Inappropriate showings are a frustrating problem that’s fairly common in today’s fast-paced market. There’s so little time to think. Buyers feel pressured to make snap showing decisions and end up running to showing appointments for homes that ultimately are of no interest to them. It can be a big time – and gas – waster!

Save time and money with Google Maps

The video above shows you the tools you can use to avoid wasting time touring listings that do not suit you. It demonstrates some of the easy – and engaging – sleuthing we do with Google Maps for our buyer clients. We vet the listings our clients ask us about to help them make more appropriate, more productive showing appointments.

Google Satellite View

Google Map’s Satellite View (and especially its 3-D version) can give you a treasure trove of information on a property.  You can weed-out the listings with location issues and lot characteristics that make the homes unsuitable for you.

It comes down to knowing what to look for. Here’s a brief review of what to be on the lookout for when using Google Maps’ Satellite View to vet listings.

Homes close to potential or perceived nuisances

The above images show just some of the location issues that homes can carry with them. It does not mean these properties are bad places to own. The point is simply that, if you would object to what is near to a home for sale, you certainly are better off knowing about that proximity before you drive out to physically visit the home. In other words, if you would not buy the home because of what it’s situated near, either don’t make the showing appointment, or at least don’t find out about the proximity issue for the first time when you arrive for a showing!

Lot characteristics

You can also use Google Maps’ Satellite View to discover issues with the land (homesite) on which a listing is situated. An additional analysis tool Google Maps gives you is its Street View feature. Together, Satellite View and Street View can reveal a number of objections commonly found with the topography, size and shape of a listing’s homesite.

Look closely at the first image above. There is a fence right behind the home – there is no rear yard at all. In the second image, a significant portion of the rear yard is taken up by a driveway. Some buyers won’t care about these limitations. But if you do, don’t waste time with a showing, or at least know what you will be dealing with before going to visit the home!

Street View is another powerful aid

Now, let’s see what Google Maps’ Street View can show you.

With Street View, you can visually examine a listing’s neighborhood home by home. You can spot long or steep driveways at a glance. These can be problematic during snow and ice storms. Some homes lack off-street parking. It’s a fairly common issue that can be a daily irritant and can become very inconvenient if street parking is banned during snow emergencies. Some listings can have another house immediately to their rear. This presents privacy problems and sometimes awkward access issues. All of these potential objections can be readily revealed by Google Maps’ Street View.

Spend some time to save a lot of time

You might be surprised how many agents fail to properly vet a new listing their client asks to tour. They just set up the showing as requested by their buyers and proceed to the home to learn about the location and homesite for the first time upon arrival.

This risks wasting driving time and gasoline on inappropriate showings. Just a bit of research with Google Maps can reveal so much about a home. A little online sleuthing – by you or your agent – will yield better and more productive showings for you!

If you have questions about your own home search, just use the form below to contact us. Or call/text us at 508-561-6259 – we’re here to help!

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Part 3: Condo doc review

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of finding a condominium unit you love and want to buy.  But before you make an offer, you should remember that you’ll not only be living in the condo unit itself, you’ll also be living in the condo community.  And there may be a problem at the community, or something about the way the community operates, that makes the condo community a bad fit for you. So how can you can protect yourself from buying into a condo community that’s not the right place for you to call home?

Look at the condo documents and financial reports before you commit

Condo buyers can protect themselves from unpleasant surprises concerning a condo community by reviewing an important set of condominium documents and financial reports.

In Massachusetts, each condo community is governed by a set of documents. These often include a Master Deed, which establishes and defines the condominium, and a Declaration of Trust, which creates the condo association that oversees day-to-day life at the condo community. There usually are Rules and Regulations (or “covenants, conditions, and restrictions”) that set the expected norms of behavior by residents. The association will publish periodic financial reports on income and expenditures by the condominium. And some associations also release written minutes of the meetings held by the association’s Board of Trustees. Together, all these documents and reports are commonly referred to as the “condo docs and financials”.

