Homes For Sale in Charlton, MA Market Report

Let's check in with Charlton, which continues to impress with an HSI at 114, a new record. As elsewhere, the steady pressure on the number of homes for sale has resulted in price pressures, and we see that Charlton has moved up $7 a square foot since the last report, and $13 a square foot from a year ago. That's almost 10% in a year, pretty spectacular for Charlton.

Can’t see the chart? You can find it Here .

Home sellers in Charlton have certainly waited a while to participate in the rising home prices, but it certainly looks like they are in the thick of it. The only thing in Charlton that is a little odd is the days on market for both sales and actives is a little on the high side. I'll have to look into why that is, but it's probably some new construction messing up the data.

Charlton, MA Houses For Sale and Sold Market Statistics - Raw MLS Data

• Charlton, MA “Home Seller Index” (HSI): 114 Last Report: 107
• There are 34 homes listed as For Sale in Charlton, MA.
• There have been 83 houses sold in the last 6 months, and 40 homes sold in the last 3 months.
• The Average number of Days on Market was 140 days for just SOLD homes.
• There is an Average Market Time of 163 days of the homes For Sale (currently for sale).
• The amount that was paid in Dollars per Square Foot averaged 133 (vs. 126)
• There was an Average Sold Price of $220,880 for sold homes.
• Charlton, MA has 2 properties advertised as lender owned/foreclosure (typically foreclosure) .
• Charlton, MA has 2 properties advertised as a short-sale is going to be needed by lender .

*All statistics are for Single Family Houses and based on data in MLS. Note, there will be a some what artificial jump in the rankings as the active status flag is being phased out. (this is a good thing, but will screw up my data sets).

More Great Reads!

• Which is better, 2x4 or 2x6 home construction?
• What are the types of foundations we find in housing, and what should I know about them?
• How do I get the seller to pay my closing costs, and is it free money?
• What is pre-paid PMI, and is it a good deal?
• How do I get rid of PMI on my mortgage payment?
• How do I prepare for getting ready to buy a house?
• When Should I do a Lead Paint Test on my Home

About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

Do Good Things Today! Matt Heisler

*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.

Light bulbs? Why talk about Light bulbs?

It used to be, not so long ago, that buying a lightbulb was a very simple process. Go to the store, find the right size bulb, and purchase. All the lights were incandescent bulbs, (the ones with filament), and they lasted a while, and then burned out and you got new ones.

Then things got complicated.

First on the scene were Compact Fluorescent Lights. It took a while for the prices to come down, but when they did I experimented (as many people did) with all types of them. I tried them in lamps, and then I tried them in recessed lights, in bathrooms, etc. All different bulbs in all different places. Incandescent bulbs burn out all the time, so in a couple of years, many of the light bulbs in my house had been replaced. CFL's promised longer life than incandescent bulbs, and solid energy savings - often 30-40% less than their old-style counterparts. They were also more expensive though - where an old bulb was 50 cents to 1.50 based on size and style, the CFL were $3-6. The math worked - as long as you got the life out of the bulb.

But there were these problems....

The first problem was that you can't use most (all?) CFLs on dimmer switches. That will ruin the bulb, meaning you'll get a couple of months out of a bulb that is supposed to last years. And strangely, many of the CFLs that I bought did not last their full life span - often less than half. Most CFLs also had "cool light" which is light with a bluish tint, not the warm, red tinted light of the old

style light bulbs. Cool light is unflattering to us pale humans. And, perhaps most disconcerting, they had mercury in the bulbs. The Mercury means the that the bulbs had to be disposed of seperately - you can't just put them in the trash - but I'm sure millions of people do just that. That means that the mercury in these bulbs gets burned up or buried - less than ideal for the environment, which of course was a big part of the reason one bought these bulbs in the first place.

Clearly, that's pretty frustrating. Guess what though? Technology moves on, and there was a technology promised to make all the problems go away - and revolutionize the common lightbulb. LED light bulbs.

What are LED lightbulbs for my house?

