Strategies for buying house in a seller's market.. (Boston, Waltham: rent, credit)

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by academica

. When I ask for an early viewing ASAP my redfin guy would usually tell me "no showings until open houses" but again this may be true, I have no way of telling.. but since they're not motivated to close the transaction for a commission (their salary is not tied to that) they may be too relaxed at times. although that is one of their selling points too (that they won't pressure you to buy since they have no interest whether you close on a property or not).

Pretty sure it's actually worse than you're thinking - the dudes showing you houses are getting paid $xx per house that they show you. So it's the opposite of pressure - they stop collecting $$ when you close a deal..I can't believe it'd be enough $$ to intentionally kink a deal, but at best they don't care & at worst, they don't really want you to actually close..


//. It's been a while since I read it - but I'm pretty sure that's how they get paid..

[academica]

Originally Posted by Ninotchka P

I commuted from Arlington to UMass Boston about 15 years ago. I'm not buying 30-60 minutes, it seems very optimistic to me.

Generally I just found my way to Davis Sq, either via a ride or by bus, and took the T. Commute would have been about an hour door to door.

When I left early morning, I did drive. Commute was 60 minutes, minimum. One fateful day with a particularly bad traffic jam it took me over 2-3 hours.

Originally Posted by Shizim

"from West Medford / Tufts area: 11 miles, 26-50 min"

not a chance you are under 40 minutes even taking the HOV lane. it typically takes 30 minutes or so to get to the government center exit. this is around 7:15am or so, from the rt 16/Boston ave intersection.

and I cheat and take the HOV.... alone.

i drive this route a few times a week so i have experience.

I should have been more clear in that post- when you click on "depart at" option on Google maps to try a particular hour's commute, and when you get, say 26-50 minutes, that means 50 minutes. 26 min is the time without traffic. So on that list, please read it with the max times listed there.

[academica]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I could see the reasoning behind the OP's choice though. Their friends live north of town, and school is temporary. I'd imagine after all the fun that is home-buying these days, they may not want to repeat the process in 4 years. (or whenever she finishes school)




But yeah, that commute is gonna stink

Yes, exactly. All that commute time math was basically to see how much worse off we actually would be if we stay north.

Originally Posted by J1mbo01

I commuted from Burlington to UMass Boston for 4 years. While not ideal, it was not horrible, especially if you left on the earlier side. If I left at 7 am I was usually there by 8. Of course there were exceptions. Coming home was actually a quicker drive.

^ and based on this one data point, maybe it is not that bad

[academica]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

Pretty sure it's actually worse than you're thinking - the dudes showing you houses are getting paid $xx per house that they show you. So it's the opposite of pressure - they stop collecting $$ when you close a deal..I can't believe it'd be enough $$ to intentionally kink a deal, but at best they don't care & at worst, they don't really want you to actually close..


//. It's been a while since I read it - but I'm pretty sure that's how they get paid..

wow! that is scary. sometimes I get that "eh, whatever. let's keep looking." sense from them, but never thought about it this way..

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by academica

When I ask for an early viewing ASAP my redfin guy would usually tell me "no showings until open houses" but again this may be true, I have no way of telling.. but since they're not motivated to close the transaction for a commission (their salary is not tied to that) they may be too relaxed at times. although that is one of their selling points too (that they won't pressure you to buy since they have no interest whether you close on a property or not).

My agent would at least make the effort and try to get us in. A lot of houses declined and said not until after the open house (some listings state this as well) but there were a few we got into early just by having my agent ask.


The house we bought was one we got in early to.

Originally Posted by academica

wow! that is scary. sometimes I get that "eh, whatever. let's keep looking." sense from them, but never thought about it this way..

I didn't rely on my agent to find me houses. I pretty much made it my full time job to search the MLS listings (that my agent gave me) and cross-check on Redfin.com to find houses I was interested in. When I wanted more info, I'd call my agent, and send him off to get what I need. If I wanted to try to get in early, I called him and asked him to try and set it up. if I went to an open house, and liked the house, I'd call him and ask him to set up a private viewing, sometimes later in the day after the open house was over. But pretty much we did the legwork to find something we liked, and got our agent involved when we showed interest in something. I gotta say, from that point on, our agent was aggressive (in a good way).

[sal1181]

Originally Posted by academica

wow, this was helpful, thanks for sharing. I am in that cycle nowadays, and it gets old pretty soon. I am definitely leaning towards a more traditional local agent now, given I can take advantage of a similar fast action, possibly. When I ask for an early viewing ASAP my redfin guy would usually tell me "no showings until open houses" but again this may be true, I have no way of telling.. but since they're not motivated to close the transaction for a commission (their salary is not tied to that) they may be too relaxed at times. although that is one of their selling points too (that they won't pressure you to buy since they have no interest whether you close on a property or not).

