1. Protect the contents of the medicine cabinet . Medicine is stolen more often than anything else. Hard narcotics and prescription drugs will sell for big money on the street, protect them by packing discreetly. Did you know that pain pills like, Codeine, Morphine or Vicodin can sell for as much as five dollars on the street and expensive perfume is impossible to trace?
2. Inventory your sports equipment. Equipment like, surfboards, climbing gear, kayaks, quality bikes, snowboards, skiis,skates and more, are sometimes stolen by neighborhood kids as well as thieves as you prepare to move. So if you can, move your sports equipment yourself.
3. Secure your financial information. Pack and transport bank statements,  investment info, social security numbers, bills and anything that has your personal information. Did you know that your date of birth, social security number and one credit card statement can be combined and easily be sold on the black market for as much as $1,000.00 dollars. Identity thieves are almost impossible to catch. Even more frustrating is the fact that you'll spend countless hours trying to correct your credit agency profiles. So contact your banks and credit card companies and the post office to give them your new address and instruct them to verify all credit requests by phone.
4. Protect your fine china, crystal and sterling silver. Believe it or not, these items sometimes disappear and aren't there upon your arrival. Even expensive bowls get removed from moving boxes. Sometimes it takes weeks before you even realize they're gone.
5. Inventory and be certain about  your jewelry. Gold, silver, and precious stones can easily be pawned or sold for big  money. Thieves can quickly slip items like these into a pocket on moving day. I advise you to put these items in the same box with your medicine cabinet contents; and put them in your carry on bag or a personal bag that's always with you.

Wellesley Real Estate Market Snapshot for the past year.  Email us directly for your home town snapshot, be it Natick, Needham, Weston, or any other town/city in the Metrowest Boston area.

In our mind, a successful Real Estate negotiation is not where one side has pulverized the other. You don't "win" a negotiation; you get the best possible outcome for your clients while doing the least harm. No one should leave a negotiation angry. After all, you never know when you might have to negotiate with the same people again.  When it comes to negotiating on behalf of our clients, we keep the following in mind:

Set the stage: We like a location that's quiet, neutral, pleasant, and away from distractions and confusion.  It’s best if everyone turns off their devices, and refrains from calls or texts during negotiations.

Be prepared: We never enter without our homework. We verify any outstanding facts before the negotiation begins. (Later fact-finding can cause a negotiation to bog down!)

Present a united front: We represent clients and have been hired to act on their wishes. At times we may not agree with their position, but we never share that with the other side. If we feel a client’s position is less than optimal, we only discuss it with them in private

Leave attitudes at the door: It’s very simple... treat everyone in the negotiation with respect, regardless of personal opinions. If anyone disagrees, disagree with the idea, not the person.

Watch non-verbal cues and body language: (Sorry, but we can’t reveal all of our secrets here... suffice it to say we take it all in!)

Hold something in reserve: We discuss concessions with our clients before hand and only offer these concessions when we absolutely need to concede something.

We don't harp about points that don't matter to our clients: Negotiations should never choke over a minor point.  We like to get agreement on major points such as price and terms and put lesser items aside to return to later.

Never volunteer too much information: Knowledge is power in a negotiation. Telling the other side any information, however insignificant seeming, could weaken our clients’ position. On the other hand, we learn as much about the other side as we can.

If you ever need someone on your side in a real estate negotiation in the Wellesley, Needham, Natick, Weston area, feel free to contact us directly:

Dyanne Lynch - 781-706-5483

Jon Lynch - 617-894-5278

TeamLynch@TeamLynchRealEstate.com

Team Lynch Real Estate Consultants website

With the doors scheduled to open for the brand new Wellesley High School next February, plans are already in the works to pay tribute to the 73 year old Wellesley High School building, which has been home to so many fantastic memories for many generations of Wellesley residents.  

The inspiration for the event comes from other metrowest towns like Newton and Natick who have undergone similar construction projects in recent years and paid homage to their old schools prior to demolition.

With the real estate occupied by the current building set to become a parking lot for the new school next February.  Wellesley will be dedicating the entire Thanksgiving week this November to honor the old school by bringing home prominent Alumni for a series of seminars. As well as inviting current and former Wellesley athletes, performers, and educators to come and say farewell with dance events, and an open house where participants can buy old uniforms, parts of lockers, or other pieces of their high school past.  And finally closing out the event with a Turn Out the Lights theatrical, musical gala.

All of this will surround the annual Thanksgiving day game against Needham, which happens to be a home game for Wellesley this year.

Look for this to be a widely celebrated community event!

There is a very famous saying which asserts “Sell High, Buy Low”. It is obviously great advice no matter what the investment. Below is a graph showing the cycle of investments. It shows the points of maximum risk and maximum opportunity when purchasing. We want to sell high (point of maximum risk) and buy low (point of maximum opportunity).

The challenge is how to determine when we have hit bottom if you are a purchaser. The only time you can guarantee a bottom is after you pass it.

