Home Buying

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Home Buying Condominium Renovation ROI By Mike DelRose Jr. | DelRose McShane Team | Coldwell Banker Realty In a large condo association, a full renovation rarely pays for itself. Our team measured 111 Waltham sales at Northgate Gardens and Wellington Crossing since 2021. Renovated Northgate units now bring about $36,000 more than original units. A midrange kitchen and bath runs […]
Home Buying Fed Hikes Rates: Mortgages Follow By Mike DelRose Jr. | DelRose McShane Team | Coldwell Banker Realty The Federal Reserve raised rates on September 16 for the first time since 2023, and mortgage rates kept climbing right through it. Mortgage News Daily’s 30-year fixed index reached 7.58% at the end of September, the highest it has been since November 2023. […]
Home Buying 2026 Massachusetts Ballot Question #7: Minimum Lot Size By Mike DelRose Jr. | DelRose McShane Team | Coldwell Banker Realty Question 7 would set a statewide floor for single-family lots. Does a lot have 5,000 square feet, 50 feet of frontage, and public sewer and water? Then a city or town would have to allow a single-family home on it. Towns would still […]
Home Buying The Value of A Buyer’s Agent In Massachusetts Real Estate Quick Answer You can absolutely buy a house without representation. People do it every week and most of them close. What they give up is harder to see, because it is made up of questions nobody asked, inspectors nobody vetted, terms nobody negotiated, and problems nobody caught early enough to fix cheaply. Here is what […]
Home Buying 2026 Fall Market Update Market Update · September 2026 The Fall Market Arrived on Schedule Belmont, Watertown and Waltham. What sold, what is sitting, and where the opportunity is right now. The market slowed here after the Fourth of July. That is not unusual and it happens most years, but this time it caught a fair number of sellers […]
Home Buying The Cost of Waiting to Purchase In The Massachusetts Real Estate Market Quick Answer Across four Greater Boston towns over the last year, buyers who got an offer accepted between November and February paid a median 99.4% of asking price and had ten days to decide. Buyers between March and June paid 102.0% and had seven days. Same houses. Same towns. About $32,000 apart on a median-priced […]
Home Buying How Many Offers Do You Have?: Disclosure In Massachusetts Real Estate Quick Answer When a listing agent tells you they cannot say whether there are other offers, they are usually telling the truth. That decision belongs to the seller, not to the agent, and without the seller’s authorization there is nothing to share. It is also not a dead end. There are questions that get you […]
Home Buying Generative AI & MLS Listing Photos In Massachusetts Quick Answer Some of the listing photos you are scrolling through show rooms that do not exist. Not staged rooms. Generated ones, with furniture, finishes and sometimes entire features added by software. Done properly and labeled clearly, virtual staging is a legitimate marketing tool that helps buyers picture an empty space. Done carelessly, it wastes […]
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Home Buying Knob & Tube Wiring In Massachusetts Homes Quick Answer You can learn to recognize knob and tube wiring in about ten minutes. Look for white ceramic knobs on basement joists, dark cloth covered wires running alone through open air, and small round holes bored through the framing with ceramic sleeves inside them. Inside the living space the tells are different. Two prong […]
Home Buying New Condominium Guidelines Impacting Lending In Greater Boston Quick answer: On August 3, 2026 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac end the Limited and Streamlined Review. Condo buildings with more than ten units now need a Full Review. The lender checks the association’s money, insurance and repairs. Buildings with ten units or fewer may skip project review entirely. On Monday the fast track for […]
Home Buying What Is Reasonable to Request After a Massachusetts Home Inspection?   Six questions that separate a fair request from a deal-killer, written for both sides of the transaction. Mike DelRose Jr. | July 27th, 2026 The Short Answer   There is no universal standard for what is reasonable to request after a home inspection in Massachusetts. It is subjective, specific to the property, and relative […]
Contractors July 2026 Investment Opportunity: Watertown, MA Investment Opportunity · Watertown A 7,500 SF Development Lot Off Mt. Auburn St, Priced at Land Value 33 Melendy Ave, Watertown · MLS #73523468 · Offered at $950,000 7,500Sq Ft Lot 2-Family Zone No FARCap* $950K List Price The Opportunity in One Paragraph 33 Melendy Ave is a level 7,500 square foot lot in Watertown’s […]
Home Buying The Questions Smart Buyers Ask Before Choosing an Agent Buyer’s Guide · Greater Boston By Mike DelRose Jr. and Bobby McShane  |  DelRose McShane Team  |  Coldwell Banker Realty  |  July 2026 The Short Version Buying in Greater Boston is one of the largest decisions you’ll make, and the agent in your corner shapes the outcome. Before you commit, ask how the agent is […]
Home Buying The Termite Signs Every Massachusetts Homeowner Should Check Before Listing The Termite Signs Every Massachusetts Homeowner Should Check Before Listing By Mike DelRose Jr. | DelRose McShane Team | Coldwell Banker Realty Quick AnswerBefore you list your home in Belmont, Watertown, or anywhere in Greater Boston, walk your basement and your foundation line. Look for mud tubes running up the concrete, soft or hollow wood […]
Case Studies Case Study: Condo Conversions, ADUs, and the New Math for Belmont Area Investors By Bobby McShane & Mike DelRose Jr. | DelRose McShane Team | Coldwell Banker Realty Monday, June 26th, 2026, Watertown, MA.  Buying a multi-family in Belmont, Watertown, or Waltham today is a fundamentally different proposition than it was a decade ago. Prices have moved well past the point where rents cover a standard mortgage payment. […]
Case Studies Case Study: They Showed Up on Mother’s Day. That Decision Made All the Difference. By Mike DelRose Jr. | June 15th, 2026 Quick Answer A first-time buyer had been searching for over a year in one of the most competitive entry-level markets in Greater Boston. When a well-priced Cape in Attleboro came to market with unusual showing restrictions, most buyers never got through the door. We did. Speed and […]
Case Studies When the House You Love Isn’t the House That Loves You Back By Mike DelRose Jr. | Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026 Quick Answer Sometimes the hardest part of buying a home isn’t finding one you love. It’s accepting that the one you love isn’t the right one. In this case, a first-time buyer couple fell hard for a small single-family in Waltham, only to have a home […]
Case Studies Case Study: Winning the Deal Unconventionally By Mike DelRose | May 29th. 2026 Quick Answer A first time buyer secured a $670,000 home in a competitive Massachusetts market, even after losing to a higher cash offer. Early action, a strong offer, and clear expectations made the difference. In the end, the seller chose certainty over price. Property & Location Overview This […]
Home Buying From A PDF Handout To An Education Platform     DelRose McShane Team Coldwell Banker Realty  ·  Belmont, MA Perspective & Insight The Savvy Series  ·  A Look Back From a PDF Handout to an Education Platform M Mike DelRose Jr. REALTOR®  ·  Director of Marketing May 28, 2026  ·  Belmont, MA The software it was built on no longer exists. The brokerage […]
Case Studies Case Study: How Preparation Turned Third Place Into a Winning Offer in Mansfield, MA How Preparation Turned Third Place Into a Winning Offer in Mansfield, MA By Mike DelRose Jr. | May 14th, 2026 Preparation creates speed, and speed wins deals. My client entered this transaction in third place on a 10-offer property listed at $949,000 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. When the top two buyers started to hesitate, a window […]

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