Real Estate and *stuff *
A real person helping real people with real estate
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Serving those who serve…special VA Home buying, selling and financing meeting
July 18, 2012
This is a GREAT opportunity to find out more about VA Home Loans in person! Active or retired service men and women are eligible for a variety of benefits around home ownership including purchasing with no down payment and no minimum credit scores. Home owners that currently have a VA home loan have a special marketing advantage! New opportunities to short sale with a VA Home Loan exist as well!
Refinance your existing VA Loan to a lower rate or a fixed rate and enjoy the savings!
Whatever your VA Home Loan need – we’re here in person to answer your questions and give you some free information. No obligation, no contracts – just stop in between 5pm and 7:30 on Thursday, 7/19 at the RE/MAX Professional Associates office at 246 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury (Route 9 east).
Do you have questions about today’s real estate market?
May 16, 2012
Questions like…
- Do I need 20% down to avoid PMI?
- How long do I have to wait after a short sale or foreclosure?
- Do I need perfect credit?
- When does the market hit bottom?
- Where is the best place to buy?
- How much will I save?
- How much are closing costs and fees?
- What is the current rate?
We have answers!
Come to our FREE networking meeting about how to make the money you spend in rent WORK for you! Find out more about today’s real estate market, investment opportunities and the true cost of not being a home owner. No obligation, just show up with your questions. Join Wes and myself for a relaxed, no obligation meeting to find out the answers to the questions you have.
WHEN: Two dates to choose from: May 17th or 24th at 6pm to 7:30pm
WHERE: Prestige Home Mortgage 45 Lyman Street Westborough MA – Terrace LevelTo stem foreclosures, committee recommends loan modication bill
May 14, 2012
Stop foreclosure! There are a variety of options for distressed home owners such as loan modifications, deed-in-lieu or a short sale. Find out which option helps you the best!
New news and new avenue for distressed home owners! Please see the Boston Herald article reprinted below. There is a new hotline in Massachusetts for residents facing foreclosure. If you are facing foreclosure, there are a variety of options available to you. Call or email to me to find out what they are. You can also visit www.dontforeclosenow.com to review them.
“In an effort to stem the tide of foreclosures, a key legislative committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that would require banks to make loan modifications available to homeowners when financially feasible to prevent families from unnecessarily losing their homes.
The Joint Committee on Financial Services unanimously recommended passage of the bill (H 1219) on Wednesday, with 10 of the 17 committee members voting in favor of the legislation, which has been a priority for Attorney General Martha Coakley.
“This is a fair and balanced approach that brings both the bank and the borrower to the table to look at the mortgage,” said Rep. Michael Costello, a Newburyport Democrat and co-chair of the Financial Services Committee.
The bill, filed by Rep. Steven Walsh (D-Lynn), would require banks and other lenders to assess a borrower’s ability to pay and the value of a loan modification compared to the cost of foreclosure before entering into foreclosure proceedings. If a modified loan is worth more than the amount the bank expects to recover through foreclosure, the lender must offer a modified loan to the borrower, according to the bill.
The legislation also addresses two recent Supreme Judicial Court decisions by requiring that lenders produce proper documentation showing they are the legal holders of the mortgage before foreclosing.
Coakley, who says foreclosures are a major obstacle to a full economic recovery, applauded the advancement of the bill on Wednesday. Coakley has said that in addition to pushing families out of their homes, unnecessary foreclosures have led to more abandoned property in cities and towns.
“Addressing the foreclosure crisis is a critical step toward moving our economy forward. This bill would promote reasonable loan modifications that keep people in their homes, keep properties on the tax rolls, and without requiring banks to sacrifice the bottom line,” Coakley said in a statement.
Among those who cast votes, the bill received unanimous support in the Financial Services Committee. Ten members voted in favor, four did not vote and three Republicans reserved their rights. Sen. Michael Knapik and Reps. Nicholas Boldyga and Marc Lombardo reserved their rights, while Sen. Brian Joyce and Reps. Kevin Murphy, Lori Ehrlich and James Cantwell did not vote.
According to Costello’s office, more than 45,000 Massachusetts residents have lost their homes due to foreclosure since the start of 2007. In February, there were almost 1,400 new foreclosures started, more than double the amount from a year ago and showing that the problem has not gone away even as the economy has rebounded.
