I love Turning Houses into Homes by helping people like you sell and buy homes on the South Shore Click on a town name to see all the homes for sale in Duxbury, Cohasset, Hingham, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth and Scituate My business is built on referrals from clients and people like you. If you know of a friend, family member or colleague who is thinking of selling or buying a home, I'd love to help. Please call or write me to arrange an introduction. I will provide professional, courteous service and knowledgeable guidance. Call or text (339) 832-8487 or write me to sell your home, or to see any home for … (3 comments)
opinion: Bob Dylan sez
- 01/12/14 10:15 AM
All the money you make will never buy back your soul. - Bob Dylan, Masters Of War The swift don't win the race. It goes to the worthy, who can divide the word of truth. - Bob Dylan, I and I If you need somebody you can trust, trust yourself. - Bob Dylan, Trust Yourself Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you. - Bob Dylan, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue To live outside the law you must be honest. - Bob Dylan, Absolutely Sweet Marie I set my monkey on the log, and ordered him to do … (7 comments)
opinion: Lead with Integrity
- 01/12/14 09:44 AM
A friend of mine called for some advice. The content of her situation is somewhat outside the scope of this forum. Suffice it to say that there was a moral component that was giving her some trouble. She wasn't sure what to do. One option would cause someone else emotional pain. Another option wouldn't hurt anyone, but would require my friend to be courageous and centered and strong in the face of her own feelings. As I was giving her my opinion about what she should do, she stopped me at one point to say, "What was that?" "What?", I said. … (11 comments)
opinion: Where were you?
- 11/22/13 05:12 AM
The two big "where were you? questions are JFK's assassination and 9/11. The moon landing was another, but it was different: it was the first national television-event shared experience where we all tuned in to watch a planned event. Until JFK, no one had asked that question before and been able to get an answer from everyone in the United States and in many other countries as well. Where were you? I was two. I grew up in Washington, D.C. I don't remember the assassination, but perhaps my earliest memory was the backwards boots on the horse at the funeral. That … (5 comments)
opinion: Gender Identity Added to NAR Code of Ethics
- 11/13/13 01:48 AM
Gender Identity Added to NAR Code of Ethics An article in the Daily Real Estate News, posted on NAR's RealtorMag site, reports that Article 10 of the NAR Code of Ethics now reads as follows: "REALTORS® shall not deny equal professional services to any person for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. REALTORS® shall not be parties to any plan or agreement to discriminate against a person or persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. REALTORS®, in their real estate employment practices, shall … (11 comments)
opinion: Real estate isn't a free lunch - The dish
- 11/01/13 09:41 AM
Since the New Deal, several generations of Americans have come to expect that home price would rise over time. We have also been able to point to long periods of time when the gains have exceeded the rate of inflation. Some measures even compare rates of return on residential real estate with stock market or bond returns, although the purported gains don't take into account the annual costs of maintainance, paying taxes and other costs associated with home ownership. The gains have not been automatic, of course. The expectation that we will be able to sell our houses at a … (12 comments)
Are you inclined to "go with your gut" on money matters? After you see a professional sales presentation by an experienced negotiator who has done a complete job of preparing a thorough and insightful analysis of your house, the neighborhood and town, given you staging ideas and a time-tested marketing strategy, and helped you decide on the price of your real estate asset, do you choose another agent because that person is your friend or relative? I go with my gut, too, but only after finding out the facts. My gut is … (8 comments)
For more than 20 years, my father was an editorial writer for the New York Times. He covered the U.S. Supreme Court and the New York courts, primarily. This Independence Day, he sent around this copy of his editorial from 26 years ago, when the Times, at my father's behest, reprinted the text of the Constitution, along with its customary printing of the Declaration of Independence. Here, slightly edited, is his introductory email to today's celebrants, followed by the editorial itself. The full text of the U.S. Constitution may … (19 comments)
18 pairs of Piping Plovers have decided to make Duxbury Beach their home for the summer. Town government being what it is, the announcement that the birds' presence triggered state and Federal protection laws that are intended to limit human interaction with and damage to the Plovers and their habitat was handled in an inelegant, insensitive and blunderingly blunt fashion. Predictably, closing the beach for an indefinite time has created a human backlash of thunderstorm proportions. As the grandson of the woman who invented the Cape Cod … (3 comments)
opinion: Housing report you need to see
- 05/24/13 06:59 AM