When to review the condo docs and financials

In Massachusetts, it’s a two-step process in contracting to buy a home: First, you make an Offer. Once that offer is accepted by the seller, you move on to signing a Purchase and Sale Agreement (P&S), typically after you have had a home inspection.

It would be ideal to do your “due diligence” review of the condo docs and financials before you make your offer.  But a fast-paced housing market often makes that impractical, unless the condo unit has been sitting unsold on the market for a long time.

Your second best alternative is to get your offer accepted and then review the condo documents and financials before you conduct the home inspection.  That way, if you find problems in the condo docs or financial reports, you can stop the purchase without spending money on the inspection. Again, given time constraints, that may not be feasible.

Most buyers will end up reviewing the condo docs and financials during the home inspection contingency period.  You’ll pay for the home inspection, but at least will have had the opportunity to vet the association before you sign the P&S.

(Note to buyers: be sure to include in your offer a contingency for your satisfactory review of the condo documents and financial reports.)

Issues to look for in the documents and financial reports

Here’s a video that covers the issues you should be on the lookout for as you peruse all the reports and documentation; these issues are also reviewed in more detail below:

Issue 1: Lifestyle and quality of life at the association

Because a condominium community involves a number of residents living in proximity to one another and sharing use of common areas, unit owners surrender some privacy and control over their lives at a condo community, compared to life at a single-family home. Prospective buyers of condo units should look to see if they will be comfortable living at the condo community before they are committed to the purchase.

Here are some of the condo documents you’d be wise to scrutinize regarding lifestyle and quality of life issues at a condo community:

• Rules and regulations

The association rules and regulations govern life at the condo community.

Read the rules and regulations carefully. At some associations, the rules and regulations are simple and brief. At other associations, this document contains pages of restrictions and dictates that address a wide range of topics. Look to see if there are limitations on pets, how exterior decorations are restricted, whether residents are allowed to add plantings or gardens outside their units, how trash disposal and snow removal are conducted, and what the vehicle parking rules are. Ask yourself how you would feel living under these controls.

• Association handbook

If the association publishes a handbook, you’re in luck because not that many associations have them. The handbook is essentially a crib sheet for unit owners.  The handbook summarizes the most important rules and operations at the association and gives you great insight into whether you likely will be happy with the way the condo community operates.

Handbooks contain just about everything you’ll need to know about day-to-day life in a condo association.  They will include the rules and regulations and typically address a myriad of quality of life issues. In them you’ll often find move-in and move-out procedures, information about community amenities such a pools and recreation facilities, how parking is handled during snow removal, and the like. Sometimes a handbook will also explain the repair and maintenance responsibilities of unit owners, as opposed to what the association is responsible for.

• Minutes of the meetings of the Board of Trustees

Just as with handbooks, not all associations publish minutes of Board of Trustee meetings. But if these exist, get them!

Minutes are windows into the happiness of residents at the association. You’ll sometimes see discussions of disputes between unit owners, simmering maintenance complaints, or fines being assessed by the association. If you see complaints, disputes or fines in the minutes, ask yourself, do I really want to live here?

The biggest red flags in the minutes are discussions of financial problems at the condo community. We’ll cover condo financial statements in the next section immediately below. But if you read in the minutes that the condo community is running a deficit, or that there may be a need to raise the monthly condo fees, or that a supplemental assessment on unit owners is in the offing, you’ll at least be in a position to ask appropriate questions or perhaps seek a financial concession from the seller of the unit you are considering purchasing.

Issue 2: Financial problems

Ask for “the financials” for a condominium community and you’ll certainly get some kind of an income and expense report. But what you’ll receive will vary greatly from association to association. Sometimes you’ll be given a robust and detailed statement, while other times the financial report is basic and simplistic.

Occasionally, the report you receive shows obvious financial problems at the condo community.