The Warren Group recently reported completed foreclosures in Massachusetts dropped more than 30 percent last year, compared to 2010, but analysts believe the drop was partly due to lenders slowing the process down.
With $44.5 million paid to Massachusetts as part of a national settlement over illegal foreclosures and loan servicing with Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and GMAC/Ally, Coakley two weeks ago launched a HomeCorps program featuring the hotline (617-573-5333), which makes loan modification experts available to advise residents.
Coakley said last week that the hotline had been inundated with calls from more than 1,000 homeowners calling in the first week, averaging 200 to 300 calls a day.
“We are going to try to help everybody we can to stay in their homes,” Coakley told Fox 25. “For a lot of people this can be real relief.”
Under the national settlement, the banks are also ordered to provide about $14.6 million in cash payments to Bay State borrowers and $257 million worth of mortgage relief across Massachusetts, money that Coakley said can be used for refinancing or principal reduction.
By Matt Murphy / State House News Service
Open today! What an opportunity to own in Shrewsbury!
May 12, 2012
Bring your imagination and your hammer! This is an opportunity to own in Shrewsbury!
“Arts and Crafts” style home with newer roof and newer furnace needs your finishing touches to bring out its best! Seven roof gables, pass through lot with 2 car garage to Fairlawn Circle, easy highway access with a wooded private yard at the end of the day. First floor master, hardwoods, 2 full baths, tons of natural light and tons of character!
Short sale approval is already in process – here’s your chance!
Open today – May 12th – 1 to 4pm
16 Rofle Ave, Shrewsbury
When’s the Best Time to Buy Appliances or Electronics? Decide.com can tell you!
April 29, 2012
In the market for a new appliance or electronics? Timing is everything. Here’s a website that’ll tell you if now is a good time to buy.
The best quality at the lowest price — that’s the mantra of every savvy appliance shopper. What you may not know is that prices fluctuate, and some times are better than others for buying.
So how can you find that magic window that will save you the most money? Decide.com lets you enter the appliance or gadget you want to buy — anything from refrigerators and washer/dryers to Kindles and iPads — and it’ll give you a thumbs up — buy now! — or a thumbs down — hold your horses, because prices will drop soon.
Decide will even give you a little graph of the price history for the product, and whether a new model is coming out anytime soon. Try getting that kind of info out of a retailer.
Spring Cleaning the Anti-Martha Way
April 16, 2012
Martha Stewart spring cleans like a pro — because she is a pro. But the rest of us seek an easier way. Welcome to The Anti-Martha Stewart Spring Cleaning Guide.
For the record, I love Martha Stewart. She has elevated housekeeping to high art, which protects home values. Martha’s taught us the devil is in the details, and that even mundane chores can be tackled with grace, diligence, and elbow-high rubber gloves.
That said, spring is here, and cleaning is required. But who’s got the time or energy to rip apart every square inch of the house? When I saw a Martha blog that suggested cleaning our kitchen range in only 22 steps, we threw in the towel and shouted, “Get real!”
Then, I found Anti-Martha Stewart Spring Cleaning Guide, acknowledging that top-to-bottom cleaning is a good idea, but nobody’s idea of a good time.
But days have only 24 hours, and work, family, and the tyranny of getting in 10,000 steps makes spring cleaning Martha-style merely a fantasy for most of us. So, I found a “get-real” guide.
This guide is all about time-savers and corner-cutters. Top highlights:
- Don’t scrub when a good soak will do.
- Take small bites out of large tasks: If you live long enough, you’ll get it clean.
- Invest in white vinegar companies, because vinegar is the one cleaner you can’t do without.
- If a machine can clean it better and faster, buy it or rent it.
But seriously, folks. Here’s a little preview of the guide.
- Shower heads: A warm white vinegar bath will get rid of mineral deposits.
- Windows: Use coffee filters or microfiber cloths instead of paper towels to wash windows and avoid streaks.
- Patio furniture: Vacuum wicker furniture with an upholstery attachment.
- Primo declutter tip: Get rid of “fat clothes” first, which make you feel bad about your body.
Hey, we’ve got a million of these. Martha, I’m sure, is shaking her head in dismay. But I’m sure this guide will help you get clean in spring and still have time to enjoy the season. THE GUIDE
And that’s a good thing.
Do You Prefer the Dentist to Lawn Work?
April 13, 2012
Lawn Work Ranks Low on Americans’ Hit Parade of Chores! When it comes to lawn chores, we’d rather open wide and say “ahhhh” than mow and weed.
