• Birth Order: What it Might Mean About Where You Will Choose to Live

    July 16, 2019

    - By Shelby O'Hare

    There’s an ad for diapers that does a great job demonstrating how birth order has the potential to shape members of the same family. In the ad, a little girl asks if she can hold her aunt’s first baby. The aunt hands the girl a jumbo bottle of hand sanitizer.…
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  • On The Hill – Legislative Priorities

    July 16, 2019

    - By The MAR Legal Team

    At the 34th Annual Margaret C. Carlson REALTOR® Day on Beacon Hill this past June, REALTORS® met with their state legislators to discuss MAR’s 2019-2020 legislative priorities. It is important for you to know what MAR supports and opposes so you’re able to discuss it with your clients, neighbors, and…
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  • Notes from the MAR Legal Hotline

    July 16, 2019

    - By The MAR Legal Team

    Q: Is sharing a lockbox code with a buyer client illegal? A: No, it is not illegal for a REALTOR® to share a lockbox code with a buyer without the express permission of the seller, but it is likely a violation of the REALTORS® Code of Ethics. Article 3 of the…
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  • Short-Term Rental Update

    July 2, 2019

    - By The MAR Legal Team

    The latest information on the new short-term rental law and recently released regulations. On June 28, the Department of Revenue (DOR) released draft regulations on the new short-term rentals law.  The regulations help clarify aspects of the law and respond to some of the concerns MAR raised through our advocacy.  We will…
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  • Down Payment Assistance? MassHousing Has It!

    May 28, 2019

    - By MassHousing

    In a higher-cost state like Massachusetts, coming up with a down payment is one of the biggest hurdles for first-time homebuyers. Until recently, down payment assistance programs were few and far between. But today, MassHousing – known to many as the state’s affordable housing bank – offers down payment assistance…
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  • From the Editor: Small Plates

    May 1, 2019

    - By Eric Berman

    One thing I remember from Spanish class back in high school had nothing to do with learning to speak Spanish. It had to do with tapas. It wasn’t something I’d ever heard of before. Specifically, what I remember wasn’t the type of food tapas was as much as how it…
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  • Trending Topics: Buyer’s Remorse and its Impact on Millennial Homeowners

    May 1, 2019

    - By Shelby O'Hare

    Imagine this scenario, your millennial client has come to you after saving up enough money after years of living in their parents’ house. You help them find a home and they make an accepted offer. The time comes when they move in and everything seems perfect. A few months later,…
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  • From the President: The People

    May 1, 2019

    - By Anne Meczywor

    From what I’ve seen, the 25,000 REALTORS® in Massachusetts have so much in common, yet they are so significantly diverse. In my role as president, I’ve spent a lot of time traveling from one end of the Turnpike to the other and everywhere in-between. During this time, I get to…
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  • 5QW: George Demopulos: Working with Appraisers

    May 1, 2019

    - By George Demopulos

    Q1: Does an appraiser have a typical day? A: An appraiser’s workday is anything but typical. On any given day, an appraiser will be inspecting properties, conducting field research at town halls, taking comparable sale pictures, and then returning to their office to prepare and complete the written report. An…
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  • Five Tips for Staging the Outdoor Living Room

    May 1, 2019

    - By Kris Kiser

    1. Spruce Up the Landscaping Do some basic landscaping “clean up” to create a neat space. Things like fixing bare patches in the grass, keeping the grass cut to a healthy height (between 2-3 inches for most varieties), using a leaf blower to clean out flower beds, pruning bushes and…
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