John Morrison - Boston area real estate - Everything you need to know about buying in Massachusetts

Now that the holidays are over and we are into a new year, let's take a break and look back on 2008. Assisting us today will be Stefan Swanepoel, a noted author and speaker who has been right on with his prognostications regarding real estate and the direction the industry will take. Mr. Swanepoe...

Why move to Ipswich, MA? Views like this one. Ranked among the world's best beaches, Crane Beach is the place to be all summer long. It is certainly less crowded in the middle of winter, but still provides amazing views as you can see.  To learn more about the town of Ipswich and Ipswich MA real...

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), a component of the Federal Reserve, announced today that they are lowering rates yet again. Without getting bogged down in the minutiae, this is great news for potential Massachusetts real estate buyers. Why? Property values continue to fall in Massachuse...

If you are in the market for Massachusetts real estate, you will sooner or later come across the terms assessed value and appraised value. Is there a difference between an assessment and appraisal? If so, how will this difference affect you and your ability to purchase real estate? Definition of ...

The Federal Reserve announced today that over the next year (18 months at most), they will be buying up mortgage-backed securities to the tune of $500 billion. This is what the Fed had to say in a statement, per a Bankrate.com article, "This action is being taken to reduce the cost and increase t...

My main man Hank Paulson, head of the HPHF, has changed his mind about spending some of the $700 billion that he hopes to soon access. As of today, Paulson has roughly $60 billion left of the initial $350 billion which has been spent buying preferred shares of banks and insurer AIG. Remember the ...

James Lockhart, Director and Chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), announced a large loan modification plan today. How big is it? According to Lockhart, tens of thousands of mortgages can be renegotiated. Servicers of these loans have agreed to this plan and will receive $800 for...

Ben Clark will be leading NAEBA in 2009 2010 (see Ben's comment below). If you are unaware, all members of NAEBA work exclusively on behalf of real estate buyers. I encourage you to help me welcome Ben to the role of President of this organization, and take a moment to read some of his salient th...

It looks like MA voters will vote down a measure to repeal the state's income tax, which is currently 5.3%. About 99% of districts have reported, and the NOs are ahead 70%-30%. Who says the public doesn't have common sense? Also, the measure to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of m...

Some smarty-pants Professor from Yale got the NY Times to publish his thoughts about solving the foreclosure crisis. As I was unable to get an op-ed piece in a major newspaper, you can read a few of my thoughts on this same issue from a previous post. That stated, Mr. Geanakoplos, along with coau...