Public Service Archives - Insight Realty Group

Packing Tips

You’re ready to make a move, but your stuff is staring you in the face, silently mocking you. Packing up all your belongings is a daunting task, but there are many ways to make packing easier. These seven easy tips will get you ready to pack with a vengeance.

Packing Tips for Moving
These seven easy tips will get you ready to pack with a vengeance.

1. Don’t Procrastinate
Don’t procrastinate. This seems simple enough, but getting started can be difficult. A few weeks prior to your move, start packing several boxes a day. Begin with items that are least essential to your daily life. If you pace yourself, you will be more organized and the job won’t be so overwhelming. Make packing easier by not waiting to get started.

2. Pack room-by-room
Focus on one area of a room at a time and don’t mix items from different rooms in one box. To prevent miniature knickknacks and small items from being lost or mistakenly thrown out with the packing paper, wrap them in brightly-colored tissue paper.

3. Packing Labels
Label clearly. On the top and side of each box, write a general description of the contents and the room name. Use different colored markers for each room, which will provide additional clarity for you and your movers.

4. Use Packing Paper
Stay clean. Regular newspaper may bleed ink onto your possessions. Use white packing paper to wrap all items.

5. Stick with Moving Boxes
Use boxes designed for moving. Boxes obtained from grocery or liquor stores are not always clean and might not hold the weight of the items that you will be putting in them. In addition, varying box sizes can make loading more difficult.

6. Know what you can’t pack
Know what you can’t pack. Some common household items can’t be shipped because they are hazardous. Don’t wind up on the wrong side of the law. Read our list of what you can’t put on the moving truck.

7. Moving valuables
Don’t box up everything. You should personally transport heirlooms, important papers, legal documents (wills, passports. etc.), and valuables. Make packing easier by decided what doesn’t need to be packed.

I Want That Look: Hewlett Street Edition

In this property the developer has worked with a well known Boston area staging company. They did a great job with the selection of items they used. This nice mix of mid-century modern pieces is stylish and comfortable. I will breakdown how you can recreate this look with a few clicks and a little assembly.

Accent Chairs can be purchased with a nice modern brass finish through Amazon.com
Signature Design by Ashley A3000026 Accent, Chair

The three seat sofa can be purchased on Amazon.com as well. The site even offers several color options, but here is the link to get nearly the same shade of grey in our “I Want that Look” property
Modway Engage Mid-Century Modern Upholstered Fabric Sofa In Gray

The two side chairs have a great table arrangement using farmhouse style nesting tables with an X leg design.
Ashley Furniture Signature Design – Cairnburg Nesting Tables – Set of 3 – Weathered Brown Finish

Let’s change things up just a little with a different rug. This selection from Rivet, available on Amazon, has a similar geometric look in a play with pattern rather than color. Available in a few sizes, this wool rug doesn’t make itself a focal point but still adds a level of texture.
Rivet Geometric Criss-Cross Woven Wool Area Rug, 8′ x 10′, Cream

Now to place a coffee table in the center, we may want to swap around the metal finish. We swapped the chrome earlier for brass, now we will swap out the black bronze finish for a chrome and glass look-a-like.
Steve Silver Company Tayside Cocktail Table, 35″ W x 35″ D x 18″ H

We can follow suit and place matching end tables on both ends of the couch as well.
Steve Silver Company Tayside End Table, 23″ W x 23″ D x 25″ H

Lamps can help add visual texture to a room as well. The hammered silver in our room is also an item we can get easily on Amazon and purchased in a set of two.
Silver Leaf Hammered Metal Cylinder Table Lamp Set of 2

Insight Realty Group has an affiliate agreement with several websites, including Amazon.com and as such receives commission on sales. These payments are used to purchase additional staging inventory for our office that is used in our listings.

Misconception About Mass Save

As real estate agents we have sat through many home inspections and at the end the home inspectors are obligated by code to let home buyers know about Mass Save. What happen each and every time is the buyers not realizing it is for everyone service by the major utilities here in Massachusetts. It is not a program that is limited to certain income levels. The program is actually paid for by the utility companies and was established to help make our state more energy efficient, we each pay for the program in every bill we pay for gas or electricity. I place the “About Us” from their website below. If you have insulation projects, need a new heating system, or just want to see how “green” your home is I highly recommend signing up for an energy audit. Then work with one of their providers to lower your utility bills.

