MaryBeth Grimm

Should You Buy a Multi-Family Home?

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:04:39 +0000

If you are thinking about owning a piece of property to live in while wanting to have an extra section to help pay the bills, then you will find that there is an effective way to do it. Today, many people are considering the idea of buying a multi-family home, because this allows you to have your own space for you and your family while getting extra income from renting the other apartments. Keep in mind that as advantageous as this is, there are a few points that you have to consider.

The first thing to keep in mind is becoming a landlord will require some extra work. When repairs are needed, or a tenant does not pay the rent it can cause some unwanted worries. This being said it can also be a great way to start off allowing you to live, in some cases, rent free while getting monthly income to help pay down your mortgage.

Another point to remember is that when it comes to renting, is choosing the right tenants, you have to remember that you are in fact running a business, as you will be collecting an income from the home you are renting. Take the time to choose the right tenant, a credit check, otherwise you might find yourself in a situation where you will be losing money if your tenant does not pay up at the end of the month. If you are willing to put in the work, purchasing a multi-family home can be a great way to invest.

Open house at Wellesley, MA 02481

Mary Beth Grimm — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:11:10 +0000

View Photos
Starts: 5/20/2012 1:00:00 PM
Ends: 5/20/2012 2:30:00 PM
For Directions: click on the map image or feel free to contact me.
For more information: click here for the full details

MOTIVATED SELLER WILL CONSIDER OFFERS FROM $3,995,000-$4,594,876 VALUE RANGE MARKETING. . Enjoy the tranquility of an acre lot on a quiet cul-de-sac. Luxury living in one magnificent 10,000 sq ft estate. Minutes from major routes and heart of Wellesley. Exclusive features include the convenience of a 4 stop elevator-ready shaft, 600amp electric, prewired for generator, Smart Home system. For details of this incomparable construction.

Strong Demand=Slim Pickings

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:05:09 +0000

According to Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtor’s chief economist, the spring housing market is starting off strong. “If activity is sustained near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in five years. The NAR expects sales to rise between 7% and 10% in 2012.

What does that mean? Strong demand has melted away inventory in some housing markets with investors and first-time buyers vying for bargains, homes are being snatched up as soon as they hit the market.

Prices may not be shooting up, but homes are once again selling at a rapid clip in many markets, draining the multiple-listing services and turning up the competitive pressure on buyers. Multiple offers and bidding wars are back.

Lately if a buyer is not there the first day a home comes on the market, it’s gone. When a quality property that is priced accurately comes on the market, it’s not going to sit around. In some areas the competitive environment has already begun to nudge prices up slightly.

Bargain prices and historically low interest rates are bringing buyers back. The belief among buyers is that the housing market has already turned the corner and that there won’t be a better time to land an affordable home.

National Association of Realtors President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc. in Miami, says market conditions are improving as supply and demand have become more balanced.

Uncover Your Home’s Hidden Past

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:05:18 +0000

Many homes in our area have stories to tell. If you live in an older home, you may want to know its hidden secrets. You may have wondered who slept in your bedroom or when the home was actually built. Your home holds many clues to its history and its prior owners. With some detective work you will be well on your way to uncovering your home’s hidden past. Here are some hints to get you started.

Gather Information

In order to get started you will need to uncover all of the information you have, you will want to gather your deed and title paperwork. Make note of the first owner, year built, and the year the original owner sold it. You will also want to know the names of all the owners, as well as the years they bought and sold the property. All of this information may not be available on your deed but you will be able to find it at town hall or the registry of deeds.

You may find clues in the names of owners and years owned. Pay attention to details and look for clues. Some clues to the history of the home may be: a family that owned the home for a long time, multiple property turnovers and inconsistencies in property or land descriptions.

Tackling the Records

Wading through the mountains of information may be difficult but don’t get discouraged. Information about your home’s owners will most likely be contradictory. Census records dating back to the year your house was built are likely available at your public library, a nearby university or your local historical society or museum. Review census rosters from the year closest to the one your house was built. Census records from the 1800s and early 1900s have lots of fun and interesting information and often include the names of all those living in a household at the time, their ages, occupations, places of birth, and sometimes more. You may also want to search for census data on the U.S. Census website.

Getting Help

Some of the language on deeds and title paperwork can be hard to understand put older language in the mix and it can be even more confusing. Ask friends who are lawyers, title-company employees or experts in historical documents for help. You can also turn to the internet for help. Use the internet to dig up any information you can find about the families who lived in your home, as well as the surrounding streets, neighborhoods, and landmarks. If prior owners of your home are relatives you can use genealogy web sites for research.

Getting a Feel for the Times

Read through newspapers from the year your house was built. You will start to get a sense of the historical times. Keep notes on everything you find that mentions your house and its occupants. In those times local papers covered social news of all kinds—dinner parties, haying trips, visits from out-of-town relatives—in addition to chronicling everything from world events to weather. They often covered construction of new homes, and may offer you information on where the builders got the materials used to build your house, why they made certain design decisions, and more.

