Article 1 (Can Flowers Really Make a Difference?) Article 2 (Myths About Bi-weekly Mortgage Payments) Article 3 (Q&A with Michael Merrill)

Can Flowers Really Make a Difference? By Sara Rosenfeld, Sr. Vice President, Brookline Office of Hunneman-Coldwell Banker Whether you are a homeowner or a tenant, we all appreciate beautiful surroundings. Some parts of our lovely MetroBoston area have been looking much better lately thanks to many people who work countless hours on their gardens, window boxes, flower barrels, or a flower pot by just planting flowers and "cleaning up their home". Can these efforts make a difference in the property values in your neighborhood? Can a little bit of extra color and sprucing-up add to the desirability of your home? Gardening has been a favorite hobby or pastime for many people and is also considered a good form of exercise for others! Adding some flowers to your environment gives many a very good feeling. If you are considering selling your home, a good realtor will always suggest for the homeowners to add flowers, both inside and outside of the home. This added feature could even make your property more desirable than the competing properties on the market, resulting in not only the sale, but also the sale at a better price. My 17 years of working as a real estate professional has been limited to the communities in and immediately surrounding Boston. If you are a City property owner, whether it is your primary residence or rental property, one of the most inexpensive ways to increase the "value" of your home is to work on your landscaping and "cleaning-up" the exterior of the property. Keeping the exterior of a city home clear of any trash or debris takes work. I believe in the responsibility of not just the homeowner, but also the tenants that are occupying the property to help in keeping the property clean. The results are that everyone benefits! As a landlord, I encourage my tenants to plant gardens and I, as the property owner, participate in the cost (remember the cost is tax deductible). The results are wonderful since the tenants love having a beautiful environment and take on the responsibility of maintaining the garden. As the property owner, I benefit from having a better-looking house resulting in an increased value for my home. What happens if you don't have a yard to landscape? I am sure you have seen how many of our larger buildings around town are boasting their addition of flowers to the exterior. Large planters are starting to adorn from stair entries. Hanging baskets of flowers are dangling from the tops of porches. Window boxes full of flower arrangements are springing up all over the place. It is not too late for you to join in on the fun! Check out the garden centers in many of our Home Improvement Stores and Department Stores in the area and you will discover a large selection of the items you can use to beautify by gardening. My favorite ones to suggest to occupants of apartment buildings or condos are the new line of white wire window box holders and flower pot holders that can be easily installed and removed. If you have a window, you too can have a garden! Condominium associations have decided to invest some of their common funds in additional landscaping. If you live in a condo that has not joined in this trend, I strongly suggest that you bring it up with your fellow condo owners. Many condo buyers working with the agents in our office are making comments about the buildings that have added extra landscaping. Don't forget to add a little color to the community too! My thanks to the growing number of business owners who have added flower boxes to their windows, barrels of flowers to the sidewalk outside of their stores, or planted around the based of a city or town owned tree in front of their business. They have all helped to make our surroundings that much nicer! My special thanks to the agents in my office who have joined David Friedberg, my co-manager and me in helping to clean-up Route 9 in Chestnut Hill for our 5th consecutive year of participation in the Adopt-A-Highway Program. And, thanks to J.C. Nachtwey and Susan MacDonald for their extra effort in hanging and planting a flower box on our Adopt-A-Highway sign!

