Flat lined in Belmont (MA)

At the risk of jumping the gun, what with 8 more business HOURS left to this pale of a year of 2011, we can report that sales in Belmont were flat compared to 2010. So far for 2011, 146 homes changed hands according to MLS. This compares out to 143 homes for the previous year. Flat yes, but to dig a bit deeper shows a bit of contour to the Real Estate terrain...

Days on market went form 78 days in 2010 down to a stealthy 58 in 2011. Average price rose from 780k to 804k. It would seem, from the numbers view at least, that we had somewhat of a bidding war on our little hands -- a little war, anyway. Buyers were there -- sellers were not...when someone did put the "chalet" on the market, it went.

Now let us not jump the gun in the other direction (read that as shoot ourselves in the foot -- or face). Buyers were not throwing themselves at anything and everything -- they were NOT willing to die by the sword if they failed to sign a Purchase and Sale. In fact, they kept their collective cool and allowed 42 listings to EXPIRE (no sale) in 2011. In 2010, they refused to ink deals on 35 homes.

What does it all mean -- not much, I should hazard. Flat sales in a bad market can be great, but it should be reminded at many times, flat surfaces are, indeed, as slippery as a slippery slope.

Ghost Writing on the Wall

She comes to me and says, "I am interested in a home that is haunted."

I mishear -- I think she says something about hunting as in a hunting lodge.

Oh, heavens no,no,no she disputes, "NO I said haunted as in ghosts."

Now folks, I do not believe in ghosts. I also do NOT believe in Democrats in the White House, but they ARE there for the moment, so maybe just maybe there are ghosts.

"Sadly," I say, "when I search for ghosts, it does not come up on MLS."

"Oh, dearie", she laughs, "of course they won't come up. They are ghosts, they hide. We won't know until we get into the home. I'll feel them."

"Why," I foolishly ask (never ask a question unless you already know they answer!), "why do you needs ghosts?"

"Well, I am single, "she says, "and I am afraid to be alone at night. The ghosts will keep me company." Crissakes, I think to myself: I am in Great Expectations showing property to Miss Haversham...where's Estella when you need her (she was the Hot One!)...just my luck.

We head to one wreck in Billerica. What luck! She hears sound from above -- an "otherworldly presence coming down." Turns out it was squirrels in the attic.

We go to a dump in Burlington: sadly she prefers her ghosts to be Kosher -- I AM not MAKING THIS UP! (do ghosts eat?).

At the third home she looks at me and says, "I should have known you'd bring me to a place like this. Looks like something out of the Vampire Diaries! I knew it would come to this."

"Say wha'?", I stammer.

"Well look at you," she posits, "those sunk in cheeks, you are rail thin and youthful yet have the wear of the ages in your face, those eyes; big round, dark that seem to want to fly out of your head..." [note to myself -- oh brother, get me "outta" here!] "...Yes, you have the look of a benevolent vampire about you. NO no no...I want ghosts, not vampires to share my life."

Well folks, no sale, but I have to look at the bright side. I have a first time buyer who's not scared! I sent her to Bank of America for her preapproval -- if that don't scare her, nothing will!

Un-Staging

Everybody knows about staging. Okay, so maybe a few of you good folks do not, so by way of quick explanation, "Staging" is a concept wherein a seller prepares the home for sale by doing cockamamie things that the "home stagers" tell you will sell your home FASTFASTFAST.

Now, folks, you and I know that so nobody is fooled by some bric-a-brac bought at the local Homegoods store, or candles burning in the alcove. We ALL know that in order to sell a home FASTFASTFAST, you have to price it RIGHTRIGHTRIGHT.

I have never been one for staging. It all looks so phony to me. I walk into a "staged" home and I think of Ikea; I smell the scented candles and I want to sneeze at best (at worst, I want to look behind the fridge for the mildew).

No folks, I do not like staging, but that does not mean I am in favor of UN-STAGING...

UN-Staging is a concept I developed. I tell my clients that we must make sure not to unstage and they ask, "What, perchance is that?"

