Eric's Real Estate Blog on Boston.com

From homebuyer to homeowner

2007-10-29T20:17:00.000-04:00

"So how's the new house?," we're often asked. Only two months from closing, and already my first impulse is to blurt out "Ack! We've turned into one of them!" in response. Yes, buying a house has a way of changing your perspective so fast, you wonder if you've had a recent lobotomy.

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Arlington: the rules still apply

2007-10-10T22:18:00.000-04:00

Well, the cat's out of the bag about Arlington, thanks to today's Globe story by Sacha Pfeiffer. We looked hard – and eventually bought – in Arlington for all the reasons mentioned in the story, and we're delighted with the our new house, friendly neighbors, and thriving town. But after looking at over 30 homes here during our search, it was clear to us that the fundamentals still apply, even in a hot market.

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The half million dollar fixer-upper

2007-09-19T11:06:00.000-04:00

Early on our search, we had to give up on the dream of finding a fixer-upper for our first house. This old standby strategy for first-time homebuyers has really taken a beating from the stratospheric climb in home prices since the late 90s. And the recent credit crunch just might finish it off.

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Know your credit score

2007-08-30T13:26:00.000-04:00

The widely-publicized credit crunch is making it harder for many buyers to get a mortgage at a good rate, or at all. Knowing and improving your credit score is all-important if you're in the market for real estate. Thanks to valuable tips from our first-time homebuyer's class, I was able to raise mine significantly before we applied for a mortgage.

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Buyer's Market? What Buyer's Market?

2007-08-14T16:46:00.000-04:00

Does the overall market downturn represent a buyer’s market, as I recently suggested? Not to one reader. "Pardon me while I scoff in your general direction," wrote in political blogger Greg Decker.

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The 10-year rule

2007-08-08T12:02:00.001-04:00

Our home search has been longer and more arduous than we imagined. And I think a big reason is the buyer's market we've been in.

Huh? Lots of inventory, falling prices, houses selling for huge sums under asking price...what’s not to love? I'll tell you what: the very market conditions making it so tough for sellers also create a hidden problem for us.

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Shall we dance?

2007-07-25T22:35:00.000-04:00

Making an offer has been the most nerve-wracking part of the homebuying process so far. In a market like Boston's where prices are absurdly high and the future of home values uncertain, the weight of two simple questions seems crushing: Do we want this house? And how much are we willing to pay?

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Top 10 pet peeves about listing agents

2007-07-19T17:03:00.000-04:00

Things that actually happened to us in our Boston area home search - some more than once.

1. Trailing us around the house like a puppy. One guy chased us to the basement to ask if we liked the place. Shoo!

2. Inventing non-existent competition. The puppy also claimed he "expected four offers" that day; two months later, it's still on the market.

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Can your mortgage make you richer?

2007-07-18T13:56:00.001-04:00

I'm holding a perky, orange piece of junk mail from my online bank asking this very question. The "get-richer" pitch? A mortgage with super-low closing costs (Good!) a low rate with no points (Good!)...and a 5/1 Adjustable Rate (Now, wait just a minute....)

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The web-savvy homebuyer

2007-07-10T22:16:00.000-04:00

Most homebuyers can find houses on the Internet now, but there is a lot more information out there than you'll find on most realtor websites. Here's a few ways to broaden your horizons:

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"Oh yes, you can do that"

2007-07-06T15:22:00.000-04:00

It's tough to sell a house with only one bath, no bonus rooms, or some other deficiency that didn't bother past generations -- but might turn off today's buyers. In our search we've seen lots of attic conversions, added sunrooms, or half baths created in old pantries. And we've heard some amusing straight-faced pitches from seller agents at less updated homes.

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Tales from the seller's side

2007-07-02T13:24:00.000-04:00

I've received a couple of nice notes from sellers commenting on my determination to get a good price as a way to protect ourselves from continued price stagnation or declines. It's clear there are perils aplenty for folks on the other side of the transaction, especially if they bought fairly recently.

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Maintaining our steely resolve

2007-06-29T13:24:00.000-04:00

For the second time, we've suffered a crushing disappointment when our offer on a great house was rejected in favor of another. After learning of a competing offer, we raised our bid and made it clear we'd negotiate, but they didn't give us the chance. It's not a good feeling to get shut out, but worse things lurk in buyer land.

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Know the code

2007-06-25T13:22:00.000-04:00

Anyone who's shopped for real estate knows the surreal experience of walking into a house and -- recalling the listing blurb -- wondering if you're in the right place or even the right planet. The snappy description that lured you to the doorstep had only a tenuous connection to reality. What's the hapless buyer to do?

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Dodging the EBay mistake

2007-06-21T13:21:00.000-04:00

Jordan and I recently had a near miss with Rona's Ebay Mistake: disastrously overpaying in a bidding war. With home prices still falling, it's more dangerous than ever to get sucked into this game. But for the good sense of our buyer broker, we might have.

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Rising mortgage rates: A buyer's view

2007-06-20T14:00:00.000-04:00

Mortgage rates have risen nearly 1/2 a percent in a little over a month, and some analysts are saying homebuyers will now hurry up and buy, for fear rates will climb even higher. My response? Not so fast.

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A dubious milestone

2007-06-20T13:30:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, our longsuffering broker informed us that we were about to visit our 50th house with him. It's an absurd number, on the face of it. But this is Greater Boston - an absurd homebuying market.

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Not quite as easy as we thought...

2007-06-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

House hunting in Boston. It's about as epic a challenge as our friends said it would be. Before now, I always wondered what the big deal was. Determine what you want and what you can afford, see a few places, pick the best compromise -- or luck into your dream house -- and buy. Simple, right?

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