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Choose Your Paint with These Fancy Apps
Choose Your Paint with These Fancy Apps
Newton, MA.
Picking paint at the store can be overwhelming, and sometimes you’re less inspired by a paint chip and more inspired by photos, jewelry or Mother Nature. Now your phone can give you the tools you need to preview colors where and when the mood strikes.
Photo by: iStock
Here are five apps that can help you get the right color on the walls before you buy.
The ColorSmart by BEHR® Mobile app lets you preview, match and coordinate colors on-the-go. This fun-to-use app puts you in control with handy features like:
• Browsing through the BEHR Premium Plus Ultra® and Premium Plus® colors collections
• Photo-match to a BEHR color with their proprietary tool
• Preview function to see a color in different rooms and styles
• “Touch-and-tap” technology to paint a room image
• Sharing on Facebook and Twitter
(FREE for iPhone®, iPad® or Android™)
The Benjamin Moore Color Capture® app makes it simple to snap a picture of anything that inspires you and instantly find its match among the more than 3,500 Benjamin Moore paint colors. Then you can save your pics and their coordinating color matches to your Favorites. Plus, you can:
• Group colors in Favorites to create personalized combos
• Share your favorite colors on social media and email
• Browse Benjamin Moore’s inspirational color cards and access the full color wheel to search colors
(FREE for iPhone®, iPad® or Android™ phones 6.1 or higher)
Besides letting you search by name or browse their library of 1,500 colors, ColorSnap® for mobile from Sherwin-Williams allows you to create personalized palettes with colors that inspire you. Simply upload an image and this app will instantly match colors in your photo. Then you can edit, delete or add colors to suit your artistic vision— you can even ask Sherwin-Williams for colors that complement your selections. The possibilities are endless with features that help you:
• Fine-tune colors for lightness, saturation and hue
• Get detailed color information such as names, RGB values and LRV numbers
• Save and access your Favorites across devices
(FREE for iPhone®, iPad® or Android™)
With its intuitive navigation, ProjectPaint by Valspar puts over 3,000 Valspar paints right at your fingertips. Swipe, swish and tap through their catalog to choose colors for inside or outside your home, plus get recommendations for coordinating colors. This app even helps you calculate how much paint you’ll need for your project and creates a customized shopping list so you can make just one trip to the store.
Don’t want to limit your color choices to one particular brand? AnyPaintColor by MyPerfectColorlets you search over 130,000 colors from over 100 brands including Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren. It’s essentially a virtual fan deck that gives you the power to browse colors to your heart’s content without having to set one foot in a store.
($2.99 for iPhone®, iPad®, iPod Touch®)
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THE 10 HOTTEST HOUSING MARKETS to WATCH in 2015
The Hottest Housing Markets to Watch in 2015:
Newton, MA. December 26, 2014
Not only did Boston make the list but so did Middlesex County….Sellers NOW is the time.
Love this? Download all of Trulia’s housing market predictions in our 2015 Real Estate Market Forecast!
Before we dive in, let’s get a little technical with how Trulia’s team selected these markets. For the past few years, the so-called “rebound effect” has driven real estate market trends. But that effect is beginning to fade. So what replaces the rebound effect in the next stage of the housing recovery? Well, the real estate market then increasingly depends on fundamentals such as job growth, rising incomes, and more household formation.
Because of this, our 10 markets to watch have strong fundamentals for housing activity. These include solid job growth, which fuels housing demand, and a low vacancy rate, which spurs construction. We gave a few extra points to markets with a higher share of millennials. These young adults are getting back to work and that will drive household formation and rental demand. We didn’t include markets where prices looked at least 5% overvalued in our latest Bubble Watch report.
