Imagine if we only had a crystal ball. Our major financial and life decisions would be so simple to make, and there would be no risk and no worries. Unfortunately, we do not have that luxury. Our decisions must be made upon solid data and information.

Over the past year, you may have heard a repeated message; now is a good time to buy. From the data we have, we do in fact know that it is a buyer's market, and a good one. A wide variety of inventory is available, and interest rates are still low, making this an unprecedented time for buyers to take advantage of the market, and many already have.

In its latest release, the National Association of Realtors® states, "pending home sales rose in February, potentially signaling a second surge of home sales in response to the home buyer tax credit. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, rose 8.2 percent" compared to the same time last year.

Unfortunately, there are several factors that could impact the future direction of this market, making the road ahead a bumpy one, and uncertain at the very least.

The tax credit has expired and many industry analysts and economists agree that sales will slowly dwindle into the coming months. To quote an article in the Wall Street Journal, on home sales, curb your enthusiasm, "While there might be strong data in future weeks, industry experts have long said that softness could follow once the incentive - essentially free money - to buy is taken away."

We are also uncertain what the Fed will do to interest rates. Rates have held quite steady, but it is anticipated that the Fed will increase them, and to what extent is uncertain. If the rates do increase, it could impact the type and size of home a buyer could purchase. Buyers could be priced out of the market with an increase of rates by only a few points.

Yet another unknown variable is the amount of shadow inventory that could come onto the market at any given time. Shadow inventory are homes that have undergone foreclosure, but the banks have yet to place on the market. According to an MSN Money article, home seizures by banks set a new record and "prices have stabilized in many areas because banks have kept these properties off the market, adding that banks will likely continue to do so until the economy picks up again."

Of course every local real estate market has slight variables. To determine exactly what has taken place in your market over the past month consult with your local REALTOR.

If you're seriously looking to purchase a property, now truly is the time to buy. Don't gamble on the future with so many unknowns up ahead.

And f you didn't have a chance to take advantage of the Tax Credit, just visit NewEnglandMoves.com. There are many homes participating in the Coldwell Banker Buyer Bonus program offering a credit up to $8,000, or speak directly to me and I will be happy to assist you.

Regards,

Jay Burnham, VP
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
North Shore, Massachusetts
Direct Line: 978.233.2828

We've all seen the bar codes that are used everywhere from grocery stores to department stores, from supply houses to small businesses. They are featured on nearly every product you buy.

Well...get ready for a new bar code called a QR code (Quick Response) that is going to begin having a huge impact on business information and how it is delivered to you via your cell phone in the coming year.
While conventional bar codes are capable of storing a maximum of approximately 20 digits, QR code is capable of handling several hundred times more information.

Expect to see QR codes in magazine advertisements, on billboards, web pages or even on someone's t-shirt. Once it is "scanned" to your cell phone, it can give you details about that business, or details about the person wearing the t-shirt, show you a URL which you can click to see a trailer for a movie, or it may give you a coupon which you can use in a local outlet.

The reason why QR codes are more useful than a standard bar code is that they can store (and digitally present) much more data, including URL links, pictures, GEO coordinates, and text. The other key feature of QR codes is that instead of requiring a chunky hand-held scanner to scan them, most recent cell phones can scan them. The full Wikipedia expalnation: click here.

For a short YouTube explanation by Marcello Di Pietro: click here

Any business, no matter how small or large, could use QR codes in a number of ways. You might auto generate one next to every product on your web site containing all the product details, the number to call and the URL link to the page so they can show their friends on their cell phone.

You could add one to your business card containing your contact details so its easy for someone to add you to their contacts on their cell phone, without any typing!

At the top of this blog is an example of my business contact information, including a photo, company logo and link to my website. All you need is the READER application which is available for download to your phone at several Internet sites. The QR code can be as small as your thumbnail or as large as a billboard.

Add your QR code to any print advertising, flyers, posters, invites, tv ads etc. containing:

• product details
• contact details
• offer details
• event details
• a coupon
• Twitter, Facebook, MySpace IDs
• a link to a YouTube video
• Or, in my case...Access to individual homes for sale, mortgage information, Open Houses, mapping and more.

What is it really all about? Well, some may not see it, but its yet another example of the blurring of the edges of media, as we all continue our journey to a completely connected world.

Follow me on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/jayburnham

There are a lot of sighs of relief now that 2009 is past, particularly coming from the real estate industry.

But will 2010 be any better?

