Did you know about the Platinum LEED home in Beverly?

Cleantech Homes LLC is an educational organization that  specializes in the advancement, dissemination and integration of efficient, sustainable, healthy and green building practices. They are in the final stages of building a LEED certified home in Beverly which will soon be open to the public for seminars, tours etc. It is an amazing project – Check out more about it by following these links:

Photos of the Project

What is LEED Certified Anyway?

Information on Partner Companies and Products used in the home

Reports suggest Mass. home buyers overcoming qualms – The Boston Globe

Reports suggest Mass. home buyers overcoming qualms – The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

Home Buyers Twice as Likely to Use Online vs. Print

Published on June 17, 2009 | Media Buyer Planner

Home buyers in the U.S. are twice as likely to use online sources than print sources to find information about open houses they are interested in, according to a survey commissioned by Trulia and conducted by Harris Interactive.

The study found that 62% of U.S. home buyers use or plan to use online sites to find open houses, compared with 53% who use/plan to use information from real estate agents, 36% who use/plan to use neighborhood signs and less than one-third (31%), who use/plan to use print sources, including newspapers, writes Marketing Charts.

Though many home buyers rely upon a range of different sources to gather information about open houses, 41% say online sources are their primary resource, while 14% cite print sources, the survey found.

“The real estate section of the weekend newspaper is no longer the go-to resource for open houses,” said Sami Inkinen, co-founder and COO of Trulia. “Home buyers are increasingly going online to not only search for the most up to date listings but also to obtain rich information about the neighborhood, schools, and local shops.”

Inkinen added that online sites – such as Trulia – and related iPhone applications have experienced dramatic growth in recent years because they enable home buyers to search for open houses in neighborhoods that interest them, sign up for email alerts and learn more about the local areas in which they’re looking.

“We used to see home buyers walk into open houses with a newspaper in their hands,” said Aman Daro, vp of integrated marketing at McGuire Real Estate in San Francisco. “But now they walk in with print-outs of their search on the web. What’s more, consumers are walking in very educated from their online research – they know details about the property and the neighborhood, and are more highly engaged in the process than the causal lookers of years past.”

About the survey: This April 2009 survey was commissioned by Trulia and conducted online within the US by Harris Interactive via its QuickQuery(SM) online omnibus between April 23-27, 2009 among 2,715 U.S. adults ages 18+. For purposes of the survey, “home buyers,” have been defined as the 192 respondents in this sample who purchased a home in the past 12 months or plan to purchase a home in the next 12 months. Results were weighted to be representative of the total US adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and propensity to be online.

What’s New? Pending Sales are up 3.2% !!!

 Remember a couple months ago when I sent out a newsletter saying the market was REALLY busy? Well, the latest report from the National Association of Realtors says that pending sales of existing homes, or contracts signed but not closed, rose 6.7% in April. April’s pending sales were up 3.2 percent from a year ago, the NAR said.

     The biggest increase in April was in the Northeast, where pending sales jumped 32.6 percent from the previous month. The NAR’s pending home sales index is a forward-looking gauge, and the group cautions that it is more volatile than actual closed sales. “The relationship between contracts on pending home sales and closings on existing home sales is taking longer than in the past for several reasons,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said. “Mortgage processing time has increased, it is taking many months to close on those homes requiring short sales with lender approval, and some sales are falling through at the last moment.” Still, Yun says he believes the housing market has already bottomed out in some areas.

American Farmland Trust: No Farms No Food – 7 Ways To Save Farmland

American Farmland Trust: No Farms No Food – 7 Ways To Save Farmland

Posted using ShareThis

Sun, waterviews, good coffee, shoppes, restaurants….Ipswich

I have a listing in Ipswich on East Street. We listed it in late winter and while I could see the water across the street and knew how close it was to the great downtown shoppes etc. it wasn’t until this Sunday that I noticed how delightful the location really is.

I pulled up to meet the perspective buyer and we walked in the front door.  The sun was rushing in the windows, the cool breeze smelled fresh and felt amazing and the water was glistening in the sun. Ok so it might sound a little corny but it was really relaxing and energizing all at the same time. What an amazing place to live. A delightful mix to start your days, not to mention the luxuray of grabbing your kayak and crossing the street to put it in the water and start rowing.

After the showing I headed downtown for a quick pick me up at Zumi’s Ice Cream and Espresso. Again I have been many times before but something about his day made me think, “What a fabulous place!”  The coffee is fair trade, tastes delicious and no one looks at you funny when you order a cafe au alit. Just perfect.

So, I don’t know maybe I was just in desperate need of some Vitamin D from the sun or something but I would really recommend you check out Ipswich, the beaches, the dowtown, the shoppes, the incredible historic houses, and if it suits you check out my listing too! Thanks and enjoy the sun.

