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Browsing Posts tagged Real Estate Market Trends

From left, Conway CEO Carol Bulman, Mansfield agent Ed Tartufo, Mansfield manager Joyce Gerraughty and Regional VP Denis Lilla enjoyed a talk on the economy of the area.

From left, Conway CEO Carol Bulman, Mansfield agent Ed Tartufo, Mansfield manager Joyce Gerraughty and Regional VP Denis Lilla enjoyed a talk on the economy of the area.

Jack Conway Mansfield Realtor Ed Tartufo recently spoke to a packed conference room of colleagues from Conway’s local offices about the promising economic future of towns in their region.

“Since 1990, Southeastern Massachusetts has grown at twice the rate of the state as a whole,” said Tartufo, leading a discussion at Conway’s Lakeville training center. “People are moving here because they can buy land and houses for less money, enjoy a suburban lifestyle and still commute to Boston. And when the South Coast Rail is extended, that will spur even more residential and industrial growth in our area.”

Tartufo cited a report published recently by the Boston Herald that named a “Top 10″ List of Massachusetts communities that are “poised for growth.” Local towns were on the list based on such factors as: “the size of recent developments, available real estate and infrastructure, and innovative pro-business initiatives that help draw companies, including biotech firms, to the town.”

In the last 10 years, Jack Conway, Realtor has expanded its market share in S.E. Mass with the addition of new sales centers along the I-495 corridor. Conway CEO Carol Bulman believes her company is in “the perfect place” to serve the real estate needs of home buyers and sellers in these communities now and in the future. “We have Conway Country offices in Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norton, Taunton, Lakeville, Sandwich, Wareham, Mattapoisett, Dartmouth and Padanaram,” said Bulman. “And we plan to extend our footprint even further in this rapidly developing area.”

During his presentation to his peers, Tartufo touted the benefits that draw new residents to their region. “Our communities are close to coastal areas and major recreational sites like the Comcast Center, the TPC (site of the PGA’s Deutsche Bank Championship), and Gillette Stadium,” he said. “They are good towns, with good school systems, lower unemployment rates, and an increasingly educated workforce. This area is going to be in great demand as it grows and attracts new business in the years ahead.”

Tartufo joined the staff of Jack Conway, Realtor in 2001 when his former firm, merged with the 40-office company. He is a longtime director and past vice-president of economic development of the Tri-Town Chamber of Commerce serving Norton, Mansfield and Foxboro.

Home Sales Are On The Rise!

The recent uptick in residential real estate sales reflects some of the predictions made by Jack Conway CEO Carol Bulman in a year-end speech to the Norfolk County Home Builders Association.

“We can feel a new customer confidence at our company,” she said. “Our January sales were up a surprising 25 percent over last year with February appearing to follow suit.”

Bulman said in her talk to the builder’s group at Benjamins in Taunton that, “As rough as the last few years have been for builders, I think we are about to see better days.”

The upturn at 34 Conway sales offices covers a large area of Eastern Massachusetts from Swampscott to Cape Cod. “The size of our sales area gives us a good vantage point to view the entire southeastern part of the state,” she said.

Builder Charles Magri of the Norfolk County Group agreed that homebuilders in his area have suffered from lack of sales dating back to 2006, which is almost six years ago.

Bulman cited an increase of customer confidence, historically low interest rates, lower priced homes and a new demand caused by higher rents as reasons for the upsurge.

“But one month does not make a boom-time,” she added. “We are watching our sales trends very closely and only hope that the good news continues.”

South Shore homes for sale are going fast! View our recently sold listings, or to learn more, contact a Jack Conway agent in your town today!

Local attorney David Spillane, second from left, shows Conway agents, from left, Vin Pivnicny, Kathy Marini and Danielle LeBlanc, some information on short sales.

South Shore Attorney David Spillane recently taught a course on foreclosures and short sales to a packed classroom of Jack Conway Realtors at the company’s Norwell headquarters. The 2-hour session, arranged by Conway Director of Agent Services Christopher Haraden, awarded two continuing education credits to the attendees toward their state-mandated requirements for license renewal.

“Attorney Spillane engaged us all with his dynamic speaking skills and knowledge of the subject,” said Chairman Jack Conway, who took the course along with his associates. “He explained the foreclosure and short sale processes from the expert standpoint of a lawyer who works with banks and homeowners on these transactions all the time. We were delighted to have him teach at our school.”

More than 300 Conway sales agents also earned continuing education credits for courses they took at the Conway Country Annual Convention held on Feb. 3 at the Quincy Marriott Hotel. The event kicked off with an instructional workshop by international real estate coach Matt Ferrara, who discussed social media and the new technologies, and was followed by other training sessions held throughout the day.