Alright! Let’s take a look at the cities who made the list:
1. Boston, MA
This smarty-pants city has the greatest minds at its disposal, with more than 100 colleges and universities in the greater metro area. But that doesn’t necessarily make Beantown solely a party haven for coeds. Eventually those students grow into working professional 20-somethings looking to make a life for themselves. The Boston Globe reported last year that more than one-third of the city’s residents are between ages 20 and 34. Coincidentally, the latest Buyer and Seller Survey from the National Association of Realtors notes that 56 percent of first time home buyers are between the ages of 25 and 34.
2. Dallas, TX
You know the saying: Everything’s bigger in Texas. Well, Dallas just keeps getting bigger. The Dallas Morning News reported that the oil-rich city saw a 3.4 percent increase in jobs since last year in the manufacturing, retail, and energy industries. In the past 10 years, Dallas-Fort Worth has grown to become the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country, right behind the big three: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
3. Fresno, CA
Sure, the California coast is beautiful, but a chunk of its population is moving to the more affordable inland parts of the state, like Fresno. The Fresno Bee says that Fresno’s population climbed nearly 15.7 percent for that very reason. The largest employers in the San Joaquin Valley city include medical centers, casinos, and, in the rural outskirts, agriculture.
4. Middlesex County, MA
Not familiar with Middlesex County? Don’t worry, you know exactly where it is — it’s a good chunk of land northwest of Boston that encompasses MIT and Harvard (which are technically in the city of Cambridge), Brandeis (in Waltham), and Tufts (in Medford). Much like Boston, this very educated county is one of the largest in New England and has been seeing steady growth.
5. Nashville, TN
You don’t have to be a country music fan to love what locals call Music City (but it might not hurt). It’s not only musicians who populate the city, which is also home to prestigious Vanderbilt University and the Scripps Networks company. The Tennessean reported that Nashville ranked seventh in growth among young professionals with college degrees, and the city has seen a 48 percent population hike in the past 12 years.
6. New York, NY-NJ
What more to say about New York City that hasn’t already been said in song, books, or in photographs? The Big Apple is a crowded city in demand and there never seems to be enough housing to go around — whether you’re renting or buying. Tough housing competition comes from foreign investors who want to put their money in the city, as well as New Yorkers looking to move, and, of course, out-of-staters looking to transplant.
7. Raleigh, NC
Once filled with tobacco fields, Raleigh has become a major metropolitan city with rapid growth since the 1990s. The capital city has also bounced back from the Great Recession — and then some — with a whopping recovery rate of 214 percent, with the main growth coming from jobs in tech, research, health, and education, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
8. Salt Lake City, UT
Utah has become a hub for computer programmers, because tech companies like Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, Xerox, and more have opened up offices in or around Salt Lake City, which has led to job growth.
In the past 24 months, the city has seen home values increase, but it’s mostly because it’s a good time to get a mortgage and buy in Salt Lake City.
9. San Diego, CA
This is a market on the rise. Downtown San Diego is getting better and better every year and has new condos under construction for folks who want to live right by the action of the trendy Gaslamp Quarter. When it comes to houses, San Diego is ranked the second most expensive city to buy one in.
10. Seattle, WA
Companies like Starbucks, Microsoft, Amazon, and UPS have provided steady job growth for the area, but, hey, Seattlites know how to rock, too — as the home of grunge, which is still popular in the music scene there.
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Pre-Qualification vs. Pre-Approval
Margaret Szerlip November 18, 2014 Sotheby’s Newton, MA.
