If we cannot help you ourselves, let us find you

an agent like us....

Our clients may have real estate needs outside of our home area.  Through our company's resources, we can find an agent in your target area with the right skills and geographic expertise.

The introduction process benefits you in two ways:

•  It let's us share our understanding of you a a client so you're not starting over from scratch with a new agent.  
•  It ensures that you'll receive quality representation from a specially trained agent.

The next time you, a friend or family member have a real estate need, contact us to take advantage of this valuable agent introduction service.

Whether it's across the state or across the globe,

let us help you find agent like us.

1. To help you with investment properties
2. To help you find the perfect vacation home
3. To help your children find their first home
4. To help you find the right home for your life's next stage

We all know that if your home is in a prestigious neighborhood or has acres of land, that that is what will be your "lead in" for your Home Ad.  But what if you have a great, normal home in Natick? How are you going to set yourself apart from all the other great normal homes in Natick?  That answer is easier than you may think, and that is why you need Team Lynch to sell your Natick home!

Sometimes, in looking for that GREAT aspect of our home to be the focus of our advertising we overlook the basics of what makes our home truly great.  Even though you may have outgrown your home and are starting to see it's flaws...the goal of marketing is to highlight your home to shine in the eyes of your potential buyers.   So start looking at the basics of your Natick home:

1. Storage:  This is something almost every buyer wants and needs. Since many First Time Home Buyers have struggled with not having adequate storage in their apartment life....you'll want to take pictures and highlight all the storage options in your home.

2. Organizational Options:  Hand in hand with storage is organization.  If you have made the investment in built-in or custom closet or kitchen organizer systems, desks, bookshelves, garage systems, etc....You'll want to highlight this in your homes listing along with great photos of each.

5. Senior Friendly Features:  Many families are now moving aging family members in with them.  This has made the search for homes with in-law suites or senior family features like: single story layouts, level-in entrance (no stairs) and low maintenance landscaping. Even extra bedrooms with a bath need to be marketed as such.  This is a new direction in the way that Americans are living so it makes a great lead in for marketing.

Taking time to prepare your Natick MA home prior to putting it up for sale is extremely important.  After all, for most of us, this is our most important asset so taking the extra time it takes to ensure we have taken care of all the small things makes the most sense.

1. Get all your paperwork together. Simple right? Not so much- if you've been in your home a long time this may take longer that you think. You'll need HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Appliances, Remotes and any other technical systems that your new owners will need to live comfortably in the home.

2. Check all the small things.  You know, the ones you've probably gotten used to living with. Check switch plates, fixtures, door handles, mailbox, etc.

3. Make things less personal. This may seem odd, but you want potential buyers to be able to picture themselves in the home, not see "your" home. So pack up and move out many of your personal items.

4. Try to eliminate all evidence of pets in the home! This may sound harsh, but you want to make it look as though you NEVER had a pet in the home. Get rid of smells, stains, food, food bowls, etc.

5. Remove clutter from every room in the home!

6. Gather estimates on repairs/or replacements.  Unless everything in your home is brand new, you can expect for it to be on the "bargaining block" during the negotiation phase. So get on top the process now.

7. No one wants a dirty house! You want to deep clean...I'm talking "white glove" test. Plus, a clean house will garner a better selling price as well.

8. Hide the kids! What?? A buyer will be checking for signs of damage from children, so make sure you've made those repairs.  When you have a showing, make sure the kids are out of the home, no one wants to have kids under foot while they are looking at a home.

9. Clean up your landscaping. No need to hire a professional...but clean up the yard so that it looks neat and tidy. Grass should be cut, twigs and leaves from winter raked and bagged. Sprucing it up with a few flowers or shrubs never hurts either.

10. Take some pictures. Once everything is cleaned up and looking nice.....take some pictures and use them for marketing purposes.  The better the pictures the more people will want to come and see your home.

Just as in any type of sales job, a home is never truly bought, or sold, until the money has changed hands and the keys have been given. You may have received an offer on your Wellesley or Metrowest Boston MA home, and are fairly certain that the buyer possesses all the right credentials to allow the sale to go through smoothly, but there are still steps that you need to go through before the sale is final.

One of those critical steps is the....HOME INSPECTION of your Wellesley or Metrowest Boston MA home. Now, unless your home is flawless, of which most are not, you will be in for some negotiations with the buyer. The best way to handle these types of negotiations is to have the best Real Estate Team on your side. The Team who would have suggested that you had an inspection of your Wellesley home prior to the home being put on the market so that you could have taken care of these issues on the front end. However, if that wasn't the case here are my suggestions:

First, you need to be realistic and understand that every home is going to have some issue(s) that need to be fixed. So don't get stressed out, get in "fix it" mode and take care of what needs to be done.

As realtors,  We hate to see a buyer use the Home Inspection as a means to "renegotiate" the contract. Don't get me wrong, for the most part when a buyer is asking for a negotiation on something it is justified- damage on a roof, plumbing, foundation, etc. A Home Inspection is meant to protect the buyer against "major" problems, not to nitpick and try to get a seller to virtually give you a brand new home. Sellers, you need to rely on your Real Estate Team for advice!

