You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your Prince!

Buying a house is much like making any relationship commitment. I was 29 (almost 30 shhhh) by the time I found my Prince and decided to get married. Prior to that of course we all have many relationships that falter for one reason or another. In house hunting, it really is the same premise. Each and every house you see will have some flaw that causes you to have a negative feeling about a property. When buyer agents fill out their feedback forms or call the listing agent with feedback, it is 99% of the time somewhat negative or they would be calling with an offer. Only one person can buy your house, so if your house has certain features that you love, don’t be emotionally scarred or defensive when the 9 out of 10 people don’t like it. This is just human nature. Instead take the feedback and see if there is anything you can do to improve that particular flaw. For instance if a buyer says, “I didn’t like the busy road,” you cannot move the property, but perhaps keep the rear shades open and the front shades closed. Try to highlight the back yard and have music playing to detract from traffic noise. If the feedback is, “The house smells of cat litter,” that is a good time to clean up! All that being said, it is not meant as a personal attack against you or your family. Feedback is a critical factor to a home seller and listing agent. If you don’t know what’s wrong, you cannot fix it. Of course at a certain price any frog can be a Prince.

SUNDAY January 22, 2012, 11:30am-1:30pm

Dramatic 3,600+ square foot contemporary on an amazing 2 acre lot near the Country Club. This fantastic home has many options for in-law or au-pair situations. 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, 3 car garage, large vaulted ceilings, huge open spaces and an incredibly gorgeous private mahogany screened porch. Master bedroom has an enormous walk in closet, beautiful views, large bathroom with 2 showers and double sinks. If you love nature look no further. You will even make it home in time to see the Patriots beat the Ravens!!!!!

I remember when my first daughter went to kindergarten. I was so very proud of each tiny accomplishment. Every water color was like a little Rembrandt. I would display them, like every other parent in the world, on my refrigerator or somewhere in the kitchen. But after awhile it can get a little overwhelming, especially if you are selling your house. Let’s remember: not everyone has kids, not everyone even thinks that they are adorable, and in fact, some people have a “kid allergy” and really find them annoying. When you are selling your home, if you overdo the kid thing it can overshadow the selling features of your home inside and out. So here are a few ideas to tone it down a bit and make your house more appealing to everyone, even those who don’t have kids.

Kitchens: Please, please, please don’t leave every school paper known to man attached to the kitchen cabinets because you have run out of space on the refrigerator. Instead, go to Michael’s or A.C. Moore and buy a lovely frame to display one nice piece at a time. File the rest away until you move or until you are ready to weed them out. DO NOT leave baby bottles and Cheerios on surfaces like kitchen counters and high chairs, it seems unkempt and can really be an unattractive eyesore to say the least. People like to see clean kitchens so they can picture themselves eating and cooking there. I know it’s hard, especially when you have a baby, to be as tidy as you would normally be, but please don’t look like an episode of Kitchen Confidential. Keeping your kitchen refrigerator, cabinets and counters clean will highlight your kitchens assets, not hide them.

Living Room/FamilyRoom: Toys, toys, toys and more toys! Yes, I know they seem to breed overnight.  It’s almost uncanny how it happens, but moms, you know what I mean here. Try to pack some away, and leave out only the most played-with and necessary pieces. You can unpack them all one by one in your new place and it will make them new again. Doing this will make your living spaces seem larger without all that clutter. Remember, adults need space too, so make it look spacious.

Bathrooms: Ok yes, rubber duckies are cute but please don’t have a complete duckie bathroom. Try to make small changes to shower curtains, bath mats and soap dispensers to make the bathroom seem more age-appropriate for all. If you use your bathroom to dispose of diapers please keep that area clean or consider a diaper genie. Plug-ins aren’t a bad idea either.

Yard Area: Swing sets are common and actually show what a nice and workable yard you have. But if you have a sandbox overfilled with toys and every rubber ball know to man in the back yard, it’s a bit much. Again, clear this stuff out and put it in bins in the garage, this will not only make the yard look bigger but it will show great garage storage space as well. Instead of a million toys in the yard add a few chairs and a chiminea to show how nice your yard is to hang out in.

All this being said, I love kids, I have two of my own but when you are selling your house you need to keep it low key. No one says, “oh I can actually picture myself having friends over here” in the middle of a toy store. You want them to buy, not fly!

