FEATURED PROPERTY

List Price: $1,199,000 Bedrooms: 4 Bath: 3 Full, 1 Half Location Location Location! This expansive custom-built colonial with farmer's porch is situated in Tall Pines, Carlisle's finest neighborhood! A stunning 2 story foyer sets the tone for this impressive home. The living area is open, bright and includes a spacious office, front to back living room and dining room with gleaming hardwood floors, flowing into the beautiful kitchen with breakfast area and slider on to a screened porch and deck overlooking the manicured 2.2 acres! The family room is just off the kitchen and has a classic fireplace and soaring ceilings. The second level offers 4 spacious bedrooms including the dramatic master suite and sumptuous bath. A huge game room, perfect for any family finishes off the second floor. Additional features include a 3 car garage and convenient laundry room. You would be proud to call this one home! www.realestatebylaurab.com

  BUYERS TIPS

The process of buying a new home can certainly seem complicated, but if you do your "homework" and take it step-by-step, you'll soon be holding the keys to your new home! You'll notice a recurring theme in the steps below: shop around. Take the time to determine which lender, agent, homeowners insurance, and of course, house, is the very best for you and your family.

1. Determine how much you can afford to spend on a new home. Your budget will depend on your income, credit rating, current monthly expenses, down payment, and mortgage rate. Your lender or housing councilor can help you figure out what you can afford.

2. Shop around for the best mortgage lenders and mortgage rates. Like many other things in life, you can't settle on the first deal you encounter. Compare mortgage lenders, costs, and interest rates to find what will fit your budget in the long run.

3. Compile a new home "wish list." Write down all the features and amenities you look for in a home and list them in order of priority. You can narrow the list down once you determine what features you can get within the parameters of your budget. Take your wish list with you when comparing homes.

4. Choose a real estate agent. It's very important to have a broker that has experience, expertise and market knowledge. If you are looking in the immediate area, contact Laura B or the Laura B team. If you are looking outside of our market area, call us so we can refer you to a broker that shares similar standards of professionalism.

5. Look for your dream home. More about this in next month's issue.

6. Make an offer. Your agent can help you with this. Remember that you may need to negotiate with the seller to determine the terms of sale. Make your offer contingent upon a home inspection. This could keep you from purchasing a home that needs major repairs. If damage is uncovered, the seller should be responsible for making repairs or adjusting the cost of the home appropriately.

7. Purchase homeowners insurance. This will be a requirement of your lending company. Like every other step in the process, shop around for the best!

7. Close the deal. The closing process involves a lot of paperwork. Make sure you read and understand every word before signing. Ask your agent to clarify anything you don't understand.

8. Move in!

Next month, we'll take an in depth look at the house-hunting process and discuss tips for finding your dream home.

  SELLERS TIPS

The object of staging a house is to use decor and furnishings to minimize flaws and maximize attributes. Create focal points throughout the property that draw attention and distinction to your home. When preparing to stage a home, just remember the three C's: cleanliness, clutter removal, and color. Except for basic decor and furnishings, you want your house to look like a clean slate so that it's easier for prospective buyers to envision themselves living there. The following are tips for successful staging:

1. De-personalize the house. Stow away those items with sentimental meaning. Take down family pictures, kids' artwork and grandma's embroidered pillows. This also applies to non-essential furniture, like that antique roll-top desk or that dusty old China cabinet. Consider renting a storage unit which will safely house about half of your furniture and almost all personal items. This step is all about removing clutter and personal elements. Don't be surprised if people who come to view your house freely open cabinet and closet doors. These spaces should be clutter-free too, or at least organized so that they appear larger.

2. Repair any visible damage. Repaint stained or dingy walls, mend leaks and cracks, and basically spruce everything up. Now, more than ever, is the time to make the repairs you've been meaning to make for years.

3. Repaint common rooms. The rooms that garner the most attention vary from house to house. These are often the living room, dining room and kitchen. Determine the most important rooms for your sell and give them a fresh coat of neutrally colored paint. Now would also be a good time to strip away dingy old wallpaper.

4. Clean the exterior of the house. Remove clutter from the yard and outdoor living spaces, add potted plants and flowers, repair cracks in sidewalks and driveways, and make sure your lawn is freshly cut and bushes trimmed. Consider applying a fresh coat of paint to your front door. Remember, the house must have "curb appeal." This will be the prospective buyer's first impression of the home!