Inspection Credits versus Repairs

After the inspection is completed on your Wellesley or Metrowest Boston MA home, and there are legitimate repairs that need to be completed, try to push for a closing cost credit or a price reduction. This would be the easiest for you, the Seller to do. Besides, you don't want to be in the position of having to do repairs and having the Buyer not satisfied with the repairs that are done and having to redo them or losing the sale!

Negotiating the Home Inspection Problems

Remember, you are not obligated to repair your Wellesley or Metrowest Boston MA home before you sell it, but you MUST be up front and honest with the Buyer. One of the difficulties in going through the inspection process and then losing a buyer is now knowing EXACTLY what was found needing to be repaired and disclosing it to another potential buyer.   In this case, you must now learn the art of "haggling".  Nothing new, but you'll need to look at the list of repairs and decide which you are willing to make and which you aren't,  and negotiate it with the buyer in a way that will allow you to spend less money....but NOT LOSE YOUR BUYER!

The bottom line is to be prepared up front. Work with a professional Real Estate Team who knows what needs to be done up front to avoid the pitfalls of the Home Inspection process. Once you've found that Team, put your trust in them and listen & adhere to their advice.

For more tips on Selling and Buying homes in the Wellesley & Metrowest Boston MA  area please visit our website at www.teamlynchrealestate.com, or give us a call. We know the Metrowest Boston area well after living and working here for the majority of our lives and can answer all your questions or help you get your home ready to be put on the market.

"You want to list my Wellesley MA Home for what?!!"

 Have you ever heard that exclamation before?  I'm sure you have at some point, and unfortunately it does happen.  But why does it happen?  The answer is simple, but more difficult to accept.  This is why it is so important that you hire an experienced Wellesley real estate agent to advise & guide you in the selling of your Wellesley home.  When you list your  home For Sale, your agent will know the market conditions and how to correctly identify the "listing price" for your home.  He or she will not have the emotional attachment to your home that you do, and  and therefore will be able to be an unbiased judge of the homes value and worth in today's housing market.  While you may not like the price you are hearing, have faith in the person you chose to represent you & your home.  When you overprice your home it will be dangerous for several reasons, but the biggest (and simplest) is...IT WON'T SELL!

In addition to not selling when you've overpriced it, you've really stacked the deck against you from day one. Selling your home can be an emotional roller coaster.  What your home means to you and how you imagine it, needs to come to terms with the real world and the current real estate market.....and that is no more apparent than in pricing.   Everything you are doing at this point is looking at the home to "list" and sell.  That may seem apparent, but it's much harder than it looks. You must take the emotional strings out of the way. You may cherish the color, flooring, or some other "prized possession", but none of that matters, it's simply black and white.  You are looking at it objectively just to list and sell.                                                                                                                                                           

Just "because you paid a certain amount for your home", or because "it means so much to you", is a sure fire way to stall the successful sale of your property.  Buyers also aren't going to care if you "need to get a certain amount for your home in order to buy your new home".  All the new buyer cares about is paying a fair market value for your home and that there aren't any hidden surprises that are going to come up later in the home inspections. Nothing will blow up in your face quicker than an OVERPRICED PROPERTY!  

You are free to list your home for any price you choose. However, any exceptional real estate agent will tell you that overpricing a home can lead to serious problems. Some of these include:

1. *Scare off Buyers- You don't want to miss out on an ideal buyer by pricing yourself out of their category. Rely on the expertise of your Real Estate agent and their knowledge of the local market so that you can maximize your exposure on the market and with buyers while still getting the best price for your home.
2. * Too much Time on The Market- When a home is priced too high it ends up spending far too much time on the market.  If a buyer decides to put an offer in on the property that offer takes into consideration the amount of time the property has been sitting idle on the market.  Therefore it has a negative effect on the property.
3. * Home Price Appraisal Issues- If you have overpriced your home, and a buyer has agreed to pay the "overpriced" price, you still have to pass the Home Appraisal. If the Home Appraiser comes back with a Market Value that is noticeably lower than the price the buyer is offering, the bank is likely to deny the buyer a mortgage.  Leaving you looking for new buyers.

Best advice....Stay realistic on the home pricing.  Seek out a great real estate agent and listen to his or her advice for pricing your home.  Many good agents will advise you to list a little lower and encourage a bidding war, than to risk all of the problems that would come with listing too high.  Stay realistic with your pricing and you will achieve your ultimate goal of selling your home;  in the shortest amount of time AND with the best possible price.

