NAR Settlement Update: What Does it Mean for the Boston Market in 2025? Those who follow my blog know that I often talk about change as the one constant in real estate. Of course we all struggle with change; the real estate industry is no exception. So it’s understandable that the NAR settlement has shaken up…
Navigating Boston’s Luxury Real Estate Market: A Seller’s Perspective Thinking about selling your luxury property? The good news is, the market for high-end real estate in Boston remains strong. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy or simple to find the right buyer willing to pay the right price. I believe that for the seller,…
The NAR Settlement, Part 2: More Questions, Some Answers. Read on to learn my thoughts about questions I’m hearing. If you’d like more background on this, link here. Why are agent fees so much higher in the US than in other countries? In the US, fees are higher because our agents do much…
The NAR Settlement, Part 1: What is Really Going On? Recently, you may have heard news about our trade group, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), including word of lawsuits, along with accusations of “conspiracy” and “collusion.” Let’s unpack this story. NAR did lose a class action lawsuit in Missouri. The suit alleged…
New Norms and Better Outlooks for 2024 To catch a glimpse ahead, we first look immediately behind. And the end of 2023 was no surprise. Real estate transactions faced their usual seasonal slowdown. But certainly the most significant decrease in 2023 transactions was due to one main culprit: climbing interest rates. With last year’s…
The NAR Lawsuit: Let’s Dispel Some Confusion If you follow real estate news—or even if you don’t—you may have heard that there is much current discussion about buyer agency commissions. And for most people, this can be confusing. Here’s what’s going on. A class action lawsuit, referred to as the Sitzer/Burnett lawsuit, has shed…
Boo! Buyer Beware. No, Seriously. Shopping for a ghostly mansion? Wondering about that spooky house with the “For Sale” sign out front? Or maybe, just maybe, you have a slightly…unusual…home of your own to sell? You might be interested to know that, depending on where the home is, there are actual laws that dictate…
Welcome to Boston, Raffles Raffles Boston has just opened, and it’s already been a terrific experience for us and our clients. No surprise to those who know of this storied brand and restaurants (Hemingway, anyone?) But beyond its world-renown, here Raffles has wrapped its luxury around a keen sense of Boston. The Raffles Boston…
Buying a Home: Basics About Earnest Money On your real-estate journey, you’ve probably heard the term “earnest money.” And maybe it sounded a little odd. But it’s really a very easy and sensible concept. What is earnest money in a real estate transaction? Earnest money, sometimes called “good faith money,” is a way…
How’s the Market? In a Word, Mixed Let’s recap. From the start of the lock-down in 2020, the real estate industry began charting unknown waters. We saw second-home markets experience unprecedented activity. The pace of Boston’s real estate slowed down. And buyer demand in suburban markets created a frenzy like none we’ve seen before. Then…