However, there is more and more evidence that the COST of a home has in fact hit bottom. Notice we have used the word COST. Unless you are an all cash buyer, you must take into consideration the expense of financing a property to determine the true cost of purchasing the home. Interest rates have increased over the last quarter; and the rise in rates has counteracted any fall in prices.

Let’s look at an example:

Let’s say you were going to take out a $200,000 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage in November of 2010. At that time, interest rates were 4.17% (as per Freddie Mac). Your principle and interest payment would have come to $974.54. According to the most recent report from Case Shiller house prices fell 3.9% in the 4th quarter of 2010. The most recent report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency shows a 0.8% fall in prices. Let’s use the larger percentage decrease: 3.9%.

For the sake of keeping the math simple, we will now say you can get the same house with a $192,000 mortgage (4% discount from November price). Interest rates are now 4.95% (as per Freddie Mac).

Your principle and interest payment would now be $1,067.54.

By waiting to pay less for the PRICE of the house, the COST increased $93 a month. That adds up to $1,116 a year and over $33,000 over the life of the loan.

We realize that there are other things to consider (ex. the mortgage tax deduction, etc.). This example is just a simple way to show that there is a difference between COST and PRICE.

Bottom Line

If you want to buy low, buy now. It appears COST has hit its lowest point.

On Friday November 6th it was announced that President Obama and Congress passed new legislation that extends the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8,000 through April 30th of 2010.  The new legislation also expands the credit to grant a $6,500 credit to current home owners purchasing a new or existing home.  This is no doubt great news, and it’ll be interesting to see how this affects our local market.

The 2009 First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit has received a lot of recognition nationally, and even statewide in Massachusetts for spurring home buyers to get off the sidelines where many had retreated following the banking crises of last October.  NAR (The National Association of Realtors) estimates that the current tax credit has contributed $22 billion to the economy, and approximately 2 million people will take advantage of the tax credit this year.  While there's no denying the effectiveness of the 2009 credit, the effect on our local market was not nearly as significant due to income level restrictions of $75,000 (single filer) and $150,000 (joint filers).  In our local market where the average home prices range from approximately $500,000 in some surrounding towns to upwards of $1.1 million in Wellesley, this left many homebuyers phased out.

So what effect if any will the new legislation have on our local housing market?  There are two very important details to be aware of in the new bill.  One is that the income level has been raised from $75,000 to $125,000 for single buyers and from $150,000 to $225,000 for married couples.  While there is now a cap of $800,000 on the purchase price where there previously had not been, this should still open the door to many more potential buyers in our market.  The second new incentive in the agreement would allow current homeowners to claim up to $6,500 as long as the property they are vacating has been their primary residence for at least five years.  This is significant because it incorporates a large, entirely new profile of buyer, and for those who bought at the height of the market back in 2004 and 2005 and have seen the value of their home decline as the size of their family has grown (I'm speaking from experience here) it provides an incentive as well as some breathing room that could soften the blow of the declined property values.

For people who have been weighing the idea of purchasing a first home or moving from an existing home, now is a great opportunity to take advantage of low interest rates, declined property values, and a significant tax credit.  And this would be a great time to start familiarizing yourself with the local market and gaining that market knowledge.  Click here to sign up for our Free Email Alerts that will keep you informed of homes for sale that meet your search criteria.  Or contact us today at 617-894-5278.

I'm often asked if this is a good time to buy a home. Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall further than they have already. They are assuming that the best course of action is to wait for the bottom in the market and then buy. The problem with this approach is that you don't know where the bottom is until you see it in the rear view mirror, meaning until you've missed it!

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates go up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was just signed by President Bush with some amazing benefits for first time homebuyers. Call everyone you know who wants to buy their first home (or who hasn't owned one in three years), this is too good to miss - it's a $7,500 tax CREDIT (not deduction but a credit).

If you have not owned a home in three years, you qualify as a first time home buyer. If you buy a home after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009, you qualify for this credit. Call your friends who just bought a home since April 9th and tell them they may take $7,500 off their tax bill if they qualify. It has to be your principal residence, so rentals do not count.

The tax credit is 10% of the cost of the home, up to a maximum of $7,500. This is not an additional deduction that lowers the amount of income to be taxed, it is a tax credit. In other words, you take $7,500 off your tax bill. But there is a catch; the credit you receive now is actually an interest-free loan that must be repaid.

The loan has no interest, and will be paid back over 15 years. You get the credit on your 2008 taxes, but you start paying it back on your 2010 taxes that are due in 2011, so you get at least two years without a payment. You pay back 6.67% of the credit each year, so for a $7,500 credit the payment is $502.50 per year. If you stay put for 15 years, you pay it off with no interest.

What happens if you sell the house? You pay the balance back at the closing. So, you get $7,500 now, and pay the rest of it back if you make money on the sale of your house. What happens if you do not make enough money when you sell your house? They forgive the rest of the debt.

Other restrictions stipulate that you have to buy your first house in three years before July 1, 2009, not have super high income, not use bond financing and buy anywhere in the US.

If you'd like to learn more about this program, please call me!