The above report showed significant financial problems at a condo community. It was enough to induce a buyer to back out of his purchase before he performed the home inspection. It pays to ask for “the financials” as early as you can!

Knowledge is power

The above discussion shows you the wisdom of doing adequate due-diligence on the condo documents and financial reports. That way, you won’t move into your new condo only to find out, too late, that there is a supplement assessment in the works, you can’t hang your favorite holiday decorations outside your unit, and your pet is not permitted to live in the community!

Up Next: Understanding who is responsible for what in condo repairs

It can be quite confusing getting a handle on who is responsible for maintenance and repairs at a condominium community.

Follow the hotlink in the image above or at right to how repair duties are typically allocated between associations and individual condo unit owners – some of the answers may surprise you!

Questions about buying or selling a condo?

If you have questions of any nature about buying or selling a condominium in Massachusetts, you can use the form below to contact attorney and real estate broker Warren Reynolds.

Warren has helped hundreds of condo sellers and buyers and he will help you, too!

(All Warren asks is that if you are already committed to working with another real estate agent to please have that agent answer your questions.)

Copyright ©02038.com

Part 4: Who takes care of what regarding repairs at condo communities

Many people assume that when they buy a home in a condominium community, their exterior maintenance and repair costs will be essentially nil. After all, a good portion of the monthly condo fees they’ll pay will go towards exterior repairs and upkeep of the grounds, amenities, access roads and driveways. So it’s safe to assume that condo owners take care of their units, and the condo association takes care of everything else, right? Not necessarily!

Common-area repairs are on the association, with some exceptions

The general rule with condos is that unit owners are responsible for their own units and the condo association is responsible for what are called “common areas”. But there are some very important exceptions to that general who-repairs-what rule. These exceptions shift to unit owners the cost of maintaining and replacing some very significant – and expensive – exterior structural components.

These cost-shifting exceptions are reviewed in the following video and also in detail below.

The distinction between condo units and common areas

Embedded in the images below are hotlinks to two websites that provide helpful information on how common areas can be distinguished from individual dwelling units in condominium communities.

Common areas most associations take care of

The vast majority of condo associations take care of such obvious common areas as roofs, exterior siding, foundations, landscaping and grounds, access roads and driveways, and community assets such as pools, gyms, club houses, tennis courts, etc.

(Note that there are some associations with individual freestanding condos that put on unit owners the cost of maintaining the entire exterior of their respective units.)

What routinely is the responsibility of unit owners

Unit owners are typically responsible for the upkeep of the interiors of their condo units. Unit interiors include fixtures in all rooms, interior ceilings, walls and flooring, heating and AC systems that exclusively serve the individual units, and pipes and wiring within each unit. No surprises here!

Areas of special responsibility

Most associations impose exceptions to the above conventions. These exceptions shift maintenance and replacement costs from the association to the unit owners for some features that might at first glance appear to be common areas. It’s these exceptions that can be a surprise to prospective condo buyers.

These exceptions typically pertain to structural elements such as exterior windows, doors, and decks. Many associations make unit owners bear the cost to repair these items, including the exterior sills and frames of both windows and doors. So if you are buying a condo unit with old windows that you will want replaced at some point in the future, you will likely have to bear that expense!

Check the condo documents

The best way for prospective purchasers of condo units to protect themselves from any surprises about their ongoing maintenance and replacement obligations is simply to read the condo documents.

In the hotlink embedded in the image below, you’ll be able to download a .pdf showing how common areas and condo units are differentiated at a substantial condominium association in the Town of Franklin, MA.

All condominium associations will have similar provisions somewhere in their foundational documents. So before you buy a condo unit, ask to see the “condo docs” and read them carefully. It’s better to know before you buy exactly what you’re getting into in terms of repair and replacement obligations.

Next on the agenda: How to save money on a home inspection

Having a home inspection is a very smart move for any prospective home buyer. But did you know that many buyers end up wasting money on home inspections that they should never have ordered in the first place?

