As huge flakes of heavy wet snow blanketed central Massachusetts on Wednesday, my heart sank. I feared that, coupled with the impending year-end holidays, it would be a knockout blow to the residential real estate market in my small rural towns for the rest of 2014. Indeed, the MLS has for weeks been filled with daily notifications of listings that have expired or been cancelled by homeowners who chose to shut their doors to new buyers as temperatures plunged. It's hard to blame them.
But I was abruptly lulled out of my early winter doldrums last night, when an agent who had shown my most expensive offering, a 23-acre country estate in Princeton, MA, asked if she could bring her clients back for a second showing tomorrow morning. Before I could even confirm that appointment with the willing sellers, another local agent requested a Sunday morning showing on my Princeton "tennis court" property. I hadn't been expecting this kind of activity at the sleepy tail-end of the Thanksgiving weekend, but both my sellers and I were delighted to keep the doors open.
There was more. I also represent the elegant Winterwood Inn in Petersham, a 5300-square-foot working Bed & Breakfast on four acres in the picturesque center of town. With seven bedroom suites and grand formal rooms on the main level, it's waiting for a special buyer. Perhaps we won't have to wait much longer. An agent called to ask if could bring an out-of-state client to see it tomorrow afternoon. Though the innkeepers will be busy decorating for Christmas, they graciously agreed to welcome us for a tour. Whether or not this buyer decides to purchase the Inn, he'll enjoy a memorable taste of the hospitality and warmth that emanates from a "public" home like Winterwood at this time of year, and just maybe, will find its allure irresistible.
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