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It’s getting hot in Franklin, MA

Warren Reynolds — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:13:25 +0000

Franklin, Massachusetts is a hot town this May . . . and we’re not talking about the weather! The real estate market in this prime I495 community is sizzling. Franklin home prices are rising and it’s getting to the point that many properties for sale in town go under agreement almost as soon as showings begin.

Shortage of homes for sale

Demand has outpaced supply in Franklin, Mass since the year began. This trend has continued to such a degree in Franklin that housing inventory levels are stuck at extreme lows even at the peak of the spring home selling season.

There currently is only about a 3 month supply of homes for sale in Franklin, Massachusetts. That compares to over 7 months of supply this time last year and over 11 months’ worth of homes on the market back in May of both 2011 and 2009. You’d have to go back to the boom years of 2002 – 2004 to find such tight market conditions in town.

Strong seller’s market in Franklin

Today’s 3 month supply of homes in Franklin, MA puts this highly desirable community at the forefront of hot real estate towns along the I495 corridor.

While low inventory rules the Franklin real estate market, conditions are not as tight in the regional market surrounding Franklin and indeed for most of the Bay State as a whole. In both those broader markets, there’s about a 6 month supply of homes. Certainly there are other communities in the Greater Boston area where supplies are as low (or even lower) than they are Franklin, but you would be hard pressed to find a town in the I495 loop with a lower inventory of available homes than in Franklin, MA.

Why are homes in Franklin in such great demand?

Here’s why so many people want to live in Franklin, Massachusetts: Franklin offers attractive home prices with many young subdivisions of colonial homes, a prime location on I495 equidistant from Boston, Worcester and Providence, great childcare services, superb public schools, superior recreational resources (including a YMCA and other tennis and swimming clubs), a vibrant arts community, lot of fun fairs and community activities, and plentiful nearby shopping. In essence, Franklin is a wonderful place to live and raise a family!

Where can you have fun with the kids and stock up on great bargains too?

Warren Reynolds — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:24:08 +0000

Looking for some free family fun? And would scoring super bargains on books and movies help satisfy your family’s summer entertainment needs? Then head over to the Franklin DPW complex on Public Works Way, Franklin, MA on Saturday, May 18, 2013, starting at 9 AM for the DPW’s Touch a Truck Day and the Spring Book Sale hosted by the Friends of the Franklin Library!

Joint event of fun and bargains

The Franklin DPW will be hosting its annual Touch a Truck Day this Saturday.

At the same time and at the same facility, the Friends of the Franklin Library will present their Spring Book Sale.

Together, the two adjacent events enable the kids to have lots of fun while giving the whole family the opportunity to stock up on book and entertainment bargains!

Location of Franklin, MA DPW complex

To get to both the Touch a Truck Day and the Spring Book Sale, take Hayward Street to Public Works Way and proceed to the DPW complex.

There’s ample parking.

Family fun with trucks

While you are finding some super bargains on books this Saturday at the Spring Book Sale, the kids can head out back to the DPW vehicle area to get up close and personal with lots of trucks and construction equipment. Here’s a video of a previous Touch a Truck Day in Franklin, Mass:

This is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss . . . it’s loads of fun and it’s free!

Save $100s on books

Don’t spend a lot of money buying books online or at a retail book store. You’ll find thousands of great books dirt cheap at the Friends of the Franklin Library Spring Book Sale this Saturday!

Superb selection of books, DVDs and games

While items available at each Book Sale vary, you’ll find hardcover and paperback books, movies on DVDs and VHS tapes, music CDs, computer games, children’s puzzles and games and a lot more. Books include the classics, current fiction, self-help genre, gardening, etc. Prices range from 50 cents to $1 for most books. You never know what you’ll find at these sales so come early!

Buys on children’s books

My home is full of books, many of them bought for cents on the dollar at the Friends of the Franklin Library Book Sales. We’ve found the selection of children’s books to be fantastic. This has helped us encourage the love of reading in our children.

Here’s just a sample of past buys of children’s books at the previous Book Sales:

We paid $1 for each of these elaborate pop-up books that would likely have sold new for $10 to $15 apiece!

Best selection on Friday

If you want to get an early crack at the best selection, come to the members-only preview Friday, May 17 from 4 PM to 7 PM. You can become a member of the Friends by signing up at the door and then you can enter the Members-Only Preview Book Sale. An individual membership costs $15 while a family membership is only $25. Think of the money you’ll save at the Book Sale!

