My Blog
Simplifying the Market
When it comes to what’s happening in the housing market, there’s a lot of confusion going around right now.
If you’re thinking about buying a home, you may find yourself interested in the latest real estate headlines so you can have a pulse on all of the things that could impact your decision.
![Why Homeowners Feel Thankful for Their Homes [INFOGRAPHIC] Simplifying The Market](https://files.keepingcurrentmatters.com/KeepingCurrentMatters/content/images/20231121/Why-Homeowners-Feel-Thankful-For-Their-Homes-KCM-Share.png)
Here are three reasons why homeowners feel thankful for their homes.
Countless people have set out on the exciting journey of homeownership.
If you’re feeling a bit muddy on what’s happening with home prices, that’s no surprise.
If you’re looking to make a move, you want to be sure you have the latest information on the housing market.
This time every year, homeowners who are planning to move have a decision to make: sell now or wait until after the holidays?
![2024 Housing Market Forecast [INFOGRAPHIC] Simplifying The Market](https://files.keepingcurrentmatters.com/KeepingCurrentMatters/content/images/20231114/2024-Housing-Market-Forecast-KCM-Share.png)
Thinking of buying or selling a house and wondering what the new year holds for the housing market?
If you're thinking about buying or selling a home, you might have heard that it’s tough right now because mortgage rates are higher than they’ve been over the past few years, and home prices are rising.
The new year is right around the corner, and you might be wondering if 2024 will be the right time to buy or sell a home.
Testimonials
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Over the course of several months, my wife and I worked through Barbara Scardino to relocate from our Circa 1845 Greek Revival Colonial, to a condominium which met our needs relative to pricing, geographical location, and housing design. Throughout the entire process, Barbara performed with distinction. Her knowledge of the regional condo market was invaluable in assisting us in the narrowing of options. Her enthusiasm for finding the 'right fit' was contageous and it turned what could have been a tedious process into a fun experience. Barbara also gave us great advice and assistance as we prepared to place our house on the market and the marketing portfolio that she developed far exceeded our expectations and proved to be highly effective in drawing people to the house. During the selling process, Barbara conducted several Open House sessions which were well-attended due to effective prior advertising, and her persistence with follow-up after these sessions ultimately lead to a final offer. Throughout the entire process, Barbara demonstrated excellent skills in communicating and negotiating with other realtors, bankers, our attorney, the home inspectors and most importantly with us, We found her to be easily accessible via phone and email and always cordial and attentive to our needs. She is the consummate professional who obviously loves what she does and therefore consistently 'goes the extra mile.' We highly recommend her to any prospective buyer or seller. In our view she is the very best!
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- user7124031
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Such a pleasure to work with and very knowledgeable about the area!
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- Nicole Downing
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Barbara was very knowledgeable and detail oriented. Closing went smoothly with Barbara’s assistance.
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- Daniel Kim
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I would recommend Barbara to anyone. She helped me through a very stressful situation and made the whole process very easy. She had many good suggestions that made things easier for me. I highly recommend her.
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- Jill Power
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I first met Barbara at what I thought was an open house in Franklin, MA. However, I quickly learned it was simply a final inspection with the family purchasing the home. Though embarrassing for me, for Barbara, it was simply an opportunity to form a new relationship and she was very quick to followup up with me and became my agent.I'm a first-time homeowner and not originally from this part of the country. Barbara was there with me every step of the way and has been available to me in the months following the final sale. I've since referred her services to others and have received positive feedback from those families as well. I was most impressed when she spent 2 hours with me on the morning of July 4th when it was the only available time I had to go over an important phase of my offer.
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- user5220390
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It was a pleasure to work with Barbara Scardino. She provided a detailed outline of the moving process and helped us navigate every step of the way. We highly recommend her!
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- Karen Murray
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Buying a home is a frightening and confusing experience. Even more so for a first time home buyer like me. Going into this endeavor all I knew about buying a house was that it is extremely expensive. I didn't do any research before selecting my realtor. I chose Barbara because several years ago I worked briefly with her husband and he mentioned that his wife was a realtor. I casually said 'when I'm ready to buy a house I will give her a call.' When the time came I no longer worked with him but I remembered the conversation after a bit of searching for a contact number I gave her a call. That was the very best decision that I could have made. Barbara has been absolutely amazing through every step in the process. She sat with us for several hours helping us to narrow down our wants, needs, and budget. She took the time to walk us through the entire home buying process from beginning to end explaining each step along the way and taking the time to clarify some of the confusing vocabulary unique to the home buying process. As you can imagine we had a plethora of questions being first time home buyers and Barbara answered them all promptly and patiently. She was available by phone, text, and email 24 hours a day (thought I refrained from texting her after 2 AM). When we decided to make our offer I was on the phone with Barbara at 11:30 at night for over 45 minutes reviewing the offer. Beyond just her availability and customer service skills Barbara make the transaction very easy for a very busy person (I work 80 - 90 hours per week). Barbara uses the latest technology to allow me to sign both my offer letter and my purchase and sales agreements remotely on my computer. This was invaluable to me as I do not have the type of job where I can take additional time out of work to address personal matters. Barbara made sure to stack house showings one after another on my days off. She went above and beyond at every step in the process to ensure that my time commitment was as little as possible. I have never experienced someone so committed to customer service. As wonderful as all of those things are, and they were wonderful, those aren't the reason why Barbara was the absolute best possible realtor for me. What made her so incredibly valuable to me is that she was willing to tell me when I was wrong. I work in a high powered sales position and have a type A personality where I not only want to control every aspect of the transaction but also have very strong preconceived notions of how the process should go. Going into it my expectation was that I could look at pictures online to see the inside and drive past the house to see the yard and that would be enough to make my decision. Barbara promptly corrected me and she was right. As she is prone to say 'most realtors are excellent photographers' and that proved true with the very first property that I looked at. Had she not corrected me I would have made a terrible mistake. Then later I didn't want to attend my home inspection because I could just read the report after the fact.... wrong again. I cannot express how grateful I am that she convinced me to attend. By now I should have learned my lesson but I hadn't. I have a very close friend who is an attorney, but not a real estate attorney, who would have happily reviewed the purchase and sales for me for free. This would have been a terrible decision. Barbara set me up with an extremely reasonably priced real estate attorney who walked me through his part of the process and drafted an extremely effective addendum to the purchase and sales agreement that saved me thousands. Barbara is the best because she told me not what I wanted to hear but what I needed to here. I could not have gone through this process with her and recommend her highly.