Redfin agents get paid a salary wether the house sells or not and they get benefits. That is why on the buy side they are able to rebate a portion of the commission. Traditional agents work strictly on commission. In response to the early viewing I see a lot of new listings on MLS that says no showings until first open house. That's pretty common here.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by sal1181

In response to the early viewing I see a lot of new listings on MLS that says no showings until first open house. That's pretty common here.

Most common strategy I saw was to list the house on the MLS on Tue/Wed, have an open house on Sat/Sun and have offers due by Tue 5pm. Most also stated no viewings before the open house.

[ecraigie]

Originally Posted by academica

Since you lived in Arlington (which we love, although maybe can't afford) and Somerville (where we live now), can you compare Quincy with these towns? Demographics, lifestyle, schools, general feel, and desirability in terms of RE investment choice as well? (for some reason I always think North of Boston is better for the last one)

By the way, while we do like walkability, we're not after Cambridge/Somerville type walkability anymore- I think we passed that stage. I would pick Arlington over Somerville any day, after all we just want the town a little walkable (not totally car dependent for everything) but other things such as schools, clean neighborhoods, low crime, etc. are far more attractive for us since we have a child now..

Compared to Somerville, the neighborhoods of Quincy that I’m most familiar with (those within walking distance of the T) seem to have more of a family vibe. Most of the newcomers to our area seem to be couples in their 30s with a pre-k kid or two. It’s definitely more suburban than the areas around Davis and Porter, but not as much as Arlington (East Arlington aside).


With the redevelopment of Quincy Center, I feel it will ultimately be very walkable, especially since much of the development is in the transit-oriented-development vein of residential + ground level commercial. A lot of great restaurants are already popping up and the Adams Green project will be a major impetus to clean up the area in the vicinity of the T station and city hall. As another poster described it, the Center is in a state of dusty construction, but the payoff is starting to become evident.


Quincy retains more of its blue collar roots than Somerville and Arlington, which combined with the sizable Asian population, gives it a refreshing amount of diversity. My daughter is still a couple years away from kindergarten, but several neighbors speak highly of the system. Our decision to move to Quincy was driven by the neighborhood feel, access to public transportation and proximity to family. Buying purely as an investment wasn’t our motivation – we’re here for the long-term – but given all the positive developments my guess is that Quincy RE will keep pace with other towns you are looking at.

[sawyer2]

Originally Posted by academica

I would pick Arlington over Somerville any day, after all we just want the town a little walkable (not totally car dependent for everything) but other things such as schools, clean neighborhoods, low crime, etc. are far more attractive for us since we have a child now..

The 'corrected for income' user from somerville will be up in arms to that comment .... probably compiling stats as we speak/type

Anyway, on the redfin question, I think that a good local agent (that preferably lives in the town) is absolutely invaluable especially if you are not very familiar with the town... they will know the nuances of the local market, will know the good/desirable streets vs school cut-throughs etc, will be known for bringing good buyers and offers that close, will likely know what is coming soon to market, may know the listing agent, and may get you in early to houses that are 'no pre-showings'. The difficult thing is that, in my experience, the majority of brokers do not fit this criteria. Word of mouth/personal recs are key.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by sal1181

Redfin agents get paid a salary wether the house sells or not and they get benefits. That is why on the buy side they are able to rebate a portion of the commission. Traditional agents work strictly on commission. In response to the early viewing I see a lot of new listings on MLS that says no showings until first open house. That's pretty common here.

I think they also get a bonus based on positive reviews.

No showings until the open house is extremely common around here.

Originally Posted by sawyer2

The 'corrected for income' user from somerville will be up in arms to that comment .... probably compiling stats as we speak/type

Semiurbanite! Paging Semiurbanite!

Originally Posted by sawyer2

Anyway, on the redfin question, I think that a good local agent (that preferably lives in the town) is absolutely invaluable especially if you are not very familiar with the town... they will know the nuances of the local market, will know the good/desirable streets vs school cut-throughs etc, will be known for bringing good buyers and offers that close, will likely know what is coming soon to market, may know the listing agent, and may get you in early to houses that are 'no pre-showings'. The difficult thing is that, in my experience, the majority of brokers do not fit this criteria. Word of mouth/personal recs are key.

A good agent (no matter what brokerage they work for) is worth their weight in gold. The problem is finding a good one is not so easy. A lot of the bad ones talk a good game.