MDM Realty proudly welcomes Sharon to our family and team. A lifelong Framingham resident Sharon knows the Metrowest market inside and out and has been working in the real estate industry for 10 years. Sharon’s knowledge of the local market and area is an asset to anyone who is looking to buy or sell a home in the Metrowest area. If you are looking for someone hyper local please feel free to give her a call or post a message here of Congratulations on her new position.

There are many types of easements that can be pertinent to any property you may own or be looking to purchase. I actually have a large easement on my own property so I am aware of how it affects your day to day life, basically not at all in my case.

I remember about 7 years ago selling a house to a young couple who knew there was an easement in the back yard. They really did not pay too much attention to the details and I was representing the seller so I did not talk to them directly. The property had a town sewer line easement that ran in the back of the house in a parallel line. It ran all the way down the street and through approximately 15 houses that had the opportunity to tie in to the sewer that way. Apparently right before the closing they started asking easement questions and they went through the roof when they thought that someone could arbitrarily come by at any moment and rip up their lawn.

Well in theory yes they could come and repair the sewer line if ever needed, and believe me, you would want them to as well, but the vision of total destruction is inaccurate. They would also be obliged to return it to its present state. They have lived there now for 7 years and no one has ever had to touch the easement.

I wish Verizon had given me that same courtesy when Fios was installed in my street! Some easements are used more than others and finding out about all the details of those easements is the best way to determine how it will, if at all, affect you.

Easements can be for many things, access to water sewer or utility lines is probably the most common, however an easement can be as simple as a path in your back yard that your neighbor has an easement to walk over to get to the neighboring parcel. The most important thing to remember about easements is always ask about the “W’s”… Who What When Where and Why.

Who created the easement, what purpose does it serve, when was it created and why did they create it in the first place. After you have answers to these questions consult your Attorney to be sure you have a complete understanding of the “W’s”. If your easement is a path to the nearby elementary school and heavily used, you may want to consider that when deciding if that house is right for you.

In my case I have a large gas line from the Tennessee Pipeline that runs perpendicular to my house. Every two years they mow the area, and every month they fly over in a helicopter to check the lines. It basically all goes unnoticed and has had no affect on my day to day life. If you are selling a home with an easement try to have all the information about the “W’s” handy so that prospective buyers can understand the scope of the easement. You want them to be comfortable with it and make an offer on your house not panic and ease on down the road!

I believe it was 1984 when Steve Jobs suggested that someday in the future all business would have a computer and perhaps some people might even have one at home. Back then it sounded like a Star Trek episode. I mean really, if you had a word processer at college that was big. Some of us were still using old fashioned typewriters and white out was our best friend. Well we know now how amazingly innovative and correct he was.

Almost every home has at least one computer if not one for each family member. I know in my house we have 4 and we have an extra lap top for traveling. That being said, homes have started to morph from 4 bedrooms to “4^th bedroom being used as office”. If you don’t have an office space carved out somewhere in your home, your prospective buyer will say, “Where are we going to put the office?” If your office space is really your dining room please try to relocate. Dining rooms should be shown as dining rooms and not as anything else. If you have a small house try to carve out a corner nook somewhere. Corner desks are widely available, inexpensive and great space savers. Computers today are small, so a lot of room is not needed. Most new construction homes nowadays either have 1^st floor offices or spaces in the kitchen where a desk has been built in and is cable ready for computer hook up. If you have a wide landing on your second floor you can also make an office space there as well. What I am trying to say here is that home offices have almost become mandatory. If you don’t have one make one. Please remember not to leave office space cluttered with every bill from 2002 and hundreds of kindergarten drawings. Office spaces should look clean and uncluttered creating a serene and inviting work space. If you have small children, perhaps put a child’s desk in the corner with his or her DS and a few drawings from school. This can look adorable.

So thank you to Steve again. You were an innovator and your insight has reached far beyond music, computers and phones. You have actually changed the face of Real Estate all over the world!

The first time I ever had a potential seller ask me to be sure the neighbors didn’t find out they were selling I was flabbergasted. As a newbie Realtor I was only too happy to accommodate this fatal marketing request, which to the best of my recollection backfired. Since that time I have been asked by other potential sellers the same thing, “Do I have to have a sign on the lawn? I don’t want my neighbors to know I’m selling.” Now 20 years later I know that not putting a sign out front is self sabotage to selling your home. The fact is your neighbors are some of the best marketing you have. No one but no one knows your neighborhood, or sometimes even your house, better than your neighbors.

