THIS MONTH’S FEATURED REAL ESTATE ARTICLE

Real estate buyers frequently tell me that the house that fits their every need is “just too close to the road, too noisy, not private.” In Main Street’s May 2017 issue, I asked other realtors about the “road” discount on a home’s price. Experienced brokers estimated a discount between 5% to 30% with double the time on the market. Road proximity can be particularly true of antique houses which were purposely built close to the road for easy access. This made me wonder why more […]

Nineteenth century America was a jumble of architectural styles from stately Federal homes and Greek Revival temples to Gothic cottages, Italianate villas, and rambling Victorian Queen Anne houses. The briefest and most curious style was the American fascination for eight-sided octagon structures found in public buildings, barns, and houses. Like geodesic domes in the twentieth century, the octagon craze was short-lived, but wherever an octagon building has survived it attracts our puzzled attention.

A home for all

Octagon structures can be found throughout history like the still-standing […]

With all the excitement and frustration of bidding wars and houses sold days after listing what about the houses that haven’t sold – houses that have been on the market for months or even years? Most real estate experts say a house that’s not moving in this market is priced wrong, but presentation, location, condition, and market timing are other reasons that houses linger in even a hot market with low inventory.

First impressions – beyond decluttering

First step is finding the house – online and/or in person. […]

Even though the residential real estate market everywhere is booming with record low inventory, commercial real estate prices and activity remain sluggish. We wondered how to go about selling your real estate if it’s attached to your small business. One local entrepreneur explained, “I didn’t get much for the business, but I did really well on the real estate.” Many thanks to Leslie Farhangi who wants to sell her vodka brand, Three Meadows and a Pony, who suggested this month’s theme for our real estate […]

According to national statistics an estimated 6% of homes sold in the US are flipped properties – although from all the flipping, flopping, and fixing shows on television, flipping fascination seems much higher. For this issue of Main Street Magazine, we decided to explore the flipping phenomenon in our region at this moment in time. Who does it and why? Do they make money? Can flips still be found?

Flip success or failure

Successful “flippers” are good at recognizing great deals in a specific market, finding […]