Myths About Bi-weekly Mortgage Payments By Jay McHugh of RE/Max Affiliates It's amazing how many people think "bi-weekly" mortgage payments save you money through some mystic hocus-pocus. That's because in many borrowers' minds, "bi-weekly" translates as "half a regular mortgage payment, twice a month." If such a technique could cut years off the term of your fixed mortgage, (or reduce the total interest paid on an adjustable rate loan) it would be magic indeed. But that's not what's happening. Yes, you might make a half-payment on the 1st and 15th of a month. But bi-weekly means "every two weeks", and you'd owe another half payment on the 29th. The next month you would indeed pay only twice, but sooner or later, another three-payment month will show up. If you pay every two weeks, that means 26 half-payments a year, the equivalent of 13 full payments. And it's that extra payment, applied entirely to principal once a year, that works the magic. Your bank's computers are not set up to handle half-payments, and if you tried sending them in, you'd soon be embroiled in a confusing late-payment hassle. If you do want to achieve the same results, cutting approximately nine years off a 30-year loan, you can try one of three systems: If your lender offers it, enroll in its own bi-weekly payment plan. A few mortgage companies make the option directly available to their borrowers. Join a plan offered by an outside company that will take half-payments automatically out of your bank or checking account every two weeks, forward regular payments on your behalf to your lender, and once a year send in the 13th payment that has accumulated. They'll instruct the lender to apply the extra money entirely to reducing your principal and therefore your remaining term more quickly than originally scheduled. Some service companies charge around $350 for enrollment in the plan, then levy a small monthly handling charge. They also make their money on the "float" while they are holding your money. And third, if you have the discipline, you can accomplish the same thing yourself, by simply accumulating one full payment during the year, and sending it in with a separate check, clearly marked "to be applied entirely to principal." And you'll have the $350 enrollment fee you saved, to get you started. And it won't make much difference when in the year you make that extra payment. No mystical hocus-pocus involved.

Q&A with Michael Merrill of Merrill & McGeary, a real estate attorney. Q: I am selling my condominium unit and I am purchasing a house. As you are aware in today's real estate market, one must act quickly in order to purchase a new house. Most reasonably priced houses do not stay on the market for long. Often there is a bidding war between qualified buyers. I am concerned because my condominium unit is under an offer to purchase but the purchase and sale agreement has not been signed. I do not want to commit to a new house before my unit is actually under agreement. Also, what if my buyers fail to obtain financing, then I will not be able to obtain financing. What should I do? K.R. Brookline, MA A: My advice is not to make an offer on a house until your unit is under agreement for sale and your buyers have a mortgage prequalification letter. While there is some element of risk in this situation you will have to minimize it to the greatest extent possible. If you do sign a purchase and sale agreement on a house and your buyers fail to obtain financing, you will have to work out the situation with your sellers, including extending the closing, obtaining bridge financing , or canceling the purchase pursuant to the mortgage financing clause. While I understand your desire to move quickly in this hot real estate market to tie up a property, it is not worth the risk until you know you have almost a sure thing. You may miss a couple of houses you like, but I assure you there are others which will be available each week. Michael W. Merrill Q: I am a Trustee in a large residential condominium. Recently, the Trustees received a number of complaints regarding noise, vandalism and rubbish in the common areas, and violations of the Condominium's rules. Upon investigation by the property manager it was discovered that most of the complaints involved two sets of college age tenants in units who were celebrating the arrival of spring. While I have no objection to celebrating the arrival of spring I do object to the method of celebration-for example loud late night parties, a constant flow of different guests into and out of the unit, beer bottles in the front landscaped area. What can the Trustees do to stop this conduct and return our building to normalcy? T.L. Boston, MA A: The Master Deed, Declaration of Trust and Rules and Regulations of your Condominium as well as the Massachusetts Condominium Statute (Chapter 183A) provide the Trustees with a number of effective methods to deal with carousing tenants. My recommendation is to move quickly and forcefully to impress upon the tenants and their respective unit owners that the condominium documents and rules and regulations prohibit conduct which disturbs the peaceful enjoyment of the units by the other residents. Your condominium may also have specific rules regarding excessive noise levels, destruction of common property and the like. My advice is to have the property manager initially call and write both unit owners and the tenants in the units informing them of the violations of the condominium documents and request the conduct cease. At the same time tell the complaining unit owners to call the police when and if there are future disturbances. This will make a record of the incidents. If after written notice the violations continue, then the Trustees should impose fines on the unit owners for each violation of the rules. The fines, if unpaid, become a lien of the unit. If the Trustees are required to further enforce the rules or to collect unpaid fines all of the costs of collection including the Trust's reasonable attorneys fees are chargeable to the unit owners. If these remedies are not successful you should contact the Condominium's attorney and inquire about amending the condominium documents to add further restrictions regarding rentals. Michael W. Merrill