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Pre-Qualification vs. Pre-Approval, and how we do it at Fairway It is prudent to get pre-qualified or pre-approved before you begin your search for a new home. In general it means that you have spoken to a lender and have a basic understanding of how much you can afford to purchase based on your income and expenses. But most people don’t realize that to be “pre-qualified” and “pre-approved” are two very different things. In this competitive market place, it pays to understand the difference. To get “pre-qualified” you simply need to have a conversation with a lender and verbally explain your income, assets and expenses to them, discuss your down payment, and they in turn will give you a general estimate of what you can afford to pay monthly for a mortgage. There is no cost and no obligation to do business with the lender. In essence, this is a mathematical conversation. When you get “pre-approved” it means that you have provided actual documentation to a lender verifying your income, assets and debts. In addition, the lender has pulled your credit report and determined your credit score eligibility. Right away it is a more thorough and accurate financial accounting. The lender will provide you with a letter of pre-approval, stating how much money they would be willing to loan you subject to receipt of an appraisal and purchase and sales agreement as well as re-verification of your income and employment. Clearly this carries more weight and will make a difference to a seller in this competitive market. At Fairway, we take it one step further with our Certified Pre-Approval and money back guarantee. You will know how much money you can afford and be 100% confident that you will be able to borrow the money for your home. Fairway’s complete evaluation of your financing ability including income and asset documentation ensures a closing, and if not, we will refund you up to $7500 in costs. How does it work? Fairway issues and certifies the accuracy of the “Fairway Certified” pre-approval as long as: · Your personal financial qualifications stay the same or improve[1] · The agreed upon loan parameters stay the same or improve[2] · The property meets all necessary loan requirements[3] If we are wrong we will: · Reimburse documented short-term moving, relocating and/or storage expenses up to a maximum of $1500 · Reimburse any documented lost home inspection or appraisal expenses up to $1000 · Reimburse any forfeited earnest money expenses up to $5,000 The Closing and Beyond · The HUD will be available to review well in advance of the closing · Funds will always be at the table ahead of the closing · All parties will have the opportunity to review documents in advance · Scheduling of closings will ensure maximum convenience for all parties involved You won’t find another lender who will provide you with that kind of guarantee, anywhere! Be sure to get Fairway’s Certified Pre-Approval before you begin your new home search. Call 781-719-4664, email info940@fairwaymc.com or visit our website at Fairwayne.com [1] “Personal financial qualifications” includes but is not limited to employment, income, assets, credit scores, and debt. [2] “Agreed upon loan parameters” includes, but is not limited to maximum loan amount, maximum total monthly payment, maximum interest rate, interest rate market conditions, down payment requirements, property insurance requirements and mortgage insurance requirements. [3] “Necessary loan requirements” of the property includes but is not limited to, appraised value, insurability, property condition, inspection condition, legal title conditions, HOA |
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Either Way, You’re Still Paying a Mortgage
Posted by Margaret Szerlip 12PM EST, Newton, MA. Newton, MA. Top Brokers, Sotheby’s Newton, MA.
Thanks for sharing KCM Crew..
Either Way, You’re Still Paying a Mortgage |
| Either Way, You’re Still Paying a Mortgage
Posted: 04 Nov 2014 04:00 AM PST 
There are some people that have not purchased a home because they are uncomfortable taking on the obligation of a mortgage. Everyone should realize that, unless you are living with your parents rent free, you are paying a mortgage – either your mortgage or your landlord’s. As a paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University explains:
Also, if you purchase with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, your ‘housing expense’ is locked in over the thirty years for the most part. If you rent, the one guarantee you will have is that your rent will increase over that same thirty year time period. Unless you are living with your parents rent free, you are paying a mortgage. #KCM2014 As an owner, the mortgage payment is a ‘forced savings’ which will allow you to have equity in your home you can tap into later in your life. As a renter, you guarantee the landlord is the person with that equity. Bottom LineWhether you are looking for a primary residence for the first time or are considering a vacation home on the shore, owning might make more sense than renting since home values and interest rates are still at bargain prices. |
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Sotheby’s Relaxing Retreats| Elegant Master Bathrooms
Top Newton, MA. Brokers, Sotheby’s Newton, MA.
Relaxing Retreats| Elegant Master Bathrooms
From chandeliers to extraordinary views, Georgia to Thailand, explore six homes that transformed ordinary master bathrooms into unique, elegant and relaxing retreats.
