Real Estate Search Blog

According to a January 2010 Market Watch survey, home buyers look for these 10 features when shopping for their dream home.

• Large kitchens with an island.
• Energy-efficient features. Energy-efficient appliances, high-efficiency insulation, and energy-saving windows.
• Home office or study. The trend is away from dining rooms and toward spare concept rooms.
• Main-floor master suite.
• Outdoor spaces. Visit HGTV.com for ideas on how to transform your back yard to an “outdoor living room.”
• Ceiling fans
• Master suite soaker tubs and oversized showers.
• Stone and brick exteriors.
• Community parks with walkways and playgrounds. Use Google Maps to note the public recreation areas in your neighborhood, then use this to your advantage when selling your home with an experienced real estate agent.
• Two-car garages.

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If you are in need of an experienced real estate agent, RealEstateSearchBlog.net would like to personally recommend the following real estate agents in Massachusetts:

Charles Cherney of Hammond Real Estate:  Cambridge Real Estate

Michael D. Lyons of Prudential Lyons Group Real Estate: Boston Real Estate

Marguerite Cashman of Arrow Realty Group: Fall River Real Estate

Christine Norcross & Partners of William Raveis Real Estate: Newton Real Estate

Rosemary Quarato of RE/MAX: Cape Ann Real Estate

And for the home hunters seeking real estate in Connecticut:

Jerry and Maureen Sherman of William Raveis Real Estate: CT Shoreline Real Estate / CT Waterfront Real Estate

Walking around a new city can only show you so much. For a little guidance, there’s a new tool provided by HGTV.com that can help you see all that Newton real estate has to offer before you hit the streets.

HGTV’s Frontdoor.com provides a user-friendly guide to your future city, condensing information from sources such as City-Data.com, Yelp.com, and Eventful. With this tool, you can easily get to know the basics about your new city by visiting one website instead of several.

As shown above, click the “Reviews” tab to be shown a list of the most frequently reviewed businesses on Yelp.com. This is great because Yelp.com can be extremely helpful for residents who know the area, but a bit confusing for someone who doesn’t know Rialto from McDonald’s. A person new to the area can see what his new town is known for. The “Explore” tab allows users to choose a point of interest, like “Schools,” and a map shows pinpoints of all local schools. There are many more helpful facets to this tool, which you can explore for yourself here.

For a more in-depth analysis on Newton real estate and all that it has to offer, visit Christine Norcross and Partners online. Find out if relocating to Newton would be a good choice for you and your family, and browse the homes for sale in Newton and in the surrounding towns.

Before the recession, the phrase “house poor” was adopted into the average home buyer’s vocabulary, as buyers hesitated to spend every last penny of their life savings on a down payment for a dream home. To go beyond the “house poor” consideration is to prevent oneself from also becoming “Maintenance poor.”

Marketwatch.com recently published an interesting article for home hunters on how to financially prepare to buy a house in these shaky economic times. To become “Maintenance poor” is to purchase a home unaware of its necessary future repairs with the fatal error of not having enough in the bank to cover these costs.

The article advises house hunters to save at least 1 to 3 percent of a property’s purchase price for major maintenance costs and unexpected expenses. As for mortgage payments, these days buyers should have 6 months of payments saved in the bank because of the wavering job market. For basic repairs like painting and caulking, anyone buying a typical starter home budget $500 to $1,000 a year.

If you’re a home buyer looking at homes in Newton, Natick, Needham, Wellesley, Brookline, and Weston, the top real estate agents of the area are Christine Norcross and Partners. Browse the Homes by Norcross website for Newton listings, and feel free to contact Christine Norcross and Partners if you have any question about Newton real estate or about a particular property.

When shopping for homes you should keep in mind the future value of your home, whether you plan on one day selling it for your retirement or leaving it to your loved ones. Whether your plan is to purchase a home as an investment or to make it your family’s first home, there are several things to research before you buy. You can find the answers to the questions below on the Internet and by visiting the neighborhood and dropping in on its local businesses.

What is the state of the neighborhood?

• Basic needs for future buyers include a low crime rate, parks and recreation facilities, transportation routes (bus stops or train stations), and nearby shopping areas.
• Neighboring homes should be well-maintained.

Visit the schools!

• You can look at public schools on the Internet, but you’ll never know the actual school environment until you visit the school itself.

Are people moving in or moving out?

• Do a Google search for the street you’d like to buy on to see if any of the nearby homes are for sale.

How’s business?

