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Metrowest Massachusetts

Hail Damage to Roofs|Insurance Claims From Hail

by Bill Gassett on September 21, 2010 · 7 comments

Massachusetts Hail Damaged Roofs

If you live in the Metrowest area of Massachusetts there is the strong possibility that the roof on your home may have been damaged by the hail storm that took place in May of 2009.

You may be thinking to yourself that you remember the hail storm but looked up at your roof and did not notice any damage. The fact of the matter is you can’t see hail storm damage from the ground. The truth is many home inspectors do not even know what to look for because they receive no formal training on hail damaged roofs.

A homes roof must be physically inspected by a person who has training and experience to determine if there is actual hail damage. Insurance companies send their adjusters to special training so they can properly identify hail damage to a home.

With hail damage you will see some of the tiny granules of a roof missing. Over time the roof damage will get progressively worse and shorten it’s lifespan. Eventually your roof will end up leaking.

Even if your roof has minimal damage you have a valid insurance claim and should file with your insurance company. The damage caused by a hail storm might not cause your roof to leak for years. This makes it critical to have someone who is qualified inspect your roof.

As a Realtor, I have seen hail damage become a tremendous advantage to someone who is thinking of selling their home in the near future or even a few years down the road. You may be wondering how roof damage could possibly be advantageous? The answer is simple….a new roof has one of the lowest returns on investment in a home. The is no question that replacing a roof is expensive! For a decent size home of around 3000 square feet you could easily be looking at $10,000 – $15,000 for replacement.

When you go to put your home on the market you can forget about tacking on that money to your asking price. Buyer’s are not going to pay for your new roof. Are you beginning to see the picture why the hail storm was a boon to home owners? In the last year I have been able to save a few of my clients a boat load of money because of my knowledge about the hail storm and insurance claims.

I had a couple home owners in Hopkinton Massachusetts that were selling their home and it was clear to me that their roofs were nearing the end of their lifespan. They had not gone through a home inspection yet but there was a strong possibility the home inspector would fail the roof. It would not be unreasonable for a buyer to ask for a replacement which would have cost the seller thousands of dollars! Instead I had the seller file a claim for hail damage and they got a free roof less their deductible. You can bet the seller and the new owner were both thrilled.

Making a Hail Storm Damage Roof Insurance Claim

In the streets leading up to the neighborhood where I live there were at least fifteen homes that had roofing contractor signs in the front yard. This has been big business for the roofing contractors in the area. In fact the damage was so wide spread there were even contractors from out of state getting into the fray. Out of state roofing companies are often known as “storm chasers”. It is not uncommon for home owners in areas where damage has occurred to be offered a “free” roof. You may find that roofing companies call you or stuff your mailbox with their fliers looking for business.

So what do you do if you think you may have hail damage to your roof and want to file an insurance claim? You should 1st check your home insurance policy and make sure you are covered. As long as you are, put in a call to your insurance agent. They will get a claim started on your behalf and ask an insurance adjuster to visit your home and look at the roof.

At the same time you will also be wanting to get in touch with a local roofing contractor to give you an estimate on replacement. You should actually have the roofing contractor/contractors visit 1st to verify you do in fact have hail damage.

Often times the insurance adjuster is going to want to get together with the roofing contractor to make sure they are on the same page. The roofing contractor you are hiring should have no problem meeting the adjuster with you. The adjuster will take pictures of any damage and then explain what the next steps will be. Some adjusters may give you a settlement quote right on the spot while others may take up to a few weeks. The adjuster and roofing contractor are more than likely going to compare notes to see if the total roof measurements are about the same.

If the insurance adjuster happens to think there wasn’t any significant damage you will need to have your contractor debate it with them. If you are not able to have your roofing contractor at the home when the adjuster can be there most insurance companies will agree to have the adjuster come back at a later date.

It is as simple as that! You should also keep in mind that many insurance policies have some kind of deductible that you will need to pay. In my experience quite a few of the local roofing contractors will absorb that fee in order to get your business. As with any other business it would be prudent to get references and make sure the roofing contractor is licensed and insured.

If you don’t ever remember any hail storms but have been approached by a roofing contractor for a new roof don’t fool yourself into thinking you are going to get one if there is no damage.

The other thing you need to keep in mind is that your insurance premium is going to rise when you put in a claim. When there are numerous insurance claims being put in by other home owners in your area, your rate is more than likely going to go up anyways.