$3,650,000 USD | Athens, Georgia | Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty
Secluded on 12 acres in Athens, Georgia, this country estate features a stone-clad main house with porte cochere, pool and five-car garage. Inside, rustic wood beams accent the ceilings, and oversize windows allow light to flood in. The layout includes six bedrooms and six baths. Deco-inspired black-and white tile floors and free-standing bathtubs complement the traditional look. The master bath centerpiece is the large walk-in shower with an enclosure of glass panes offset by black mullions.
$8,499,000 USD | Rolling Hills, California | Ewing & Associates Sotheby’s International Realty
Architect Cliff May, renowned for his casual California Ranch style, designed this 14,000-square-foot home set on four acres in Rolling Hills, California. Views of Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean can be seen from the stone deck and indoor pool with retractable roof. Cathedral ceilings with wood beams lend structure to the free-flowing plan, which contains seven bedrooms, seven baths and three powder rooms. As part of a remodeling in 2010, the baths were finished in white marble and travertine.
$2,275,000 USD | Izamal, Mexico | Riviera Maya Sotheby’s International Realty
Bathed in warm terracotta tones and ensconced in lush vegetation, this 10-bedroom, 10-bath remodeled farmhouse in the Yucatán town of Izamal, Mexico, is rich in history. The building dates to the early 19th century. In 2002 the town joined the Pueblos Mágicos program to preserve both its Mayan and colonial cultures. Hand-plastered walls, soaring ceilings and hand-hewn woodwork are present throughout. The baths are distinguished by natural rock walls and tall French doors with ornately carved wood shutters.
$3,550,000 USD | Rancho Santa Fe, California | Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty
Commanding hilltop views and surrounded by mature tropical vegetation, this eight-bedroom, seven-bath adobe home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, is rich in history. The structure was originally a 1900 mission building transported to its current location for Hollywood starlet Corinne Griffith. The residence retains numerous original features, including handcrafted wood shutters, distinctive “latillas and vigas” (sticks and beams), ceilings and stained-glass skylights. Amenities include seven fireplaces and baths with brightly-colored Talavera-style painted sinks bathtubs, old-fashioned skylights and ornately carved woodwork.
$10,500,000 USD | New Canaan, Connecticut | William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty
English arts and crafts meets American shingle style in this six-bedroom, seven-bath residence in New Canaan, Connecticut, designed by Wadia Associates. Finishes include five-inch, quarter-sawn, white-oak floors, leaded glass windows and fixtures by Waterworks. Twelve-foot ceilings grace the master suite. A master bath is warmed by radiant-heated marble floors. Additional amenities include a wine cellar, massage room, yoga studio and tennis courts. The elegant garden is scented by David Austin English roses, espaliered Asian pear trees and grape and kiwi vines.
฿136,013,595 | Surat Thani, Thailand | Hunter Sotheby’s International Realty
Directly on a beach dotted with gigantic boulders, this five-bedroom, six-bath house on the island of Ko Samui in Thailand invites nature inside. Twenty-foot ceilings with swooping roofs animate the architecture. A glass wall in a bedroom abuts the pool to simulate an aquarium, while in the master bedroom, sliding doors open onto the sea. The deck features a media center and projector for outdoor screenings. Rock formations incorporated into the bath and the outdoor showers complement the organic theme.1
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Seniors’ Housing Cost Burden on Rise
Seniors’ Housing Cost Burden on Rise
Newton Real Estate Top Brokers, Sotheby’s Newton, MA.
September 26, 2014
For a growing share of older Americans, housing expenses have become an increasingly large financial burden.
One in three Americans over age 50 were carrying a severe or moderate housing cost burden in 2012, up from one in four in 2000, according to a new study by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and AARP. The Center defined a severe burden as housing costs that consume more than half of household income; a moderate housing burden takes between 30 percent and 50 percent of income.
The Center’s report, “Housing America’s Older Adults – Meeting the Needs of An Aging Population,” warns that the nation is unprepared for both the financial and non-financial housing challenges that will accompany the coming explosion in the elderly population. Aging baby boomers will require better access to public transit, handicap access, assisted living facilities and other special services and amenities, and many will need subsidized housing.
