Buying your first home is an exciting decision and a major milestone that has the power to change your life for the better. As a first-time homebuyer, it’s a vision you can bring to life, but, as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shares, you’ll have to overcome some factors that have made it more challenging in recent years:

“Since 2011, the share of first-time home buyers has been under the historical norm of 40% as buyers face tight inventory, rising home prices, rising rents and high student debt loads.”

That said, if you’re looking to purchase your first home, here are two things you can consider to help make your dreams a reality.

Save Money with First-Time Homebuyer Programs

Being able to pay for the initial costs and fees…

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Comparing real estate metrics from one year to another can be challenging in a normal housing market. That’s due to possible variability in the market making the comparison less meaningful or accurate. Unpredictable events can have a significant impact on the circumstances and outcomes being compared. 

Comparing this year’s numbers to the two ‘unicorn’ years we just experienced is almost worthless. By ‘unicorn,’ this is the less common definition of the word:

“Something that is greatly desired but difficult or impossible to find.” 

The pandemic profoundly changed real estate over the last few years. The demand for a home of our own skyrocketed, and people needed a home office and big backyard. 

  • Waves of first-time and second-home buyers…

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Years in the making, the building set to transform Boston's luxury market is now open to residents.  Winthrop Center is one of the tallest residential buildings in the city with 53 stories and 317 luxury residences including panoramic views, custom high-end finishes, and amenities that are second to none on two designated floors with a junior Olympic size pool, rock climbing wall, game rooms, golf simulator, private Michelin star restaurant, and more.  The first 35 floors include office and mixed-use space in the city's only building to have earned a Passive House distinction.

Read more about it here.  Thinking of making Winthrop Center your home?  There are unique opportunities to move in today and close in the next 12-24 months - click here to…

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The process of buying a home can feel a bit intimidating, even under normal circumstances. But today's market is still anything but normal. There continues to be a very limited number of homes for sale, and that’s creating bidding wars and driving home prices back up as buyers compete over the available homes.

Navigating all of this can be daunting if you’re trying to do it alone. That’s why having a skilled expert to guide you through the homebuying process is essential, especially today. Bankrate shares this perspective: 

"Advice and guidance from a professional real estate agent can be invaluable, particularly amid a hot or unpredictable housing market."

Here are just a few of the ways a real estate expert makes a big difference: 

  • …

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Three years after the closing of the Top of the Hub and the skywalk at the Prudential Center, the top floor's newest attraction is set to open on June 15th.  View Boston, at the very top of the Prudential Center, is a three-story experience offering a bird's eye view of Boston from floor-to-ceiling windows.  The 50th floor will include digital kiosks that give visitors information about the sights they're seeing, and View Boston has collaborated with the Perkins School for the Blind to create an immersive, interactive experience for the visually impaired.  The 51st floor includes open air space with 360 degree panoramic views of the city.  it will also include an outdoor cocktail lounge with light bites.  A restaurant called The Beacon will be housed…

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Even though home prices have moderated over the last year, many homeowners still have an incredible amount of equity. But what is equity? In the simplest terms, equity is the difference between the market value of your home and the amount you owe on your mortgage. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) explains how your equity grows over time:

“Housing wealth (home equity or net worth) gains are built up through price appreciation and by paying off the mortgage.”

How Your Equity Can Help You Achieve Your Goals

The equity you build up over the years can be used to your advantage when you sell your current house and buy your next home. If you no longer have the space you need, it might be time to move into a larger home. Or it’s possible you…

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The new trend that's caught fire on the Internet is actually an anti-trend: "de-influencing."  What that means is seeing what the current trends are, and doing the opposite of them.  The idea is that you won't be spending time and money on fleeting decorating trends that won't last.  De-influencers are encouraged to just pick design ideas that speak to them regardless of what everyone else might be doing.


There is some more specific guidance that goes along with it though: invest in quality core pieces that will last over time, start with smaller spaces in your home, think about function and purpose, and stick with classic styles for larger purchases.  You can read more about it here.

Thinking of selling this spring?  I truly enjoy…

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If you’re thinking about selling your house, you should know the number of homes for sale right now is low. That’s because, this season, there are fewer sellers listing their houses for sale than the norm.

Looking back at every April since 2017, the only year when fewer sellers listed their homes was in April 2020, when the pandemic hit and stalled the housing market (shown in red in the graph below). In more typical years, roughly 500,000 sellers add their homes to the market in April. This year, we saw fewer than 400,000 sellers entering the market in April (see graph below):

While there are a number of factors contributing to this trend, one thing keeping inventory low right now is that some homeowners are reluctant to move when the…

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If you’re reading headlines about inflation or mortgage rates, you may see something about the recent decision from the Federal Reserve (the Fed). But what does it mean for you, the housing market, and your plans to buy a home? Here’s what you need to know.

Inflation and the Housing Market

While the Fed’s working hard to lower inflation, the latest data shows that, while the number has improved some, the inflation rate is still higher than the target (2%). That played a role in the Fed's decision to raise the Federal Funds Rate last week. As Bankrate explains:

“Keeping its inflation-fighting streak alive, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the 10th time in 10 meetings . . . The hikes aimed to cool an economy that was on fire…

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There’s been some concern lately that the housing market is headed for a crash. And given some of the affordability challenges in the housing market, along with a lot of recession talk in the media, it’s easy enough to understand why that worry has come up.

But the data clearly shows today’s market is very different than it was before the housing crash in 2008. Rest assured, this isn’t a repeat of what happened back then. Here’s why.

It’s Harder To Get a Loan Now

It was much easier to get a home loan during the lead-up to the 2008 housing crisis than it is today. Back then, banks had different lending standards, making it easy for just about anyone to qualify for a home loan or refinance an existing one. As a result, lending institutions took…

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