• Aside from checking out the local businesses, you can also visit the town hall or city hall to find out future developments in or around your neighborhood. Developments can increase or decrease surrounding property value and taxes.

Before doing any of the research above, make sure you like what you see in your future neighborhood. Will you enjoy spending time in the area, taking walks with your kids, visiting the local restaurants or cafes? Or area you simply focusing on the best bang for your buck, and not taking the local area into consideration?

For help on browsing Boston real estate, consider the real estate agents at Prudential Prime Properties. Prudential Prime Properties has years of experience helping people find homes in Boston. The firm has years of experience helping residential, commercial, and rental clients find properties. For additional insight on buying real estate in Boston, refer to the Categories list on the right column of this blog.

If you’re looking for a new place to live, there are many things to consider. What are your values? Do you have a family? If not, will you start a family one day? Single people and young families have very different needs when it comes to the character of the place they live. In many cases a family needs more than just the basics. A family will need a good public school system, safe streets, and opportunities for arts, culture, and recreation. The real estate in Fall River offers all of these things.

The city of Fall River MA has organized Healthy City Fall River to offer its residents healthy options at area restaurants. Twenty restaurants in Fall River are participating in the program, helping Fall River adults and children make healthier choices when they dine out.

Take a look at the homes for sale in Fall River MA

Taking a look at the homes in Fall River MA might be the first step at shaping the future lives of your children. Investing in Fall River MA real estate is the easiest way to provide a great environment for your family.

If you are searching for real estate in Cambridge MA, one of the many advantages of buying a home in this wonderful city is the support that the city provides for homeowners who would like to decrease their energy bills.

Financing a home may be the biggest investment that an individual will make over the course of his lifetime. It is a valuable perk if a town or city extends financial incentives to homeowners. Selecting a home from Cambridge MA real estate will offer instant and long-term financial savings, through Cambridge’s intiative toward energy-efficiency.

The Cambridge Energy Alliance is a city-sponsored organization that helps homeowners save money while at the same time reducing Cambridge’s carbon footprint. A free energy audit is available to all Cambridge homeowners who are NSTAR customers. After signing up on CEA’s website, an energy specialist will visit the homeowner’s property, audit it, and make specific recommendations for improvements. The assessment focuses on weatherization (insulation & air leakage), mechanical systems (air conditioning, heating & hot water), and major appliances and lighting.

Homeowners in Cambridge are even offered utility incentives and rebates to be applied towards the energy specialist’s recommendations. Typically, by applying these incentives and acting on the energy specialist’s recommendations, the average homeowner decreases his utility bill home by 20-30%.

The City’s energy-efficiency assistance is just one of the many reasons to continue looking at homes in Cambridge MA.

The GRI designation is considered the nation’s number one real estate designation. Only 19% of realtors in the United States have obtained this designation. The GRI (Graduate Realtor Institute designation) is administered and given by the National Association of Realtors. The designation is comparable to the accounting industry’s CPA (Certified Public Accountant) designation and the financial industry’s CFP(Certified Financial Planner) designation.

Charles Cherney of Hammond Residential is one real estate agent serving the Cambridge, MA area who has obtained the GRI designation. He has completed about 90 hours of classroom instruction on various topics including recognizing and addressing potential legal issues, tax policies, types of mortgage programs, fair housing laws, basics of building construction, and the home inspection process. GRI programs differ by state in order to educate participants on their own local and state real estate practices.

What does this mean for the home buyer or seller? Choosing a real estate agent with the GRI designation means you are working with one of the best and most knowledgeable real estate agents in your state and in the country. Your real estate agent will provide you with a high level of professionalism and in-depth knowledge of every step in your home-buying or home-selling journey. A real estate agent with the GRI designation is theoretically involved in all parts of the home buying or home selling process. While other agents must put blind faith into a home inspector’s findings, an agent with the GRI designation fully understands each detail and will be able to explain the results and further courses of action to the home owner.

Buying a home will most likely be the largest single investment you will make in your lifetime. Only a real estate agent with the GRI designation will understand every detail in the home-buying process, and will be able to provide you with the high quality of service needed to steer you through the process.

Shopping for a home is a lot like dating. When we look for a mate, we want them to be a bit attractive – and if not, at least hold a bit of potential when it comes time to renovate. We might go on dozens of dates before finding that one person who we feel is perfect for us, might have even been made for us; just like we go to dozens of open houses before finally stepping into the parlor of our dream home. Certain features might draw us to the other sex, just like some house-hunters have a soft spot for quirky features like turrets and wrought-iron spiral staircases.