Housing is often an older person’s largest single expense. And because housing costs are largely fixed (think mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, upkeep and utilities), they can become a growing burden for people as they age and become more vulnerable to reductions in income. Incomes often decline toward the end of their working years and decline again when they enter retirement. Pensions and Social Security benefits fall again when one spouse dies.
The report finds that:
- Nearly 17 percent of people over age 50 are moderately burdened, spending from 30 percent to 50 percent of their income on housing.
- Another 16 percent spend more than half of their income on housing.
- Some 3.9 million households over age 62 are eligible for rental assistance – but only 1.4 million receive it.
- In 2010, about three out of four homeowners ages 50 to 64 were still paying off a mortgage, up from about two in three in 1992.
- Housing costs are especially challenging for minority groups: 39 percent of older Asian households, 43 percent of older Hispanic households, and 46 percent of older black households have moderate or severe house cost burdens. The figure for older white households is 29 percent.
Housing reliably consumes a large chunk of retirees’ monthly income. As baby boomers prepare for retirement, many should consider reducing their housing costs so they fit their new retirement budgets.
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Luxury Real Estate Headlines: Third Week in September 2014
Luxury Real Estate Headlines: Third Week in September 2014
Top Brokers, Newton MA. Sothebys Realty Newton, MA. Margaret Szerlip September 22, 2014
Highlights from this week’s top news stories on luxury and global real estate, art, collectibles and home.
R 49 000 000 | Cape Town, South Africa | Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty
Africans purchase for exactly the same reason as Europeans, because Cape Town is an exceptionally beautiful city with world-class food and services,” said Lew Geffen, chairman of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty
Decline in the Rand Helps Push Cape Town Sales—The New York Times
House of the Day: A Hong Kong Retreat—The Wall Street Journal
House of the Day: An English Manor in Dallas—The Wall Street Journal
Florida Property Once Owned by Ivan Lendl Will List for $21.5 Million—The Wall Street Journal
On the Market: Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany—Architectural Digest
Smooth Jazz Meets Stormy Design—The Wall Street Journal
House Hunting in … the Dominican Republic—The New York Times
Home of the Day: Midcentury rambler in Altadena—The Los Angeles Times
Unusual Sowden Residence in Los Feliz asking $4.875 million—The Los Angeles Times
FHA Fees Are Holding Back First-Time Homebuyers—American Banker
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to Auction 3 Paintings—The New York Times
Born in a Minute—Sotheby’s
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Bigger Ads Don’t Make Dumber Buyers
Top Newton, MA. Realtors, Sotheby’s Newton, MA. OMG I love this post! KCM Crew you took the words right out of my mouth!
Bigger Ads Don’t Make Dumber Buyers Posted: 05 Aug 2014 04:00 AM PDT byKCM Crew
 Being ‘in and around’ the real estate business for over 30 years, we are still confused about the importance both sellers and real estate agents put on advertising. Decades ago, advertising a home was important to attract a buyer because there was no other way for an individual real estate office to announce to the world that a house was now on the market. But times have changed. With the development of the Multiple Listing Systems (MLS), as soon as a listing is taken the entire agent population of that area or region is informed. Instantly! Every agent working every buyer is put on notice that a new opportunity to sell a home is here. In many cases, through new technologies, the buyers are directly informed of the new listing before the agent can even reach out to them. Buyers already in the market will know the home is up for sale immediately. No ad is required to do this. You may ask – what about the buyer who is not yet actively engaging an agent in search of a home? Those future buyers are searching the internet months before they are ready to commit. In most areas, once a home is placed on the MLS system, the listing populates a plethora of real estate internet sites where a buyer can easily find it. Why are no buyers looking at the house? I will argue that it is probably not because they are unaware of the listing. In 99% of the cases, it is about pricing. They know of it and, for some reason, have decided it is not worth seeing. The value was not there for them.