Americans would rather see their dentist or visit their in-laws than spend time with their lawns.
In fact, we would rather do just about anything than mow, fertilize, and perform other lawn care chores, according to a Consumer Reports survey of 1,000 adults nationwide.
When asked about which tedious chore they would like to do, only 7% said lawn care. Here are the activities that ranked higher:
- Cook, 62%
- Grocery shop, 49%
- Do laundry, 41%
- Go to work, 38%
- Clean the house, 38%
- Visit in-laws, 33 %
- See the dentist, 17%
Consumer Reports didn’t mention any chores that ranked lower than lawn work. But I’m guessing that cleaning out the septic tank and unclogging drain pipes might be worse.
What chores would you pick over lawn care? Any chores that rank lower?
5 Things You Forgot to Clean in Your Bathroom
April 6, 2012
Your bathroom, one of the rooms you clean most, hides areas that rarely see a scrub brush. It’s time to tackle these 5 nasty spots you probably forgot.
If you can’t remember the last time you cleaned your bathroom, we don’t want to know what’s living in your tub. Probably, a host of staphylococcus, the skin infection bacteria that, a recent study showed, more frequently grows in tubs than in garbage cans.
But we presume you or someone else regularly swishes out the toilets, wipes out the tubs and sinks, and mops your bathroom flooring.
But you may be missing some critical areas. With the help of Kristi Mailloux, president of Molly Maid, here is a compiled a list of 5 bathroom spots home owners often forget to clean:
1. Showerheads: A warm white vinegar bath will get rid of mineral deposits, making your low-flow shower head flow even lower. Let the showerhead soak for about 20 minutes, then poke a paperclip into shower head holes still clogged. Scrub with an old toothbrush, then rinse and repeat if necessary.
2. Toilet bases: Mildew can grow on the caulking around the base of your toilet. Spray with white vinegar or disinfecting household cleaner, then scrub with a hard-bristled brush. Dry thoroughly.
3. Shower curtains: Clean soap scum and mildew from plastic shower curtains by tossing them into your washer on the gentle and cold (never hot!) water cycle, with detergent and ½ cup vinegar. If mildew is present, add ½ cup of bleach instead of vinegar. Toss a couple of large towels into the machine to act as scrubbers. Hang curtains back on your shower curtain rod, spread them out, and let them drip-dry. If you turn on the bathroom fan, they’ll dry faster.
4. Drains: We don’t usually pay much attention to drains until they’re clogged. But all year your hair, toothpaste, shampoo, and conditioner are building up in sink and tub drains. Remove the stopper — unscrew the shower drain — and clear away obvious gunk, like hair and soap. Soak the drain in vinegar to clear away mineral deposits. Then, pour boiling water, or a mixture of ½ cup white vinegar and ½ cup baking soda, down the drain, which will bubble away crud sticking to pipes.
5. Medicine cabinet: Throw out prescription and over-the-counter drugs you no longer need or want. But don’t dump them down the drain, where they become part of the watershed, or into the trash, where anyone can fetch them out. Instead, take them to a local collection site, often at police or fire stations. Or check U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Take Back Initiative’s website for dates and sites for their next collection.
Bonus tip: Just for the fun of it, launder those powder room towels you won’t let anyone use. And be sure to clean out your dryer’s lint filter when you’re finished.
MORE houses added to the open for this Sunday in Holden! WOW!
March 8, 2012
Yep…Holden is officially OPEN this coming Sunday! Please take a look at one or some of the SIXTEEN houses that will be open this coming Sunday (3/11) in Holden. There is something to fit everyone’s taste and budget and the weather is going to be beautiful! Come to Holden…grab a coffee a Dunks on your way into town and then take a tour!
If you would like more information about any of these listings, just let me know. All houses open 1 to 3pm unless noted otherwise:
46 Acorn Drive
4 Birch Hill (1:30 to 3)
238 Fisher Rd
89 Fox Hill
2 Greenbriar Lane (12 to 2)
37 Heather Circle
225 Highland Street
84 Homestead (11:30 to 1)
67 Laurel Hill Lane
823 Main Street (11am to 1pm)
1565 Main Street
476 Manning Street
769 Mason Rd
96 Nelson Street (12pm to 2pm)
395 Salisbury Street (12pm to 2pm)
12 Tanya Drive
Real Estate and *stuff * 