I stand ready to help you with all your real estate needs.  You and/or your friends will appreciate my concierge level real estate services.  Call me any time.  My cell is always on.

Bill Paulson
Prudential Advantage Real Estate
781-929-2453
bill@billpaulson.com
www.facebook.com/conciergerealtor

2 big problems with venting dryer vertically.

Hope this helps,

Bill Paulson
Prudential Advantage Real Estate
781-929-2453
bill@billpaulson.com
www.billpaulson.com
www.facebook.com/conciergerealtor
http://blog.billpaulson.com

Another interesting stat to monitor over time is the median sale price.  While the number of homes sold is off, the median has steadily risen in the four communities over the past decade.  Some of that is due to the high number of knock down new construction projects.  See the graph below for the details.

Call me today, at 781-929-2453, and I’ll visit with you to show you what has happened to the value of your home.

Bill Paulson
Prudential Advantage Real Estate
781-929-2453
bill@billpaulson.com
www.billpaulson.com
http://blog.billpaulson.com
www.facebook.com/conciergerealtor

Needham => 4 new home / condo listings; 8 under agreement, 179 on the market – Not reflected in the stats this week are two listings that I found to be very interesting.  The home at 50 May Street came back on the market this week after having its financing fall apart.  This home is located in an awesome in-town location right on the July 4th parade route.  It is not included in my stats as a new listing but it is essentially new to the market.  The other interesting listing, 21-23 High St is already under agreement.  It isn’t in my stats because I’m not tracking multi-families.  However, across the street, there is a relatively new development of 6 detatched condos that sold very quickly.  The 21-23 High St 1/2 acre property may well become a similar development given how quickly the multi-family, advertised as an “opportunity”, sold.  Other than those two specific properties, take a look at the on the market stats.  Last year the inventory of homes and condos for sale started to go downhill in mid-September at 170 and didn’t recover until January after hitting a floor of 91 homes.  This year Needham’s inventory has been going steadily up since early September from 150 then to 179 this week without a sign of a dip.  Buyers like choices so that can only be good news for the Needham market.

Newton => 23 new home / condo listings; 22 under agreement, 372 on the market – Newton popped back over my artificial breakpoint between quiet and active this week with over 20 new and under agreement listings.  The activity level has been zigzagging up and down over the past 5 weeks but as long as Newton stays in the 20 range, that has to be considered a very good week at this point in the year.

Wellesley => 8 new home / condo listings; 9 under agreement, 202 on the market – not much notable this week in Wellesley’s activity.  No juicy really high end listings coming or going.  No big trends revealing themselves.  There’s always next week… 

If you would like to know how these statistics are impacting the value of your home in today’s market, give me a call today at 781-929-2453.  I go above and beyond for my clients and I look forward to adding your family to my list.  I work hard on producing these stats each week.  As a favor to me, please “Like” or “Follow” or “Subscribe” to this Needham, Newton, Wellesley real estate update to spread the word among your friends.  The link to my facebook business page is shown below.

Have a great week!

Bill Paulson
Prudential Advantage Real Estate
781-929-2453
www.facebook.com/conciergerealtor
bill@billpaulson.com
www.billpaulson.com
http://blog.billpaulson.com

This week last year started a 12 week slide through the end of December when new listings and total listings on the market went down each week in Newton, Needham, and Wellesley.  The number of listings that went under agreement was not as consistent during that period with some active weeks and some quiet weeks.  We don’t have enough data yet to say whether this year will repeat that pattern but I’m guessing it will.  Here’s what we have going on in each town:

Newton => 19 new home / condo listings, 20 under agreement, 373 on the market – 20 new listings seems to be a key number in Newton.  During the active spring and fall weeks, there is usually over 20 new listings per week.  During the quiet weeks, Newton sees that number dip down below 20.  This week’s 19 new listings number is the first time since the beginning of school that the number dipped down below 20.  The number of under agreement listings has been zig zagging between 20 and 30 the past 5 weeks.  If last year is a guide, that will continue for a few more weeks before dropping down around the end of the year.

