You may have had the question ‘how much home can I afford?’ while looking into one of the most important purchasing decisions you’ll make in your life, but didn’t know how to answer it.  Well, before you mull over this quandary too long, take a look at some helpful articles to set you on your way to being a happy homeowner.  

Mortgage Basics at Boston.com offers a wonderful selection of articles to get you started in your home buying process in the Metro Boston MA area.  The “How Much House can you buy?” section offers a easy way of estimating the answer to this question using Debt-to-Income Ratios; you plug in your specific finance information and you’ll be able to quickly see an estimate to serve as a guideline in your selection of a beautiful home.  

Another useful tool you will find at Boston.com includes the Mortgage Payment Calculator designed to personalize your search and give you more information to work with in knowing how to finance your home.

For more Mortgage Basics for the Metro Boston area, visit Boston.com.

If you have any specific real estate questions regarding the Metro Boston MA area including Malden, Medford, and Everett condos, homes and foreclosures, contact your neighborhood realtor, John McCann.

Malden MA’s downtown former Sacred Hearts convent has been transformed into the ideal place for neighborhood artists to live and work.  The city of Malden Massachusetts and the Malden Redevelopment Authority (MRA) have collaborated to offer nine studios that are available to fine artists, performing artists (including actors/actresses, dancers, etc), teachers of art, and painting restorers.  Each condo unit is priced at $100,000-125,000 and will carry a mortgage payment from $800-1,200, with most fees included.  These Malden MA condos were built to make use of natural lighting and be efficient for artists seeking a place to express their creativity.

The city hopes that by offering this more affordable housing and work space for local artists, these artists will continue to give back to the community that is so richly art driven.  For more information on this condo project visit irvingstreetstudios.com.

If you have any specific real estate questions regarding the Metro Boston MA area including Malden, Medford, and Everett condos, homes and foreclosures, contact your neighborhood realtor, John McCann.

You don’t want to miss the “Homeowner Foreclosure Prevention Workshop” this coming Saturday in Revere MA.  The Patrick Administration, Metropolitan Mayors Coalition and Revere’s Mayor Ambrosino invite both mortgage lenders and homeowners in Revere and surrounding cities and towns (e.g. Malden and Everett) to join in this unique opportunity.  

At the workshop, homeowners will meet with mortgage lenders to discuss loan modifications and alternatives regarding ways of preventing foreclosures; you, as a resident homeowner, will also be able to meet with local housing and credit counselors and be involved in informational seminars on how to keep your home.  Among the participating lenders are American Home, Mortgage Servicing, Bank of America, Countrywide Financial, GMAC Mortgage, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.  

The session will be from 10:00am to 4:00pm on October 18th 2008, so mark your calendars.  For any questions about the workshop visit their website at www.mass.gov/foreclosure.

If you have any specific real estate questions regarding the Metro Boston area, including Medford, Malden, and Everett homes, condos or foreclosures, contact your neighborhood realtor, John McCann.

image credit: sxc.hu

The leaves are changing and it’s the perfect time of year to check out what the Metro Boston area has to offer in homes and condos as you enjoy events for the whole family.  Whether you are looking for homes or condos in Medford, Malden, or Everett MA, you can go home hunting this month while catching some entertainment.  The rich culture of Metro Boston offers live music, theater, and comedy, as well as unique dining experiences.  

Some of the upcoming events include MIXFest 2008 on October 11th (a live music festival), ImprovBoston Family Show on October 11th for comedy lovers, Oktoberfest on October 12 with fun activities and foods from around the world, Boston Pumpkin Festival on October 18th, and the Chocolate Bar event on October 11th, featuring over 100 desserts.

So, don’t sit this one out and come to the Metro Boston MA area for entertainment and a little house hunting expedition this month.  

If you have any specific real estate questions regarding the Metro Boston area, including Medford, Malden, and Everett homes, condos or foreclosures, contact your neighborhood realtor, John McCann.

In these changing times of economic bleakness, the silver lining shines through as fuel prices are decreasing in the Boston Metro MA area.  The Boston Globe reported in a recent article that the average price of gas in Massachusetts fell 15 cents this past week; it was also reported that this drop was partially due to a decreased demand, which was attributed to the high prices and economic worries worldwide.  

Homeowners will also see a little relief as the home heating oil prices in Massachusetts have fallen as well.  Economists are at odds as to whether these falling prices are altogether good for the nation’s economy, but at least homeowners are getting a small respite from the spiked heating oil prices of this past July.