LED are light bulbs that actually take a microchip of sorts that turns electricity to light. LED are so good at this, in fact, they they are almost 80% more efficient than the old style incandescents. EIGHTY PERCENT. To put this in context, about 13% of all electricity in the US is for lighting. We could reduce that to less than 3% with the use of LEDs.

But that is not the best part. The best part is these LED lightbulbs also last 500% longer than CFL's, or 1500% longer than old style lightbulbs. An average LED lightbulb will last for 17 years if used a 8 hours a

day. 17 Years! And they work on dimmers. AND they don't use the harsh color tones of CFLs.

It truly is a miracle technology. The only problem was cost. These bulbs were crazy expensive. Like $30-45. I'm all for the environment, but that was crazy money for a lightbulb.

Guess what? Prices are coming down. I just bought my first LED light for $7.98 at Lowe's. It was on sale, but $10 LED's are coming, and you should keep an eye out for them. Here are some rough numbers for you as to how the three types of bulbs stack up. (Lightbulbs have different sizes and energy usage depends on how often they are on, so these are just approximations based on a light bulb for a recessed light.

This chart reflects data available for 75W equivlanent interior floodlight bulbs

When to purchase LED lights

Well, as you can see from the chart, if you find LED's at $10 a piece or less, now would be a good time. Each bulb will save you $100 over a 17 year span (to say nothing of how it positively impacts the environment), or, if you bought 17 of them, it will save you $100/year in lightbulb costs. Pretty Cool.

Where is the best place to start? Well, start with any lightbulbs that are in hard to reach places. Exterior lights, lights that are in vaulted ceilings, anything that requires a ladder. Remember, with these bulbs, it's unlikely you'll EVER need to replace them, which is why they are perfect for hard to reach places. Then look for the bulbs that get the most use. In my house, I have about 10 recessed lights that are on all the time - those will be the first to go. They are all (except for one) CFL's now, but as they burn out, they'll be LEDs. Obviously, lights on dimmers are also a high priority.

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating throwing out perfectly good CFL's, but if you see LED's on sale, Stock up! And start saving money.

More Great Reads!

• Which is better, 2x4 or 2x6 home construction?
• What are the types of foundations we find in housing, and what should I know about them?
• How do I get the seller to pay my closing costs, and is it free money?
• What is pre-paid PMI, and is it a good deal?
• How do I get rid of PMI on my mortgage payment?
• How do I prepare for getting ready to buy a house?
• When Should I do a Lead Paint Test on my Home

About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

Do Good Things Today! Matt Heisler

*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.

2013 Consolidated MCAS scores for Massachusetts Schools

OK! First, everyone should read this, as all the preamble I did in 2009 still applies today. I did

modify my methodology a bit though. Here's how I did it.

The MCAS scores by district are published by Boston.com, but they don't make it easy to find anymore. I have consolidated and re-used that publish data, in order to come up with a composite score for each town. But I didn't collect all of it. I collected English and Math scores for 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 10th grade. I did not use any science results. Then I added up the scores and ranked them. I tried to include charter schools this time, as long as the Charter school had at least 3 entries. As an example, if a ABC

charter school only shows up in the 3rd grade results, and not the other grades - they don't make the final ranking. Vocational schools also don't make the list based on my criteria.  Some public schools  are not ranked, as I couldn't figure out what their scores were. Where there are regional schools, those scores were used multiple times for each region (they are only ranked once in the boston.com data).

I can't stress enough that no one should rely on this data solely to make decisions. MCAS results can rise and fall significantly over multiple years, MCAS results do not tell you everything. (Again, read my introduction written in 2009).

Lastly, towns in Bold are towns that I discuss on the blog often, and for no other reason.

If you have questions about my methodology, I am happy to try to answer questions.. The data is already on Boston.com, but we can validate it if you think there's a mistake.

Homes For Sale in Charlton Market Report

OK, let's check in out to the West and South, see what we have in the Charlton real estate market.