Needham => 8 new home / condo listings, 7 under agreement, 176 on the market – Needham has been pretty consistent this fall.  The number of new listings has been hovering around 10 per week and for the past 13 weeks, the number of under agreement listings per week has been right around 7-9 per week.  While those numbers are not like what we experience in the spring, if they were to continue through the winter, that would be great.  Stay tuned…

Wellesley => 12 new home / condo listings, 10 under agreement, 202 on the market – Wellesley seems marginally stronger than Newton and Needham right now.  The new listings have stayed up over 10 per week and this week Wellesley had its third highest number go under agreement this fall.  The number on the market is continuing to go up giving the buyers more options.  This week last year that started to change but hopefully not this year.

If you would like to know how these trends are impacting the value of your home, give me a call at 781-929-2453.  If you find this information helpful and interesting, subscribe to my blog and/or “Like” my facebook page.  Don’t forget to forward this on to your friends.

Have a great week!

Bill Paulson
Prudential Advantage Real Estate
781-929-2453
bill@billpaulson.com
www.billpaulson.com
www.facebook.com/conciergerealtor
http://blog.billpaulson.com

Concierge Real Estate services for the Newton, Needham, and Wellesley markets.

While in Newton, Needham, and Wellesley we certainly don’t see 18 percent of our deals having appraisal issues, it is a problem we have been seeing more this year.  One of the homes I listed and sold this year had this problem.  The buyer’s bank appraiser, even after I gave him very good comps, brought back an appraised value of less than the agreed upon price.  I guess that means I helped the seller maximize their return but it did lead to some tricky negotiating.  I’m hearing from others in the real estate business that this has also been an issue this year for them.

As usual, in Newton, Needham, and Wellesley, these things are much less of a problem than in other parts of the country so you always have to read these articles with that filter.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Bill Paulson
Prudential Advantage Real Estate
781-929-2453
bill@billpaulson.com
www.billpaulson.com
www.facebook.com/conciergerealtor

Number of properties currently on the market in Wellesley:
Single Family: 168 Properties
Multi Family: 3 Properties
Land: 7 Properties

Number of new Wellesley Real Estate listings in the last month:
Single Family: 43 Properties
Multi Family: 1 Property
Land: 1 Property

Average list price for Real Estate in Wellesley over the last 6 months:
Single Family: $1,482,534
Multi Family: $1,124,333
Land: $619,967

The median sales price for all existing home was $174,000, down 4.4% from last year. Approximately 29% of all sales in July were of distressed homes either from foreclosure sales, real estate owned by lenders, or short sales compared to 30% from last month and 32% from a year earlier.

First time buyers were responsible for 32% of sales, up 1% point since June with repeat buyers accounting for 50%, and 18% for investment properties.

Project 1: Entry Door Replacement (Steel)
Cost $1,218
Resale value $1,243
Cost recouped 102.1%
(National averages)

Project 2: Garage Door Replacement
Cost $1,291
Resale value $1,083
Cost recouped 83.9%
(National averages)

Project 3: Siding Replacement (Fiber Cement)
Cost $13,382
Resale value $10,707
Cost recouped 80.0%
(National averages)

Project 4: Kitchen Remodel (Minor)
Cost $21,695
Resale value $15,790
Cost recouped 72.8%
(National averages)

Project 5: Deck Addition (Wood)
Cost $10,973
Resale value $7,986
Cost recouped 72.8%
(National averages)

Selling a house west of Boston can be challenging, but with some cost effective repairs or upgrades, you can increase your chances of a well time sale.

I have had many clients make the transition from city living to buying in the suburbs west of Boston. For those that want to drive into the city, I can tell you that during the Labor Day-Memorial Day months, you need to get through the Weston Tolls (inbound) by 6:45 to avoid tapping the brakes most of the way into the city. If you are on the pike after 7:15, you are most likely going to have a bumper to bumper – slow ride in (approximately 30 minutes to get to the Brighton tolls (where a big back up will await you for getting into Cambridge). Driving the Back Bay will offer much less resistance.

Wellesley and Metro West Train Schedule

I have had many clients make the transition from city living to buying in the suburbs west of Boston. For those that want to drive into the city, I can tell you that during the Labor Day-Memorial Day months, you need to get through the Weston Tolls (inbound) by 6:45 to avoid tapping the brakes most of the way into the city. If you are on the pike after 7:15, you are most likely going to have a bumper to bumper – slow ride in (approximately 30 minutes to get to the Brighton tolls (where a big back up will await you for getting into Cambridge). Driving the Back Bay will offer much less resistance.

Wellesley and Metro West Train Schedule