 

 

 

54 East Street Ipswich – Asking $329,000 –

See a flyer with info and photos here.

“Green” your home panel at the Beverly Library April 16th

I am really excited to be a part of an upcoming panel highlighting local “green” professionals. I will be joined by a Solar Panel Installer, Interior Designer, Landscape Designer, Architect and Tax Preparer (so you can get all those good credits!)

Hope you can join us April 16th at 6:30pm – Beverly Public Library

Wow! Did you know about the “green” home credits?

So, we all know how huge the stimulus is. Right? It is enormous and the thought of all that debt is terrifying. But did you know what the stimulus is doing for energy efficiency and “green” technology? It is so exciting to imagine the improvements we can make to our lives, our homes, and our environment with these initiatives. 

I am the first EcoBroker on the north shore and love it when my clients ask me about how they can make their new home more efficient, what new options are out there for them and better yet, what tax credits are available to help them make these improvements.

Here is a smapling of the energy related provisions in the stimulus: 

• $5 billion to weatherize more than 1 million homes owned by “modest-income” families.

• $6.3 billion for energy efficiency in multifamily housing getting federal assistance, such as HUD-sponsored low-income housing

• $4.5 billion to increase the energy efficiency of federal buildings

• $4 billion to repair and modernize public housing units

• $2 billion to increase the tax credit for hybrid cars to $7,500

• $1.4 billion for bonds to carry out state and local renewable energy and conservation projects

• $510 million to repair and modernize more than 4,000 Native American housing units

• $500 million to train workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy

• $300 million for consumer rebates for energy-efficient appliances

• $268 million to remove caps on a 30 percent residential credit for solar, wind, and geothermal

• $250 million to HUD to improve the efficiency of government-subsidized apartments

The New York Times released a detailed breakdown of the energy provisions here.

The new tax credits for energy efficiency improvements are detailed here.

Find out more about what an EcoBroker is here.

Thanks!

Existing-home sales up in February – Months supply remains unchanged

By Inman News, Monday, March 23, 2009.

Inman News Sales of existing homes rose 5.1 percent from January to February, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported today. Distressed sales accounted for 40 to 45 percent of transactions, and total housing inventory grew 5.2 percent, to 3.8 million existing homes for sale. At the current pace of sales, that’s a 9.7-month supply of homes, unchanged from January but down from the record of 11.2 months seen in July. A six-month supply of housing is generally seen as a healthy balance between supply and demand. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $165,400 in February, down 15.5 percent from a year ago. The median home price was pushed down by sales of distressed homes, which are selling for 20 percent less than normal market price, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. The median condominium price was down 18.2 percent from a year ago, to $172,200, and sales of existing condos and co-ops were up 11.4 percent from January, to a seasonally adjusted rate of 490,000 units. Looking back a year, condo sales were down 13.1 percent. The median existing single-family home price was down 15 percent from a year ago, to $164,600, and sales rose 4.4 percent from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.23 million units. That’s 3.6 percent below the pace of sales a year ago. Regionally, California saw a strong gain in sales, with the median listing price on the rise for the first time in three years. Existing-home sales in the West increased 2.6 percent from January to February, to an annual rate of 1.2 million, but were down 30.4 percent increase from a year ago. The West has also seen the greatest year-over-year price declines, with median price falling 30.3 percent from a year ago, to $204,600. In the Northeast, sales were up 15.6 percent from January to an annual pace of 740,000, but are down 14.9 percent from a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $251,200, down 4.8 percent from a year ago. Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 1 percent from January to an annual pace of 1.04 million, down 14 percent from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $131,000, down 7.8 percent from a year ago. In the South, existing-home sales rose 6.1 percent from January to an annual pace of 1.74 million, but were down 11.2 percent from a year ago. The median price in the South was $146,700, down 10 percent from a year ago. ***

Bidding Wars? Multiple Offers?

No I am not talking about the 2000 real estate market I am talking about right now, 2009. I have had several clients in bidding wars, multiple offers, and homes going for thousands above asking price. It is crazy out there – If you are buying in the $250-350 range be ready! If you have a home to sell in that range, get it staged, price it right and you are off and running!

Here are some of the homes that have got multiple offers recently:

23 McKinley – Asking price $449,000 – Multiple offers over asking price

 

  

 

13 Wheeler Peabody – Asking price $259,000 – Foreclosure – Multiple offers

 

 

48 Margaret Road Hamilton – Asking price $325,000 – Multiple offers

 

So, don’t believe what you hear in the news and if you are up for it there are deals to be had out there.

FHA rates are 5% – and you can get the $8,000 tax credit this year if you file an extension or amendment!