Look at the PriceYou may think there are just no buyers in the market for your type of home at the present time. Well, let’s take a step back and ask a question. Would someone buy it at $1? How about $100? $1,000? $10,000? $100,000? Of course!! But, that proves our point. There is a price that buyers will pay for each and every home that is for sale today. You must decide if you are willing to take what the current value of your property is. That is entirely your decision. But, let’s not believe the house hasn’t sold because it wasn’t advertised more aggressively. You could put it on the front page of your large, regional paper for the next 365 straight days. If it is not priced right, a buyer will not buy it. Does that mean that you don’t need an agent to sell your home? Actually, we are saying the exact opposite. You need a well-informed real estate professional who knows the proper price for your house and has the courage to tell you the truth. It was great to see that a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors revealed that the number one benefit a seller wants from their agent is assistance in setting a competitive price. That truly is the most important thing an agent can deliver to a seller in this market. Bottom LineGet a great agent. Price your home appropriately. And don’t believe that running more ads will create a group of buyers that don’t understand value!! |
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Sellers Don’t Understand Photography Gets Buyers in the Door
Sellers often have some old-fashioned ideas about marketing their home that don’t include photography and that thing called the Internet
Broker Notebook
Homebuyers ask for pictures and they want lots of them. They want great photographs that they can look at on their computer screens, tablets or smartphones.
The way buyers look for homes has really changed now that everything is on the Internet. Marketing homes on the Internet is old news for real estate agents and for homebuyers, but home sellers have not caught on.
Of course sellers initially love the pictures and when the house isn’t getting traffic it’s the wrong pictures not the price!
Antiques image via Shutterstock.
Homeowners who purchased their last home in the 1980s, ’90s or the early ’00s remember going to open houses and looking at newspaper advertisements. For many homeowners, the process of selling a home hasn’t changed since then.
As a result, they may not even be asking their real estate agent the right questions. Instead of asking us how many open houses we plan on doing, they should be asking us if we plan to hire a professional photographer.
Those same homeowners don’t really pay much attention or even notice the poor photographs of their home on the Internet. You know, the ones with the dimly lit rooms and the bright yellow date stamps across the bottom of the photograph.
Technology really has changed the way homes are marketed. Effective marketing happens on multiple websites with photography and words. Each picture is seen by thousands of people instead of the two to 10 people who show up at the open house.
There isn’t anything wrong with having an open house. Many agents use open houses as a way to prospect, and real estate companies like it when agents put out all of those open house signs with the real estate company logo on them. It’s good for business.
Instead of asking us how many open houses we plan on doing, home sellers should be asking us if we plan to hire a professional photographer.”
Open houses are also a great way for agents to represent both the buyer and the seller, which means more money for the real estate agent.
Homeowners believe the open house is going to sell their house. They don’t understand that there is actually a much bigger pool of qualified buyers out there — including people who cannot got to open houses on Sunday afternoons.
Home sellers don’t really see us working unless we are holding an open house. Marketing on the Internet is still an abstract concept for most, and it doesn’t really seem like the kind of work a seller wants to pay thousands of dollars for.
Some home sellers will act all impressed when I talk about photography and the kind of visual marketing experience I need to create to get the attention of homebuyers. But if I asked them to choose between digital marketing and having open houses, many would choose the open house because they understand it.
If photography was important to home sellers, they would insist on better pictures. They would ask agents for samples of how they market homes on the Internet, rather than asking them if they will do an open house every weekend and if they will pay for print advertising.
As an industry, if we really want to improve the home buying process, we need to start working on the home selling process. We need to educate homeowners on how today’s homebuyers will shop for their next home. We need to help them understand that things may have changed since they purchased their home.
Superb interior photographs displayed on the Internet will get more qualified buyers into a home than an open house. We need to get home sellers up to speed on how the Internet has changed the home buying process — even though it is probably easier and less expensive for real estate agents to just do open houses.
Teresa Boardman is a broker in St. Paul, Minn., and founder of the St. Paul Real Estate blog.
Szerlip's Real Estate Blog 