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- ajacobs42287
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After 45 wonderful years in my home with my family, it was time to make the difficult life changing event to downsize and move into a new residence that meets the lifestyle of an independent senior citizen. I entrusted this project to Barbara Scardino, and I am thankful for making that decision. Barbara assisted me through the entire process with patience, professionalism and impeccable attention to detail that allowed for a seamless transition. Barbara helped me in my search for a new home while performing a market analysis, staging, and listing my home where I received a very high level of market activity, multiple offers and accepted an offer that exceeded my asking price. In addition, she assisted me in selecting what furniture to move to my new home, helped me pack, unpack and found me a moving company as well as junk removal company! My customer expectations have been greatly exceeded and I would strongly recommend Barbara Scardino’s service for anyone looking to buy or sell a home. Sincerely, PS
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- Paula Scardino
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Barbara was always there when I needed her ....................She would not hesitate to respond when I needed her ................She was very helpful in showing many, many Condos it didn't matter if it was day or night ................ Whenever I called her for annything she was right there .............. She is one of the best Agent's that I know ...............You can't find them any better ..............It;s not all about her it's all about her clients ....... She's the best Rita Tetrault
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- user5825034
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As first-time homebuyers, we were very fortunate to be have worked with Barbara as our agent. She was very responsive, patient, and eager to answer our many questions. She worked diligently to find us the best deals during a time of so much economic uncertainty. Above all, Barbara consistently went out of her way to make the home buying process as smooth and efficient as possible. We would definitely work with her again.
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- David Hansen
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I first met Barbara at what I thought was an open house in Franklin, MA. However, I quickly learned it was simply a final inspection with the family purchasing the home. Though embarrassing for me, for Barbara, it was simply an opportunity to form a new relationship and she was very quick to followup up with me and became my agent.
I'm a first-time homeowner and not originally from this part of the country. Barbara was there with me every step of the way and has been available to me in the months following the final sale. I've since referred her services to others and have received positive feedback from those families as well.
I was most impressed when she spent 2 hours with me on the morning of July 4th when it was the only available time I had to go over an important phase of my offer. "
I'm a first-time homeowner and not originally from this part of the country. Barbara was there with me every step of the way and has been available to me in the months following the final sale. I've since referred her services to others and have received positive feedback from those families as well.
I was most impressed when she spent 2 hours with me on the morning of July 4th when it was the only available time I had to go over an important phase of my offer. "
- user5220390
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Barbara was wonderful. Patient with trying to understand what I was looking for when and showing me homes that tuned in on the perfect place for me. Thanks to her for patience and perseverance with a sometimes difficult client.
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- Robert Huhn
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I have worked with Barbara on 3 successful properties thus far. I am impressed with her willingness to do extra tasks. And, offer them without being asked. She has given full support with problem items. As an example: We were closing as the seller on a rehab project in 2 or 3 days time when we noticed a serious water pressure issue (none). Of course, I was extremely uptight and panicked. Barabara was not only available by phone to discuss options, she was on site with me and calling professionals for advice. Another example: We were closing on 2 properties as the buyer. The closings were within 2 days of each other. I had a hip replacement 4 days prior. Barbara did the final walkthroughs for me. One of which was 2 hours away from us. These above and beyond efforts make Barbara a leading agent in my eyes. She is easy to work with and has great advice to give. She understands the housing market and her knowledge helps make informative decisions.
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- Todd Lewis
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Barbara is absolutely wonderful to work with. It’s like having a friend on the “inside” that is working for you. She really cares about her clients as well as the community and neighborhood they live in. She explained everything in a way that was easy to understand from making the offer, to working with the mortgage banker and the attorney. For us, it was selling and buying at the same time, which gets a little complicated but Barbara made it super easy and smooth. The fact that she brings along years of expertise makes all the difference. Her advice and support throughout the process were invaluable. She was polite, available, friendly, and knowledgeable. We could not have done it without her.
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- Pintu Neogi
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If I could give more than 5 stars I would! We have worked with Barbara through the purchase and sales of our last two homes. Barbara is extremely hardworking, professional, knowledgeable and an absolute joy to work with. She worked tirelessly to assure that we were able to live in our dream home. We are so happy! Barbara is the best in the business!
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- Meredith Smith
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