Un-staging is what I call the act of NOT doing those things that will turn off a buyer or, at best, mitigate against a favorable offer. Herewith is a list of UN-Staging items -- things we should not do:

Do not leave the foreclosure notice on the dining room table -- No one is going to up their offer for your home if they know you are in hock up to your hams. Likewise the overdue bills.

Do not show off your pets -- Fido suffers from "bad breath in dog's mouth", sorry to tell you that (you smell just like him after all these years of letting him sit in your lap). No one thinks your dog is cute. As soon as I see a free range dog, I begin to wonder where is the wee-wee stain from those paper training days.

Cats -- forget it, lock 'em up. Every five minutes they are hurling a hair ball; the litter box stinks and the food on the floor is gross.

Hubby -- if the man of the house uses male enhancement, for goodness sakes, hide the bottle; do not leave it on the dresser. We ALL know what goes on in the bedroom, and we may even go to a movie and watch Sasha Gray do it in mind boggling concatenations of styling, but we DO NOT want to think about YOU doing it. While you are at it,...change the bedsheets.

We have all been told that cooking makes a buyer feel all warm and fuzzy, but DO NOT leave the stew on the stove during a showing. The whole recipe is going to boil down to a tarry mass while you are gone and the house will stink like burnt rubber.

I love fireplaces, but do NOT leave 'em going when I show up with a prospective buyer. The only message that can come of this is, "What kind of a moron lives here who would light a fireplace and leave?"

Do not put the dirty diapers into the diaper bin -- they still stink! You just can't smell it anymore. Put the whole bin outside. While you are at it, take down some of Junior's picture. Too many pictures makes the house look too well lived in.

Don't use the basement for storage! If "ya got" clutter, rent a place. Boxes piled high just look like you are hiding something.

Hide the magazine collections. We are all very impressed knowing you read the New Yorker...this week's issue is just fine, but we DON'T need to see them going back to 1965.

Don't leave 3 weeks of leftovers in the fridge. It smells, and at any rate, the fridge may well be part of the offer. Even if it is not, the buyers are going to open it.

Do you really need to leave that box of Trojan's in the medicine cabinet? Do you really need to leave the "Girls Gone Wild" DVDs on the night rest? If you do, at least leave a copy of Citizen Kane there.

DO NOT vacuum TOMORROW! Do it today.

Do not soak the dishes.

Do NOT smoke...EVER. In fact, stop smoking TEN YEARS before you decide to sell. That is how long the nicotine is going to take to dry out of your wall board.

Don't leave fancy chocolates around...good ol' Hershey works just fine. I mean, it might not have an impact on selling the home but, well, what I mean is...I like Hershey...

An MVP award in Arlington (MA) 2010 Condo Review

A few days ago, we happily reported the triple crown winner for 2010 was Arlington (single family sales). Single family's battery-mate, the condo, went to bat also and put up numbers worthy of Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle (pre-steroid heros).

In 2010, 201 condo docs changed hands; eleven fewer than the number that got got snatched up in 2009. BUT -- the average price long balled up to $396,242 from $350,223 (13%). Days on market was clocked on the speed gun at 59.46 (according1g to MLS), and was was nearly 11 days faster than 2009! And in the all important slugging-percentage-like area of price per square foot, 2010 knocked it out at $285 per, versus 2009's $279.

If there is one weak hole (and there ever is: even Ted Williams had a weak hole -- he batted [his own assessment] a paltry .240 when going after the low inside pitches), that weak hole would be expired listing. In 2009, 57 listings failed to sell. In 2010, 114 owners were "left on base".

As the season swings into high gear we are left to wonder: will they improve in their offensive categories and drive in those 114 owners, or will the season swing somewhere else? I thin the former.

Condo "Many-of-Them" (Belmont, MA)

So 84 condos (well mostly 2 family homes cut in half) went onto the chopping block in 2010; average price, a bit under $461k. Big improvements in both areas over 2009 when 66 flats swapped deed holders at an average price just below $420k. Not bad, but agents had to put the nose to the grindstone a lot longer to etch those down payments into stone. It took an average of 161 days (upwards of 6 months) to natch down the deal compared to 106 days for 2009.

