Real Estate Search Blog

On Saturday, August 7th, the town of Wellesley held its annual farmer’s market and artisan product fair.  Over 60 vendors showcased good such as homemade tomato sauce, natural skin care products, Italian ice, and of course, fruits and vegetables grown by local farms!

The festival was held in the middle of 36 lush acres of the Elm Bank Reservation in Wellesley. The reservation is also home to the Festival’s host, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

The Massachusetts Marketplace Festival is a great example of sustainability in MetroWest Boston. In addition, Wellesley is also home to one of the best botanical gardens in Massachusetts — the Wellesley College Botanical Gardens. Go green in Wellesley!

Christine Norcross & Partners are the area experts on Wellesley real estate including homes for sale in Wellesley, Newton, Weston, Natick, Brookline, Needham and more. The home buying process shouldn’t be a headache. Put your trust in the hands of  Christine Norcross & Partners — visit their Wellesley real estate website today.

On his Cambridge real estate blog, real estate agent Charles Cherney noted the importance of the outer and inner appearance of a home that’s on the market.

“I was struck on my visits today by by how much appearance matters. One condo I looked at is very nice – but you almost wouldn’t know it. The place needs a good cleaning and would really benefit from having someone give some thought to its presentation…”

An example of a staged bathroom

An experienced Realtor or a professional home stager can bring  a valuable, new perspective to the home selling process. A furniture arrangement that has suited a family’s needs for years may not fully compliment a space in the way that it should; for instance, cluttered furniture may make a space feel smaller than it actually is. In addition to finding an experienced Realtor with a talent for staging, here are some tips that any homeowner can follow to create a blank canvas from his or her property.

• Clear off countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms; remove smaller kitchen appliances such as toaster ovens and blenders from the countertops
• Clear the fridge door
• Re-organize closets. The Container Store and Ikea sell inexpensive storage boxes and hanging bags
• Hang curtains 4-6 inches higher and wider than the window to make the room look bigger
• Rent a storage unit for extra clutter that can’t be stored in your home
• Hire a professional to clean your home. It costs under $100 to have a four-bedroom, 2500 square foot home cleaned.
• Before each showing, boil cinnamon sticks or bake cookies
• Have a professional pressure-clean the exterior of your home — it’s amazing how sparkling the outside of a home can look when it’s freed from years of crud! You can also rent the equipment from a hardware store for $50-$75 for the day.
• Mow the lawn, lay down mulch if necessary
• Replace the mailbox and house numbers if they’ve taken a beating over the years

Real estate agent Charles Cherney’s passion for Cambridge MA real estate, for architecture, and most importantly, for other people, make him an ideal residential real estate agent for Cambridge, MA properties. Visit his Cambridge real estate website and Cambridge Real Estate Blog for helpful real estate tips, detailed blogs about neighborhoods and listings in Cambridge, video tours of Cambridge real estate listings, and more.

Flickr is the best place on the web to visually explore towns, cities, and neighborhoods — for example, you can now find photos of Cambridge real estate and its notable places on Flickr.com. Click the photo below to be taken directly to the Cambridge real estate Flickr Photostream.

Harvard Square

Notable Cambridge real estate agent Charles Cherney is the photographer behind the Cambridge real estate Photostream on Flickr, where you can find photos of places in Cambridge such as Harvard Square (seen above), the Charles River, lush gardens, and interior shots of homes for sale in Cambridge.

Visit Cambridge MA real estate on Flickr today — and don’t forget to add real estate agent Charles Cherney as a contact to find out when he posts photos of new homes for sale!

So you’re thinking about buying a home in Fall River real estate. You surf the net for information on public schools and other city data, plan a Saturday to do some drive-through home shopping, and wonder what else you can do before choosing a Fall River real estate agent. And if you already have one, you’re twiddling your thumbs and wondering what else you can do to accelerate the home-buying process. Here are a few ways you can get to know Fall River or any other city or town.

1. Get the scoop! Topix.com and WickedLocal.com are two websites which collect headlines about specific towns and cities from multiple publications. Local news websites are also great for community information such as local sports, coverage of special town events, and town politics. For Fall River local news, try SouthCoastToday.com and HeraldNews.com.

2. Follow your town on Twitter. Most towns lack the time and resources to maintain a Twitter account (with the exception being the town of Madison, Connecticut at Twitter.com/InsideMadison). However, Twitter is a wealth of insider information that is just too valuable to ignore. So how can you “Follow” a town if it doesn’t have a Twitter account? TweetMeme.com is a great way to follow users who mention a town like Fall River in their Tweets. Simply search the name of the town you’re interested in, and read the latest headlines, thoughts, and musings about that town.

A photo of Fall River from Flickr.com

3. Beauty through the eyes of the beholder. Flickr.com is a great way to get to know the landmarks and secret places of towns and cities. By searching for your town, you can browse thousands of photographs taken by Flickr users. Maybe you’ll stumble across a park you never knew about or a cool piece of public art!

4. Watch a movie. Forget YouTube — Vimeo.com is the best new place on the web for high-quality videos. A search for “Newton MA” will show you videos that zero in on scenes at local Newton parks, Newton politics, and even clips of the Boston Marathon!

