Check out this open house tour that came via email today:

WHAT: Green Building Open House Tour
WHEN: Wednesday, August 11 | 6:00–8:00 pm
WHERE: Doyle Center, 464 Abbott Ave, Leominster, MA

Join us for a FREE tour of our state of the art LEED certified, Gold rated building. The Doyle Center features geothermal source heating, energy efficient building design, photovoltaic panels, composting toilets, and recycled and renewable materials in both the building construction and the furnishings. For more information and to register: call 978-840-4446 ext. 1900. Registrations are encouraged, but not required.

Interested in building a Green home using some of the techniques that you see here? Contact us for more information – we have land listings and know builders who can help!

Check it out!! Gerry Bourgeois of Towne & Country, Realtors, will be riding in the Pan-Mass Challenge to raise funds and awareness for cancer research. Press release from Sentinel-Enterprise, Fitchburg MA

Check out our real estate blog. Latest ad in the Sentinel:

originally from 365 Things to do in MA

Many towns and cities in our state sponsor summer  concerts on their commons or town fields. Today 365-things is listing some of these for you.

New date for Starburst 2010 – Aug. 7 (rain date Aug.8)- a night of music and fireworks. Admission is free.

Summer Fun on Wednesday Nights (Leominster, July, 6:00) (link is pdf file – scroll to page 6 for this information, although other summer events are included here too)

And don’t forget “First Thursdays” in Fitchburg – always music at this Citywide Block Party!

Some other dates and links here:

Waltham MA – concerts start in July (7:00, free)

Foxboro Concerts on the Common (through the summer, Thursdays at 7:00)

2010 School’s Out Summer Concert Series in Plymouth (through summer, free)

Hingham Evening Under the Stars (NOT free, prices vary)

Concerts on the Grafton Common (starts in July, see link)

Do you have any links to add? Please post in comments!

CNN posted  earlier today that “Real estate’s new problem [is] Not enough homes.”

(originally published in http://towne-country.com)

For sellers whose homes are lingering on the marketplace, this may not seem realistic. Inventory of homes is shrinking, however, and buyers hoping to find that one perfect home may find themselves set up for a long wait.

In our area, we have been seeing multiple offer situations and I have spoken with two buyers this week who bemoaned the lack of new inventory.

Leominster MA For Sale, Sold, Pending and New Listings (Single Family Homes):

What will happen in the wake of the Homebuyer’s Tax Credit is anyone’s guess, but at least for the moment we are headed toward more of a status quo in the real estate market.
If you are considering selling and planning on making a home purchase after the sale, now may be a good idea to start the process. There is still inventory to purchase after the sale of your home, yet not so much that your home will be overlooked.
If your home is on the market for some time and has not sold, it may be time for reevaluation. Are you priced properly, reflecting current trends in the market? Is your home one of the two or three best buys in its size and price range? Is there anything you can do to make it more marketable?

Live in Leominster and have questions about selling your home, but you know that you can’t sell it for what you owe on it? Wondering about the recent changes in the new government guidelines that are making short sale properties easier to close?

Because of the increase in short sales in the area, and because we see the need to help people who are involved in this area that needs specialized training and experience, two of our Realtors® recently completed coursework for certification:

Gerry Bourgeois and Laurie Howe Complete Short Sales and Foreclosures Course

Leominster, MA (March 30, 2010)- Gerry Bourgeois and Laurie Howe of Towne & Country, Realtors in Leominster have just completed a highly specialized course, Short Sales and Foreclosures, presented by the Council of Residential Specialists. The one-day course earns one unit of core credit toward the Certified Residential Specialist Designation.

Distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – accounted for 32 percent of all home sales during the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Short Sales and Foreclosures gives agents the practical tools and skills they need to counsel clients about these types of transactions. The course explains the intricate steps involved with these transactions as well as the roles of lenders, sellers, buyers and cooperating agents. It includes dialogues and systems agents can use when they work with financial institutions and other owners of REO properties.

Both Bourgeois and Howe have with this course and others completed the requirements for SFR (Short Sales and Foreclosures Resource) Certification from the National Association of Realtors®. Both are experienced full-time Realtors® and look forward to sharing this expertise with the community.

The Council of Residential Specialists is a not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of Realtors® comprised of more than 40,000 members. It awards the CRS Designation to experienced Realtors® who have completed advanced professional training and demonstrated outstanding professional achievement in residential real estate. Bourgeois earned the CRS designation many years ago and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of CRS. Towne & Country, Realtors® is located on 124 N Main Street in Leominster, and has been a fixture in the real estate community for four decades.

Please call us at 978-537-6401 or fill out the form with any of your questions.