I have just dusted off my crystal ball... and I can now offer my annual 10 predictions for real estate in the coming year:

1. The residential housing market will pick up early this year, but will dip again after mid-year.

2. Short sales will increase and foreclosure inventory will continue to rise.

3. Mortgage rates will rise and settle in around 6%+/-.

4. Appraisal guidelines will tighten and mortgage lenders will require stellar credit from buyers.

5. A lot of prospective move-up buyers will stay put.

6. Commercial real estate will continue to decline.

7. Builders will continue to be cautious and not in any particular hurry to gain project approvals or begin construction.

8. New construction prices will drop significantly.

9. Prices will continue to decline on higher end properties (over $1.5 million).

10. The terms "communication" and "service" will take on new meanings among real estate agents with the need for more direct contact with clients, such as phone and face-to-face contact as opposed to Internet, email and voicemail communication.

There you have it. Perhaps not the rosiest picture imaginable, but no one said that climbing out of a recession would be easy... or quick. Take a look at the graph below and you will see why. I would put us somewhere between the "depression" and "hope" positions of the graph.

The good news?

A lot of real estate transactions will take place in 2010, despite the market. Reasonable sellers, savvy buyers and service-centered real estate agents will win the day.

Carpe Diem! Make it a great year!

Do you have plans to buy a home soon? If so, has it occurred to you that some of the homes you inspect may be overpriced? They may be priced too high for the market.

How would you recognize that kind of situation? Should you assume that all houses are overpriced and make low offers on all of them until one is accepted?

Relax. There's a way to assure yourself of becoming a satisfied homeowner without taking the risk of paying too much. Consider for a moment how prices are set on the homes you will be seeing.

Some prices are arrived at by the owner's "guess-timation:, while others are decided only after thorough investigation of the present real estate market by knowledgable real estate agents. The latter involves careful study of homes for sale now as well as those which have sold recently. As a result, homes listed for sale with a highly successful real estate agent tend to be priced fairly up-front, from the very beginning.

Thus, by selecting your agent carefully, you can be assured of having a gnerous selection of homes from which to choose without having to worry about pricing. You'll be able to focus your concentration on features which fit your lifestyle and enjoy the process of choosing your next home...a satisfying experience.

Regards,

Jay Burnham
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

It is time to put an end to the Proposition 2 1/2 overrides in Hamilton and Wenham, Massachusetts. When Prop 2 1/2 was enacted in 1980 it had provisions to allow towns to pass overrides, but those overrides were intended for emergency purposes. Overrides were not intended to be used to subsidize school funding on an annual basis as has become the norm in our two towns. If override supporters in Hamilton and Wenham believe that "emergencies" have existed in our towns for 10 out of the past 11 years, then the answer lies with a broken system that obviously has not and can not be fixed by simply throwing more money at it.

Here's a little something that unfortunately many of our citizens do not realize: Each override is not one-time cost event. Each override is added to the basis of our tax cost and continues in effect year, after year after year. So we will be paying for last year's $1.8 mil override amount again this year and again in 2010 and 2011 and so on. We have been paying the $660k override passed in 1999 each year for 9 years now! That override alone has cost the taxpayers over $7 million.

And here's a FACT about ALL the overrides we have had to pay since 1998: The individual override amounts add up to $7,707,000. But hang on to your seats (and your wallets!) because compounded over the years, with the 2 1/2 % standard annual increase, and the real cost of those overrides has been whooping $39,518,000! Let me repeat that: $39,518,000!

If our national economy's meltdown has taught us anything, it's that we can not, and should not support a system that does not work. $39 million has not fixed the so-called "emergencies" in Hamilton and Wenham and another override certainly will not either. And did you know that we are the ONLY two towns in the Commonwealth with this kind of outrageous history of overrides? Just last year, out of 356 towns and cities in MA, only 102 sought override attempts...and two-thirds of those were rejected.

Residents must stop the override addiction in our two towns this year... By just saying NO! $39 million is enough! Help make a difference in 2009. Start on the local level.

Thank you,

Jay Burnham
Hamilton, MA

 Jay Burnham, VP of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Beverly, MA, recently attended the 3-day CyberStar® National Conference in Scottsdale, AZ.

The CyberStars® is an invitation-only group of 200 top real estate agents from the US, Canada, Australia and the Bahamas, chosen for their ability to meet the needs of today's consumers through the use of technology and personal service. Jay Burnham is one of only five agents selected for membership from Massachusetts and he is the only CyberStar® from the North Shore region.