Follow the hotlink in the image above or at right to learn how you can spot common warning signs of structural and mechanical system problems at a home that make it a property you should steer clear of – without paying for a home inspection!

Questions? Ask Warren Reynolds!

Use the form below to send condo questions to real estate broker and attorney Warren Reynolds. He’ll be happy to help you!

(All Warren asks is that if you are already committed to working with another real estate agent to please have that agent answer your questions.)

Copyright ©02038.com

Part Five: How to save money on home inspections

There’s an expensive mistake with home inspections that some home buyers in Massachusetts needlessly fall prey to. Fortunately, prospective purchasers can easily avoid this inspection pitfall simply by looking around carefully as they tour homes.

Getting too emotionally involved with a home

Home buyers can become starry-eyed during their tour of a property for sale.  They can get so excited about features and amenities that they fail to look carefully at the structure and mechanical systems.  They end up making an offer without noticing subtle issues and objections that then become all too apparent during the ensuing home inspection.

When these buyers back out of the purchase after the inspection, they can legitimately say to themselves “why did I spend money on the inspection, when I never should have made that offer – at that price – in the first place?”

Video explains what to do

The video below shows you how to approach your home tours to help assure you don’t waste money on an ill-advised home inspection.

Train your eye to spot the signs of common problems

While home inspections are worth every penny you spend on them, you don’t want to pay for an inspection on a home with issues that make it unlikely you’d ever want to buy the home. That’s a true waste of money!

The more experienced you become as a MA home buyer, the more readily you will recognize the telltale signs of common problems that make a listing a property to move on from – or at least bid lower on!

Subtle signs, not obvious red flags

Everyone recognizes obvious problems such as a failed roof, decrepit heat system, or puddles of water in the basement. But there are other, easy-to-miss indicators of potentially expensive problems in homes that you should be aware of, and be on the look out for, when you tour homes for sale.

Roofs nearing the end of their life expectancy

Older roofs are the first thing to look for. Most shingles have a twenty or twenty-five year life expectancy. If the roof on a home has curled, worn shingles or has dark streaks on it, that’s a sign of age.

If you see a home with a roof like those in any of the above images, ask how old the roof is. If a roof is more than eighteen years old, you can be sure a home inspector will mention that to you as an issue. If the age of the roof concerns you, don’t make an offer! Or at least offer less than you would have had the roof been younger.

Signs of water in the basement

There are subtle signs of past water penetration to look for in basements. Again, we’re not talking about large puddles of water or carpeting that is wet on the day you tour the property. The signs will be hard to spot, but if a basement has had water penetration, the evidence will be there.

In finished basement spaces, look for wavy lines on baseboards and on the lower edges of door frames. Swollen or warped areas of baseboard are another indication of past water.

In unfinished basement areas, look for white, chalky streaks on concrete walls (called efflorescence). Also note dark stains on the basement floor.

If you see any of these telltale signs, just understand that the home inspector will, too. The inspection report will likely note that the basement has had water in the past. If this would deter you from owning the home, save your money on the home inspection and don’t make an offer!

Older heating systems

Google “life expectancy furnace” and you’ll see a range of between fifteen and twenty years. Do the same for boilers and the range is between ten and fifteen years. (Those ranges seem short to me, but these are what the search results yield.)

Boilers and furnaces often function well for many years beyond their rated life expectancy. But if you see a furnace or a boiler that looks like it has been in service for over twenty years, you can be sure that a home inspector will mention the age of the heat system in the inspection report. So pay attention to the boiler/furnace when you tour a home. if if looks aged, it very likely is! Adjust your offer accordingly, or at least understand that the inspector will tell you to budget for a replacement in coming years.

Up next: How sewers and septic systems can affect your purchase decisions

Ever wonder where all that water goes when you do your laundry or run your dishwasher? The answer can have a big impact on your long-term costs of condo ownership.

