Excerpts from: A Dream House After All

The following are well made points in Karl E. Case's NY Times article about why it's a good time to buy. Full article available through link below.

September 1, 2010

By KARL E. CASE

Boston

Think of it as an investment. The return or yield on that investment comes in two forms. First, it provides what is called “net imputed rent from owner-occupied housing.” You live in the house and so it provides you with a real flow of valuable services. This part of the yield is counted as part of national income by the Commerce Department. It is the equivalent of about a 6 percent return on your investment after maintenance and repair, and it is constant over time in real terms.

10 more reasons to buy now!

Wall Street Journal give us yet another 10 reasons why this is a good time to buy Real Estate.

Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership. Brett Arends explains why owning a home is a good thing.

The ultimate weekend project - get on it folks!

FALL MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST

 

Many areas have already had a taste of fall weather, and it’s not far behind for most others. Now is the time to make sure your house and heating system are ready for winter. Here is a brief checklist to guide you through some basic tasks before real cold weather settles in and it is too late: Click here to view list.

Providence voted "Top Arts Destination" by AmericanStyle Magazine

Yet another reason to move to Providence!
AmericanStyle Magazine’s annual readers’ poll has named Providence a “Top Arts Destination” for the fifth year.  See GoLocalProv's story here.

Incredible opportunity for expansion on beautiful Jenny's Lane in Barrington- steps from the harbor!

www.44jennyslane.com

$720,000

Wonderful 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath colonial on beautiful  31,958 square foot lot just steps from the harbor on desirable Jenny’s Lane.  Fabulous new kitchen, office on 2nd (could serve as 4th br), incredible woodwork, partially finished basement.  Great attic space with stairs down into office.  Walk to schools, shops & bike path.  Tremendous opportunity for expansion in fabulous location!

PENDING!

115B Pratt Street - incredible luxury 3br 2 1/2 bath townhouse with the works & spectacular views of downtown.  Please visit www.115pratt.com for details, floor plans and photos.  $945,000

PENDING!

Last week's stats for single family houses and Condos July 2010

•          Active Single Family Listings: 6157

•          Average List Price: $ 490,000

•          Average DOM: 126

•          Single Family Sold: 93

•          Average Sale Price: $  288,000    95% sp/lp

•          Median Sale Price: $ 230,000

•          Average DOM: 69

•          1-2 Bed: 66

•          3 Bed: 67

•          4+ Bed: 70

•          Active Condo Listings: 1504

•          Average List Price: $ 334,000

•          Average DOM: 157

•          Sold Condos: 23

•          Average Sale Price: $ 414,000   94  % sp/lp

•          Median Sale Price: $ 371,000

•          Average DOM: 77

•          1-2 Bed: 83

•          3 Bed: 4

•          4+ Bed: n/a

Throw away or recycle? How to dispose of hundreds of household items in RI

Ever wondered if you should throw away or recycle all of those vinyl coated hangers, CDs, old Teflon coated pots and pans or window blinds?  This A-to-Z list created by the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation is an amazing guide to help you dispose of them properly. 
http://www.rirrc.org/resident/what-goes-where-/recyclopedia-the-a-to-z-list/

Single family home sales up 11%!

http://www.riliving.com/PressReleases/Archives/2010/July/2010-07-27.asp

Luxury living in Scituate RI!

www.399bungy.com 

$795,000

3425 Square feet of living space, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms

• One of a group of 4 post and beam houses designed and built by wood sculptor Armand Lamontagne in the early 60's

• Interior update designed and executed by interior designer Alan Reniere of Alan Reniere Interior Design.

• Appearance of houses are taken after existing "real" houses that are now museums

• This house is the Parson Capon House built in 1683 and still exists as a museum in Topsfield, MA.

• The house includes three working fireplaces, one in a great room which includes a modern kitchen

Heating includes four separate  temperature control zones. Great room is radiant heated in the floor.
Central Air-conditioning includes three separate compressor/air handler systems and four separate temperature control zones.
There are two water wells plumbed to be used interchangably. A dug well and a deep well (450 ft deep)
Full 200 amp, 210 volt electrical service with circuit brakers
House has been photographed several times and include with articles in magazines
Mature landscaping designed and installed in 1993 (17 years ago) by landscape architect Brian Gravell includes extensive perennial gardens and specimen shrubbery and trees.


Extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit closing deadline!

Issues in the News  Congress Passes Two Key Bills:  Closing Deadline Extended for Federal Buyer Tax Credit for Those Under Contract by April 30th, 2010 and Reauthorization of National Flood Insurance Program Warwick, RI - July 1, 2010...Yesterday, Congress passed an extension of the Homebuyer Tax Credit closing deadline, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (H.R. 5623).

IS IT BETTER TO BUY OR RENT?

In today's market many buyers ask this question.  There are certainly pros and cons to both, but if a 6 year commitment is involved the numbers may surprise you.  You can see for yourself with this advanced buy/rent calculator provided in the following NY Times article.
"The calculator keeps a running tally of the most common expenses of owning and renting. It also takes into account something known as lost opportunity costs — for example, the return you could have earned by investing your money instead of spending it on a down payment. The calculator assumes that the profit you would have made in your investments would be taxed as long-term capital gains and adjusts the bottom line accordingly. The calculator tabulates lost opportunity costs for all parts of the buying and renting scenarios."