And yet, the stock remains plentiful: 58 condos FAILED to sell and the listings went EXPIRED in 2010. In 2009, the number was 53. By point of comparison, in 2010 a mere 34 single fams went expired versus 48 single expires in 2009.

If you did not get in on the condo buying in 2010, do not worry, you have not missed the boat. There's a rather lame joke out and about that goes something like this:

"You know of any condos for sale?"
"Yeah"
"Which one?"
"All of them."

Belmont Balancing Act

Ok, so there may be one or two souls out there putting the ol' schnozzola to the grindstone and getting one last close into the books, but as Bob Dylan sings, "It ain't me, babe..."; I am off the clock today: getting ready for whatever extravaganzas are coming tonight.

With that cut into stone, I may relate that Belmont was nicely balanced when comparing sales of singles in 2010 to 2009. With the final caveat of last hour closings (C'mon no one's workin' today!), we can say that 144 singles changed hands in 2010. That is 3 less than 2009 (147) and a 2% tip to the "malaise", but wait....the average sale price was just shy of $778,000 according to my stats from MLS, versus 2009's average pluck of $730,000 (up a bit). The scales shift back to the center: a little less in sales, a little more in price (or commission check for the Belmont agents). Even Steven. In fact, those agents grabbed a cut of $112,011,552in sales in 2010. In 2009 those same souls were forced to get by with commissions based on a paltry 107,310,558 -- about 4.7 million dollars less in 2009 versus 2010.

I just peel with excitement at what a breakdown of the condo market might be, but that will have to wait. I am off today. See you all on the other side. May any and all of your disappointments in this dying year of 2010 inspire you all to travel roads with brighter and wider eyes.

My best,
Al.

(D)arlington, MA

Notwithstanding the caveat that there is ONE MORE DAY left to the quarter, we hazard a trip north from Belmont and take a look at that darling of the Real estate agents, Arlington (get it?...DArlington...ahem...).

Agents bagged pieces of 33 single family payoffs in the first quarter of 2010. This rubs out as a jump over 2009 where 25 homes changed grimy hands, AND an increase over 2008 when 33 singles, shall we say, entered real estate matrimony (get it?...darling, single, matrimony. Hello?!?! I need a laugh here.).

I would not jump to conclusions here about the 8,000 rubdown being given out here. I leave that mental masturbation to the PHD's at Harvard.

Who knows, Arlington seems to be such a sweet little town. Maybe all they need is love.

Ooops...I did it again... (actually they did it)

Can you believe it, "shoppers"? One day left and the first quarter of this new decade is over...

Now, I know there's a bit of time left, but we may well jump the gun and begin to take a look at the slices and dices of how the "recovery" is coming along. Starting with that spendthrift Cambridge wannabe town of Belmont, we see 15 single family deals closed in the quarter...a big jump from the 11 of last year (must be that 8 grand tax gig, eh???). But whoa, what looms on the rear horizon, Kimmosabi? It ain't Uncas or the Last of the Mohicans...it is none other than the first quarter of 2008 -- wherein 29 RE attorney's got paid to write up 29 deeds. Whoa, Silver, we are being told that the LAST 2 years TOGETHER have not gotten up to where they can scratch the butt of 2008. IS that what we are being told??? Yup that is it.

I think this explains the scared stiff smile of the housewife house hucksters -- the ones who do one deal a year. They'll be down to zero at this rate (can you do a half a deal??? why not -- that's a condo, ain't it?).

Keep zooming back, my faithful companions. We will begin our town by town reviews...but WAIT, there's more...

...I will be at the House of Blues, sitting quietly for a change, but a couple of venues have asked me to return to the stand-up mike -- and I shall be doing so shortly. Now ...there's no more (change the channel, please).