Follow the hotlink in the image above or at right to learn more about how the ongoing costs of condo ownership can be greatly affected by how your condo association disposes of all the wastewater produced the residents in the condo community.

If you have questions about touring homes and home inspections

Use the form below to contact Massachusetts attorney and real estate broker Warren Reynolds with any questions you have about home inspections. He’s here to help!

Copyright ©02038.com

There are good reasons for continued COVID-19 vigilance regarding home buying and selling. Home buyers and sellers are respectively subjecting themselves and their homes to interactions with people who may or may not have been exposed to the virus.  So seeking to protect yourself with commonsense precautionary measures seems the best way to assure your family’s safety while carrying out your change of residence in the era of COVID-19.

Strong housing market is a compelling reason to move

The continued strength of the Massachusetts real estate market should give you the incentive to carry on with your home buying and selling plans, despite COVID-19. Even last May, at the height of the pandemic shutdown, the Massachusetts real estate market was showing astonishing resilience.

The market’s robustness became manifest in June. That month witnessed a record surge of pending single-family home sales across the Commonwealth. (“Pending” sales refer to homes on which there are accepted purchase agreements, but which have not yet proceeded to change hands at a closing.)

The 7,774 single-family homes that went pending on MLS-PIN in June 2020 constitute the largest number of pending sales for any June in the database of MLS-PIN – just astounding! June 2020’s record pending sales should give a “green light” to everyone who is thinking about buying or selling a home. Despite all the disruptions and uncertainties of COVID-19, now is an excellent time to act!

Home prices on the rise, mortgage rates at all-time lows

The news gets even better with the continuing run-up in single family home prices.

The median sale price of single-family homes on MLS-PIN rose 5.9% in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same three month period in 2019. The run-up in home prices at the height of the recent March – June shutdown in Massachusetts is a strong signal that home prices seem likely to continue to rise for the rest of the year. With 30-year mortgage rates currently at all-time lows (and forecast by some to dip below three percent before year’s end), now clearly is the smart time to move.

The right time to move, but what about COVID-19?

With the Massachusetts real estate market showing such vigor, many prospective home sellers and buyers will be asking how they can accomplish a move safely in light of COVID-19.

3D Tours help reduce in-real-life showings

One recent innovation that benefits both home sellers and buyers alike is 3D home tour technology.

3D tours are a lot more than a slide show of static home photos. The 3D technology allows you to virtually navigate through a home as you wish. You control which rooms you go through and in the sequence you prefer. You can pause, turn around and look again at a feature, and then move onto another room. This is very powerful!

The value of 3D tours in terms of COVID-19 safety is the fact that these tours reduce the number of unproductive in-real-life (IRL) showings, thus reducing the chances of infection stemming from IRL visits to homes.

Buyers can virtually walk through homes online and eliminate homes that don’t suit them. They use 3D tours to make shortlists of homes that better suit them, homes they want to physically visit IRL. Buyers thus can undertake far fewer physical interactions with homes for sale.

And sellers using 3D technology to market their homes will have fewer people entering their homes IRL. It’s a win-win in terms of reducing the chances of exposure to COVID-19!

Variety of 3D tour platforms

There are various competing types of 3D tours. Here are samples of two of the better platforms:

The ability to virtually move through the rooms in a home at your pace and in the sequence you choose is very powerful. And the benefits of fewer IRL showings are clear. Home sellers should avail themselves of this powerful technological innovation!

The benefits of clustering IRL showings

The next strategy to market homes with reduced COVID-19 risk is to cluster IRL showings as closely together as possible. Clustering IRL showings allows the listing agent to better control how IRL showings are conducted and make sure buyer and buyer agents adhere to COVID safety protocols while they are physically at the home. This protects buyers and sellers alike.

One way to cluster showings is for sellers to limit IRL showings to a limited number of days and hours per week. (For example, Fridays 4 PM – 7 PM and Saturdays and Sundays 11 AM – 3 PM.)