More Information

For more information regarding researching homes you may want to try some of the books listed.

American Shelter: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Home, by Lester Walker, Overlook Press, 1981
How Old is This House? by Hugh Howard, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1989
House Styles in America, by James C. Massey and Shirley Maxwell, Penguin Studio, 1996
Old American House, by Henry Lionel Williams and Ottalie K. Williams, Bonanza Books, 1957
A Field Guide to American Houses, by Virginia and Lee McAlester, Random House, 1984

Don’t Overlook the Garage

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:04:04 +0000

Garages aren’t just for parking cars and storing all of your stuff. The garage could just be the key to selling your home. Homeowners don’t typically think of putting much effort in the garage when preparing a home for sale. Investing a little time and effort into staging your garage could just be the difference from for sale to sold.

Follow these quick and easy steps to a garage home buyers dream of.

1. Get organized.

Everyone loves storage. Show off your garage and make it a selling point. One of the best ways to showcase your garage is an organized place where buyers can picture their things. Shelves, bins and storage closets are available at any local hardware store. When your garage looks spacious and organized it is more appealing and may even result in the buyer feeling like they are gaining square footage.

2. Light it Up

Lighting can make all the difference. Replace dangling, plain bulbs with fixtures or strip lighting. Adding an eight-foot fluorescent light strip can turn your garage from dark and dreary to open and inviting.

3. Finishing Touches

Garages that have appealing floors and walls go a long way in the buyer’s eyes. Concrete garage floors can be coated with an epoxy resin-based paint or rubber mats and tiles. This hides spills and makes cleaning a lot easier. Don’t forget the walls. Adding sheetrock makes a very clean surface and makes the garage feel more like a finished space. The sheetrock can also be painted to create a warmer atmosphere.

4. Properly working doors

There is nothing worse than a garage door in disrepair. Garage door openers should be quiet and have safety mechanisms in place. Have the garage doors evaluated by the garage door company that installed it or sometimes all it needs is a good oil job to lubricate it.

Avoid Homebuyer Mistakes

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:03:58 +0000

Are you gearing up to buy your first place? Shopping for a home is exciting, exhausting and a little scary, especially in this market. In the end, your aim is to end up with a home you love at a price you can afford. Sounds simple enough, right? Unfortunately, many people make mistakes that prevent them from achieving that simple dream. This article from Investopedia will help arm yourself with these tips to get the most out of your purchase and avoid making 10 of the most costly mistakes that could put a hold on that sold sign.

1. Not knowing what you can afford

As we learned from the subprime mortgage mess, what the bank says you can afford and what you know you can afford or are comfortable with paying are not necessarily the same. If you don’t already have a budget, make a list of all your monthly expenses (excluding rent), including vehicle costs, student loan payments, credit card payments, groceries, health insurance, retirement savings and so on. Don’t forget major expenses that occur only once a year, like any insurance premiums you pay annually or annual vacations. Subtract this total from your take-home pay and you’ll know how much you can spend on your new home each month.

If you end up looking at homes that are outside your price range, you’ll end up lusting after something you can’t afford, which can put you in the dangerous position of trying to stretch beyond your means financially or cause you to feel unsatisfied with what you actually can afford. You may even learn that you can’t afford the type or size of home that you desire and that you need to work on reducing your monthly expenses and/or increasing your income before you even start looking.

2. Skipping mortgage qualification

What you think you can afford and what the bank is willing to lend you may not match up, especially if you have poor credit or unstable income, so make sure to get preapproved for a loan before placing an offer on a home. You’ll be wasting the seller’s time, the seller’s agent’s time and your agent’s time if you sign a contract and discover later that the bank won’t lend you what you need or that it won’t give you a mortgage you find acceptable.

Be aware that even if you have been preapproved for a mortgage, your loan can fall through if you do something to alter your credit score, like finance a car purchase. If you cause the deal to fall through, you may have to forfeit the money that you put up when you went under contract.

3. Failing to consider additional expenses

Once you’re a homeowner, you’ll have additional expenses on top of your monthly payment. Unlike when you were a renter, you’ll be responsible for paying property taxes, insuring your home against disasters and making any repairs the house needs (which will occasionally include expensive items like replacing the roof or furnace).

If you purchase a condo, you’ll have to pay monthly maintenance costs regardless of whether anything needs fixing because you’ll be part of a homeowners association, which collects monthly fees from the owners of each unit in the form of condominium fees.

