Towne & Country, Realtors has a New Blog

Please bookmark the New home of the Towne & Country, Realtors blog.  Also know as the Realtyman.com blog - www.Towne-Country.com


This is THE place to go for information on Leominster, Lunenburg, Fitchburg, Westminster, Harvard and the rest of Central Massachusetts.


Towne and Country, Realtors new Blog


www.RealtyMan.com The official site of Towne & Country, Realtors in Leominster, MA 01453

The Boston US Twestival 2009

This is a very interesting concept.  

A Twestival supporting a great cause Charity : Water.  

I'm glad I'll be at the Boston event.  Boston US Twestival 2009 It will be a lot of fun.  

There is more information about the cause here: Charity : Water 

And the famous Justine has more info here...

Maybe I'll see you there...

New blog coming soon...

Check back soon for the new RealtyMan blog...

Current New Clip on MA Housing Market from NECN

Here is a recent clip on the MA housing market from NECN:

MA Housing Market Report

NOW Is THE Time To Sell!!

If you are seriously thinking of selling your house, NOW is the time to get serious.  So you think we are at the bottom of the market?  Here are a few points to consider:

• Single Family Sales units in North Central MA are declining at a Faster rate (more than 2 times) than the same period last year.
• Single Family average Sale Prices are declining at a Greater rate than the same period last year.
• Lending standards are getting increasingly more difficult - i.e. harder to get a loan.
• Job losses are only Now starting to come into play - and there are more coming.
• The economy is eroding before our eyes.
• The foreclosure rate is increasing
• Currently we are 2-3 years before the 'Bulk' of the Adjustable Rate Mortgages reset (Including the Option Arms - what's an Option Arm? Look for another post soon).
• I can go on...

Looking at these facts, is there any reason why you would think that prices are going to go up? 

OK, so you are a buyer.  Why Buy now? Well, 30 year Fixed Rate Mortgages (yes, FIXED - not Blend loans, Option Arms, NINJA loans, etc.) are still at 40 year lows BUT prices have been beaten up over the past 3 or so years.  We are seeing prices back to levels we saw in 2003 +/- but Mortgage rates are just about as low as back then - thus setting the stage for some great affordability.

If you have a secure job, this is a great opportunity.  Yes, prices may fall more, however Interest rates are almost sure to go up due (to the economy, the low value of the dollar, imminent recession, etc).  So remember, small changes in the Interest rate can equate to large increases in the payment.

Leominster, MA 01453 Market Update for Q3 2008

Here is the RealtyMan Market Update for Leominster, MA 01453 from Full Year 1999 through the first 3 Quarters of 2008

The number of Single Family Units (not including condo) in Leominster has decreased over 15.5% for the 1st 3 Quarters as compared to 2007 from 199 units to 168.  See Graph below:

As you will see below, the average sale price has fallen as well, but not quite as dramatically. It declined a little over 12.3% over the 1st 3 Quarters as compared to the same period of 2007 (from $266,371 to $237,610).

However, diving into the statistics a little more will show that 'Same House Sales' have declined more than these averages show.  Is it going to get better?  Economics 101 tells me that we need to see Units recover before Prices will.  Given the state of the economy, do you think we will see units increase?

For a more specific analysis on the market as it pertains to your specific property, please feel free to contact the top selling Realtor in Leominster, MA Every Year since 1999! 

Why Now Is A Good Time to Buy

We all know of that the economy is a mess (thank you Wall Street & Congress), however I find that I've been Very Busy over the past 2 weeks.  I've been negotiating offers in the $200K range all the way up to the High $800K range (with a few in between).  You may be wondering Why anyone is buying right now.

Well, think about this:

First, let me go through the assumptions:

30 Year Fixed Rate Conforming Loan (Principal & Interest Only)

A $300,000 loan at 6% is approximately $1,798 per month.

A $300,000 loan at 8% is approximately $2,201 per month.

Guess how much the value of a property would need to drop in order to get the payment back to what is would have been at 6% instead of 8% in this example.

Approximately $55,000!

$245,000 at 8% over 30 years is just over $1 per month in payment.

So... Given all of the economic BS going on out there, do you think Mortgage Rates will be going up or down?

Remember Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac?  Do you think investors are lining up to buy Mortgage Backed Securities right now? If the demand for MBS's goes down the return must go up in order to lure the investors back in (supply/demand).

Not to mention that it is harder to get a mortgage right now than it was before, and it appears that it will continue to get more difficult.

So if you are looking to buy a home to live in (not to flip) then Now may be one of the best times.

What do you think??

Tough Economic Times - but for how long?

So maybe there is good news soon after the bad times we are in.

Here is a link to a study from the Harvard Business School Recession Chart !

Let's hope that history repeats itself...

Who Cares About Data Integrity?

First Off, I am irritated  - so bear with me.

Is it just ME or doesn't anyone care about the integrity of the Listing Data that is out there online?  Maybe consumers don't know, or understand, that some Real Estate sites that are found online only have Some of the lisings but are lacking All of them.  They only place the listings of their 'Advertisers' on their sites.

Other sites update only weekly.  And some have listing data that is Years old (Really!  Years old). 

Many of the 'National Aggregator' sites don't update photos either (5 months on market and 'No Photo' even though the photo has been in the MLS since day 3). And yes, the MLS is where almost all of the sites pull their data from. 

And some pull from multiple sources, so the consumer gets to see 5 of the same listing (and ironically, not all with the same data).

So where am I going with this?  The most accurate listing information you will find is from your local Realtor (office or agent) which has their site updated with the Full Feed from the MLS.  Like http://www.realtyman.com/ for instance.

If you only want SOME of the listing data, then feel free to search several sites.  If you want ALL of the listings, your best bet is the Local Realtor.

RealtyMan Spotted at the Mass Assoc. of Realtors Convention

See if you can find Gerry 'RealtyMan' Bourgeois in this video: Click Here to find Realtyman
This was recorded by the girls at BatchBlue.com