Off the bat, we see some things haven't changed much -the HSI is the same as the last report, a very healthy 97. Market remains good for home sellers. When we look in to the numbers though, we do see some changes. We see that the yellow line (home sales) continues to far outpace homes on the market (the green line). That puts pressure on prices, and we see that $/sq. foot is up substantially to $140/ sq foot, as it should be. In fact, home sales volume hit a record of 110 for the last six months - far above last months record of 90- and two and half times more than the 40's numbers that were being posted in 2011. Without a doubt, buyers are demonstrating a lot of confidence in this market as we leave the dark days of real estate behind us.

Can’t see the chart? You can find it Here .

We also see a little bounce back in bank impacted inventory, with seven houses on the market in this category. That's up from 4 in the last report (but down from twice that number in the early part of the year. Much of this probably reflects optimism that deals can be reached, and the bad loans can be gotten rid of. It's important to watch, but right now the sales number says things will keep popping in Charlton.

Rising prices in Charlton will keep the pressure on prices in communities to the East, as it always does.  Buyers will find property moving quickly almost everywhere in Metrowest now, but I'm seeing a less frenetic fall (by far) than the terribly hot spring we had this year.

Charlton Houses For Sale and Sold Market Statistics - Raw MLS Data

• Charlton “Home Seller Index” (HSI):97  Last Report:97
• There are 72 homes listed as For Sale in Charlton.

  Buyers (and those going back to school) will need to sharpen their pencils to convince home sellers to sell.

• There have been 110 houses sold in the last 6 months, and 67 homes sold in the last 3 months.
• The Average number of Days on Market was 126 days for just SOLD homes.
• There is an Average Market Time of 123 days of the homes For Sale (currently for sale).
• The amount that was paid in Dollars per Square Foot averaged $140 (vs. $133 )
• There was an Average Sold Price of $255,209 for sold homes.
• Charlton, MA, has 2 properties (vs. zero) advertised as lender owned/foreclosure (typically foreclosure) .
• Charlton has 5 properties (vs. 4 in the last report) advertised as a short-sale is going to be needed by lender .

*All statistics are for Single Family Houses and based on data in MLS. Note, there will be a some what artificial jump in the rankings as the active status flag is being phased out. (this is a good thing, but will screw up my data sets).

More Great Reads!

• Which is better, 2x4 or 2x6 home construction?
• What are the types of foundations we find in housing, and what should I know about them?
• How do I get the seller to pay my closing costs, and is it free money?
• What is pre-paid PMI, and is it a good deal?
• How do I get rid of PMI on my mortgage payment?
• How do I prepare for getting ready to buy a house?
• When Should I do a Lead Paint Test on my Home

About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

Do Good Things Today! Matt Heisler

*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.

Homes For Sale in Boylston Market Report

OK, the fall selling season is here, and the sellers are out in force. Buyers who are frustrated should be getting out there and looking. Prices are higher, but at least there are some choices.

We see that to be true in Boylston, where there are 37 properties on the market - near a high for Boylston. The word is getting out that the market is good, although I think we'll still see much lower numbers of houses for sale than we did in 2010, 2011. (And those were not the peaks). Those days are gone for a while.

The numbers have moved around some, but the HSI is basically flat - down a little from the spring, but not markedly so.

Note: The chart above updates automatically with each new real estate market post, so make sure the comments you are reading line up with the time the post was published.

Can’t see the chart? You can find it Here .

It is worth noting though, (in the raw data below), that $/sq foot are up $12 over the last report - as the spring sales finally close. That's a big push for a market that is not all that tight in Boylston.

Things were definitely moving though, as can be seen by the record number of sales in the trailing six month period. We will see if the prices hold this fall.

Boylston Houses For Sale and Sold Market Statistics - Raw MLS Data

• Boylston “Home Seller Index” (HSI)82: Last Report:89
• There are 37 homes listed as For Sale in Boylston.

  Things were pretty wet out there this morning!