4. Being too picky

Go ahead and put everything you can think of on your wish list, but don’t be so inflexible that you end up continuing to rent for significantly longer than you really want to. First-time homebuyers often have to compromise on something because their funds are limited. You may have to live on a busy street, accept outdated decor, make some repairs to the home or forgo that extra bedroom. Of course, you can always choose to continue renting until you can afford everything on your list — you’ll just have to decide how important it is for you to become a homeowner now rather than in a couple of years

5. Lacking vision

Even if you can’t afford to replace the hideous wallpaper in the bathroom now, it might be worth it to live with the ugliness for a while in exchange for getting into a house you can afford. If the home meets your needs in terms of the big things that are difficult to change, such as location and size, don’t let physical imperfections turn you away. Besides, doing home upgrades yourself, even if you have to hire a contractor, is often cheaper than paying the increased home value to a seller who has already done the work for you

6. Being swept away

Minor upgrades and cosmetic fixes are inexpensive tricks that play on your emotions and elicit a much higher price. Sellers may pay $2,000 for minimal upgrades or staging that you’ll end up paying $40,000 for. If you’re on a budget, look for homes whose full potential has yet to be realized. Also, first-time homebuyers should always look for a house they can add value to; this ensures a bump in equity to help you up the property ladder.

7. Compromising on the important things

Don’t get a two-bedroom home when you know you’re planning to have kids and will want at least three bedrooms. By the same token, don’t buy a condo just because it’s cheaper when one of the main reasons you’re over apartment life is because you hate sharing walls with neighbors. It’s true that you’ll probably have to make some compromises to be able to afford your first home, but don’t make a compromise that will be a major strain.

8. Neglecting to inspect

It’s tempting to think that you’re a homeowner the moment you go into escrow, but before you close on the sale, you need to know what kind of shape the house is in. You don’t want to get stuck with a money pit or with the headache of performing a lot of unexpected repairs. Keeping your feelings in check until you have a full picture of the house’s physical condition and the soundness of your potential investment will help you avoid making a serious financial mistake.

9. Not hiring your own agent or using the seller’s agent

Once you’re seriously shopping for a home, don’t walk into an open house without having an agent (or at least being prepared to throw out a name of someone you’re supposedly working with). Agents are held to the ethical rule that they must act in the best interest of their clients, but if you’re a buyer, you’ll probably have a stronger advocate for your interests if you use your own agent and not the seller’s.

10. Not thinking about the future

It’s impossible to perfectly predict the future of your chosen neighborhood, but paying attention to the information that is available to you now can help you avoid unpleasant surprises down the road.

Some questions you should ask about your prospective property include:

What kind of development plans are in the works for your neighborhood?
Is your street likely to become a major street or a popular rush-hour shortcut?
Will a highway be built in your backyard in five years?
What are the zoning laws in your area?
If there is a lot of undeveloped land? What is likely to get built there?
Have home values in the neighborhood been declining?

If you’re happy with the answers to these questions, your house’s location can keep its luster.

Buying a first home can seem stressful and overwhelming, and it isn’t without its share of potential pitfalls. If you’re aware of those issues ahead of time, though, you can protect yourself from costly mistakes and shop with confidence.

For many people, a home is the largest purchase they will ever make, but that doesn’t mean it has to be the most difficult.

Questions to Ask Before You Add On

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:04:25 +0000

If you are thinking of adding an addition to your home there are some things you will wants to be aware of.

If you decide to add a new space, ask yourself the following questions:

* Can I finance the home improvement with my own cash or will I need a loan?

* How much equity is in the property? A fair amount will make it that much easier to get a loan for home improvements.

* Is it feasible to expand the current space for an addition?

* What is permissible under local zoning and building laws? Despite your deep yearning for a new sunroom or garage, you will need to know if your town or city will allow such improvements.

* Should I make the improvement myself or hire a contractor?

Many homeowners consider going to job alone to save money. Consider how much time you have, your level of expertise or willingness to handle the job, amount of help from friends or relatives, and how much you want, or need, to save by doing the job yourself. You could save up to 20 percent of the project cost through your own hard work.

Be aware, however, that you may need to call in the pros. Going it alone can sometimes lead to spending more time and money. if problems arise.

Most home improvement experts suggest that homeowners who do not have a lot of experience should stick to painting, minor landscaping, building interior shelving, and other minor improvements.

Starting a Vegetable Garden

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:04:13 +0000

Eating fresh-picked corn or vine-ripened tomatoes is a life-altering experience. But where do you start? How do you choose from racks of seeds, catalog after catalog and rows upon rows of nursery seedlings? Successful small-scale farmers know what and when to plant, and how to start the crops. Here are some tips from eHow on how to get started.

1. Grow only those vegetables you enjoy eating. Give priority to those prized for incredible flavor when eaten fresh from the garden: sweet corn, beans and peas, tomatoes and young spinach, among others.

2. Prepare a plot of flat ground that gets full sun nearly all day. Break up and turn the soil and add compost or other organic material (See How to Buy Soil Amendments). A full day of blazing sunshine is especially important if you grow vegetables in the cool weather of early spring, early fall or winter.