Learn More at Mass Save’s Website

Mass Save is a collaborative of Massachusetts’ natural gas and electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers, including Berkshire Gas, Blackstone Gas Company, Cape Light Compact, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, Eversource, Liberty Utilities, National Grid and Unitil. We empower residents, businesses, and communities to make energy efficient upgrades by offering a wide range of services, rebates, incentives, trainings, and information.

These programs and services are managed and delivered by electric and gas Sponsors (working closely with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources), providing the energy expertise to help you save energy and money. The funding is supported from a charge on customers’ energy bills.

Through the joint efforts of the Mass Save collaborative, Massachusetts has earned top ranking as the #1 state in the nation for energy efficiency according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

We continue to make strides in energy efficiency and build a clean energy future for everyone in the state!

Market Update: The Market is Shifting and Balancing Out!

If you have been discouraged and retreated to the sidelines in the crazy Boston market, it may be your time to find your next home. The summer market was down from 2017, with August sales being down just over 1% in the area from the same period. Days on market for a property, or days until offer, have grown just slightly as well. You may even notice homes that have had recent price adjustments.

What does this mean for buyers out in the market? It means there are less frenzied open houses where you need to essentially sell your soul and risk your life savings to get your offer accepted. When this type of shift has occurred in the past, and inventory starts to balance out to demand, we find financed offers with home inspections to be quite normal. A balanced market gives buyers the opportunity to make a second visit to a property of interest. A balanced market even allows buyers the ability to protect themselves within the context of their offer while still remaining competitive with others.

We all know that prices couldn’t continue to rise dramatically week after week, and you will see properly priced homes selling in a few days after their initial weekend. You may still find homes that are priced aggressively result in multiple offers, leading the final sales number to a market derived price.

What has caused the tension to prices and days on market? Mortgage rates and affordability have lead to a stabilization. When the mortgage rates rose over the last year it takes away a little of that price increase we may have seen as a result of the frenzied spring market. A simple way to look at it is: if you could afford a $500,000 home last year and you still make the same, then you can afford a $463,000 house this year when calculating the average mortgage rate increase. This past spring we saw prices increase by 8.3% over the same period in 2017, but the summer and now the fall market have already started to show some of that increase pull back. A house that sold for $500,000 last October would probably sell for $500,000 this October if you take everything into consideration. If we adjust for affordability and rate against the rise based on sales figures, we have a modest 1% price appreciation. Do we know if we are at the top of the market or a bubble about to burst? No one can say for sure. However, the Boston real estate market does have the solid foundation of employment and population growth to likely remain stable while other markets may take a harder hit as a result of the recent rate increases. Local figures and activity suggest a stabilization and only with marginal amounts of adjustments. Many news outlets have recently covered the shifts in areas like Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego while highlighting national figures that make for catchy headlines. When following the market make sure you take into consideration the local market may differ vastly from the national market.

If you have pulled back from your search because you became frustrated, this fall market could be a perfect time to jump back in. If you already own and have been thinking about selling you may need to set realistic expectations and understand that the market is always evolving and the guidance of an experienced local agent can’t be beat!

Alexa, Ask My Agent!

How is the local real estate market? Ask Alexa!

Our cutting edge office has our very own skill available now in the Amazon Alexa App. Now Alexa can tell you how much that house down the street is on the market for.

Here are just a few things that Alexa can provide when you enable the Insight Realty Group skill.

Alexa, ask my agent for new listings in Roslindale (or any local area, remember keep the Boston accent clear we have some weird town names)
Alexa, ask my agent for tips on preparing my home
Alexa, ask my agent for 3 bedroom homes in West Roxbury (or any city or town in Massachusetts)
Alexa, ask my agent for a featured property
Alexa, ask my agent how much my house is worth
Alexa, ask my agent for a market update

Alexa can help connect you with one our local experts to help as well. We just released this and we would love feedback and suggestions. Send any questions or thoughts to alexa@insightrealtygroup.com

Want to enable the skill now…[CLICK HERE]

Smart Home Technology

Thinking about adding smart home technology into your house? There are many solutions that range from simple to elaborate and range in price dramatically too. In this post I am going to detail a mid range system that can be expanded upon easily. Every smart home has items that can be broken down into categories: Hubs, Controllers, and Switches.

