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“I found a great home for sale in Trulia,” my client excitedly told me. “Can we see it right away?”

“I’m sorry,” I reluctantly told her. “That house already has an accepted offer.”

Many home buyers have experienced this same disappointment. This is because of two big flaws in the way that real estate sites share information with home buyers.

Wellesley's Gardens at Elm Bank will have a decidedly Downton-esque feel on September 15, with a Garden Party Fundraiser. Kyle & I are hosting the event to support the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Garden to Table program, which provides fresh, organic produce to families in need.

Last night I was so excited to hear that photographers Steve & Jennifer Owen will be joining us for the festivities. They are generously donating their time to photograph te event. They bring so much creativity and enthusiasm to the craft, we're honored to have them joining us.

With news stories heralding the return of the “seller’s market,” more homeowners are considering listing their homes for sale. I thought this would be an opportune time to share answers to frequently asked questions about selling a home.

It may sound a little odd to compare retail sales to home sales but there is much that realtors can learn from luxury retailers. When you think about the most successful brands like Apple and Tiffany’s, they follow the same key principles that should be applied when marketing a home.

Kyle & I are thrilled to be hosting a Downton Abbey-inspired garden party to support the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Garden to Table program, which provides fresh, locally grown produce to two area food pantries. It's a wonderful program that helps ensure that families in need have access to healthy meals.

To be held Sunday afternoon, September 15, 2013 at Wellesley's beautiful Elm Bank Reservation, the garden party will offer guests a chance to:

Yesterday I was a guest on WRKO's Real Estate Radio Boston, where I spoke about how Boston area residents can get the most value when they sell their home. I was a little apprehensive about participating in a radio show, but I have to say, it was a blast chatting with real estate radio show hosts Rick Scherer and Ali Alavi and answering callers' questions about getting the most value when you sell your home. I was also excited that Kelli Webber of Interim Furnishings agreed to join me on the show. She's helped immensely with home staging projects and has some terrific insights into the home staging process.

As you can tell from my goofy picture, the guys had me in stitches during the show. They're a lot of fun to work with, and are my go-to mortgage and real estate attorneys. Our clients rave about them, so it was really fun to have some time to get together and share advice and ideas with people considering selling their home in the Boston suburbs.

Any home buyer can tell you that finding the exact right home to fit their needs can be a challenge. One of the biggest concerns we hear when new clients contact us is that they've been searching on third-party real estate sites like Trulia or Realtor.com to find homes, yet they have to spend a lot of time filtering out homes that aren't a good match for them.

A better approach is to ask a buyer's agent to sign up you for a free Boston MLS home search. This way, you'll receive auto emails of homes that meet very specific search criteria. Traditional third-party real estate search sites will only allow you basic searches such as the towns, number of bedrooms, baths, size of home and lot, and age of home.

However, the Boston MLS allows you to more finely tune your home search. You can search by all kinds of criteria such as:

Thank you to our friends & family near and far who have called to check in, said a prayer, or voiced their support for everyone in Boston. And especially to the first responders, the medical staff and volunteers, and to those amazing people in the crowd who risked their own safety to help our fallen friends.

We are heartsick over this attack, but your kind words and deeds help immensely.

It is rare that I encounter a home I would truly swoon over but today I stumbled into just that. Jerry Garcia's former home in Marin County is for sale. Located in a tiny village that reportedly has fewer than 100 residents, this five-bedroom Mediterranean-style home has lovely mountain views.