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Western Mass Homes Lesley Lambert

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Park Square Realty Awards Breakfast

Park Square Awards Breakfast

Today was the Park Square Realty Awards Breakfast at Tucker’s Restaurant in Southwick, MA. Agents from both the Westfield, MA and Feeding Hills, MA Park Square Realty offices were honored with awards for production, loyalty and some special awards for all kinds of amusing reasons.

One of the reasons that I like working for Park Square Realty is that in addition to being a group of high producing, hard working professionals – we know how to have fun, too!

I was proud to have met my 2010 goal and to have placed in the Platinum Circle and top 5 agents in the company. I also received a loyalty award for five years of working for Park Square Realty.

I made this video to share with you so you can glimpse the inside of Park Square Realty…there is a reason we are number one in our area!

What difference can 1% make in your home buying power?

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Mortgage rates are on the rise and home buyers and home sellers in Western Massachusetts need to know what the changing rates mean to their buying and selling power.

Let’s take a look at a specific example in a post that I wrote for Masslive.com:

Susie Buyer wants to purchase a $200,000 house. Her current loan is set at 5% with $10,000 down over 30 years. Her monthly payment is approximately $1,230.

She waits on making her purchase and interest rates rise to 6% changing her monthly payment to $1,350.

Now, you may say to yourself, “well, that is only $120 a month, not a big deal”. However…this change will affect her debt to income ratios and in many cases will reduce her buying power. It is very possible that Susie will now have to reduce her purchase level to $184,000 or lower to meet her guidelines and keep the monthly payment at about $1,230. Now I think we can all agree that $16,000 or more is pretty significant.

Susie qualifies for less home, which will surely be disappointing to her when she starts to comparison shop, but is also significant for home sellers.

When rates go up the pool of buyers who qualify to purchase your home goes down.

What can you do about it?

Buyers can get qualified now and lock in their rate for as long as possible.

Sellers can make sure that their home is priced competitively to attract as many qualified buyers as possible.

The important thing is to understand that 1% is more than you think.

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Does Your Western MA REALTOR Do This? Online Open House

house for sale at 81 woodmont, westfield, maEveryone is busier than ever and many of us don’t have the free time to visit open houses, even if we do want to buy a home in Western Massachusetts.

Today was an especially cold day, the kind that no one leaves home unless they really need to. Park Square Realty had already scheduled an open house for my new listing at 81 Woodmont Street, Westfield, MA and decided that I would use the time at my property to try a new technique: Online Virtual Open House.

I used my iPhone to live stream from the property. The format shows the viewer a live video along with sound and a chat room so that viewers can type questions or converse with each other. While showing the property I offered to answer any questions the viewers may have about the house or real estate in Westfield, MA. As they typed their questions to me, I answered them out loud in real time.

I got wonderful feedback from the viewers that attended, in a poll of the the viewers 100% of them thought it was a good format and enjoyed being able to see a house this way.

If you want a Western MA real estate agent that is innovative, hard working and can provide proven results, call me, Lesley Lambert at Park Square Realty. I am working every day to provide new marketing services to augment my strong traditional marketing techniques. I would love the opportunity to meet with you personally and discuss all the tools I use to get my Western MA homes for sale SOLD.

Here is the video from the open house at 81 Woodmont Street, Westfield, MA:

What do you think? Do you like this added service? Would you like your REALTOR to offer services like this?

Park Square Pumpkin Patrol

Park Square Realty Pumpkins
Park Square Realty in Westfield and Feeding Hills, MA is spending a rainy Autumn day spreading some festive fall cheer.

The company purchased pumpkins for every agent to deliver to clients, friends and family in Western MA and on September 30, 2010 the pumpkins rolled out.

Here is the video I made for our pumpkin patrol party:

I will surprise 15 people in the Greater Westfield area over the next couple of days with a pumpkin delivery. Happy Fall Western MA!