Attracting international home buyers

International buyers purchased more than $68 billion in single-family homes in the U.S. last year--with 63 percent paying cash for the homes. If you\'re going to be selling your home, it\'s important that your realtor be adept at not just promoting your home to local buyers but to buyers who may be coming to Boston from around the world. (more…)

Neighborhood profile: Concord Center

As you\'ve probably seen if you\'ve read earlier posts in our blog, I like to profile desirable neighborhoods in the Boston suburbs. Today I saw a home for sale on my favorite street in Concord and it spurred me to let you know about this lovely historic neighborhood in Concord, which is located about 20 miles northwest of Boston.  (more…)

Deborah Danger to the rescue: A chat with a friendly estate planner

Coming from a line of women with a whole lot of superstitions, it never occurred to me to prepare an estate plan. It would be like tempting fate. But when I met Attorney Deborah Danger at a dinner party it changed my tune. She helps people create customized wills, trusts, and estate plans, and was a lot of fun to talk with. (This is a woman who created a board game to help teach people about estate plans!) Today, she graciously spent time educating me about what’s involved with creating a customized plan. (more…)

FAQs about selling your home

                        We often get calls this time of year from people who are looking to sell their home at the height of the spring real estate market. To help you get started, I thought I’d share answers to frequently asked questions about selling your home. (more…)

Winter isn’t slowing down home buyers

Neither the cold weather or the Pats game (sorry, I know...) were slowing down the real estate market this past weekend. Here\'s why: As our friends at MSA Mortgage pointed out in the above chart, interest rates are still very low. Buyers are out in force, looking to snag a home before the spring market gets a little crazy and rates start to creep up. (more…)

Five steps to making your antique home energy efficient

When people think of buying antique homes, they often worry that they’ll be living with drafty rooms and rattling windows, but it doesn’t have to be this way. For example, the nonprofit organization Historic New England recently cut energy consumption by 63 percent at one of its largest properties simply by making a handful of inexpensive updates. (more…)

What does it cost to buy a home in Boston?

  Not sure how much you need to earn to buy a home in the Boston area? That\'s $68,956 for a median-priced home, according to the mortgage data provider HSH Associates, who recently produced a survey of the salaries you must earn to buy a home in certain U.S. cities. That\'s assuming an average home price of $393,700 with a mortgage rate of 4.57 percent. (more…)