Hubs are just what they sound like. They are the main point between controllers and switches. The connect to various items using an array of technologies. Google Home, Apple Home, Smartthings by Samsung, Logitech Harmony Home and my favorite Wink. My preference for Wink is based on the connectivity. All of these hubs connect using some of the technologies, but the Wink seems to work with the most. Protocols like Z-Wave, Ziggbee, wi-fi and bluetooth allow the devices to talk to the hub with instructions from the controller.

Controllers range from ipad, iphone, android and in-wall displays like the Relay by Wink. Amazon Alexa is one controller that makes the entire system voice activated for many products. These items use wi-fi to communicate with the hub. I recommend several of them, but a home with multiple Echo Dots allows for seamless control even when walking through the house. The Echo, Echo Dot, and Alexa have a “skill” that when enabled works very well with the Wink hub.

Switches are the items that operate the conventional product using the controllers and hub. These include everything from in-wall dimmers, pico remotes (Lutron), garage door openers and even a Mr. Coffee coffee maker. There are product such as the Cree Connected bulbs that have their own in bulb Z-Wave controller to allow individual table lamp control.

What should I get, and what do I advise to begin this DIY project of making your home smart? Here is a run down of my suggestions:

Hub: Wink 2 average cost is $100 on Amazon

This is easily installed and connected to your home wifi using the iPhone or Android app. Plan 10-15 minutes with firmware updates that are inevitable when turned on for the first time.

Controllers

Amazon Echo Dot : This opens voice functionality while home to operate items such as lights, temperature and more.
Wink Relay: If you have a double or single wall outlet this gives you a touch screen and 2 switches that can be programmed for anything within the system attached to your Wink hub.
iPhone/Android App: Both easily obtained in the respective online app stores for free these communicate directly with the hub using wi-fi and can even be operated while away from home. Set location services up and your home can automatically turn on lights as you approach home. It can even turn on the heat or air conditioning upon living your work location so that you arrive to home to comfort.

Switches

Lutron Caseta/Pico: In-wall or on a table, these work using Z-Wave or Ziggbee and send signals back and forth to your hub. These are best used for hardwired fixtures and many offer dimming capability. G.E offer a similar product as well, but I have had the best luck with the Lutron product and the price is reasonable. The average dimmer is $50

Products to Consider

Cree connected bulbs are easily available at Home Depot and work well with table lamps or even in ceiling fixtures. Each will be assigned it’s own name within the hub. Most hardwired lights are best controlled with an in wall Caseta switch. The average cost is $15 and they are available in warm and daylight balanced.
Nest Thermostat. Already a great product on it’s own, but when part of a smart home system it can make things even more automated and convenient.
Harmony Home by Logitech when combined with Amazon Echo and TiVo you can also control your home with simple Alexa enabled commands. While this is a hub on its own, the technologies and connectivity is limited in comparison to the Wink.
Water sensor that operates with your Wink will notify you if you have leak or water in your basement. Great to have located next to your hot water heat to react quickly.
Security products such as the GOCONTROL offer motion and magnetic sensors. The Wink hub can provide notifications when part of the system has been tripped
Schlage Lever Z-Wave lock set is a nice way to provide controlled access to your home, even when you are not there. Get a text and open the door for your dog walker or trusted serviceman. This is an area I would and do use caution. Hacked accounts could allow access unintentionally.
Nest Smoke/Carbon Dioxide detector. It can notify you when you are away and offer features like waving hand for false alarms and a motion activated night light. One on each floor in a central location.

Some great things my house does with this technology can be broken into “skills”:

Lights on when I arrive home and the temperature set to my favorite. This is done with a “robot” wihtin my Wink app on my phone with location services turned on.
Dim living room lights is done by simply saying “Alexa turn living room to 10%”
Have friends coming over and want your house perfectly lit in every room and the kitchen lights up bright while you finish prep work. I have a “robot” set to respond through my Echo Dot by saying “Alexa turn house to entertain friends”.
Want to catch a tv show “Alexa turn on the tv to animal planet” this skill is routed through the Harmony Home by Logitech hub.