Just the facts. When I re-blog other peoples' content, it is because the information is very helpful. While we are certainly seeing an active market, with properly priced homes selling in a very short period of time, the short-term positives are tempered, in my mind, with some very significant longer-term issues. The "recovery" is biggest, in percentage terms, in certain markets that were very hard-hit. The recovery is from very low levels. If interest rates rise, buyers' purchasing power will dry up. If sellers start putting more homes on the market, that could slow or stop advancing price levels in … (3 comments)
opinion: Home Prices Gain 9.3% in February 2013
- 05/02/13 01:11 AM
Just a quick counterbalance on the article below. News from the same name on the same day, but not reported the same way: SHILLER: Enough With The Happy Housing Talk -- House Prices Will Be Flat For 10 Years Many of the comments to the original post talk with similar and appropriate caution. Even if the recent price increases are evidence that the market has bottomed, which I suspect may be true, this is not -- in my opinion -- an unambiguously good picture. The good news depends critically on price bumps in the most depressed cities. In the medium view, it … (3 comments)
opinion: Home prices are up strongly in markets with best JOB growth
- 05/01/13 03:16 AM
If you've been reading my blog the last couple of months, you know that I've applauded the appearance of "hot" real estate markets in many metro areas, but cautioned that continued growth is going to require real job growth. Now comes a USA Today article that shows that home prices are up strongly in markets with best job growth. This is good news for those local economies. Let's hope that the job growth is in sectors outside the housing industry, and that the job market recovery becomes stronger and more widespread. It would be very good news if job growth were … (2 comments)
opinion: "We are not creating another housing bubble"
- 04/09/13 02:05 AM
In another episode of "How the Talking Heads Skew the Facts" with rumors, exaggeration and ear-candy headlines, here's an economist saying, "We are not creating another housing bubble" because inventories are likely to rise soon and prices are still low relative to 2005 almost everywhere. Like lawyers, no economist can work alone: there's no business to be done until there are two in town. Still, since Sharga is talking about what I've been saying, I'll give him my pulpit for a moment, and let me let him speak for himself.
opinion: Will the bubbles spread, becoming a national frenzy?
- 04/06/13 06:54 AM
A week or so ago, I wrote, "Will prices skyrocket if rates stay low for two years?, in which I suggested that home price increases can't outpace economic growth for very long under current conditions. Kathy Streib wrote me, asking, Brad- I'm concerned that we'll head towards the buying frenzy that got us into this. Your thoughts? My reply is, Kathy, I think the hot-market buyers are putting themselves at risk. If the economy grows, people who are paying 2005 prices now could get hurt by higher interest rates as consumer purchasing power shrinks. If the economy fails to grow in hot housing … (7 comments)
opinion: Multiple micro-bubbles in major metro housing markets
- 03/31/13 12:16 AM
We are looking at multiple micro-bubbles in major metro housing markets along both coasts and in Texas and Arizona, and gurus in the media are speculating about home prices skyrocketing if mortgage rates stay low. We are being told that the economy is healing and that things are gradually getting better for "the rest of us". I agree. Things are getting better. Things have already gotten a lot better for some people, and not much better for a whole lot of other people. Now we are being encouraged to believe that the tide is rising swiftly and strongly enough to raise … (4 comments)
opinion: Will prices skyrocket if rates stay low for two years?
- 03/30/13 11:42 PM
Will prices skyrocket if rates stay low for two years? Yes, in those places where job and wage growth outside the housing industry is strong. I just watched a video from Bloomberg that made some great predictions, fanning the flames of the hot-market mentality (and reality, in some major metro markets), but not directly answering the real problem with the predictions. In this case, the moderator did ask the question, but got only half the answer. I am optimistic about these predictions, but the headline "Prices to Skyrocket" doesn't address the real problem that the interviewer asked. Here's the interview. If … (17 comments)
opinion: The 30-Year History of 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages
- 03/18/13 10:30 PM
The 30-Year history of 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages The 30-year history of 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates is that those rates have been in a slow, fairly steady, continuing decline. Did you know that? Do you remember the gas crisis of the '70s? How about the inflation? I do. Look at the chart below. It shows the very long-lasting trend of falling long-term rates. Right now, "everyone" is saying that rates can't stay this low: everyone with a vested interest in getting people to borrow money right now, that is. I'm asking, why can't they go lower? Why are interest rates sure to go … (7 comments)
Write me to sell your home, or to see any home for sale on the South Shore
My business is built on referrals from clients and people like you. If you know of a friend, family member or colleague who is thinking of selling or buying a home, I'd love to help.
Please call or text (339) 832-8487, or write me to arrange an introduction. I will provide professional, courteous service and knowledgeable guidance.
Springfield
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