on the LAST SELLING PRICE OF THE PROPERTY which might be last year. five years ago, or thirty years ago. Comprende?
I hope I've helped.
Good luck and may God bless... more
It is not a big issue, you can easily find a spot, it might be a little harder if you go there in the late morning, but you should be able to find a spot.