There is no simple way to find your dream home. We like to think that we are logical when deciding on something as crucial as where we want to raise a family or settle down and retire. But sometimes the littlest things can make our heart melt.

Several homes around Fall River MA area have distinct, charming details that just might make you fall head over heels.

A Double-Sided Fireplace

104 Kelly Dr, Somerset MA

This beautiful double-sided fireplace at 104 Kelly Drive in Somerset MA separates the home’s living room from the dining room. The interiors emulate the Gilmore residence on the TV show Gilmore Girls. Imagine yourself hosting dinner parties, sipping drinks by the fire during cocktail hour then moving to the dining room and not having to leave the warmth and glow of the fireplace. Click the image for more details on this property.

A Private Boat Dock

2434 Riverside Avenue, Somerset MA

This recently revamped riverside home at 2434 Riverside Avenue in Somerset, MA has its own boat dock, in addition to its other spectacular features. For those that don’t own a boat (yet) this would be a great feature for a family that loves to spend time swimming or fishing. Grandparents could even watch the grandkids play from the nearby patio overlooking the river. Click the image for more details about this property.

Energy-Efficient Features

533 Kathleen Ave, Somerset MA

The solarium (similar to a sunroom but designed for natural heating) at 533 Kathleen Ave in Somerset, MA was installed to help the home become more energy efficient. The home also has a fireplace, two wood stoves, and a Tasso Built boiler that can burn an array of materials including gas, oil, coal, and wood. With oil prices skyrocketing and tax breaks becoming more and more common for energy-efficient homes and businesses, there’s no better time than now to invest in an energy-efficient property. Click the image for more information about the property.

Historic Details

491 High St, Fall River MA

This beautiful Victorian home in Fall River MA at 491 High St is part of Fall River’s Historic Highlands, and is full of charming details like the glass entrance to the right that opens up to a grand foyer. It also has a large, beautiful fireplace with its original moldings intact, beautiful wood paneling, wood floors, and spacious rooms. Click the image for more information on this property.

Fall River MA real estate has many unique properties for all different kinds of home buyers, and for all price ranges.

In this economy, the value of property on a private beach far exceeds its price. An eight-bedroom home in Old Saybrook, CT with its own private beach has a listing price of $1.8M. Built in 2005, it is the perfect home for someone looking to relocate from a busy nearby metropolis like New York City or Boston. Old Saybrook, CT is a town that is part of a community of waterfront towns in Connecticut that are steeped in colonial history, each town having its own distinct New England charm. The region of eight towns along the Connecticut shoreline provides a breath of fresh air for city dwellers. The town of Old Saybrook provides small-town charm, yet it is also a short drive from casinos like Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, Mystic Seaport, historical homes and museums, theaters, outlet shopping centers, and art galleries.

Purchasing a home with its own private beach has plenty of advantages. A home with a private beach offers its inhabitants one hundred and eighty degrees of ocean views, uninterrupted by tourists and public boat docks, which are usually noisy early in the morning and late into the day during peak seasons. There is nothing worse than buying a waterfront property to “get away from it all” when the summer brings chaos to all times of the day. For those that like to entertain, beach barbecues would be a pleasant, private experience. For those that own a boat, going out for a day of fun won’t entail packing up the car with supplies, hitching the boat to the car, parking, unloading, then doing it all over again at the end of the day. A private boat dock on one’s own private beach will allow a group to simply load up the boat and head for open waters.

If you are interested in buying waterfront property with a private beach, take a look at the options available in Madison CT Real Estate and its surrounding towns.

In Boston, a renter’s average payment is about $1700 per month. Year after year, rents have gone up while housing values fall. Sometimes, making the transition from renter to homeowner makes the best financial sense – especially now that the real estate market is a buyer’s market. Cambridge MA real estate can offer a simple way to go from renter to homeowner.

In this buyer’s market, now is the perfect time to make that transition. The city of Cambridge is an excellent place for a young professional in Boston to transition from renter to buyer without sacrificing any facet of his or her city lifestyle. Cambridge is home to some of Boston’s most cherished restaurants serving an array of world cuisines, from Indian to East African. The city’s intellectual pulse is reflected in the rotating independent films shown at its famous theaters. Some of the best shopping in Boston can be found in the small, eclectic shops around Harvard Square, and of course there’s always the CambridgeSide Galleria. The close-knit community of Cambridge celebrates is diverse cultural roots through annual performances and parades such as its African street carnival and its own world’s fair.

Take advantage of the buyer’s market and browse some of the condo and home listings in Cambridge real estate.