Western Mass Homes Lesley Lambert

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Short Sale Realtor in Western Massachusetts

My latest listing found me on Google by researching the term “short sale real estate agent in Western MA” and has been following my blog articles of short sale advice and education. 

While it is never a great thing to have to sell your home via short sale, I am honored that she valued my input enough to want guidance through this and I am thrilled that I may be able to help her through this difficult time. 

She tried to get several other agents to help her with getting informed and they gave her answers like: “short sales are too much work”. 

While there is some truth to the fact that there can be extra work involved in selling a short sale, each one is different and they can go fairly smoothly.  They are also a reality of our market right now. 

I find great pleasure in helping sellers with their short sale situations for a few reasons:

#1- I was there and feel empathy for their level of stress.  I want to help that stress decrease.

#2- It is a hands on way for me to help the housing market recover and stop properties from foreclosing

#3- It is an avenue of business for me.

So, if you are a homeowner in Western Massachusetts who needs a real estate agent to help you make a short sale work, call me.  If you are a REALTOR in Western Massachusetts who doesn’t want to work short sales: refer those clients to me, I will take good care of them!

 

Second Quarter Home Sales Statistics for Hampden and Hampshire County, MA

In the first two months of the second quarter, 865 jobs were added to the payrolls of Hampden County.
As a result of these new jobs, the average monthly unemployment rate fell from 9.7% during the first
quarter to 9% for April and May. This steady job creation may help to maintain demand for home
purchases. Favorable mortgage rates should support this trend.
Labor Market :
Housing Market :
(Forecast)
Q1′ 09 Q2′ 09 Q3′ 09
Average Price $172,000 $195,800
# Homes on the Market * 1,939 2,143
# Homes Sold ** 458 742
# New Homes Built *** 32 38 ***
Avg # of Days on Market 106 102
* Available as of Jun. 30, 2009.
*** During the first two months of 2nd quarter.
** May not add to total of zip codes.
Zip Code Average Price Price Change
***
Total #
Homes Sold
(Quarter)
% Change in #
Homes Sold
***
Average Days
on Market
% of Asking Price
(Sold/
List Price)
Data by Zip Codes for Q2 2009
01001 $242,200 8.42% 22 -38.89% 61 95.9%
01008 $172,100 -42.88% 6 200.00% 77 96.6%
01010 $199,700 -24.24% 11 37.50% 129 97.4%
01011 $169,000 51.98% 1 -66.67% 77 99.5%
01013 $150,300 -12.36% 25 -7.41% 105 96.4%
01020 $172,000 -8.95% 45 -2.17% 102 96.6%
01028 $254,100 -7.70% 34 -26.09% 92 96.1%
01030 $223,400 -14.41% 16 -30.43% 82 97.6%
01034 $318,000 -17.96% 3 50.00% 386 94.3%
11
*** % Change of current quarter compared to the same quarter to year ago.
Local Report
Hampden County, MA
Zip Code Average Price Price Change
***
Total #
Homes Sold
(Quarter)
% Change in #
Homes Sold
***
Average Days
on Market
% of Asking Price
(Sold/
List Price)
Data by Zip Codes for Q2 2009
01036 $302,600 3.24% 7 -53.33% 137 96.4%
01040 $189,900 -7.86% 40 17.65% 100 96.4%
01056 $200,400 -5.74% 33 6.45% 130 95.3%
01057 $222,700 -10.53% 9 -18.18% 104 95.3%
01069 $167,500 -11.56% 16 -15.79% 124 96.6%
01071 $196,900 0.46% 5 150.00% 202 96.7%
01077 $249,900 -12.84% 17 -34.62% 113 96.6%
01080 $186,500 65.78% 3 50.00% 153 103.6%
01085 $231,800 -14.94% 63 -3.08% 85 96.8%
01089 $214,600 -2.54% 50 0.00% 101 95.9%
01095 $308,800 -3.80% 35 -22.22% 138 95.4%
01104 $116,200 -7.48% 35 -16.67% 108 97.8%
01106 $344,600 2.38% 44 0.00% 87 95.2%
01107 $126,600 -24.69% 8 100.00% 121 97.4%
01108 $126,500 -14.18% 36 20.00% 134 98.4%
01109 $89,000 -18.72% 27 -6.90% 79 94.3%
01118 $147,700 -2.44% 58 16.00% 100 96.3%
01119 $134,900 -7.67% 38 -7.32% 75 97.1%
01128 $160,900 -6.45% 11 -31.25% 72 95.3%
01129 $155,700 -3.05% 23 35.29% 92 95.7%
01151 $103,300 -23.71% 13 30.00% 115 94.7%
01521 $175,600 4.77% 7 -30.00% 108 95.6%
OTHER $140,000 N/A 1 N/A 183 98.6%
12
*** % Change of current quarter compared to the same quarter to year ago.
Local Report
Hampshire County, MA
1 2 3 4 5 Seller’s
Market
Buyer’s
Market
In the first two months of the second quarter, 1,249 jobs were added to the payrolls of Hampshire
County. As a result of these new jobs, the average monthly unemployment rate fell from 6.1% during the
first quarter to 5.7% for April and May. This steady job creation may help to maintain demand for home
purchases. Favorable mortgage rates should support this trend.
Labor Market :
Housing Market :
(Forecast)
Q1′ 09 Q2′ 09 Q3′ 09
Average Price $251,800 $267,600
# Homes on the Market * 667 809
# Homes Sold ** 116 231
# New Homes Built *** 5 9 ***
Avg # of Days on Market 115 118
* Available as of Jun. 30, 2009.
*** During the first two months of 2nd quarter.
** May not add to total of zip codes.
Zip Code Average Price Price Change
***
Total #
Homes Sold
(Quarter)
% Change in #
Homes Sold
***
Average Days
on Market
% of Asking Price
(Sold/
List Price)
Data by Zip Codes for Q2 2009
01002 $307,800 -20.26% 28 -15.15% 129 95.1%
01007 $252,700 -12.47% 27 -3.57% 109 96.0%
01012 $103,300 -49.90% 2 0.00% 30 97.5%
01026 $418,300 237.34% 2 100.00% 29 93.0%
01027 $230,100 -16.84% 30 -11.76% 83 96.7%
01032 $165,000 -36.81% 1 -75.00% 89 101.9%
01033 $243,400 3.27% 6 -33.33% 194 100.0%
01035 $309,500 -20.46% 11 10.00% 109 91.4%
01038 $363,500 30.71% 3 -50.00% 167 91.4%
13
*** % Change of current quarter compared to the same quarter to year ago.
Local Report
Hampshire County, MA
Zip Code Average Price Price Change
***
Total #
Homes Sold
(Quarter)
% Change in #
Homes Sold
***
Average Days
on Market
% of Asking Price
(Sold/
List Price)
Data by Zip Codes for Q2 2009
01050 $280,000 64.42% 1 -75.00% 372 94.0%
01053 $260,000 -32.47% 1 0.00% 323 91.6%
01060 $356,100 -1.19% 21 31.25% 90 96.9%
01062 $339,300 18.72% 21 -16.00% 102 96.2%
01070 $210,800 N/A 2 N/A 361 89.7%
01073 $292,800 -17.91% 14 -26.32% 160 97.4%
01075 $228,500 -1.30% 27 0.00% 122 94.9%
01082 $172,900 -9.33% 25 108.33% 128 94.0%
01096 $344,300 -18.99% 3 200.00% 68 93.6%
01098 $218,500 N/A 5 N/A 145 94.8%
01243 $27,000 -70.00% 1 0.00% 74 93.4%
14
*** % Change of current quarter compared to the same quarter to year ago.

