The days are getting shorter already! But today was a beautiful day on Cape Cod! There were leaf peepers here on the Cape, trying to see as much of New England as one trip would allow. I had some Italians (real ones, not just from the North End) in yesterday asking about how to get to the Vineyard. And there was a broker in from Colorado checking out the Cape. Today, others came from off Cape just to enjoy the off season on Cape Cod. One tourist told me that the Avis rental agent at Logan Airport said they are renting 1200 cars a day just at their locations.  Thats a lot of leaf lookers! 10/06/2009

$550,000,000! That is Five Hundred and Fifty MILLION Dollars! In A Down Economy! For Construction! Well it must be a good project! Plymouth Rock Studios announced today that it has secured a $550 million construction loan from a Florida company called Prosperity International. Now the Plymouth Rock Studios can close on the Waverly Oaks Golf Course and begin building! "Building what?," you ask. The high tech complex will consist of 14 sound stages, a 10-acre back lot, production and post-production facilities, a theater and amenity (shops/entertainment) village. Producers will now be able to make movies and television shows from start to finish at one site in southeastern MA!  If you haven't looked at MAss real estate lately, now is a good time to start!   09/25/2009

How often should you move the dryer and vacuum around the laundry room - even the walls? The professionals say twice a year. Maybe if you plan to do it twice a year you will get it done once. This is in addition to removing the vent hose to clean the lint build up in it. Electric dryers and gas dryers should be cleaned more often when there are a large number of loads being done.  Do you at least clean the lint screen when you put a new load in? That can reduce the time it takes to dry a load. Cleaning your dryer is not only a good for keeping you home safe from fire hazards, it can help with energy efficiency, too. Happy listing and selling real estate! 09/25/2009

Hollywood East, the brain child of some experienced movie executives from Californiahas secured their construction financing! What does this mean? JOBS JOBS JOBS!!! Not only are there construction jobs coming soon, but the 14 sound stages, 10 acre back lot, production facilities, offices, hotels, and shopping area will bring in more than 2000 jobs after construction. When you add the ancillary businesses and opportunities that will come to this area as supporting jobs, there could be as many a 20,000 new jobs. Coupled with the new interest from notable people who want to have a home to use while they are doing business at the new studios, it's a beautiful day on Cape Cod! See: http://bit.ly/19yNcZ for the video of the signing. http://bit.ly/3tLi3K to learn what Plymouth Rock Studios and... 09/24/2009

I was honored to be invited to the 102nd Intelligence Wing Family Day last weekend at Otis Air Force Base. It is a time when the base awards service men and thanks friends and family of those serving. One of my good friends, Technical Sergeant Scott Manamon, received two awards from his commanders. The day was full of good music, proud families and friends, and recognition of those soldiers and airmen who are working hard to keep us safe. The personell at Otis have gone through a change from being a fighter wing to becoming an intelligence wing. I was glad to be present, and I know his family is very proud of him. 09/15/2009

I remember a friend running into my office asking if I had heard that New York was under attack. I remember wondering what else was being attacked. I remember going home and watching the reality on TV. I remember when the buildings fell.   I remember seeing the radar that showed no planes in the air. I remember that a local pilot was originally scheduled to fly one of the planes. I remembering wondering if my kids would be growing up in world at war. I remember stories of local muslims cheering the catastrophe.   I remember being angry at the comentators who had explained how to do this after the first bombing in NY. I remember the silence after the buildings fell. I remember hearing the local families that had relatives in the buildings. I remember meeting a local emergency responder w... 09/10/2009

We had the Falmouth MA Cape CodMLS tour this morning. One of the homes for sale is owned by Julia O'Malley-Keyes. The home is actually a good value, but the home is filled with her art! While the 4 bedroom 2 bath Cape style home is cozy, and the aparently buildable lot is an interesting added value, her paintings that look like photographs are very pleasantly distracting! She has the gift of being able to make her brush appear to be a photograph. I found her on the Internet, but the duplicates of her realistic paintings that are on her site, pale to the clarity of a personal viewing. She was actually there while we toured he home, and she had just received notice of 6 commissioned paintings for someone she called the CEO of of the Panama Canal. If you're in Falmouth looking for art, loo... 09/09/2009

There was a car show on the Falmouth Library Lawn last Saturday. I was in town opening the office and kept noticing an unusual stream of classic and collector cars driving by. Before long, they began to park on the library lawn across from my Main Street office. I took some pictures of the array. There was a Packard, many Corvettes, and various examples of other collectibles. It was quite a selection. 09/08/2009

On Wednesday, Trish Favuli from the Falmouth Assessor's office met with the MLS tour attendees and answered questions. Here are my notes: The fiscal values for 2010 will be based on sales in 2008.  But, the new tax rate won't be calculated until the town meeting members decide if there will be a newer higher meals and room tax.  New assessments will be based on sale values.  Foreclosures are not used when comparing properties in the assessor's office. Some betterments do not show up online (nor on telnet) - so beware when researching prospective listings. The New Silver Beach betterment will be spread over 20 years, but the interest rate hasn't been determined yet. That betterment is not assumable. When looking at assessor's info, the effective year is the last year that the building de... 09/03/2009

Now that summer is winding down, it's time to do all those things that you wanted to do but somehow didn't get to. Although many of the summer activities will soon give way to special fall events, there is still time to take advantage of some summer activites. Click here for information on Lobster on the Lawn Mondays in Falmouth, MA. There's still time. 08/27/2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.  We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                                             http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT                                Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-6911   Fax 401-423-4377                                 ... 08/25/2009

                                                      Dec. 31, 2008     May 15, 2009     July 31, 2009 Units on the market                          56                         76                      68 Average sales per month                  4.5                         3                        4 Our absorption rate*                12.4 Months           25.3 Months    17 Months *Absorption Rate: The number of months that it would take for all condos presently on the market to be sold. A balanced market is around 5 months. Sales % of original list price                   85.3%            85.2%                  89.5% Sales % of list price (at time of sale)      92.7%            94.57%                94.1% Here are some statistics by price range:                                 0-299,000  ... 08/23/2009

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.                                                                     We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                         http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT                                Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-6911   ... 08/09/2009

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.                                                                     We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                         http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT                                Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-6911  ... 08/09/2009

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.                                                                     We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                         http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT                                Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-6911   ... 08/06/2009

Buddy, our 5 year old adopted beagle was so contented on the ferry.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.                                                                     We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                         http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT   ... 07/19/2009

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.                                                                     We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                         http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT                                Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-6... 07/19/2009

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.                                                                     We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                         http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT                                Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-69... 07/15/2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright photo by Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without the written permission of Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett, The Buyer's Choice, Lincoln, RI.  Permission granted with a link back to my website and/or blog providing site is appropriate for all ages.  Thank you.                                                                     We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"                                                         http://www.thebuyerschoice.com                                                                                                        KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT                                Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-691... 07/15/2009

The downward pressure on the sales prices of Cape Condos continues as the challenges of getting financing continue. The very same condo that I mentioned in May had a new buyer and a new lender and fell apart again at the last minute. This time it was about the buyer's income. Needless to say, the bank (in this case Citizens Bank) had preapproved the buyer, received all the information requested in a timely manner, and gave no indication of a problem until the day of the final commitment when they issued a "declination letter." Another condo in a very well managed, well funded complex that has never had a special assessment, is under agreement with a strong buyer. The buyer is putting 20% down. Yesterday, the date of the final commitment, the lender (Provident) could not meet the origina... 07/14/2009