Agents are Full of S**T

Here in my corner of the world, the next time your bubbly agent tells you how great things are in the world and how that world will only be greater for you if you buy this home "TODAY!!!!!!", ask that agent of yours about "ORDERS of NOTICE". Now, mind you, they probably do not know what those things are. My advice in that situation is to get another agent, FAST! Just call me, actually.

That is an order of notice over yonder the right there. Not a pretty thing I would hazard (privacy information has been blocked out), AND, it gets uglier as one learns about them.

Herewith is a small primer on what we will now abbreviate as OON:

An OON may be considered an solid indicator of foreclosures coming up. It is a required document filed at the Registry of Deeds that notified folks that their lender is going to foreclose on them. The OON is required because any person in the military can seek relief under the Service members Civil Relief Act (one rightly cannot foreclose on a bloke shooting down some scum bucket who wants to do harm to Americans).

An now, hers are some stats to ponder.

Looking at this year to date (1/1 - 3/18) there have been in "my" areas (Belmont, Arlington, Watertown and Medford) 66 OON's plopped in mailboxes of sinking homeowners; 37 of those are in Medford, by the way.

In the same period last year, there were 14!...Yes only 14 (11 in Medford).

That is a big clunk. When one thinks of all the foreclosures that have been laid to rest, and these numbers coming up that ARE NOT in the stats,...well conjecture is worth a few moments when next we "latte at Starbucks".

What does this mean? Well, we will expand our stat collection and see if the patterns are "All over the board". Then, we will be better able to discern if your happy agent is full of S**T, or completely down and out of the crapper already.

"Ducking" the Weather

There are ducks swimming in my backyard...not in the little pond at the northwest corner, but in the yard where, at about this time every year, I begin the annual toil of planting happy grass and expunging, well, crab grass. Not today.

It appears the water table has risen above the banks of the pond, and the pond has made ownership of a substantial swath of the yard. I noticed a fish in a place that would normally make it a "fish out of water". I had hoped the little adventurer wold submarine itself back to the deeper climes of the pond, but sadly, that did not happen;...an aquatic squirrel tip-toed through the shallows and made a "canape" of the "carp."

Many open houses on this Sunday just gone were "called on account of rain." Brokers, deciding to put valor in the "bottom drawer", felt it best to "close for the day" rather than have to explain to a doubting public that the "wet basement is ONLY during unusual rains" such as these. I kept my open house going: I had not problem facing up to the sceptics about the seepage...no problem because NO ONE came.

The high school is closed today. Flooding. A few other communities are suffering the same fate. Not the flooding but having teenagers with a day off and nothing to do. I suspect the "little darlings" will spend it nursing cheap beer out of paper bags behind the Dunkin Donuts on Trapelo Road, or behind the library if the babbling brook there has not overflowed its banks. The town will fairly glow with beer cans reflecting in headlights by tonight.

I'll be out showing some properties. Let's take advantage of all this. How much off the list price can we get for a sopping basement? Time will tell....

So that's the way things are in my corner of the world in these rain swept times. Time to put on the flippers and check my own basement.

Wheel Estate Redux

I have been driving a Yaris these days. It appears to be, at this point at least, the only car that has not been recalled by Toyota.

Perhaps my Yaris is truly a super car, but perhaps there are other reasons for no recall and herewith are but a few speculations:

There are but a handful on the road. The numbers sold are counted in tens of thousands, not in millions like the Corolla. Perhaps Toyota forgot to recall them.

I paid a mere 13k for the jalopy. I suppose, if there is something wrong with the chariot, just dump it out on Monday morning with the rest of the recycled cans and plastic (the Yaris, I have been told, is made of aluminum recycled cans).

And, perhaps, anyone riding around in a little car made from Dr. Pepper metal deserves to die, so no bother for a recall.

Yet, as I go off to present a property, I am confident that the brakes will work at 30 MPH and the car (unlike the Prius) will not get stuck at 90 miles per hour (I doubt my Yaris will crank out 60 MPH without the hubcaps falling off).