The annual CyberStar® Summit brings together top agents for a 3 day event where technology focused real estate professionals present, share and network with one other. The meeting's purpose is to enable CyberStar® members to provide ever-improved customer service to their buyers and sellers. Summit participants were exposed to the newest and most effective cutting-edge technology tools.

The CyberStars® have successfully marketed homes in the midst of what is considered the most difficult real estate market ever experienced. Burnham sees his CyberStar® membership as an important part of his success. "I am honored to be part of such a wonderfully helpful and sharing group of real estate professionals. Our networking activities keep me up to date on the best ways to help my sellers and buyers, an advantage not available to other agents", said Burnham. "I returned from Scottsdale with a renewed enthusiasm and with unique technological tools and systems I can use to elevate my level of service."

For more information about Burnham or his team, call 978-233-2828, send an email to jay@northshorerealestate.com or visit his website at http://www.northshorerealestate.com/.

REMV, or Real Estate Music Video, is the newest and hottest way of video marketing homes. Like the music videos you see on TV and Youtube, this application can range from hard-hitting impact marketing, to soft (think James Taylor) and smooth video marketing.

To give you an idea of what an REMV can look like, here's a sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spj8xa9lIGA&fmt=18

If you think this marketing application is cool, you should see what you can do with a single property REMV. A key component to creating this kind of video is looking at your photography in a different way. It's no longer just about posting pictures and adding a soundtrack, it's about telling a story and creating a sequence of photos that take the viewer on a ride complete with images of the area as well as the individual property.

Best regards,

Jay Burnham, VP
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Direct: 978.233.2828
Text: 978.578.5590

http://www.northshorerealestate.com

Hot off the "Actual Statistics" press, it is now time for my Complete 2008 Report of how the real estate market fared in my area of the country - the Massachusetts North Shore, north of Boston. The area of observation consists of 22 towns on the North Shore and considers only SINGLE FAMILY homes for comparison.

So how did we do in December and thus far this year? In December, 145 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 148 homes went under contract. That marks the first time in 12 months that more homes SOLD in a single month than came on the market. Unfortunately, this is proving to be common for the month of December as last year and the year before we experienced the same occurence in December and it is likely a result of sellers taking their homes off the market for the holidays or waiting until the new year to place their homes on the market.

Except for December, every month in 2008 showed more homes coming ON than going OFF the market. In January, that difference was +150, in February, +188; in March, +226; in April, +262; in May, +199, in June +175, in July +148, in August +99, in September +167, in October +113 and in November +40.

That's 1,767 more homes that came on vs. went off during the year 2008.

At first glance, this seems like good news because in 2007, 2,146 more homes came on vs. went off the market. So 2008 showed a drop of almost 18% in the delta. Unfortunately, upon closer examination we see that the overall number of new listings for 2008 was down by 847, or nearly 17% less than in 2007. Likewise, the number of Under Agreements for 2008 were down 468, or about 16% over 2007. So overall, 2008 was nearly identical to 2007.

So, what does this mean in general for our market area?

It means that we will likely continue to remain in a DEPRECIATING market and will continue to remain there until this trend reverses...but there is "light in the tunnel"...it's just faint.

Here's a recap of the previous 12 months:

In December, 145 single family homes came on the market on the North shore and 148 homes went under contract.

In November, 190 single family homes came on the market on the North shore and 150 homes went under contract.

In October, 308 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 195 homes went under contract.

In September, 374 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 207 homes went under contract.

In August, 317 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 218 homes went under contract.

In July, 374 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 226 homes went under contract.

In June, 444 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 269 homes went under contract.

In May, 497 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 298 homes went under contract.

In April, 518 single family homes came on the market in the North shore and 256 homes went under contract.

In March, 454 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 225 homes went under contract.

In February, 357 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 169 homes went under contract.

In January, 313 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 163 single family homes went under contract.

The solution? Sellers need to continue to price their homes ahead of the declining price curve. As noted above, many homes are selling, but they are the ones that are priced properly and AHEAD of the declining value curve.

I will continue to provide updates throughout the year and we'll take a look and see if the market is changing or if we can expect more of the same for a while.

Regards,

Jay Burnham, VP
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
North Shore, Massachusetts

http://www.thecoldwellbankerguy.com/

The following are The Boston Globe Newspaper's real estate headlines for the past six months...all of them (good or bad).  You determine for yourself what kind of a market we continue to experience.

THE BOSTON GLOBE

October, '08:  Pending home sales rise in August - More buyers are drawn to market by low-priced foreclosure properties
"Some pending home sales may not close because banks are reluctant to lend as property values keep sinking and foreclosures mount."