The listing agent can sit in his car on the street or in the driveway during scheduled showings, monitoring the comings and goings of the buyer agents with their customers. The listing agent can make sure masks are worn by all parties and other COVID-19 safety protocols are adhered to. The listing agent can act a a gatekeeper, preventing buyers who arrive early for their appointments from entering the home while another showing is ongoing. Control of showings equals less risk to both home sellers and buyers!

Open houses are highly effective ways to reduce COVID-19 risk

Another effective way to cluster IRL showings to reduce risk of COVID-19 infection is to use open houses. These should be conducted in a more controlled way than traditional open houses.

During the first two months of the nationwide COVID-19 shutdown, which began mid-March, there was widespread speculation that open houses would become a thing of the past.

There were virtually no open houses scheduled on MLS-PIN anywhere in the I-495/I-95 region of Massachusetts in April and May of 2020. By early June, however, open house notices began to show up again on MLS-PIN. The open houses quickly evolved primarily into two distinct types, each employing a different strategy to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Open House Strategy #1

This version of open house requires attendees to make appointments to attend the open.

Often the open house appointments are required to be in fifteen minute increments. (Showing appointment time slots have to be short, because of the limited duration of the open house.) The listing agent stays on site, making sure masks are worn and proper social distancing is maintained.

There is a significant drawback to this “by appointment” open house strategy: the 15 minute showing appointment time slots inevitably create friction and bottlenecks. It’s inevitable that some buyers will arrive either early or late to their 15 minute open house appointments. Frustration builds as early-arriving buyers are turned away because it is “not your time yet to get inside”. Tardy buyers often mill around the outside of the home and may try to slip inside in between, and even during, other scheduled showings. It creates needless bad feelings and can detract from the success of the open house!

Open House Strategy #2

This second open house strategy has buyers come when they can during the published hours of the open house. Buyers and their agents wait in a properly spaced queue to get inside, often one set of buyers at a time.

The “queue upon arrival” open houses typically go well. Access is usually controlled and orderly. The listing agent can sit outside the house, register buyers as they arrive, make sure they have required masks and other required protective-wear, have them sign any required COVID-19 disclosure notice, and then grant them access once the house is vacated by the buyers who were previously inside.

Many other ways to increase COVID-19 safety when buying or selling a home

Many other points in the home purchase or sale process present opportunities to increase safety and reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure. There are too many such opportunities to review in detail here.

The National Association of Realtors recently published a guide to COVID-19 safety for Realtors.

The Guide shows you more what can be done to enhance safety throughout a real estate transaction.

Get answers to specific questions

If you have specific questions or concerns about buying or selling a home safely in the era of COVID-19, please use the form below to ask Warren Reynolds for answers.

About Warren Reynolds, Attorney and Real Estate Broker

The best way to get to know someone is to see what other people say about them. Below are testimonials about Warren from past clients.

What Home Sellers say about Warren

What Home Buyers say about Warren

COVID-19 has made buying or selling a home seem even more of a challenge than ever. But you don’t have to feel stressed or uncertain – just rely on Warren! 

Warren Reynolds is an attorney-at-law in addition to being a real estate broker! His legal knowledge, coupled with decades of home sales experience and a sharp eye for detail have helped him give 100s of home buyers and sellers a greater security and control in their real estate transactions.   

Warren has consistently won multi-million-dollar sales awards over his 20+ year career.  How?  He cares!  He cares passionately about truth, justice and fairness. And that shows in his numbers.  99% of Warren’s past clients say they will use him again.  And over 70% of his business comes from repeat customers and referrals.

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Look beyond the countertop

So if you’re in the market to buy a home – or are thinking about renovating the kitchen or baths in your current residence – you need to know what to look for to spot true cabinet quality.

Since the National Kitchen and Bath Association estimates that roughly half of the cost of a new kitchen (70% including labor) is allocated to cabinets, it’s important to be an informed consumer whether you’re looking at a home to buy or walking through a kitchen design showroom.