We've all heard the old adage....."walk a mile in someone else's shoes", but how can that apply to getting your home ready to put on the Wellesley & Metrowest Boston Housing market and showing it to potential buyers?  Easily....you need to start thinking as a "Home Buyer", and not as a Home Seller.  Here are a few tips to use before welcoming potential Buyers to your home:

1. Have a Friend Pre-Listing Party. Yes, that's right, invite a few of your trusted friends over, crack open a bottle of wine and go room to room with a notepad.  Have them objectively look at each room and give suggestions as to what they would change, or would be a red flag, if they were to seriously look at your home as a potential buyer.                                                                   

2.  Next...Consult a Great Real Estate Agent!  Run your list of fixes, the ones you have accumulated in your your pre-listing party,  by your agent and find out which ones are worth the fix for the money, or not. Your agent will also go over your Homes Value and develop a personalized marketing plan with you.

3. De-Clutter!  I know, we've said this over and over again.  But it bears repeating because it's so important.  Let's take a closet as an example:  Taking 1/2 of your clothing off of a closet rack and shelves, then neatly reorganize what is left. It will make your closet look much larger.  Another area....extra furniture.  Extra furniture usually get's shoved to the corners of a room.  Instead, rent a storage unit and take out a large majority of the furniture so that you can stage each room to take advantage of the size, space and nuances of that room.  

4. Think Neutral.  Now, We're like everyone else, We love pops of color throughout the home and  think a home feels a lot warmer and cozier with color.  But if you're putting your home on the market, you need to go neutral. It is hard for a potential buyer to envision themselves in a home that has "you" written all over it.  Neutral colors paint the picture of a blank canvas which gives your potential buyer the feeling that they can create their own painting or oasis of a home.

5. Clean out your garage.  We are all guilty of using the garage for storage, but trust me, your buyer wants to know that their vehicles are going to be able to fit in the garage.  Again, even if you need to rent a storage unit, get out all those boxes, and seasonal supplies that are not in use.  Make it clean and ready for vehicles.

6. Make sure Hardwood Floors are gleaming!  People in general love hardwood floors, but nothing is worse than looking forward to seeing a home with hardwood floors and finding a home with dull, scratched hardwood....... that you know you'll have to spend time and money to refinish!   A simple soapy wash followed by a rejuvenating floor polish will do wonders to make your hardwood floors look like new....and only cost around $50!

7. Restore your natural stone, tile and grout. If your bathrooms and kitchen tiles have lost their luster you may want to look into getting them refreshed.  Professional restoration services are available in most cities and are relatively cheap compared to a complete renovation, and can make your kitchens and bathrooms look new again. Well worth the money involved since these two rooms are the top two rooms of importance in a home search.

Local home improvement stores have trained personnel and many classes available to train you in many of the techniques to restore what you have in place in your homes today versus having to do total renovations.  Utilize their expertise to help make  the preparation for your selling process go smoothly and quickly.

It's spring and you've always been told that this is the perfect time to put your Wellesley or Metrowest home on the market. That's TRUE, but what else should you focus on to insure that your home sells quickly; at the highest possible price? Here are a few things to consider when you're looking objectively at your Metrowest Home:

You know you have an incredible house that you've put your loving touch into, but what else can you let potential Buyer's know?

 1. Are you living in an area with spectacular views of wooded lands, water, historical significance?

 2. What is your neighborhood like? Is it extra friendly where neighbor helps neighbor when someone's in need?

 3. Your local schools....what are they like, can you highlight something specific with the teachers, teaching philosophy, awards?

 4. Do you have outdoor living space? Great patio or deck, outside stove for cooking summer meals, plenty of space for entertaining?

5. Is your yard exceptionally large or beautifully landscaped?

6. Do you have a corner lot?

 7. Have you recently put on a new roof, siding, shingles, windows?

Then look inside your home and do the same.

 1. Do you have a fireplace and hearth that is different than many they may see in other homes?

 2. What about your kitchen, the heart of your home? Granite or Marble Countertops? Designed by a Home Interior Professional? Center island with vegetable sink?

 3. Is your home friendly to the environment? Have you used energy efficient windows & doors, do you have solar panels, is the flooring bamboo or cork?

 4. What about storage space, mud rooms, bonus rooms?

 5. Are there beautiful hardwood floors under your carpets?

 The graph above shows the percentage of home buyers that felt these "Hidden Gems" were worth every penny they cost in the overall sales price of a home.

 These are all things that you want to highlight about your home, that shows the buyer the difference and special "gems" in your home versus other ones they may look at... and why your home is the only one they'll want to buy. At Team Lynch Real Estate, we look at all these special selling points with you to develop a marketing strategy that optimizes these features and in turn highlights them for potential buyers.

 If you plan to put your Wellesley or Metrowest home on the market  this spring, NOW IS THE TIME. Give us a call and we'll be happy to come to your home and evaluate all these points with you, and share up to date market conditions here in Wellesley & Metrowest Boston. Buying & Selling homes in the Metrowest area is what we do best! We've lived her our entire lives, and participate in many community projects and events. We have also received the many awards this past year including International President's Elite, joining the top 1% of sales associates both nationally & Internationally, along with the NAR Green Designation. That means a team of Metrowest Community / Real Estate Experts', with exceptional local knowledge, great technology and the most current real estate information, will give your home the exposure and fast sale you deserve.