Originally posted in Towne and County, Realtors blog:

According to a report in the Sentinel, Fitchburg and Leominster MA schools do well when compared to similar schools around the state.

From the Sentinel and Enterprise:

BOSTON — Fitchburg and Leominster School Districts are performing better than their socio-economic peers around Massachusetts, according to new study released by the Pioneer Institute.

The study looked at 14 midsize, urban cities outside of Boston, with populations of 40,000 or higher, an average family income of $20,000 or lower and property values at about $80,000.

The study looked at the increase in 10th grade MCAS scores from 2004 to 2008, the predicted scores based on the number of students who receive Free Lunch, and the average dropout rate in 2003-2004 and 2007-2008.

Fitchburg’s average 10th grade MCAS score improved by 10.4 in English and 12.8 in math between 2004 and 2008–one of three cities in the study that improved more than the study predicted in both English and math. …

In 2008, Leominster had one of the highest MCAS scores in the study, although over the four year period the scores improved less than most schools, with 5.3 points in English and 9.4 points in math.

Winning T-shirt design for Lilac Sunday

If you are like us, this snowy weather is making you yearn for warm weather, and color.  Check out these ideas that will remind you of both!

Western Massachusetts Home and Garden Show- schedule:

-Click on their flower to go to their website. This is at the Eastern States Exposition, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield, MA.

Another flower show is being held at the other end of the state at the same time. The Boston Flower and Garden Show will be from March 24 to March 28 2010 at the Seaport World Trade Center. There are all sorts of smaller events within the larger event – check out the site for details.

Don’t want to be tied to a particular weekend? Tower Hill Botanical Garden offers an ongoing calendar of events. Its Spring Open House is April 11th, and is free. Their hours and contact information are online.

Another must-see for any time of the year is the Arnold Arboretum. The grounds are open from sunrise to sunset every day (Visitor Center hours are more limited) and admission is free (donations accepted). The Arboretum is located in Boston on 125 Arborway and you can take the train in and use the subway instructions that are available on the site to find it. Lilac Sunday is on May 9 this year- this is a hugely popular event and you are advised to use public transportation. If you want to drive, parking at Alewife and picking up the T there might be an option.

The Butterfly Place in Westford, MA is another place to find color- from the native and exotic butterflies that are everywhere inside as well as from the flowers that feed them. This local gem is reopening on March 21 (call first or check site). If you dress in brightly colored clothes, the butterflies will sometimes land on you, so they say- and it seems to work!

Spring will be here before you know it!

Buyers are already coming out in droves- want to discuss listing your home? Call me at 978-537-6401 x24 or email me at gerry@realtyman.com

Key Information

I found an article yesterday in USA Today quoting Warren Buffett. Buffett has been correct enough so that I wouldn’t mind having him as my financial planner. And he knows real estate.
This is what he has to say:

“Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote Saturday in his annual letter to the shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway. “Prices will remain far below ‘bubble’ levels, of course, but for every seller or lender hurt by this there will be a buyer who benefits. Indeed, many families that couldn’t afford to buy an appropriate home a few years ago now find it well within their means.”

You can read the entire article by clicking on the text. This is good news for ALL of us, if Buffett is even close to his timeline. Many of us are trying to hold out on selling until the market is a little favorable, and that time is coming sooner than some analysts have speculated.

If you want my take on what this means for you, please email me at gerry@realtyman.com or call 978-537-6401 x24. Or we can chat on Facebook- friend me.

irst of all, nearly all listings go into our local MLS. From there, they are sent to over 30 online sites- including Realtor.com. This is not anything special, and you should expect that your agent would have a larger plan beyond that.

From Realtor.com about how buyers are finding their homes:

Buyers use a wide variety of resources in searching for a home: 90 percent use the Internet, 87 percent rely on real estate agents, 59 percent yard signs, 46 percent attend open houses and 40 percent look at print or newspaper ads. Although buyers also use other resources, they generally start the search process online and then contact an agent.

When asked where they first learned about the home purchased, 36 percent of buyers said a real estate agent; 36 percent the Internet; 12 percent from yard signs; 6 percent from a friend, neighbor or relative; 5 percent home builders; 2 percent a print or newspaper ad; 2 percent directly from the seller; and less than 1 percent a home book or magazine.

First time home buyers are coming out in record numbers. These buyers are looking online and asking their agents to look for them – they are NOT checking the newspapers or looking at home magazines. If you are trying to sell your home, your agent’s time and resources should be better used than running newspaper ads.

Your agent should ideally have a Facebook, twitter and YouTube presence.  The more opportunities to showcase your property and attract buyers to you and the office, the better. Google your prospective agent and his or her office, and see what they have to offer you!

For more ideas, visit our Towne & Country blog.