5. Add a little pizazz! Before an open house, place fresh flowers around the house. Flowers add an aesthetic quality to the home, as well as render a fresh, clean scent. Place a big bowl of whole fresh fruit on the kitchen counter or island. Display scented soaps in your bathrooms, fold towels nicely and make sure that toilet sparkles!

Next month we'll discuss the importance of good virtual staging for marketing your home online.

  WHAT'S NEW IN YOUR AREA

To find out specific information on the real estate market and trends in your area, click on your town below.

Acton
Arlington
Ashby
Ashland
Ayer
Bedford
Belmont
Billerica
Boxborough
Burlington
Cambridge
Carlisle
Chelmsford
Concord
Dracut
Dunstable
Everett
Framingham
Groton
Holliston
Hopkinton
Hudson
Lexington
Lincoln
Littleton
Lowell
Malden
Marlborough
Maynard
Medford
Melrose
Natick
Newton
North Reading
Pepperell
Reading
Sherborn
Shirley
Somerville
Stoneham
Stow
Sudbury
Tewksbury
Townsend
Tyngsboro
Wakefield
Waltham
Watertown
Wayland
Westford
Weston
Wilmington
Winchester
Woburn

For homes in these and other areas, take a look at our online listings!

 NOTE FROM LAURA

Dear Friends,

I hope that you enjoy this new monthly newsletter full of up to the minute information on the real estate market, new market trends, buyer & seller tips, general market news and also news about what's happening in your neck of the woods, focused on giving you information about your specific town.

Also on my page, you will find our featured property of the month, a link to contact me directly for help with any of your real estate needs including requests for a complimentary market analysis of your home & a link to my website and full list of all the properties that I currently have on the market.

I would love to hear comments and suggestions on whether you find the information on this page helpful, or if you think that there is something missing that you would like to know about, please contact me and let me know. I want this to be a helpful tool to keep you abreast of the latest in real estate.

I look forward to hearing from you and I hope that you are all enjoying the rest of the summer and the beginning of a great new school year ahead!

Fondly,

Laura Baliestiero

 REAL ESTATE NEWS

Home Sales at a Crawl

In the second quarter of this year, U.S. home prices fell a drastic 3.2 percent. That's the steepest rate of decline since 1987, when the research group Standard & Poor's began its quarterly housing index. The index tracks price patterns among single-family homes across the country compared with the previous year. One of the architects of the S&P index has indicated that such a decline doesn't merit a rapid market recovery.

Chief Economist Robert Schiller of MacroMarkets LLC stated that the declining residential real estate market "shows no signs of slowing down." This report follows one from the National Association of Realtors, which said that home sales dropped for the fifth consecutive month in July while the inventory of unsold homes rose to a record 5.1 percent, or 4.59 million units.

The market finally stalled last year after five years of rapidly rising home prices. As a result, lenders have made it more difficult for some people to obtain mortgages. Problems have spilled over from those with poor credit histories to borrowers who are more credit-worthy.

Housing is an economic indicator that is watched closely by Federal Reserve policymakers. The Fed has begun attempts at stabilization, and is scheduled to have its next meeting on Sept. 18. This recent downturn, along with turmoil in financial markets, has triggered worries about a possible recession. Market watchers are on the lookout for a potential cut in the federal funds rate, which is the rate banks charge each other for short-term loans. Economists believe that the Federal Reserve will prevent a full-fledged downturn in the event of continued destabilization.

S&P's keeps a separate 20-city index, which, in June, showed a year-over-year price decline. That particular index fell 3.5 percent from June of last year. In Boston, prices dropped at a slower rate in June than in May, furthering a trend that began at the start of the year. In April of last year, the Boston metro area was the first to show a year-over-year decline, so it's possible that any changes there could be an early indication of market recovery.

"The rise in sales and prices in the Northeast region on a fairly consistent basis in recent months is promising because this was the first region that underwent sales and price weakness after the boom," said Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors. "Now, it appears that it will be the first region to climb back, indicating that other regions could follow a similar path."

S&P said it needed more data to determine whether Boston would be first to improve. Detroit was at the top of the list of cities with the biggest price declines, with an 11 percent drop from last June.

The median price of a sold home dipped to $230,200 in July, down by 0.6 percent from last year's median price. July marked a record 12 consecutive months that home prices have declined, falling to the slowest pace in nearly five years. Many analysts believe that it could be months before the housing market begins to stabilize, especially if rising delinquencies continue to dump homes onto an already saturated market.