Help a good cause

You can’t beat the prices at the Book Sale! It’s win-win for everyone – you save a load of money on books and support a great cause. Proceeds from the Book Sale enable the Friends to help the Franklin Public Library make more purchases for its collections and hold special events for kids and adults throughout the year. The Friends help the Library maintain its Museum Pass program which is another great service provided by the Franklin Library. It’s nice to see books recycled in the community and wonderful to have the money go to help the Franklin Library. So attend the Book Sale and maybe become a member of the Friends of the Franklin Library, too!

Video tour of the Kennedy Elementary School in Franklin MA

Warren Reynolds — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:31:57 +0000

Interested in the Kennedy Elementary School in Franklin, MA? It’s a great school with good test performance rankings and an active Parent Communication Council (PCC). It’s all set in a modern, welcoming facility as the videos below show.

Pleasant classrooms

Here are some views of select classrooms at this respected Franklin, Mass school:

Computer lab

Kennedy students are fortunate to have a dedicated computer lab.

Modern library

The library at the Kennedy Elementary School in Franklin, Massachusetts provides a warm, comfortable place that encourages a love of reading.

Cafetorium

The Cafetorium is where students enjoy their lunch break and is the site for music productions, art shows, assemblies and other school functions throughout the year.

Gym

Here is a video of the gym at the Kennedy Elementary School in Franklin.

Music room

Below is a view of the Kennedy Elementary music room.

See homes for sale in the Kennedy school district

Follow the link or the image below to see homes currently for sale in Franklin in the Kennedy Elementary School district.

Why housing may stay on the rise

Warren Reynolds — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:34:58 +0000

Greater Boston home prices continued their rise in the current reading of Massachusetts home values recently released by Standard and Poors. The seasonally adjusted S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for Boston jumped 1.2% in February 2013, the most recent month for which price data is available for the Index.

Demographics support rising home prices?

Local home prices have been on a tear throughout 2013.

Prices are up over 5% from their recent lows back in November 2011 on the seasonally adjusted Boston Index.

And the recent run-up in area home values may be just a foretaste of things to come. We may all benefit from a pronounced long term market shift towards higher home values. That’s one of the exciting insights offered in an excellent article in Barron’s on the economic coming of age of the Millennial generation.

Housing next to benefit from demographic trends

As outlined in the Barron’s article, Millennials currently range in age from 18 to 37. As a demographic group they are 7% LARGER than the massive Baby Boom generation which had such a large impact on housing in the last quarter of the 20^th century.

The Barron’s article details the positive effects the huge Millennial demographic cohort will have in coming years on housing, the stock market and the US economy in general. “Housing could be the next major industry to benefit from their size and maturation” the article notes.

“We’re big believers in this housing recovery”

Regarding US housing, the Barron’s article makes several bullish projections:

♦ More young adults living in their parents’ homes will pack their bags and move out. That will spur an increase in U.S. household formation.

♦ Greater financial security could mean an increase in the birth rate. “A lot of Millennials put off having babies, and now they will get to work,” one demographer quoted in the article says.

♦ Most significantly, there will be more home buyers than sellers in the 12 years ending with 2019, giving the housing market a huge boost.

Don’t bet against demographics

Demographic trends are very powerful forces in the social and economic development of any society. In every decade of the latter half of the 20^th Century, the US experienced the profound influence of the Baby Boom generation (both for the good and the bad). Now we may stand poised to benefit in coming decades from the economic and social vitality about to be unleashed by the Millennial Generation as they come of economic age. There are many reasons for optimism about our futures!

40 Pine Street Franklin MA

Warren Reynolds — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:10:28 +0000

40 Pine Street in Franklin, MA is a sunny, updated ranch in pretty country road location in north Franklin across from neighborhood of quality homes.

Video gallery of this home

Here’s a set of videos that demonstrate how special this ranch home is:

40 Pine Street Franklin MA great layout for entertaining

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Title: 40 Pine Street Franklin MA exciting kitchen
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Title: 40 Pine Street Franklin MA attractive bathrooms
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Title: 40 Pine Street Franklin MA three bedrooms on main level
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Title: 40 Pine Street Franklin MA formal living room
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Title: 40 Pine Street Franklin MA exterior views
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Title: 40 Pine Street Franklin MA exercise room in lower level
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Title: 40 Pine Street Franklin MA sunny level rear yard
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Modern kitchen and baths

Bright, welcoming Corian kitchen with tile splashback, cooktop, wall oven, microwave and glass-front cabinets opens to large eat-in area and adjoins sunny sitting room with slider to private deck – great layout for barbeques, morning coffee and evening relaxation! 2 full baths have been recently updated.