• There have been 42 houses sold in the last 6 months, and 25 homes sold in the last 3 months.
• The Average number of Days on Market was 168 days for just SOLD homes.
• There is an Average Market Time of 140 days of the homes For Sale (currently for sale).
• The amount that was paid in Dollars per Square Foot averaged $175 (vs. $163)
• There was an Average Sold Price of $431,734 for sold homes.
• Boylston, MA, has 0 properties (vs. 0 in the last report) advertised as lender owned/foreclosure (typically foreclosure) .

Boylston has 2 properties advertised as a short-sale is going to be needed by lender .

*All statistics are for Single Family Houses and based on data in MLS. Note, there will be a some what artificial jump in the rankings as the active status flag is being phased out. (this is a good thing, but will screw up my data sets).

More Great Reads!

• Which is better, 2x4 or 2x6 home construction?
• What are the types of foundations we find in housing, and what should I know about them?
• How do I get the seller to pay my closing costs, and is it free money?
• What is pre-paid PMI, and is it a good deal?
• How do I get rid of PMI on my mortgage payment?
• How do I prepare for getting ready to buy a house?
• When Should I do a Lead Paint Test on my Home

About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

Do Good Things Today! Matt Heisler

*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.

What is a Mortgage Commitment Letter?

A Mortgage Commitment Letter is a letter from a bank that says you have been approved to borrow money from them. In other words, it is a commitment from the bank, to the borrower, for the funds requested. Unfortunately, it is not that simple, and we will explore the fine print that accompanies all these letters today.

This should not be confused with a pre-approval letter, or a pre-qualification letter. These letters, while important when purchasing a house, are issued BEFORE you actually go to underwriting (underwriting is the loan department that approves your borrowing based on the home or asset you are purchasing.) Commitment letters are issued (typically) AFTER the loan has been through underwriting.

If you think about it in stages, this is typically how it goes:

1) Pre-approval or Pre-qualification (Pre-qual) Letter

Buyer calls bank, has credit check, gives some income information, than then gets a Letter saying they can purchase a home.

2) Preparing Package for Underwriting

Once you find a home, the lender will ask you to sign LOTS of docs, and provide even more.  Be prepared, it's a lot!  And most people find no Joy in it. 

3) Loan Package goes to Underwriting.

The underwriters are the mythical creatures who approve - or don't approve - your loan.  Most of the time, thankfully, the pre-approval process and the approval process agree, but nothing is official until it's been through underwriting. 

4) Conditional Commitment Letter

Almost all loans that are approved by underwriting are conditionally approved.  More on that in a bit, but you need to take care of the conditions.

5) Clear to Close

Once the conditions are done, you are "clear to close" and that means you are all set on the mortgage end.  However, your mortgage contingency clause only covers your until step 4, unless you are careful and extend.

What do I need to know about Mortgage Commitment Letters?

LOTS! First off, the name is REALLY misleading. We all know what a commitment is. A promise. A pledge. A firm handshake when the deal has been struck. Regrettably, your commitment letter is rarely a true commitment from the bank. It is instead, a CONDITIONAL commitment letter.

Uh-oh. Conditional? What are the conditions? These conditions are the subject of this post.

Some conditions are obvious, and make sense. A common one that I see is that there can't be "significant" changes in your credit profile between the day the letter is issued and the day that you purchase the house. An example is if you decide to declare bankruptcy the day before you purchase a home, that will impact

your credit, and that will likely mean that your loan will not be granted. That is a clear-cut case, but it still applies if you go out and buy 10,000 dollars of furniture on credit, and that such a purchase impacts your credit score so significantly that you don't qualify for the loan any more. Be careful of any major purchases just before closing, especially if your credit is just on the edge of whatever loan program you qualify for.

There are all sorts of conditions. Such as:

1) Making sure you still have a job

2) Making sure the house appraises at purchase price

3) Additional paperwork required either for the lender,

4) Additional paperwork required for the servicer,

5) Additional paperwork or conditions required for a regulatory agency

6) Additional paperwork required for for the eventual securitization of your loan

7) I have even seen subject to underwriting!

And many, many others. I have seen conditional commitment letters that are 5 pages long! 