Now I know what you all are thinking. Does he not look like a fool driving up a sales meeting whilst driving a Tonka Toy?! Where is his sense of status, his sense of lording over the baffled customer; the shock and awe of a BMW?

Ahh, yes, I have addressed that. You see, in this age of less is more, or if not more than just the best we can do, I feel the BMW or any other Luxury car from one of the former AXIS countries bespeaks a pompous and out-of-touch message. Unemployment is rising and this chump is driving up in a Lexus -- a new one??? -- damn I'll be damned if I'll give that parasite a lick of business.

Ahhhhh, but as I drive up in the Yaris, clean and shiny humming of cheap gas consumption, I am ever asked, "What is that little thing?"

A Yaris, I posit. Gets me where I need to go fast, easy, and simple. I can park it in the smallest of wedges. I am in and out. And with my business booming right now, I need to move, and move fast. Now how about this home...let's take a look and see what it does for you, shall we?

Status symbols are everywhere --- just remember symbols say, hard workers DO.

Con-DUMB-iniums Redux

Thought I would repeat these words of wisdom scribed long ago. It seems some in Belmont have not learned the lessons. Read on....


Condominiums have been around for years, and they have played a vital role in the housing, well being and financial dealing of folks all around the country. My own forey in Condo land began and ended happily. I have nothing but fond memories of that little slice of heaven (very little -- 330 sq ft.) I called home in the North End of Boston.

But there has been, in the last ten years, a newer trend in Condo conversions: the two-family conversion. This ditty, while it has all the wrappings of the 10, 20 or larger editions of the product, is unique in that -- well it is 2 units. I have seen documents put togther by quick sell 2 family owners that leave much to the imagination. Lots of questions, lots of fights.

You see, good readers, the larger condo associations operate like little city states. The citizens of Athens get together and Aristotle tells everyone that the building needs painting. Plato says something about the paint has to come from the stars, and Socrates is just trying to get everyone to vote before he has to limp off and take poison. They vote and they do -- or don't paint.

The 2-fam condo is more like a marriage. Ponder it: the two parties live in the same structure, have the usual domestic quarrels, deal with the breakdowns and leaks, squabble and spat over who should do what and, in general, are on their own in the cold cruel world. Yessir, a lot like a marriage, except you probably will never get a chance to see the other party in the arrangement naked.

Come to think of it, the 2-fam condo is more like an ARRANGED marriage; the papers are passed the money flows. Then you meet the other party (where, at least in the arranged marriage, you WILL get to see the other half naked).

But, few and far between are the arranged betrothals these days, and I should hazard that 2 Fam unions should be entered into with all the sanctity of an espousal made in heaven, not "Vegas".

So herewith, a few observational pointers for any dear readers who may be pondering "getting down on one knee" with Offers to Purchase in Hand:

1. Meet the other owner -- If this is "not possible", then run...put yourself back into the dating scene. Buyers who like a home will spend time cruising around the neighborhood, getting a feel for the whole environment and its people. Why not do the same thing for "the people" living under the same roof as you?
2. Know the structure. -- Everything should have accommodations. Firm up the holes over how things are paid. No round to-its, -- as in "I'll get around to it". Cut those schedules into stone and stick to them.
3. Know your electrical lines, especially in the basement. Know your water lines, especially in the basement.
4. Let the other party know when you are doing work on your part of the plantation. Even if it is simply painting, let them know. Smells permeate. If it is piping, wiring or any sort of invasive improvement, make sure all work channels through common wall space. If you plan to sand your floors this Tuesday, first make sure that the better half in the bottom unit did not just get off the Swing Shift at Raytheon.
5. After having sanded those hardwood floors, do not take up tap dancing.
6. If it does turn out that your marriage is not one of heaven and you falter in the above or any other areas, keep my number, (617) 470.8085, close by. I have lots of intimate "singles" waiting when you and the other half bust up. You may not get a chance to see anybody naked, but at least you will be able to leave your dirty laundry in the basement.