If you have any specific real estate questions regarding the Metro Boston area, including homes, condos, or foreclosures, feel free to contact local agent John McCann.

At the end of September, Massachusetts received federal funds in the amount of $54.8 million in hopes of curbing the increasing numbers of foreclosures, abandoned properties, and struggling neighborhoods across the state.  This funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development was distributed among the major areas, with Boston receiving $4.23 million.    

The number of foreclosures in Massachusetts practically doubled from the recorded 4,920 of last year to 8,804 this year.  Most of the funding will go to areas that are in most need of rehabilitation in the real estate sector due to the numerous foreclosures which hit neighborhoods hard.  Nationally, the housing stabilization fund that was passed by Congress this past summer included $3.92 billion to help states and cities to stabilize their communities and neighborhoods.  Funds can also be used to assist low and moderate income homebuyers to cover down payments or closing costs.

To find out how the Metro Boston foreclosure market is doing or if you have any specific real estate questions relating to Medford, Malden, Everett, Woburn, Wilmington, and Melrose homes, foreclosures, and condos, contact local agent John McCann.

With efforts to pass the $700 billion bailout unsuccessful, many potential homebuyers are uneasy about whether they should buy a home—and with good cause.  It has also become increasingly difficult to finance your desired home, due to the worsening market conditions.  But all of this may not be bad news for those that actually have great credit, as lenders are still willing to give loans to individuals with a good credit history; and with a good credit score you can still take advantage of the falling home prices that have made it more affordable for working families to be homeowners.

Although Massachusetts as a whole has seen a downward trend in sales statewide, the lower interest rates, sellers’ flexibility, and lower home prices has still provoked the interest of many home buyers and investors.  Many real estate agents are finding that helping potential home buyers with ‘buyer’s angst’ is the hardest hurdle in the process.  Through it all, a buyer must decide whether they can afford the home, love it, and see themselves enjoying being a homeowner.

If you have a specific request concerning Metro Boston real estate, feel free to contact John McCann, your neighborhood realtor.  

Despite the lower prices in the real estate market being tempting, prospective homebuyers have been unable to purchase homes due to the increasing problems in obtaining the proper financing.  Although the index of pending home resales rose 5.8 percent this past June, it has decreased 3.2 percent in July, as stated by the National Association of Realtors in September.  

These statistics have been part of the reason why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies were taken over by the government and mortgage rates have dropped with recent federal intervention.  With hard to obtain financing situations, many borrowers are hesitating to make the purchase with their costs remaining at a higher rate.  

For more information on the Metro Boston Foreclosure market and other real estate related questions contact your neighborhood realtor John McCann.

If you are looking to find out the latest property assessments for Medford Massachusetts then Assessors Online Database can help.  Using the Property Assessment search you can search by location (e.g. street number and street name), by owner name (if known), by Map-Lot-Unit, by account number, or by Vision internal ID (making it helpful to find something you were previously looking at in the data base).  The search options are designed to help you find the property you are looking for and its most recent assessed value depending on what date you have on hand about the given property.  

You can also use this search to find property including homes and condos in Medford MA by the specifications of a given property such as acreage or building square feet, as well as price ranges, property type, and model type.  All you need to do is register and stay up to date.

If you have a specific request regarding real estate in the Metro Boston MA area, contact John McCann your local realtor who is always happy to assist you.

Related Link:

Metro Boston MLS Search

Mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are now under federal control, were urged this month to freeze foreclosures on loans in their current portfolios for a minimum of 90 days.  With members of the Senate Banking Committee on mortgage companies’ tails to provide immediate relief to many homeowners, there seems to be little else they can do.  Along with freezing foreclosures on loans for at least 90 days to provide relief to the many homeowners in this situation, senators are also asking that companies ease their policies on modifying mortgages as well.  Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke and other lawmakers have been encouraging mortgage companies to assist in keeping borrowers in their homes and from foreclosures by reducing balances and changing the terms of the loans.

Fannie and Freddie mortgage companies can foreclose on loans that they guarantee or own; though they can direct servicers to hold up on foreclosure proceedings, other stakeholders (e.g. private mortgage insurers) will still be able to have their say in the procedure.

If you have a specific real estate request, feel free to contact John McCann, your local Metro Boston MA realtor.