Do I need to be concerned about the conditions on my loan

Most of the time, no, the items are routine. But you need to review them carefully, and discuss them with your lender (or me!) so that we can make sure that they are low risk, paperwork pushing items. As an example, not having the appraisal done is a large risk, and a condition that should be removed from the commitment letter if at all possible. (Not all banks issue multiple versions of commitment letters, and some do not close out conditions in a useful fashion). Some items you can't control, (like losing your job) and will stay on the letter. Ultimately, when we are comfortable with your loan status, you can proceed with ending (or not extending) the mortgage approval clause in your purchase contract. The whole point of this post is to point out that no matter how close we get, the banks promise to lend is a tentative one, subject to change, and you are relying on them to make good. There are no guarantees when it comes to lending in this environment.

For those who really want to know, I've provided detail on some of the groups involved, but if you're OK at this point, you can skip this section. (It's kinda boring unless you really want to understand more of how mortgages really work. It's nerdy.)

Who are the servicers of my loan?

The servicers are the organization that bills you for your loan and manages the payments. It may be your bank, but it may not be. It may be the bank that is "holding" your loan, or it may not be.

Who are the regulatory agencies involved in my loan?

If your loan is going to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (and 90%+ of all loans today are headed that way), than the federal government gets involved in your loan. There are dozens of agencies, a real alphabet soup, and it's confusing enough that I will list just some. The FHFA, FTC, the FED, IRS, and HUD are just a few. There are also state agencies that can get involved. I'm not sure it's possible to predict which ones will require paperwork on your loan, but you won't know until you get through underwriting for most of it.

Why will I need to do paperwork if my loan gets securitized?

Most loans today are turned into securities - big, bundles of hundreds or thousands of loans, for reasons that have to do with making the inherent risk of lending more predictable, and freeing up capital for banks to do more lending. The vast majority of loans are bundled this way, and although the details are not important, the people who buy and sell these securities today are demanding additional paperwork before they agree to buy the security. Thus, more conditions for your loan, and more paperwork for you.

More Great Reads!

• Which is better, 2x4 or 2x6 home construction?
• What are the types of foundations we find in housing, and what should I know about them?
• How do I get the seller to pay my closing costs, and is it free money?
• What is pre-paid PMI, and is it a good deal?
• How do I get rid of PMI on my mortgage payment?
• How do I prepare for getting ready to buy a house?
• When Should I do a Lead Paint Test on my Home

About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

Do Good Things Today! Matt Heisler

*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.

Homes For Sale in Berlin Market Report

OK, with our third report for Berlin, we're getting a better feel. It's a really small town, small data set, so we know the numbers will be more volatile and we'll have to be careful drawing too many conclusions. But, with that said, Berlin is looking like many of the towns in the area. The HSI probably peaked in this report, but if nothing comes on this fall, it may climb higher.

Note: The chart above updates automatically with each new real estate market post, so make sure the comments you are reading line up with the time the post was published.

Can’t see the chart? You can find it Here .

It is certainly worth noting that Berlin has a $/sq foot of just $130 in the first report, and clocks in at $175. That's a huge swing, but with so few sales, we can't read too much into it. They are up - but I think the first number was a little low, and this month's number is a little high. We will see, as it'll work itself out over time.

A bit of a jump in foreclosures/bank impacted inventory, but hard to say yet if that is a worrying trend. I don't think based on this report we should make too many assumptions.

Berlin Houses For Sale and Sold Market Statistics - Raw MLS Data

• Berlin “Home Seller Index” (HSI): 106 Last Report: 92
• There are 13 homes listed as For Sale in Berlin.
• There have been 22 houses sold in the last 6 months, and 18 homes sold in the last 3 months.
• The Average number of Days on Market was 124 days for just SOLD homes.
• There is an Average Market Time of 212 days of the homes For Sale (currently for sale).
• The amount that was paid in Dollars per Square Foot averaged $175 (vs.$153 )
• There was an Average Sold Price of $442,653 for sold homes.
• Berlin ,MA, has 2 properties (Vs. 1 in the last report) advertised as lender owned/foreclosure (typically foreclosure) .
• Berlin has 1 properties (vs. 1) advertised as a short-sale is going to be needed by lender .