The Good, the Bad and the Arlington (MA) Sales review

With the hour glass fairly tinkling the last sands of 2009 away, we can report that there were 141 single family homes sold in Arlington in the year (a few more may pop in). Average price was $495,000. This sets out at about 9 grand below asking (call it 2%. This compares out quite well to 2008 where the average price was $483,000 (12k less than '09) for the 115 homes that changed hands. Prices were UP and unit count was UP -- a lot up on the unit count; 22% up on the count, in fact

To the casual observer, it may not seem like there was ssoooooo much action. Casual observers judge action by signs -- how any signs are up and how many come down. I do look at this with a small calculation that I call "signs days". It is a bench mark that takes the number of sales in the year and multiplies it by the days the sign was up from beginning to listing until the day the home went sold. For 2008 those 115 sales took an average of 60 days to sell -- that works out to (115*60) 6900 sign days. For 2009, the 141 sales averaged on market for a speedy minimal 48 days or 6758 sign days. The Casual "looker" did not see any difference in the signs posted on the by-ways of Arlington, hence, a splendid home market has not been made public -- except to we few proud and happy Realtors marching through Arlington.

Don't Turn on the "Waterworks" for Watertown

Don't cry for me Watertown...so the Watertown agents should say.

In 2009 (so far...a few more may slip in), 78 single family homes were sold. This compares slightly to the good to 2008 when 75 "castles" changed hands. Not only that, these castles traded out faster than in 2008. It took 60 days for the lord of the Watertown manors to divest in 2009. In 2008 the lords and ladies had to wait 82 days for their vassals (agents) to get the job done.

As far as pricing goes,...it was a tad to the bleak, nothing like the Black Death of 1348, of course but average prices were a dip from $463,428 in 2008 to $455,707 in "09". $8,000 for a drop is nothing when compared to the whopping of a whack taken in Belmont where (as noted yesterday), the average palace got "pillaged" for about $70,000.

We may have assumed that demand for homes in Watertown has to have been buffeted by the $8,000 tax credit to first time buyers, but that does not seem to have been the case. 30 of the homes sold for under $400,000 in 2009. A look at 2008 shows that 32 homes sold for under $400,000 when the tax credit programs first went into action. In 2007, a scant 25 out of 93 homes sold were in that price range (average sale price $484,424 in 2007). The "stats" do not fully define the issue.

It may well be, after all is said and done, education: seeing prices not dropping from 2008 to 2009 brought the skittish buyers out and days-on-market times shortened. But who knows for sure?...no one...not even Santa.

First Time Buyer in the Swiss Alps

I am with this young pup of an agent, and he just wants to tag along and tag along. He is taking notes; notes of everything that I do. I spy, on one of his little sheets, a marker in the midst of some scribe he has jotted. I ask, "What does that mark mean."

"Oh, that," he says, "it tells me when you took a breath..."

OK, I think, he is a cross between a psychopath and a boy scout, but then again, so long as he's making those marks, I am breathing so...

I try to break away, but he keeps coming. I am forced into my first white lie of the afternoon:

"I have to bug off now. I am taking a class."

"Wow. Cool," he says, "A class in what?"

I am a tad speechless by his insinuation into my person life, yet in an effort cut cut him off with good humor, I posture this little joke:

"Yodeling," I say. "I am taking a class in Yodeling", and I walk off...BUT

He is not done...It seems he did not get the joke, for he continues: "Cool, like where do you do that?"

And I am forced to posture, "Well, why...at the...ummm...at the Boston Center for Adult Education...of course."

"Wow, really neat, I did not know this stuff happened..."

Now I am forced to go on the offensive until he gets the joke:

"Well you see, Yodeling is not to be taken lightly. it is just not squawking! There is the syllabic part and the inflective part, and if either is not done correctly, you can start an avalanche! For example, take the syllabic 'Yodel-aye-ee oh!' -- very terse and sharp. Your have to smooth into it, but most people cannot do it...and bang! hitting it too hard and you've got a mountain slide! Let me demonstrate a smooth entrance to the oft quoted 'yodel-aye-ee-oh'....'YODELEETEE-YODELAYETEE-Yodel-aye-ee-ooohh.' Smooth, eh?"