Google Your Next House!

This week Google announced their foray into the real estate market by promoting Google Maps search for homes for sale.

According to their blog: You can now find real estate in cities and towns across the US, Australia, New Zealand and India. This is both real estate for sale and rentals available.

The picture below is my search for real estate in Westfield, MA.

google maps search for real estate in westfield, ma
google maps search for real estate in westfield, ma

This newest venture is bound to have a huge impact on how people search for and find their next home. What do you think?

TwitterQueens Holiday Giving Chooses Mothers Fighting For Others

(original post by Diane Guercio on TwitterQueens)

I have spoken to Rocky Turner a couple of times over the past few weeks, and to say that her strength is an inspiration would be an understatement.
To say that I am blown away by how she (and her husband) manage to raise six children (hands on- I have heard her helping with homework) and spend time in Africa acting as a surrogate mother to the girls of an orphanage would be an understatement.
To say that I am impressed to the bone by the level of integrity with which she runs her non-profit organization Mothers Fighting For Others- well, that would be a huge understatement.

This is an older video. It tells a little bit about the work Rocky and Ashley Saunders are doing in Kenya, and there are even more girls that need help now.

I like the starfish story that Rocky tells. I like it because it only begins to tell the story. A kindness done spreads by ripple effect (as many of us have seen here on TwitterQueens)- toss that starfish in and literally you change the course of the world. Teach a group of young women about unlimited potential and you unleash power that not only changes lives- it will change the lives of their children and their children’s friends. Can you imagine it?

Rocky will be on TQ Radio on Monday November 2. I liked what she had been doing before I had spoken with her- but listen to this. I was curious about how this had all been put together. Except for an average of $20 per month in administration costs, every cent of money raised has gone to the children. Not only do the women completely forgo any salaries- Rocky has paid for her own transportation and nearly all of the associated expenses of traveling there. She told me what that cost for the past year. Incredible.

So this is what I was thinking. I know that we are all busy, but I think some small calls-to-action would literally change the world.

1. We are “adopting” Mothers Fighting For Others as our choice for any gift-giving. Have an extra $5 at the end of the week? Click the PayPal button that will be on the front page and donate. If we all donate pocket change it will add up in a hurry.

2. Through the season, we wanted to start TQ Holidays for MFFO. Kind of a clunky name, but we can call it TQHMFFO if that is better ;). This means two things. a) SPREAD THE WORD! MFFO is really operating on a shoestring- in fact, they have borrowed to pay for the shoestring. By spreading the word we may end up with more individual sponsors, and also come across corporate sponsorship. b) Donate the cost of a gift to MFFO. I am going to do this with my youngest daughter Jenny. We will talk together about how much a present would cost and donate together.

3. Write a blog post about MFFO.

4. Consider asking any corporations you are involve with to sponsor MFFO- either by matching dollars donated by TQ members, or in a more broad sense.

5. See if your school would like to donate to support this cause. This could be as simple as seeing if your child’s class would set up a “Quarters for Kenya” jar prior to the holiday break and donating the proceeds through the PayPal button here.

Little things. But like with the starfish in the story, the little things are everything.

Rocky Turner will be speaking about her work on Monday on TQ Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com/jckc . TwitterQueen Jeff Turner is Rocky’s husband. Rocky is @HeadMutha on twitter; Jeff is @respres