Let’s remember that Frank across the street lived there when you redid all your siding and is a living testimony that you hired a professional company who didn’t cover up asbestos with vinyl to make it look good. Mary from down the street was witness to the fact that you hired a surveyor before you put up that white picket fence which your current buyer is questioning as an encroachment. Yes, potential buyers will ask your neighbors all sorts of questions. As a matter of fact as a buyer’s agent I encourage potential buyers to visit properties on a Saturday and talk to the neighbors. Remember as Realtors we cannot discuss neighborhoods, but the actual neighbors can and will tell you everything. I encourage sellers to not only display their yard sign prominently and proudly but to share with all your neighbors your intentions to sell. It is even a good idea to pass around your marketing materials to neighbors who may come into contact with potential buyers so they can know what is going on. You want your Realtor to advertise your property so why hide it from your neighbors? They read the paper too!

Selling your house should be a positive experience, so start of on the right foot. Instead of playing hide and seek with your marketing plan try being loud and proud, it will certainly get you better results.

Remember back in the day when we had no email, texting, facebook, IM, and pdf’s? When we actually passed real written notes in school? Do you like me? Check Yes or No! Well sometimes it’s good to get back to basics and your house can do the same thing. I’m talking about writing an old fashioned love letter of sorts. As a Realtor we can only know about your home what you tell us. We are given exactly 500 characters to describe all the attributes of your home, and guess what… that’s not a lot of space. No one knows more about your home than you do and you can help to pass along to potential buyers extra pertinent information about your house by writing it an actual love letter of sorts for all to see. Here is a small example:

Dear Potential buyer of 123 Main St,

Thank you for coming to see our home. We have lived here for 8 years and have raised our beautiful children here. When we came home from the hospital the neighbors were wonderful and cooked for us for 7 days. We have become family. This yard has seen many BBQ get togethers, happy moments of our lives and can accommodate 100 people nicely. The small slope in the back makes an excellent sledding hill in the winter months as well. The morning sun is always shining in the kitchen as it faces east and we will miss how warm the floor is in the winter from the radiant heat. We have done lots of work to this house and most recently replaced the roof and painted our daughter’s room (top of the stairs left) and have left the leftover paint in the basement for touch ups. We are sad to leave all the memories we have made here, but we are moving out West to be closer to my parents. We hope that if you decide to move here you will love it as much as we have and your own memories will soon be made in the same backyard.

Thank you for taking the time to read our letter,

Happy Homeowner.

Of course you can elaborate on this letter and that was just an example, but I have been in homes where the homeowner has written this type of love letter and it really does make a buyer feel a little more welcomed. It also shows that when you love a home you maintain it, just like any other relationship. So if you are planning on putting your house on the market this fall consider wearing your heart on your sleeve and write that old fashioned note. When you are done you can even scan it and send it online! Who knows, maybe you will even get a reply, like an offer.

Built in 1998 this young duplex is located in a fantastic and quiet cul-de-sac neighborhood. Each unit has 3 bedrooms 2.5 baths formal dining room, fireplace, eat in kitchens with lots of cabinetry and large living area. Master bedrooms have vaulted ceilings and private baths and both units boast a beautiful covered deck that overlooks large private backyard. Young and easy to maintain you could live here for less than rent! See one or see them both!

Seeing is believing when it comes to this fantastic and unique property located at 947 Pleasant Street in Framingham, MA, 01701. This 5 bedroom 3.5 bath home, listed at $499,900 was originally a dairy barn circa 1910 and was thoughtfully renovated into this incredible living space in 1988. The current seller has made recent and amazing upgrades to this property including an Italian imported kitchen with granite counters, finished off the third floor walk up into a media or bonus room with extra office and had the foyer wall painted into a work of art by Boston artist Tasha Cough using a mixture of oil paint and wax, these are just a few of the improvements made. There are 2 master bedrooms one of the first floor and one on the second floor both with private baths. The first floor master also has a handicap accessible shower with seat as well as a private sitting room for in-law or aupair set up.3 car garage, central air, wide pine floors, wet bar, fireplace, I could go on forever but as I said seeing is truly believing. Open House Sunday 8/28/2011 12pm to 2pm. Hope to see you there!