Selling a Home in a Buyer’s Market

by Bill Gassett on September 16, 2010 · 19 comments

Selling a Massachusetts home in a buyer’s market

The title of the article really should read buying and selling a home simultaneously in a buyer’s market.

In my daily life as a Massachusetts Realtor I come across lots of folks who do not sell their home even though they want to. The thought process is that they have bought sometime over the last five years or so and know if they put their home on the market they will be taking a loss.

In the Metrowest Massachusetts area the peak of the Real Estate market was in the Spring of 2005 so if you purchased a home after that there is no question you will be taking a loss on that home if you sell today (September of 2010). In this area of Massachusetts depending on the town and the type of home, the peak in values could be down anywhere from 20%-30%.

When people think about the concept of selling their home many can not get past the fact that they will take a loss on their current home. They fail to see the bigger Real Estate picture. If you are going to stay local, selling your home in a buyer’s market is not an issue because you are going to be purchasing a home under the same market conditions!

Here is a simple Real Estate concept that many consumers do not grasp. You bought your home for $500,000 and using a figure of 20% it has dropped in value to $400,000. You have lost $100,000 on paper! This is where the thought process ends for many. People get so caught up thinking about their loss that they forget when you are moving up in the market what used to be an $700,000 home is now worth $560,000 using the same 20% drop in value.

If values had remained flat and there wasn’t a Real Estate correction you would be going from a home valued at $500,000 up to a home worth $700,000. A difference of $200,000. In the present buyers market scenario the difference is $400,000 to $560,000 or a spread of $160,000. If you are moving up you saved yourself $40,000.

What if you are moving down in the market? Lets turn the above example around. You owned an $700,000 home that is now worth $560,000. It is too large for your needs and has become expensive to heat, maintain and pay taxes on. You desire something more manageable and affordable.

Well guess what the home that you planned on buying five years ago for $700,000 is now only going to cost you $560,000. So what has happened is you have lost $40,000 in buying power. A 20% loss on 700k = $140,000. A 20% loss on $500,000 = $100,000. $140,000 – $100,000 = $40,000

So moving down isn’t ideal as moving up but a loss of $40,000 is certainly much different than taking a paper loss of $160,000 especially if it is going to make your payments and cost to maintain the home much more reasonable.

The biggest differentiating factor in looking at whether or not it makes sense to move often times boils down to what you are trying to accomplish. Is it a lifestyle change, looking to get into better schools for the kids, having a shorter commuting time, etc.

One of the biggest factors that should never be overlooked in your decision making process is the present cost of money compared to what you are paying right now. In other words what does the current interest rate environment look like. If you can get an even better interest rate than you currently have on your present home it could be the perfect time to find a new home.

Once you have made up your mind to sell your Massachusetts home there are three things that can ensure you will be successful:

Price your home properly.
Pick a top producing Realtor to work with.
Make your home presentable and easy to show.

If you do these three things you can be successful in a buyer’s or seller’s market. There are plenty of Massachusetts homes still selling! The common denominator in most Real Estate sales are these three items.

Rhino Shield An Exterior Painting Alternative

by Bill Gassett on September 8, 2010 · 6 comments

Rhino Shield A Painting Alternative

Rhino Shield is something you may be reading about more and more in the near future. It is just starting to become popular as an alternative to painting a home.

If you live in Massachusetts or any of the other the New England states you already know that our varied seasons can do a number on a homes exterior appearance. It is not uncommon to have to paint a home every three to six years or so depending on the quality of the paint used, the number of coats applied and the skill level of the painter.

The Rhino Shield system offers an alternative to a traditional paint job. From the company’s website the description of Rhino Shield is as follows “Rhino-Shield Ceramic Coating is a durable, flexible maintenance free wall coating. It is a high build acrylic-urethane-elastomeric formula that waterproofs, insulates, and soundproofs.

Innovative technology combines elastic acrylic resins with urethane resins resulting in a flexible but tough surface. This thick rubber-like membrane actually becomes part of the substrate due to excellent adhesion and bonding. Rhino-Shield Ceramic Coating offers superior mildew resistance, corrosion resistance, and ultra-violet ray reflectivity. This insulating, industrial, maintenance-free coating is long lasting.”

More than likely a home owner would consider using this product when they know that they are going to be in the home for an extended period of time. The cost of a Rhino Shield coating is much more expensive than a typical paint job. A ball park estimate on cost would be similar to what it would be to install vinyl siding.