“Our company has always believed in the concept of lifelong learning,” said Haraden. “And we are more than happy to help our agents get the continuing education credits they need to meet the state requirements.”

For more information on a Conway career, visit www.jackconway.com, or call Christopher Haraden at 781-871-0080, ext. 335.

Jack Conway & Co. is celebrating its 54th anniversary with 34 sales offices from the North Shore to Boston, Cape Cod and the South Coast. The company also operates New England Mortgage Partners as a joint venture with Wells Fargo. To learn more about us and our South Shore homes for sale, contact a Jack Conway agent in your town today!

Many Renters may not realize that today’s low mortgage rates may mean that owning can be cheaper than renting!

Dreaming of Buying a HomeIf you are currently renting your home in the Boston area, consider looking into purchasing a home.  You may be surprised to find that your monthly mortgage payments will be less than your current rent.  Trulia’s Rent versus Buy index for the Summer of 2011 compares the costs of buying or renting a two bedroom apartment, condominium, or townhouse in the USA’s 50 largest cities.  Boston was categorized as “less expensive to rent, but may make more financial sense to buy.”  This is good news for renters and buyers.  Yes, rents are not bad in the Boston area, but the index implies that for many renters, buying now is the best option.

Also keep in mind the long-term differences between renting and buying.  Rent is paid to your landlord and that money is gone; Mortgage is paying back a loan to slowly buy back your home, so that value remains yours.  While it may even be possible for many renters to lower their monthly payments if they switcht to a mortgage, even a slightly higher monthly payment is probably worthwhile in the long run.  A house is one of the most reliable, stable investments that can be made.

Jack Conway Realty has begun a campaign to educate Boston renters about all of their options before they renew leases.  Many renters do not even consider the option of buying their next home.  For more information regarding today’s unique real estate market setting and your options relating to buying vs. selling, check out the Conway Renter’s Challenge or contact a Jack Conway Realtor today!

Jack Conway, Realtor recently sponsored and participated in Real Estate Bar Camp Boston 2011. The unique technology seminar drew hundreds of local real estate professionals to the Back Bay Events Center for day-long learning and networking. Several Conway agents and members of the management team joined the event.

“We were so excited to be a part of this, and proud to be a sponsor,” said Conway Regional Manager Peter Ruffini. “It was a chance to learn and hear from some really knowledgeable and innovative people in the industry.”

The concept for RE BarCamp came from a technology BarCamp event held in San Francisco. Wikipedia defines a barcamp as: an international network of user generated conferences — open, participatory workshop-events, whose content is provided by participants. Every session is not planned out in advance. Nobody is paid to deliver a session. Anybody can deliver a session and attendees are strongly encouraged to participate.

REbar camp boston 2011

Long thought of as a forward-thinking company, Conway has positioned itself as a leader in technology with a successfully redesigned wesbite that possesses cutting edge tools for agents and the brokerage. The REBar Camp Boston was a chance to learn more about social media and other ways for the company to engage with customers.

“We heard from some of the best and brightest local people in social media, SEO strategy and online customer service,” said Al Becker, Conway’s director of marketing. “It was important to be there, and be familiar with these strategies.”

Learn how Conway’s advanced technology and experienced real estate agents can help you – contact an agent today to help with all your real estate needs!



Jack Conway, Realtors recently announced its partnership with Trulia, Inc. to supply thousands of its residential listings to the “fastest-growing U.S. real estate website.” Entering into this marketing agreement will allow the millions of users of Trulia easy access to Conway’s premium real estate listings. Conway will leverage this partnership to help its offices maintain a dominant presence in their respective markets.

Now when consumers search for homes with matching criteria on Trulia, Conway listings appear as “Premium Listings.” Also, individual Conway sales professionals can elect to work with Trulia to participate in the Trulia Voices community. This gives Trulia users one-click access to the specific sales professionals who represent the properties that interest them most.

“We’re excited to announce our alliance with Trulia, one of the fastest-growing real estate search sites on the Internet,” said Conway CEO Carol BulmTrulia Real Estate Searchan. “Much like our re-launch of jackconway.com, this move to partner with Trulia shows our commitment to being at the forefront of real estate technology. Trulia attracts millions of unique visitors each month to its site and it’s a great place to showcase our listings.”

Trulia, Inc. is a residential real estate search engine and the fastest-growing U.S. real estate website. This website has revolutionized online home search by offering a rich, intuitive user experience that points consumers directly to listings on agent and broker websites. By partnering with of agents and companies in the real estate industry, Trulia helps more than 3.6 million unique visitors per month find information on homes for sale using custom search criteria. The site also provides market trends and neighborhood data at the hyper-local level, as well as Trulia Voices, a real estate Q&A community, which enables consumers and professionals to exchange information about their local markets.