*All statistics are for Single Family Houses and based on data in MLS. Note, there will be a some what artificial jump in the rankings as the active status flag is being phased out. (this is a good thing, but will screw up my data sets).

More Great Reads!

• Which is better, 2x4 or 2x6 home construction?
• What are the types of foundations we find in housing, and what should I know about them?
• How do I get the seller to pay my closing costs, and is it free money?
• What is pre-paid PMI, and is it a good deal?
• How do I get rid of PMI on my mortgage payment?
• How do I prepare for getting ready to buy a house?
• When Should I do a Lead Paint Test on my Home

About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

Do Good Things Today! Matt Heisler

*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.

The HSI vs. my Home Price Change Graph

Any reader on this blog has probably become familiar with my HSI metric. My Home Selling Index is designed to give you an update window on what buyers and sellers are doing in that market as close to real time as I can get it. But there are other ways to measure demand swings, and one of those is prices. I collect $/sq foot numbers on all the towns, and decided to use a "baseline number" collected in the last part of 2011 and January 2012. Some markets had already seen price increases, and some hadn't but we'll get to that in a minute. Let's look at who has come up the most since that time frame.

Surprised at the Towns with the Largest Price Changes?

I bet you see some things you may not have expected. So Let's explain some of them.

1) First off, although 18 months seems like a long time, it's not really long enough to measure - accurately - prices change town to town. Some towns are just too small, and the data jumps too much.

2) As noted, some towns had not seen any increases at all, and when town rebound, we see sharp price increases. Other towns had already rebounded, and had less upside.

3) Over time, the sharp changes will flatten out (that's a prediction from me, folks).

So with that, we see that some "laggards" - Boylston, Mills and Charlton, sit atop the chart. That's what a rebound looks like in Real Estate.

Then come some not unexpected company - Natick, Medfield, Southborough and Hopkinton. These towns have seen strong demand for years, and their prices increases should not be a surprise.

The middle is all muddled, with most of the towns between 2-5% increases, but I did want to talk about the towns on the bottom.

Westborough, Northborough, Ashland and Shrewsbury. I should put Sutton here too, but Sutton makes no sense to me, so I can't comment on it. Not yet, anyway.

Northborough's price stall has been well-documented on this blog, and makes no sense to me. Westborough's has to do with a big run-up in 2011, a large tax rate increase, and then a flattening out. Even with all that though, I expected the numbers to be better. Shrewsbury also had an early bounce, but should be doing better, given it's favorable tax environment and younger neighborhoods. Ashland, also is a bit surprising, I think like Northborough it has more upside in front of it. Too many positives in those towns for them to remain laggards for long. We will certainly check in again at some point.

Best-

Matt

Pictures of a Flipped Kitchen

A key part of Selling your home is getting your home ready to sell.  For properties that need work, that process is called rehab, and quick rehabs where the homeowner owns the property for less than a year are called flips.  Let's look at some pictures of a recent Flip I sold:

Looking at these two photos, it can be hard to believe it's the same kitchen.  But it is!  (Thanks to JDHomeDesigns for the photos.  If you'd like to reach them for your next project, please contact me!)

On the left, we have the following issues:

• Dated Colors and Vinly Tile Floor
• Dated Cabinet Style (from the 50's!)
• Yellow Tile Backsplash (a color issue and a style issue)
• No accent color from the walls.

Flipping a property is hard work.  Fortunately, many folks have homes that don't need to be rehabbed, they just need to "show well".  This is a fuzzy real estate term for having your home appeal to the widest possible audience, and having your home show in the best possible light.  This process is called staging.  Some staging ideas are very simple and can have a big effect.