How do you get started? Make a flow chart of somethings you would like to accomplish with smart home technology. Start with a few key pieces and then make additions. I would suggest a few in-wall dimmers and a few Cree connected bulbs, along with a Nest Thermostat. You’ll find places like Home Depot and Lowe’s with a selection of items. If you get a bit more in-depth in automating your home plan a Saturday afternoon (so lights on and off don’t affect you) and be prepared to turn off circuits in your panel as you install dimmers (easily done with instructions) online and in manuals.

Best Bang for Your Buck!

Wondering what home improvement yields you the highest rate of return? It’s not one you might expect and it certainly is not first noticed. Attic Insulation! That’s right, a basic item that produces returns in a few ways. Energy savings from attic insulation can be noticed almost immediately, it can save in both heating and cooling expenses. The other benefit is when selling your home. A new buyer may even ask for utility bills that will help support your efforts. There are several ways to go about insulating the space, but each is dependent on the configuration of the area. Ventilation and air flow are important considerations.

There is one great program in Massachusetts that is supported by the utility companies and state funding. Mass Save can provide energy audits and rebates towards energy saving improvements. They can even help with a rebate of up to $100 on programmable wi-fi thermostats. Insulation work rebates will cover 75% of the costs up to $1500 a year (current program, but varies with funding and timing). Work must be completed after an energy audit and by a approved contractor. Approved companies, like Green Bean Energy out of Dorchester, can perform both services to streamline the process, and will seek the rebate directly as well saving you upfront costs. The energy audit will currently result in several free items as well, things like LED bulbs and smart power strips for electronics.

Learn More About MassSave [CLICK HERE]

Housing Design Trends 2017

Colors

The latest trends can often become classic if you avoid the “trendy” aspects. This year we see a return to warmer colors. We also see the use of some color which is a departure from last years white trend. If you followed the latest trends last year, you will be safe this year.

Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams both offer their picks for color of the year. Benjamin Moore has a deep grey with warm purple/magenta tones. Sherwin Williams offers a brown shade in it’s Poised Taupe. Both signal a trend to more earth tones as mainstream, while still offering up suggestions of bold return to primaries. If you are asking one of our team, you will probably hear names like Edgecomb Grey or Revere Pewter. They are both tried and true “greige” colors what are soothing and neutral while not being boring.

Wall color is one aspect, but trim can make those colors pop. We still see homes with lovely gumwood, but we also see many owners opting to swap that to crisp whites. Dove White is still a choice that offers a classic feel with a slight warm tint.

Kitchens

Top trends:

Tuxedo kitchen cabinets: Mix up a kitchen’s color palette with Tuxedo cabinets. Homeowners can do a literal interpretation with black and white, but Zillow Digs’ design expert Kerrie Kelly suggests using other complementary colors, such as navy blue and soft gray, for a softer contrast.
Hidden appliances: Ditch stainless steel appliances, which can feel cold and industrial, and switch them for hidden appliances that easily meld into the design scheme. Also, they provide an unexpected touch for potential buyers who plan on spending plenty of time in the kitchen.
Wood paneling: Transport your buyers back to grandma’s kitchen with wood paneling, also known as shiplap. Kelly suggests using white shiplap, which gives a clean, modern finish.
Mixed hardware finishes: Instead of going for a monochromatic stainless steel look, homeowners are choosing appliances and accessories with various finishes, such as gold, copper or pewter. The final result is an eclectic, one-of-a-kind space.

Fads to forget:

Speckled granite: Homeowners are no longer limited to granite countertops. Instead, they’re going for quartz, marble and butcher block countertops that are easier to stain and maintain.
Short cabinets: Ditch the short cabinets, and install taller ones. According to Kelly, tall cabinets make a small kitchen look bigger and brighter.
Dark brown wood and paint colors: According to Kelly, “bigger and brighter” will be the name of the game for 2017. With that, dark paint, accessories and wood finishes will go out of style.

Baths

The simple white classic is always welcome, but a more organic approach is the expected trend for 2017. Using wood elements, such as flooring and shelving, are a great way to bring a more natural feel. The use of brown tones in tile is a great way to warm up what can often be a cold stark space. We spend a fair amount of time in our bathrooms and the warm tones bouncing around actually help us look good. That sounds strange, but colors reflect and warm colors in a bathroom reflect on our skin. Looking in the mirror in a bathroom with warm or neutral tones actually helps! Fixtures in a bathroom are trending towards chrome, a great and durable finish in any bathroom. Tile size selection is hitting the two extremes, either small penny or massive proportions. A mixture of the two can help define areas. Wainscoting of tile, a 1950’s trend, is back for the durability. It helps add some detail while waterproofing the lower wall space.

Trends can come and go, but how you design your home should reflect who you are while balancing future resale and recapture of your investments. Having an experienced real estate agent provide their perspective before any renovations can help you make the most of your investment. Ask one of our team members to assist before you take on that next project!

EASY PROJECTS TO PERSONALIZE A COOKIE-CUTTER HOME

Value-boosting ideas for your home’s interior to make it really yours.

There’s so much to love about a new home — especially the fact that it’s yours! No worries about an aging furnace or the source of a stain in the carpet.

Yet it can also feel a little, well, uninspired. Like that neighborhood in “The Truman Show.” Your home can feel like a carbon copy of everyone else’s.

But just like Truman, you don’t have to succumb to the sameness. It’s quite easy to take something ordinary in your home and make it a little bit special, something unique. Some examples to get you started:

Paint Your Ceiling Fan

Homeowner Nicki Decker and her husband banished a ‘90s-era builder-grade brass fan from their master bedroom by simply spray-painting the metal with an antique finish. Decker lightly dry-brushed two shades of mineral chalk furniture paint onto the medium-toned wood blades — delivering a whitewashed effect that enhances the room’s rustic, beachy mood.

“I got to use my creativity to turn a dated eyesore into a beautiful and functional centerpiece that really brings the room together,” she says.

Frame a Window

A window over the kitchen sink is a common feature in homes new and old, but it doesn’t have to be ordinary. Seeking to “add some cottage-style detail to our very standard builders’ kitchen,” interior designer Amy Chalmers fastened vintage cast iron brackets to the cabinetry on either side of her window to create a framing effect. The brackets support a stamped tin-covered plywood shelf, heightening the room’s one-of-a-kind charm.

Add Classic Molding

In this new San Francisco home, Geoff Gibson, a partner with Winder Gibson Architects, installed molding inspired by the city’s classic architecture. “To keep it from being too busy or too boring,” his firm carefully selected the 5-inch-wide window and door casings and 6.5-inch-high DIY TipBaseboards should be taller than casings are wide. Be sure all molding won’t feel squeezed by electric outlets, light switches, or adjoining walls. – Geoff Gibson, architectbaseboards.

Paint the Door

When the blah, beige-gray paint on his front door began to show signs of wear, homeowner Paul McLandrich says, “I figured I may as well use it as an excuse to spice up the outside of the house a little bit.” Three coats of Behr’s “Red Pepper” semi-gloss exterior paint, and no one has trouble spotting his house from his neighbor’s.

Upsize Your Cabinets

Like many people, Detroit-based home stylist Sarah Macklem had dreams of replacing the basic birch cabinetry in her kitchen with tall, custom creations, but had a budget that required more modest measures. To achieve the look, she capped her existing wall cabinets with 1-by-4-inch boards and thick, decorative crown molding.

Paint the Floor

When you’re seeking to create a big personality in a space, don’t stop until it’s got the right look from head to toe — including under your toes. This adorable retro kitchen still had floors just like everyone else’s. Thankfully, Dallas-based interior designer Janet Gridley righted the wrong. She lightly sanded and primed the laminate floor, then applied white porch paint and in striped layers to create a whimsical, checkerboard pattern. The peacock blue is unexpected, Gridley says, while the overall design does something that average laminate flooring likely never would: “It makes everyone smile,” she says.