Quick short cuts to judge quality

What we’ll cover in this post are simple shortcuts you can use to quickly ascertain the quality of cabinets in kitchens and baths.

The video below will help you understand what to look for when you are examining cabinets in any kitchen or bathroom:

Highlights from video

We’ll review below the most important points from the video:

Look for signs of wear and deterioration on “high traffic” areas around door fronts and drawer pulls.

Scratches, abrasion and worn areas are signs of a cheap finish.

Avoid fake wood surfaces

The cheapest cabinets use photo-simulated wood grain and paper thin laminates to create the impression of real wood.

These can chip and flake away over time, exposing the chipboard below.

Drawer construction

Lower-quality cabinets have drawers that are stapled or glued together.

Better drawer joinery uses dovetailing.

Drawer slides

Another sign of lower quality drawer construction is flimsy metal drawer slides.

Look instead for heavy gauge steel slides with ball bearings.

The best of these are full-extension slides with a self-closing feature.

More information

If you have questions about what to look for kitchens and baths, contact Warren Reynolds. he’ll be happy to guide you in the right direction!

Copyright © 02038.com

Top sales award level at Century 21

CENTURION^© is the top home sales award level in the worldwide Century 21 franchise. The Centurion gold statue symbolizes truly outstanding sales performance!

It’s the Oscar of real estate sales!

Top 60 Century 21 agent in Eastern Massachusetts

Warren finished 2016 in the top 60 of all 4,000+ Century 21 agents in Eastern MA.  That’s quite an achievement and testament to the value of the services and support he brings to his clients!

Warren was Agent of the Month 9 times during 2016 at Century 21’s Franklin office.  Warren’s success in 2016 follows his winning the prestigious Relocation Agent of the Year Award in 2015.

About Warren Reynolds, Franklin, MA real estate broker and attorney

Warren excels at selling homes because of his creativity and drive which he got from his uncle, an investigative journalist and New York Times best-selling author. 

Warren is also an attorney at law!  His expertise with negotiations, contracts and closings give you a distinct advantage in the home sales arena.  Contact Warren or call him at 508-561-6259 to put his talents, knowledge and experience to work for you.  You’ll “Win with Warren!”

Copyright ©2017 02038.com

Top 10% of Century 21 agents worldwide

This puts Warren in the top 10% of all Century 21 agents worldwide!  If you know Warren, you’ll understand why he excels at helping people buy and sell real estate:  his caring attitude, real estate expertise and negotiation skills help assure highly successful transactions!

Clients give high praise to Warren Reynolds

Just take a look at all the rave reviews Warren has garnered from clients:

Rave reviews for Warren!

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home or investment property in Massachusetts, contact Warren – like so many satisfied clients will tell you: “You’ll Win with Warren!”

Copyright ©2013 02038.com

In a recent exposé on the state of modern appliance manufacturing, the respected consumer watchdog group documents a slew of recent problems with new appliances including fires in dishwashers, dryers and microwaves, appliances starting on their own or failing to properly turn off, exploding glass doors on ovens, and refrigerator lights that stay on with the door shut, creating a surprising fire hazard.

Appliance fires a growing problem

Consumer Reports says that the Consumer Product Safety Commission found there have been more than 69,000 residential fires in the US from 2002 through 2009 in which an appliance was the proximate cause of the incident.

These blazes were directly attributable to a defect in the affected appliance.  The fires did not originate from human error, such as unattended cooking or failure to clear dryer lint, nor did they arise from natural causes such as storms or animals.

Why so many problem appliances?

The worrisome number of appliance fires due to product defects isn’t surprising, according to Andrea Gabor, a quality-management expert  quoted in the Consumer Reports article.  “We’ve seen a race to the bottom in terms of cheap parts and disposable products,” she says in the piece.

