Western Mass Homes Lesley Lambert

Towns of Western Massachusetts

Western MA Gardening Season!

Western Massachusetts it is time to think petunias and pansies and perennials and PLANTING!
Berkshire Botanical Gardens

I love everything about gardens. I love exploring garden centers, selecting my special new additions to the landscape, getting into comfortable gardening clothes and spending a day in the sunshine getting muddy and tired. I even like the soothing monotony of weeding, once in awhile!

Here in Western Massachusetts we have lots of inspiration and ideas to be found in area gardens in parks, historic estates and neighbor’s yards.

My weakness is perennial flowers, but my daughters love annuals and we usually focus on the flowers that butterflies enjoy. Our favorite shopping destination is Meadowview Nurseries in Southwick , MA which is only open a few short months, but has a huge selection and good prices. We can spend hours (and a lot of money) bonding over our flowers and I tell them what each flower is best used for and what the names mean. It can get busy, but the check out lines move fast and the selection is worth it! Just remember to bring your checkbook or cash, no credit taken here.

A great resource for learning some fun facts about flowers is this post from The Gardening Channel, for example, did you know that Tulip bulbs can be substituted for onions in a recipe?

As a real estate agent in Western MA, I can tell you that an attractive landscape will go a long way in the saleability of your home. If you are currently selling your home it has been proven that yellow flowers attract more buyer attention.

Do you like gardening? What kind of gardening do you do in Western MA? Where is your favorite place to buy plants?

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

An icon from the Crystal icon theme.
Image via Wikipedia

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.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Park Square Realty Top Real Estate Office in 2010

I don’t spend a lot of time bragging about statistics or spewing sales statistics, but it is important for you to know why I have chosen to work with Park Square Realty in Westfield, MA.

I began my real estate career with my mom who was broker/owner of a small office in Westfield, MA for decades.  She retired and closed her office while I was on maternity leave.  When I decided it was time to re-enter the real estate profession I picked Park Square Realty because they run their company with the same values and concepts that my mother and I believed in.

Another reason that I chose Park Square Realty was because of their high standards for full time REALTORS.  These standards have created an environment of excellence and high production.  Our team is small, about 55 agents (compared to our nearest competitions over 200 agents), but mighty.

I am proud to report that our company remains the top company for our service area in 2010.

PARK SQUARE REALTY IS:

#1 Real Estate Company for home sales in Westfield Sales in 2010.

#1 Real Estate Company for home sales in West Springfield, Agawam/Feeding Hills, Southwick & Westfield Quadrant Sales in 2010.

#1 Real Estate Company for home sales in Agawam, Feeding Hills & Westfield Sales in 2010.

The final standings for the agents in the company aren’t out as of this post, but I was the #1 agent for the first half of 2010.  This has been a good year for Park Square Realty and for me and I look forward to another year of helping people in Western Massachusetts buy and sell homes.  Please let me know if you have any questions or need help!

Enhanced by Zemanta

Fence makes bad neighbor in Western MA

A wood fence
Image via Wikipedia

OK, so it is possible that the following tale was an accident, but I seriously doubt it.

A client of mine is purchasing a home for her children and herself and found a good deal on a bank foreclosure in Western Massachusetts.  We have gone through all the hoops and are at the end run hoping to close before the end of the year when we get a call from her attorney telling us that there is a title issue.

It seems that when the survey was done by the bank, it was discovered that the next door neighbor’s driveway and fence is a bit more than three feet onto the property we are trying to purchase.

Well, these things happen, you say (as did I) until we recalled that the driveway and fence in question appear to be brand spanking new.

I am speculating here, but am fairly sure of myself in thinking that these people next door took advantage of the vacant property status to enhance their own property holdings.

My buyer still wants the home, so now we have embarked on an attempt to reach the neighbor to get the proper paperwork signed to protect my buyer from liability, etc.

But seriously, assuming that my guess is right: what gall!

Foreclosure is enough of a problem in your neighborhood without causing easement, title and legal disruptions.  Reducing the size of your neighbor’s yard will not increase your property values as their sale is the current comparable for value and if you lower their value you lower your own.  If you can’t do the right thing just because it IS, indeed, the right thing, then at least consider your own property values.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Free Western MA Real Estate Market Reports

Wondering how home values in your Western Massachusetts town are holding up? Curious to see what your Western Massachusetts home might be worth in today’s market? Thinking of moving to a new town in Western Massachusetts and want to know what the real estate market looks like there?

I would be happy to provide you with a FREE Western MA Real Estate Market Report with no obligation. You can see a sample of the report I send. To receive your customized report please fill out the form below: