Gary Dwyer's Real Estate Blog: December 2010

At Buyer Agents of Boston our primary focus as exclusive buyer agents is to assist home buyers in buying a home or condo, however we also like to keep homeowners informed about important trends and changes that can impact them after the sale. 

If you live in Massachusetts and heat your home with oil and you haven't done so already, now is a great time to schedule your annual oil burner cleaning and service. It is also a good time to have the technician make sure you will be in compliance with new regulations going into effect on September 30, 2011 requiring small upgrades to the hea...ting system to prevent leaks - see more details here - http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/laws/hhsl.htm

A new law now clarifies that when a landlord evicts a tenant and has authorization to remove the belongings, they now must go to a bonded storage or warehouse location and can not be sent to the tenants new home - this is a huge plus for landlords that were paying to move their evicted tenants!

Chapter 393 of the Acts of 2010, clarifies what happens to a tenant's belongings during a residential eviction.  Under the new law a tenants belongings must be re-located to a public warehouse, licensed and bonded pursuant to current state statute.   It also requires that the facility be located within a twenty mile radius from where the personal property was removed.   This closes a loophole exploited by tenants who have taken advantage of the ambiguity in the law to have their property moved to their new apartment.   This new law provides much needed clarity to the eviction process.

If you own a home in Massachusetts (or are going to be buying a home) there are some new changes to the Massachusetts Homestead Law that are going to be taking effect in the near future.

Jennifer McKim at the Boston Globe just wrote a nice summary for some of the changes - http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2010/12/18/new_law_clarifies_mass_homestead_protections/

Of course, if you have any questions about your specific situation, I recommend that you speak with an attorney.

As an exclusive buyer agent working throughout the Greater Boston area, I have a number of clients that have asked about short-sale properties vs. bank owned vs. private sale. 

The Boston Globe had a nice overview of the challenges that many home buyers and sellers face when trying to pursuade a bank to authorize a short-sale - http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2010/12/20/wary_lenders_deny_short_sales_opt_to_foreclose/?p1=Well_RE_Center_links