So the hitch is that you would need to be in the home a while before you would see a return on your investment. Over time however you could see a return on your investment by never having to paint your home again. At least according to what the company expresses through their advertising. Rhino Shield offers a 25 year warranty on their product and claims that it will last a lot longer than that.

According to their website the product can be used on any exterior house surface, including wood, stucco, siding, brick, cement block and concrete. Rhino Shield is waterproof because it incorporates variable sizes of ceramic micro spheres as fillers. This also makes this paint perfect insulation to reduce energy cost.

From everything I have been reading on this product the preparation work prior to application is of the utmost importance. It is critical that before the Rhino Shield product is applied a thorough power washing is done followed by a repair of any necessary areas. All existing paint should be sanded, scraped and then caulked.

Once these steps are taken the wood is primed using Rhino-Shield Adhesive Primer Sealer. They then finish with the top coat, a Rhino-Shield Ceramic Coating, to all the wood surfaces. The unique properties of Rhino-Shield allow wood to breathe while preventing moisture from permeating. This gives the wood superior protection over typical paint which either suffocates and rots the wood or peels and flakes and allows moisture to damage the wood.

Rhino Shield Ceramic Coating provides superior mildew resistance, corrosion resistance and ultra-violet ray protection. The Rhino Shield product would certainly qualify for the every popular “green movement” as well. Their ceramic top-coat product is a low-e thermal barrier that may reduce you energy consumption, and because of the mil thickness, Rhino-Shield can be used to encapsulate lead paint. Lastly, any product that extends the life cycle by fifty percent or more beyond the industry average is considered green!

One of the things that immediately comes to mind about this type of product is those consumers who are “traditionalists” yet hate the fact that clapboard siding and the painting involved is a constant maintenance issue.

There are many including myself who love the look of a clapboard sided home. For many a vinyl sided home does not have the same appeal but they opt for it anyways because they have grown tired of spending the necessary money keeping their home looking good.

In the Massachusetts area anyway, it is fairly uncommon to see million dollars homes with vinyl siding. Using Rhino Shield could end up being a best of both words scenario where you can keep the traditional look of wood but also end up with a low maintenance home at the same time!

As with any product I would highly recommend you do your research. Rhino Shield may or may not be right for you. My recommendation would be to speak to a few people who have used the application and get their perspective. Better to hear it from the horses mouth than a biased company rep telling you how wonderful the product is.

To get an estimate from a Rhino Shield representative for your home you can call 1- 888-90-RHINO or check out the Rhino Shield of New England Blog. Also for a better understanding of Rhino Shield you can watch the video below.

If you end up deciding that painting is something you would rather do, I would highly recommend you check out Duration Paint by Sherwin Williams. I had my home painted with this product three years ago and it still looks outstanding. Duration paint is much more expensive than traditional paints but will last far longer. It is considered a superior painting product!

Massachusetts Title 5 Bedroom Count Deed Restriction

by Bill Gassett on August 24, 2010 · 2 comments

In Massachusetts the law governing septic system installation and maintenance is known as Title V. Whenever a home owner is going to be selling their home they will need to get what is called a Title V inspection done.

In order to close on a property in Massachusetts you will need to have a passing title V.

If a Title V test reveals that the septic system has failed a seller has two options in order to get to the closing table. They can either replace the system prior to closing or they can put an appropriate amount of money in escrow guaranteeing the system will be fixed. A third option could be to get the buyer to pay for the septic system although this is less likely to occur unless the buyer is desperate for the property.

Most lenders will accept funds to be held in escrow, however they are going to generally ask for 1.5 times the cost of the estimated amount to install a new system. For example if a septic installer gives a quote of $20,ooo for the installation of a new system, the lender is going to ask for $30,000 to be held in escrow.

One of the things a Title V inspection will reveal is what is known as the septic systems “capacity”. A septic system is “rated” according to it’s bedroom count. For example if a septic system has the capacity for four bedrooms it will say as much in the report.

One of the subjects I have written about in the past is bedroom count misrepresentation with septic systems. The are many Realtors that don’t even know this law exists and have put homes on the market stating there are more bedrooms than the septic system capacity allows for.

In other words if the septic system is only rated for three bedrooms you can not market your home as a four bedroom regardless if you have a room that qualifies as one. This is an easy way to get sued. Don’t make this mistake as it could be a costly one!

By the way, the qualifications of a bedroom must be a room providing privacy primarily used for sleeping purposes, have at least one electrical outlet, ventilation, at least one window, and have minimum dimensional criteria. There are also some towns where you need to have a closet as well although some also will accept space to house clothing such as a bureau.