September, '08:  Mass. Home prices, sales fall further
"Economics professor Karl Case said he has scrapped his latest forecast for a housing recovery in early 2009 because of the uncertainties caused by the Wall Street crisis."

September:  Homebuilding falls to 17-year low - Starts decrease 6.2% in August, signaling economy weakening
"Builders in the US broke ground on the smallest number of new homes last month in more than 17 years."

September: Pending home sales off by 3.2% in July
"Fewer Americans signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes in July as harder-to-get financing kept would-be buyers from taking advantage of lower prices."

August, '08:  Bay State home prices still sliding
"July house prices in the Boston area suffered the largest decline since the current housing market downturn began two years ago, while statewide prices had the biggest drop since 1987."

August: Existing-home sales fall in July - Region's prices drop 5 percent
"In July, existing-home sales in the Northeast dropped about 12 percent when compared with July 2007"

August: Existing-home sales fall to 10-year low - Realtors report median price plunges 7.6% in 2^nd quarter as slump deepens
"A third of all existing-home sales in the 2^nd quarter were foreclosures or ‘short sales,' in which lenders took a loss on the property."

August:  Pending home resales climb 5.3% in June on lower prices

August:  With 2 million mortgages in peril, bailout will do little to stem foreclosures

July, '08:  Home construction plunges to 17-year low - Drop suggests no end in sight

July: Loan woes eroding confidence - State's slumping housing market could get worse before it gets better
"We are not anywhere near the bottom of this market yet."

June, '08: The price must be right - More than ever, the starting figure is key to quick home sales

June: Home resales rise, prices fall
"The supply of homes for sale remains about twice the level representing a stable market and figures have yet to show any sign of sustained sales gains."

June: May new-home sales fall, orders stall
"Compared with a year earlier, sales of new homes were down 40 percent."

June: State home sales decline in May - Tally hits 18-year low; prices drop 8.6% so far in ‘08

June: Home prices apt to fall much more - US home prices only about halfway through their decline

June: 1 in 11 mortgages deemed in jeopardy - First quarter worst in nearly 25 years

May, '08: Single-family home prices fall sharply in April - Massachusetts median down 12 percent over a year

May: Lenders offer little help in foreclosures - Many reluctant to accept short offers for distressed homeowners

May: Foreclosure filings keep rising in Commonwealth
"Some affluent suburbs among communities with highest rates of foreclosure in first quarter"

May: Condo sales in Boston drop off - Prices are down in a market formerly seen as bulletproof

April, '08: Housing prices keep falling as slump enters its third year
"Sellers lowering expectations to close deals"
"Home sellers in Massachusetts are slashing prices at double-digit rates to close deals"

April: Mass. Foreclosures up 140% in a year
"Almost 1,200 Massachusetts properties were seized in March"

April: Home foreclosure rate shows no sign of abatement - Bank repossessions top 51,000 in March across the country

Regards,

Jay Burnham, VP
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
http://www.NorthShoreRealEstate.com

A large, and growing group of residents from the Massachusetts towns of Hamilton and Wenham have recently formed a Political Action Committee under the name ENOUGH IS ENOUGH (EIE).

Six weeks before the town elections in Hamilton and Wenham in May 2008, Jim Kent, a Hamilton resident, wrote a letter to the editors of the Hamilton/Wenham Chronical and the Salem News asking for citizen participation in a group aimed at defeating the $1.8 million school funding override.   A group got together and decided to call themselves "Enough is Enough", a battle cry to stop the budget busting pending override.

It was an exciting six weeks, with members walking the streets talking to neighbors, volunteers making signs, helping elders with absentee ballots, writing letters to the editor and distributing flyers.

In a very close election, the override was passed, in Hamilton by only 35 votes.  Even with the defeat of their objective, EIE believed that the election result was a tremendous accomplishment considering the short time frame of the group effort.  Most importantly, the group became very cohesive and fast friends.  Over 100 people contributed in some way.

In June of 2008, Enough is Enough reorganized as a political action committee.  Jim Kent, the founder, is now co-chair along with Robert Sica.  The group's leadership also includes Elizabeth Dunbar as Secretary, and Ed Howard as Treasurer.  Several key committees have been formed with many volunteers actively at work.

A website has been launched to provide important information to the citizens of the two towns and the committee is hard at work on activities that will strengthen town government and provide cost effective services to all of the citizens.

View the website at: http://www.EnoughIsEnoughHW.org

Respectfully submitted by Jay Burnham