1. Making sure blinds and curtains are up and  pulled back to let light into the home.  People feel claustrophobic in dark houses.  
2. Those 40 watt bulbs in your basement?  Make them 100 watts please.
3. Think about curb appeal: Mulch your flowerbeds, trim your shrubs, fertilize your lawn, and knock down the weeds on your walks.
4. Paint, Paint, Paint.  Co-ordinated color palettes and fresh paint can be one of the biggest returns on investment in your home.  
5. Make it CLEAN.  Wash window screens, scrub baseboard, clean light switches, dust window sills and room corners, vacuum under beds, bleach the tile in the baths to get mold and mildew, dust fan blades, wash interior doors where the dust collects.

Pictures of a Staged Bedroom

On the left, we see:

Don't take my word for it- which bedroom would you pay more for?  Thought so.  Again, thanks to JDHomeDesigns for the photos.  They are available for staging your home!

Red Sox Make Big Trade

So the Sox made a great deal to ship Iglesias out and bring Peavy in.  Naturally, there were plenty of malcontents convinced we either got too little or gave away too much.

I can't wait to hear them talk when Iglesias becomes an established utility player, instead of the next Ozzie Smith.

It's been well document on this blog and many others that Jose's hot start this year was a fantastic display of luck squished into a small sample size.  But the Sox have been watching - and paying - Jose for years, and they know the truth.  He can't hit.  I hoped things would change, but did warn of an Epic slump - and it came to pass.

I heard on the radio with some of the fellas that Jose was a lock to bat .300 this year, as long as he batted .225 for the remaining season (his average was still North of .350 at that time.).  That, of course, is the problem.  I'm not sure he can hit .225 in MLB.  Call me a hater, call me what you will.  But let's look at Jose's numbers for July.  .205 / .247 / .217 / .464.  Now you ask yourself.  If Iglesias had that kind of month to start out this year, are we having this discussion about how great he is?  No we are not.  It's only a month, you say, and you'd be right.  But you'd be hard pressed to find an every day player with a month that bad.  I don't think you would.  And that is why he got traded.  Hooray, Cherrington.

Yankees Fade From Contention

Watching the A-rod saga has truly been a Yankee haters candy cane.  But really, they have been a cornucopia of delights all season. I think it was fantastic to see them hang in there

till the All-Star break only to fade down the stretch.  They are an awful, awful team - with few bright spots or rays of hope.

And next year looks worse.

No Mariano.  Jeter at best half the player he used to be - and perhaps not on the field as much.  No A-Rod (forgone conclusion at this point).  No more Andy Petitte, (even if he doesn't retire, he's a number 5 at best at this point).  No catching.  Granderson's lightning in a bottle looks to have come out.  Texeria has steadily declined and perhaps can only be counted on for an .800 OPS from here on out, and with that wrist, maybe a lot less.

In short, the Yanks have problems from top to bottom, and no farm system that I can see (the replacements have been truly dreadful), and we can officially say the league has gotten smarter about trades and free agents, making it much harder for Cashman to fix things that way.  His big two deals this year - for Vernon Wells and Soriano  - show how desperate at all levels they are.  Getting under the luxury tax has been a brutal exercise for Cashman - who is over the moon at the looming A-Rod suspension, as that will make things $25 million easier - but I don't think he'll be able to buy his way out the next go around.  No, they will have to draft - and grow - the next set of stars, and they aren't set up for that.  It should be fun to watch, although I will miss the opportunity to close the door on them in October.

Can the Sox Win the Pennant?

Yes, if Buckholz comes back healthy.  Extra Bonus if Will Middlebrooks commits to fixing the hole in his swing.  Don't think for a second the Sox have given up on him.  Not a chance.

No, if Ortiz gets hurt, or Napoli does (think he's a minor factor at this point?  You won't if he's not in that lineup).

So, 50/50 chance there.  Baltimore and the Rays both have a chance, but I think the Rays are just too good and will beat out the Orioles at the end.

Can the Sox beat the Rays?  Let's see where we're at in September, shall we?  Lots of time left before we get to that.  And either way, it'll be close.  The best four teams in the AL have very little separation between them.