Can Your Kitchen Pass the Food Safety Test?  Spring 2010

It's that time of the year again when we think of spring cleaning the Berkshires and getting our home ready for the season to come.  Here in the Berkshires this time of year is known as the mud season and everything around us is an earthy brown.  Then the brown blooms into a [...]

Housing prices are, as economists say, "sticky downward." While stock prices can plunge dramatically in a single day,

housing prices sometimes take years before they fall enough to restore the balance between supply and demand.

Don't blame buyers for this. They always adjust quite readily to the new reality of lower housing prices. [...]

I recently spent a sunny afternoon looking back over 23 years of statistics for the Berkshire Housing Market.  I was seeking some indication of what is in store for the Northern Berkshire Housing Market in 2010.  However, as Yogi Bera once said "predictions are difficult to make, especially about the [...]

The new year promises some changes to the Berkshire real estate market, as well as the market as a whole. So what road will the real estate market take in 2010?

Here are some of our 2010 Berkshire real estate predictions:

1. There will be a greater diversity of buyer types.  This ranges from seniors with little or no interest in high
[...]

Real Estate Home Appreciation - Last 12 Months

Last Updated: 10/5/2009

The median home price, the point at which half of all homes are sold for more and half are sold for less, dropped in all regions but the West, as well. The price increased to $220,500 in the West, up from $217,900 in July, but it is still down 12.2 percent from last [...]

We have been receiving so many questions, I thought it might be a good time to weigh in on the First-Time Homebuyer issues, including the IRS tax credit and financing [...]

by Rana Cash with additional comments by Paul Harsch

Decreased home values makes it a difficult time to sell. It's a buyer's market, with home prices extraordinarily low. But sellers are not at a complete loss. Despite challenging times in real estate, homeowners can make some wise decisions along the way that will improve their chances of [...]

No matter your interests or the time of year, it's just better here in the eclectic Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. From Boston or New York, Newark or Norfolk, those with a taste for the arts, for antiques, for the country life without isolation head here ...... and then tend to stay... three nights instead of two, a month instead of a [...]

From REAL Trends, Inc.

You're ready to sell your home.  You've discussed it with the family, have a good idea of what it's worth, and you're ready to make the big move and call a Realtor.

How do you choose a seller's agent?  Are they all the same?  Do they know the same things? Consider these things before you sign your rights away and either waste a lot of time, [...]

It's now possible to visit homes for sale in the Berkshires and neighboring NY and VT any time of day or night, any time of the week or year with the latest innovation in marketing exclusively available from Harsch Associates, a leader in innovative marketing strategies for sellers since [...]

Silly as it may sound, lots of real estate agents -- even in a buyer's market where little is selling -- take overpriced listings. It happens every day. These agents who continually write ridiculously priced listings gain questionable reputations among their [...]

Safety & You

Everyone wants to live in a safe and worry free environment with their families, spouse, and children. However, most people are closer to a disaster waiting to happen than they think. Safety may not be an issue that comes to mind as you go about your daily routine. You may feel safe. Yet, lurking in your home are dangers that [...]

Credit crunch?  Can't borrow?  For those who are overleveraged or have bad credit then it possibly is true.  However, for the great majority of Berkshire and Bennington County buyers, credit is readily available particularly at small and midsize local and regional banks where mortgage lending continues to be a mainstay of their business [...]