3. Figure out how much growing space you have and plant accordingly. Lettuce, for example, can be grown in a solid mat, but tomatoes need to be spaced about 2 feet (60 cm) apart. Give pumpkins at least 4 feet (120 cm) of growing room. Growing requirements are provided on seed packets, in catalogs, and on nursery tags, as well as in books on growing vegetables.

4. Choose crops that require less room if you have a small vegetable garden or grow vegetables in a container. Lettuce is a great pot plant, and ‘Patio’ or ‘Tumbler’ tomatoes will grow well in a hanging basket. Plants that climb and vine, such as cucumbers and pole beans, can be trained up a trellis to take up less room horizontally. Tuck herbs and parsley into flower beds.

5. Schedule plantings around the two main growing seasons which vary by region: cool (spring and fall) and warm (summer). Common cool-season vegetables include beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach and turnips. Warm-season crops include beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, peppers, pumpkins, squash and tomatoes.

6. Sow some seeds directly in the ground as they grow best that way: beans, beets, carrots, chard, corn, lettuce, melons, peas, pumpkins, squash and turnips. Starting seeds is, of course, much less expensive than planting seedlings sold in flats, packs and pots.

7. Start with nursery seedlings of certain other crops unless you are an experienced vegetable grower. These plants tend to do better when set out in the garden as seedlings: eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. Squash and cucumbers are among a few you can plant just as effectively as either seeds or seedlings.

8. Buy seeds at nurseries or by mail order starting just after the New Year, when the selection is freshest. Look for seed packets marked as having been packed for the current year.

9. Buy vegetables online and from mail-order seed companies for a far greater selection than you’ll find at neighborhood nurseries. Burpee (burpee.com), Johnny’s Selected Seeds (johnnyseeds .com), Park Seed Company (parkseed.com) and Thompson and Morgan (thompson-morgan.com) are a few long-established sources.

10. Shop for seedlings when your soil is prepared and you are ready to plant. Keep them moist and don’t let them sit around for more than three days. Buy healthy and vigorous seedlings. They should stand up straight and be stocky, not lanky, with no yellow leaves or bug holes.

11. Save money and get truly involved with your garden by starting seeds indoors in winter and transplanting them into the garden in spring. It’s simplest to start with complete kits, sold at garden centers and through catalogs, containing fluorescent lights, soil mix, containers and watering devices.

12. Sow seeds of colorful radishes or giant sunflowers to introduce children to the satisfaction and fun of growing their own food. Or lean 3 stakes together, tie them together at the top, and train pole beans up the stakes. Voila! A bean teepee.

White Vinegar Not Just For Salad Dressing

Mary Beth Grimm — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 11:03:56 +0000

White distilled vinegar is effective for killing most mold, bacteria and germs due to it’s high level of acidity. Vinegar is a weak form of acetic acid that is made from the fermentation of sugars and starches. White vinegar has so many different uses in the home; it is considered the “miracle cleaner”. It is pocketbook friendly, all natural, safe for pets and nontoxic. Why would you use anything else?

It is a good idea to purchase two empty spray bottles, keep one full with pure white vinegar and the other with half water and half vinegar. This just makes it easier to dispense and have on hand at all times. A person can work wonders cleaning their home naturally just armed with vinegar and water.

There are so many different uses for white vinegar in your home. Here are just a few ideas.

Vinegar mixed with water is an excellent cleaner for all kitchen surfaces like counter tops, refrigerators and stove tops. To shine chrome fixtures simply make a paste of 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon white vinegar. To clean wooden cutting boards simply just wipe with vinegar. Clean refrigerator shelves with a solution of ½ white vinegar and water.

Did you know that soaking fruit and vegetables in 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water can remove up to 98% bacteria? Soak fruit and vegetables for at least 10 minutes then rinse to get best results.

Vinegar is also useful in the laundry. To decrease lint in laundry add ½ cup straight white vinegar to rinse cycle. To make your bright’s brighter add ½ cup vinegar to the rinse cycle.

If you have pets white vinegar is a good solution to have in house. If your dog has the mishap of getting sprayed by a skunk, use dilution of vinegar and water, rub dog’s fur then rinse with warm water. Repeat a couple times. To keep dogs from scratching their ears rub them with a cloth diluted with vinegar and water.

Vinegar is so versatile in the home. You do not have to worry about the vinegar smell remaining after you use it because the smell dissipates after it dries. So, for people who believe in living green and healthy, white vinegar is a must have in the pantry closet.

Open house at 14 Scotch Pine Circle Wellesley, MA 02481

Mary Beth Grimm — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:03:32 +0000

View Photos
Starts: 04/01/2012 12:30PM
Ends: 04/01/2012 2:00PM
For Directions: click on the map image or feel free to contact me.
For more information: click here for the full details