He IS impressed and still believes it all, but his text messaging kicks in and he finds his pimpled teenage bride flacking out the OMG's and CU LTR's and ILYSM's and so ons and so forths. He is gone, and I am free.

This believe everything sucker is gonna go far in this world; that is for sure. He has to...all the way to Europe. Before he left, I sold him the entire north side of the Matterhorn for a song!

A Self Serving Call to Action

The below quote came to me from my lobbying group, the National Association of Realtors. One wonders about these things. It is a plea to keep yet one more bail out going. The famous $8,000 to first time buyers is, after all just another bailout: it gives 8 grand to folks who may not deserve it and take it away from those who earned it (in the form of more debt to pay in the future -- which will be paid by rising taxes). At the risk of losing the love of my fellow agents, I say no; no to any of this. Let us all work hard, try hard, take a bit longer to recover, if necessary, but let us stop this govenmant mandated re-allocation of wealth.

Read the text:

"We have all seen first-hand the positive impact the first-time homebuyer tax credit is having on the real estate market recovery. As the expiration date for this successful program looms, we ALL need to make sure that Congress hears from us about the positive impact this program has had and ask them to extend it, and expand it, so that we can continue to see our markets fully recover."

60 Onley Street, Watertown by the numbers

A Fabulous Opportunity up and down the line! Open House on 8/23/09 12-1:30. Se you there at 60 Olney Street, Watertown, MA. Just click the title link above for full information.

"For Sale by Owner" StataGEEZ!!!

One wonders about the logic some folks apply when trying to sell thier homes without professional advocating. Not much to say about this bloke's Project Plan. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out...

Smelling Change in the Air?

I thought I did smell change in the air, but perhaps it was just my wacky neighbor cooking on the outdoor grill...in the snow. Be that as it may, it is notable that, so far this year, in my corner of the world, little, Belmont, MA, 5 properties have gone under agreement since January 1, 2009 (18 days). What is notable in this number is the "DAYS ON MARKET" for these palaces -- they averaged a whopping 314 days on -- that is 10 months of no sale no sale no sale and now BANG, we have a deal.

Similar stats are showing up in surrounding communities (5 in Watertown, 8 in "booze free" Arlington, 10 in Medford).

We may well put this up to lower prices, but that does seem to be the case -- no dumps on these prices. Just folks beginning the long dive into the markets.

It is more likely that folks are seeing the other side of the news. A company announces 10,000 layoffs and we are in a tizzy. Another firm is dropping 10% of its staff and we throw a cow. Never mind -- once the ten percent get the ol' heave ho, that leaves a well placed,relaxed and even celebratory 90% out and about. It is these 90 percenters who are coming forward. The survivors in the modern jungle feasting on the carcasses of the fallen...Maybe that is what I smell.

Sittin' in the Nest Egg

It seems Americans are optimistic about their homes. According to Rasmussen at least. The pollster has put numbers out on his site that show, "Fifty-nine percent (59%) of American homeowners expect thier home to go up over the next five years". Delving deeper into the numbers, the report avers that 10% think thier homes value will go down. 21% think they'll be kissing their sister, as t he saying goes (in other words, getting nowehere. 10% don't know...

It is that 10% where we may well see the smartest home folk in the world. Afterall, who prices a house everyday? Walks home and checks the bid and the ask on the properties on the lining Main Street? Afterall, the homeonwer owns -- a home not a commodity. Anyone who bought the ranch with an eye on the capital gain and not the living room went about it all the wrong way. Best to have invested in stock certificates.

No the home is more than an investment. If it's value drops in dollars, it does not necassarilymean in drops nthe intrinsics of warmth, comradery, and memories developed behind its walls. A home is a place of well being and health, a place to go -- not a place to market...save that for the fishmongers.

No doubt Rasmussen will hatch and other survey in the next few days. You may wish to, after dinner, sit in the ol' easy chair and read before bedtime.