One of the things that I made mention of in the article about septic system misrepresentation is how a home owner could potentially add an addition to their home that could be construed as a bedroom. It could meet all the criteria of a bedroom but not necessarily be used as such.

Using a bedroom count deed restriction

One of the things I have seen become more common place over the last couple of years is towns forcing home owners to put deed restrictions on their properties. This can happen because of the bedroom issue as well as another little know Title V rule.

When calculating bedroom count one of the rules of calculation is to take the number of rooms in the home and divide that by two.

For example, a proposed “game room” addition to a nine room, 4-bedroom house will create the tenth room of a house. Per Title 5, the number of bedrooms is calculated as: 10 rooms divide by 2 equals 5-bedrooms.

A deed restriction can be used so that a building permit may be issued for homes that exceed the approved septic design flow based on the total room count. The intention of the deed restriction is to resolve the possible conflicting Title 5 definition of a bedroom to the actual bedroom count.

This deed restriction is not intended for construction that will actually increase the bedroom count beyond the approved design. If sometime in the future the septic system is upgraded to meet additional bedroom flow capacity, or the house becomes connected to public sewer, the owner may request the Board of Health for a release of the deed restriction. This release also gets recorded at the Registry of Deeds.

A deed restriction is also not something that has to be done although the alternative to a deed restriction would be to seek approval from the Board of Health to upgrade the septic system in order to meet the proposed design capacity.

What I have found interesting about these Title V bedroom count deed restrictions is that some towns are fairly rigid with them and others are not. I know in my home town of Hopkinton MA the board of health regularly puts deed restrictions on properties using the room count divided by two formula.

Related Real Estate home selling articles:

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About the author: The above Real Estate information on Massachusetts Title 5 bedroom count deed restriction was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-435-5356. Bill has helped people move in and out of many Metrowest towns for the last 24+ Years.

Thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!

Tagged as: Deed restriction bedroom count, Massachusetts Title 5, Massachusetts Title 5 bedroom count deed restrictions, Massachusetts title v, Title V room count, What is the definition of a bedroom

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Divorce and Selling a Home

August 9, 2010

One of the realities of being a Massachusetts Realtor is that I often encounter folks that are going to need to sell their home due to a divorce. The divorce rate today is higher that it has ever been. It is just a fact that people do not stay together for better or worse like [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

Massachusetts Moving and Storage With PODS

July 27, 2010

If you are pretty observant like I am you may have noticed a white container in a local yard that had in big bold lettering the word PODS and wondered what it was. PODS is short for portable on demand storage. More than likely a home owner who has one of these units is either [...]

9 comments Read the full article →

Buying a Massachusetts Foreclosure Property

July 20, 2010

Are you considering buying a Massachusetts foreclosure property? Investors that have a long term perspective of the Real Estate market understand that purchasing a bank foreclosure can be an excellent financial proposition. In the Metrowest Massachusetts area there are plenty of them around and they can typically be bought at a discount to the present [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

Picking The Wrong Massachusetts Realtor Can Get Ugly!

June 18, 2010

As a Realtor, knowing how to market your services as well as a clients property online can be very powerful. In the Real Estate field it can certainly be the difference maker in whether or not a client chooses to hire you or NOT! It is not that hard to figure out that Realtors are [...]

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Home Improvements With The Worst Return On Investment

June 14, 2010

One thing I have learned over the years while working as a Massachusetts Realtor is that many folks do not realize the correlation between making improvements to their home and what the corresponding return on investment will end up being. So many people blindly assume that every improvement they make to their home will bring [...]

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Massachusetts Home Buyer Turn Offs

June 10, 2010

Getting a Massachusetts home sold today is a lot more difficult than it used to be. The fact of the matter is that there are far fewer buyers that can qualify to buy a home today. We all know that lending practices have tightened and rightfully so. There are also millions of people that have [...]

9 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Metrowest Massachusetts

Hail Damage to Roofs|Insurance Claims From Hail

Selling a Home in a Buyer’s Market

Rhino Shield An Exterior Painting Alternative

Massachusetts Title 5 Bedroom Count Deed Restriction

Divorce and Selling a Home

Massachusetts Moving and Storage With PODS

Buying a Massachusetts Foreclosure Property

Picking The Wrong Massachusetts Realtor Can Get Ugly!

Home Improvements With The Worst Return On Investment

Massachusetts Home Buyer Turn Offs

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