Want more insider information on buying a home? Visit the Fall River real estate website for tips on buying and selling real estate, and browse hundreds of homes for sale in Fall River, MA. It’s never too early to start looking.

Waban, One of Newton's 13 Villages

Families looking at Newton real estate are often surprised to find that Newton is not a typical suburb of Boston. True, in the 1800s the area was a commuter suburb for wealthy Boston businessmen. Today, however, most of Newton’s residents work within Newton or its surrounding towns rather than commute to Boston. This contributes to a flourishing local economy, where restaurants, banks, boutiques, and other businesses prosper — along with buyers and sellers of Newton real estate. This vibrant local economy is a pleasant environment for everyone who works and plays in Newton, Massachusetts.

A unique aspect of the Newton economy is that there are 13 villages that make up the town of Newton. Each village center is a hub for shopping, dining, public art installations, and more. NewtonVillages.org is a city-wide coalition dedicated to making Newton’s village centers “better places to walk, bike, eat, shop, work, play, gather and live.” The organization manages such projects as planning festivals and events, adding bike racks, and placing local artists’ work in vacant spaces. The Newton Chamber of Commerce includes over 700 businesses and offers discounted health insurance, direct customer referrals, educational seminars, advertising opportunities and the advantage of networking with other local, established businesses in the area.

The 13 Villages of Newton, MA

Auburndale
Chestnut Hill
Lower Falls
Newton Centre
Newton Corner
Newton Highlands
Newtonville
Nonantum
Oak Hill
Thompsonville
Upper Falls
Waban
West Newton

For more information on Newton real estate and to begin a comprehensive search through hundreds of Newton MLS listings, visit the Newton real estate website today.

If you’re planning on looking at Newton real estate this summer, make sure to check out one of Newton’s farmer’s markets! Fresh fruits and veggies, baked goods, flowers, cheese and other dairy products are just a few items you might see on your visit to one of Newton’s farmer’s markets. Farmer’s market season in Newton begins after July 4th and the market remains open through October. The market takes place every Tuesday and Friday at two different locations in Newton:

Tuesday Location

• Cold Spring Park
  1200 Beacon Street
  Newton, MA 02464
  Open 1:30 PM until 6 PM
  Begins Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Friday Location

• Post 440 Parking Lot
  295 California Street
  Newton, MA 02458
  Open 1:30 PM until 6 PM
  Begins Friday July 9, 2010

Christine Norcross & Partners are the area experts on Newton real estate as well as real estate in Greater Boston, including homes for sale in Wellesley, Weston, Newton, Natick, Brookline, Needham and more. The home buying process shouldn’t be a headache. Put your trust in the hands of Newton real estate agents Christine Norcross & Partners — visit their Newton real estate website today.

At the Wellesley Real Estate Blog you can find Wellesley market reports, Wellesley home values, Wellesley MLS listings, information on Wellesley schools and Wellesley neighborhoods, and useful articles with topics including first-time homebuyers, the tax credit, financing options, staging, and more.

Wellesley Real Estate Blog

The Wellesley Real Estate Blog is a frequently updated blog written by the top real estate agents at Christine Norcross & Partners. Take advantage of the free expert advice from top Wellesley real estate agents Christine Norcross & Partners. Christine Norcross & Partners is a leading team within William Raveis Real Estate and Home Services.

Get started on your search for Wellesley real estate by bookmarking the Wellesley Real Estate Blog today.

One of the many reasons people fall in love with Newton real estate are the endless opportunities to experience arts and culture right in Newton or in its neighboring suburbs. If you’re looking for Newton real estate, consider working with Christine Norcross & Partners, who provide assistance for those relocating to Newton, Wellesley, Brookline, Natick, Needham, and Weston, Massachusetts.

One of the most relaxing things to do on a frigid winter day in Massachusetts is to take the family on a trip to the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens. Admission is free, the rooms are warm and balmy, flowery perfume lingers in the air, and kids can marvel at plants that are native to places all over the country. Afterwards, take the family on a walk through town to do some shopping, book-browsing, or a leisurely lunch at a local cafe.

Click this picture to be taken to the Youtube video from last year

And pictures from the plants of 2010:

A lemon

There is an extremely helpful Boston Globe article offering loan-securing tips for new and seasoned home buyers. Buying Boston real estate and Massachusetts real estate in general is not as hard as many think it is.

• First-time buyers have plenty of options when it comes to securing a loan. The homebuyer tax credit is a good example that even extends to repeat buyers. Conventional loans for relatively smaller mortgages, which can be secured for as low as 3% down, are another example.
• Veterans, surviving spouses, and active duty members can secure a loan for 0% down.
• Massresources.org offers 30 and 40 year mortgages for 3% down. There are income requirements but they are not nearly as strict as Section 8 housing restrictions.
• Bostonhomecenter.com is a great resource for people looking for similar programs catered to Boston real estate.
• Contact your town or city offices to find out if there are additional programs available for your use.

For more great resources on Boston real estate, visit Prudential Prime Properties on the web.

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