This partnership exemplifies Conway’s commitment to customer service as well as maintaining and enhancing its presence in the real estate industry. To learn more information about other services Jack Conway, Realtors provides, contact an agent today!

Here at Conway Relocation we thought it only fitting since it’s President’s Day this month, to feature a town where Presidents have been born  -  namely Quincy, Massachusetts (pronounced kwinzi).   Quincy is a diverse community in Norfolk County, and is known as the “City of Presidents,” as it is the birthplace of John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams.  With an estimated population of 91,073 in 2009 it is considered Massachusetts’ eighth largest city.

Click Here to Browse Quincy condos and Quincy Homes Available for Sale Now!

Quincy, MA the City of Presidents

Quincy, MA the City of Presidents

HISTORY

Quincy is named for Colonel John Quincy, maternal grandfather of Abigail Adams, who was married to John Adams (the second President of the United States) and after whom John Quincy Adams (the sixth President of the United States) was also named.

NEIGHBORHOODS

The city is made up of 13 unique neighborhoods, from the waterfront of Marina Bay, which has some beautiful condos, to the Merrymount neighborhood which is considered the site of Quincy’s original settlement.  Each neighborhood shares its own characteristics and stories.

SCHOOLS

Quincy houses two public high schools, five public middle schools, 12 public elementary schools, several private institutions, The Eastern Nazarene College and Quincy College.  Visit http://profiles.doe.mass.edu for more school information.

Quincy MA Neighborhoods

Quincy Neighborhoods

COMMUTING

Commuting to Boston is a snap from Quincy as there are several options from which to choose.  You can travel by car via Route 93, otherwise known as the Expressway, take the subway service that’s available in any of the five stops in Quincy, use the commuter rail service to South Station, or the commuter boat which crosses Boston Harbor to Long Wharf and Logan Airport.  Depending upon your ride, 20-30 minutes should get you to downtown Boston.

REAL ESTATE MARKET

As for the real estate market, Quincy had 504 real estate transactions in 2010 consisting of single family, multi-family, and condos.  There were 235 single family homes sold averaging out at a sales price of $328,021, with 82 days on market.  Multifamily homes were significantly less with 61 selling in the past year with an average sales price of $414,645, with 99 days on market.  A total of 204 condos sold in 2010 with the average selling price being $270,912 with days on market totaling 118.  In all three categories the selling price was 4% less than the list price across the board.

FUN THINGS TO DO IN QUINCY

Read our blog on Places to Go & Things to Do in Quincy here!

The importance of setting written, measurable goals has never been more crucial than in the current real estate climate. Did you do as much business as you wanted in 2010? Do you have concrete steps to take to accomplish more in 2011?

Agents need a blueprint for achieving success, and at Jack Conway & Co., goal-setting is an integral part of career development. Office managers meet with agents at year’s-end to discuss specific goals. The management team and support staff then ensure that agents have an action plan to meet their objectives. Progress is monitored regularly throughout the year.

Careers with Jack Conway

Writing down goals not only gives you clarity and certainty – precious commodities in today’s marketplace – it almost guarantees your success. Numerous studies and personal-development experts say that only 3% of people write down their goals, and those 3% end up being more successful than the other 97% combined! At Conway, we’re putting that statistic to the test. Our founder and chairman, Jack Conway, issued a company-wide challenge to increase business by 25% next year. So no matter how the market fares in the coming months, Conway’s agents have the resources they need to increase their own business and achieve a level of success to make 2011 a Happy New Year.

Do you have goals for next year? Find out how being a part of Jack Conway & Co.’s sales team will help you increase your business and work smarter in 2011.

The Jack Conway Real Estate Company just released figures showing their sales put under agreement during November were up by an amazing 42-percent over the same month a year ago.

The sales included units sold in the 42-office Eastern Mass. chain, including sales in the Commercial and Foreclosure sales departments.

The figures were announced by CEO Carol Bulman and seemed to substantiate Chairman Jack Conway’s optimistic prediction that sales in 2011 will be up 25 percent over 2010.

Sales Executive Dick Cahill stated that, “Customers are responding to the market with a lot more confidence than in prior months.”

Rosemary O’Neil, head of Conway Home Mortgage added, “Programs and record low interest rates are really helping us to ring the bell.” O’Neil added that November home mortgage originations were almost double from the same period a year ago.

“All in all,” stated Chairman Jack Conway, “Those figures indicate that the hard crust on the market is beginning to crack. The next move will be more activity on the part of speculative builders.”

Jack Conway, Realtor, which began its business in a Hingham storefront in 1956, is now one of the largest independent real estate companies in Massachusetts. The firm has 42 sales offices specializing in South Shore homes for sale, 700 agents and its own lending arm, Conway Home Mortgage, a joint venture with Wells Fargo.