Here’s what Consumer Reports says lies behind America’s new appliance problems:

Innovations in controls and function make today’s appliances more versatile and easier to use, but the added complexity is creating unexpected safety problems.

More intricate electronics in appliances lead to short circuits, electrical failures, and overheated wiring that start fires inside the unit.

The increased fire risk that comes with design complexity is being exacerbated by fraud and short cuts by overseas manufacturers.

Consumer Reports says that US companies are losing control over the production of their products by using overseas manufacturing plants, primarily in China.  Chinese subcontractors and suppliers sometimes deviate from design specs without authorization.  They secretly substitute inferior materials and cut corners with the components.  This fraud heightens the risk of malfunctions that spark fires.

To save cost and reduce weight, appliance designers have increasingly resorted to using flammable plastic parts in lieu of non-flammable metal.

Once the electrical components in an appliance catch fire, the fire feeds on all the plastic in the machine, fueling the blaze and spreading the fire throughout the appliance.  Even refrigerators now can present a serious fire risk.

How to avoid an appliance fire

Below are some steps identified by Consumer Reports to reduce your chances of having a fire in your home due to an appliance:

1. Check for recalls and consumer complaints before you buy

You can use a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing to see if there have been complaints or recalls on the specific appliance brand and model you are considering buying.  But that might leave you open to oversight or error; your search might not pull up some important information.

To help you quickly identify troublesome appliances, the Federal government has created two very helpful websites you can use to find product safety recalls and access a central database of consumer reports of fires and other safety problems with a wide range of consumer products.

SaferProducts.gov

This site gives you access to complaints made by consumers about the appliances they own. Created in March 2011, the site posts consumer complaints after notifying the manufacturers involved and giving them a chance to respond. Thousands of complaints exist on the website, including more than 850 related to appliance fires.

Recalls.gov

This is an umbrella site that links to recalls of many types of products including vehicles, appliances and other consumer products, food, medicine, boats and cosmetics.  The site will send you to a variety of other sites maintained by agencies of the Federal government.  You’ll be taken to the FDA website for food and drug safety issues, the EPA website for recalls of environmental products and the Consumer Products Safety Commission website for consumer product recalls.  Navigation between the sites can be a bit cumbersome, but Recalls.gov is a very helpful clearinghouse site for recalls and problems affecting a very wide range of products.

2. Register new appliances

Consumer Reports states that few buyers of new appliances bother to register their purchase with the manufacturer. If you fill out and return the registration card, you should be notified promptly if a product is recalled. So be smart, register your purchases so you will know about safety recalls if they occur.

3. Be careful with the household appliances you own

Failing to clear lint from dryer hoses and vents and leaving cooking items unattended is a common way to have a fire. Don’t leave coffee brewers, microwaves, stoves, ovens and toasters on unsupervised.  Maybe think twice about running your dishwasher over night when you are asleep in bed.

Another smart move is to unplug small appliances such as re-chargers, coffee machines, blenders and toasters when they are not in use.  When you are out of the house for extended periods, you might want to unplug your TVs, computers and video equipment.

Please check online to see if any appliances you currently own (or are about to buy) have been recalled or are receiving complaints posted about them.  If you do your due diligence and use common sense when you use your appliances, you’ll be doing everything you can to ensure the safety of your home and family!

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Whether you’ve lived in the region for years or are just in the early stages of relocating to MA, this Facebook page has something for you.

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From  a $3 million+ home in Sherborn to a $300,000 split level in Hopkinton, see exactly what your money will buy right now in some of the most popular towns west of Boston . . . in real time!

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Keep up on current events in MA real estate and national economic trends affecting the value of your home by clicking here or on the image below:

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Fun activities west of Boston 

Looking for interesting things to do west of Boston?  Click here or on the image below to sample interesting area events and activities that prove why so many people love living west of Boston.

Explore why Massachusetts is a very special place and how the region west of Boston has a lot to offer just about everyone!

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