Beautiful hardwood floors

Formal living room with wood stove, striking hardwood floor and pretty replacement picture window. All 3 bedrooms boast hardwood floors. Exercise rm/home office in walk-out lower level with full bath and workshop area offers plenty of storage. Sunny level rear yard with shed. Great spot for garden, pool! CENTRAL AIR, replacement windows, newer heat, town sewer. Convenience of attached garage.

Make your appointment to view this special home today!

Keller Elementary School Science Night

Warren Reynolds — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:55:38 +0000

A wonderful series of hands-on science nights are held each year at the Keller Elementary School in Franklin, MA. Sponsored by the Keller Parent Communication Council (PCC) and staffed by volunteer PCC members, the Science Nights show how hard the PCC works to augment the curriculum at Keller Elementary. The Keller PCC makes a real difference in the lives of Keller students!

Video of a Keller Science Night

Here are scenes from the grade K – 2 Science Night recently held at the Keller Elementary School in Franklin, MA:

Fun for the kids . . . and they learn something too!

Two Science Nights are held annually, one for grades K through 2 and the second for grades 3 through 5.

The science demonstrations are conducted at a series of stations.

Students move from station to station in groups. Each station gets 15 minutes to perform an experiment or conduct a demonstration of various scientific principles. The children have a lot of fun watching, learning and doing – no boredom here!

Learn more about Keller Elementary

You can follow the links below to learn more about the Keller Elementary School in Franklin, MA:

See homes for sale in the Keller school district.

Access a profile of the school and see Keller’s test performance rankings.

Watch a video on the music program at Keller Elementary.

See the annual Fun Fair at the Keller Elementary School in Franklin, MA.

165 Pleasant Street Franklin MA

Warren Reynolds — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:10:22 +0000

165 Pleasant Street is an attractive, affordable townhouse for sale in Franklin, MA with no condo fees! New roof, new hardwood floors, new kitchen cabinets and fresh paint are just some of the many upgrades and improvements that make this home a winner! Hardwood kitchen with eat-in area enjoys southern exposure for loads of natural light and opens. to beautiful hardwood living room with exciting gas fireplace. Half bath on first floor with pedestal sink. The lustrous hardwood continues on second floor in hallway and both bedrooms. Sparkling main bath with tub/shower enclosure. Pull-down stairs to attic create valuable extra storage space. Nicely finished lower level is a super exercise area, playroom or home office. You’ll love the cen air during the hot summer months! Wraparound composite deck leading to paver patio and wonderful stone fire pit for evening relaxation, weekend barbeques, and all around entertaining fun! Plenty of room for garden in roomy side yard. Vinyl siding, replacement windows, composite deck and town sewer make maintenance a breeze.

Franklin MA homes prices surge 16.8 percent

Warren Reynolds — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 23:01:22 +0000

The median sales price of single family homes in Franklin, MA rose sharply to $410,000 in the first quarter just ended. That’s an impressive 16.8% increase over 2012’s first quarter median price of $351,000 and an eye popping 26.4% ahead of where Franklin’s median price was this time two years ago.

Low supply fuels price rise

The supply of homes for sale in Franklin has been extremely curtailed throughout 2013; Here’s how the supply of homes for sale in Franklin, MA looked during February 2013 compared to prior years:

The chart also shows just how depleted home inventories were in the greater Franklin market as well across the Bay State last February.

The dearth of available homes in Franklin continued into March and was further reinforced by a notable strengthening of demand for local homes as the spring selling market kicked into gear. Newly-confident home buyers flooded the greater Franklin market, spurred by the growing regional economy, phenomenally low mortgage interest rates and the realization that the bottom of the market is well behind us.

From a seller’s point of view, it has become a virtuous cycle of low home inventory fueling price increases which engender more buying which in turn drives the supply of available homes even lower.

Past rebound phony

A look at the first quarter median sales prices statewide since 2009 shows that we went through a prior updraft in home prices back in 2010:

Home prices rose in 2010 due to the artificial stimulus supplied to the real estate market by the Federal home buyer tax credits. Once those programs ended in April 2010, MA home prices wilted.

The seasonally adjusted Case Shiller Home Price Index for Boston clearly shows how Greater Boston home prices began their retreat in 2010 almost as soon as the Federal tax credit programs ended:

Price rise real this time

This time the price rebound seems firmly based on the real footings of a strengthening MA economy and renewed consumer confidence. There is no Federal program inflating home values this time. Yes, interest rates are being kept low by the Federal Reserve. But rates have been low for years. It was not until the MA economy strongly improved in 2012 that the MA real estate market began to revive.

Looking forward, the higher home prices go, the more homeowners will have positive equity. This should bring more homes onto the market, easing the frustration felt by prospective home buyers today.

It is so encouraging to see the improving real estate market, coming as it does after so many years of difficult times. 2013 looks to be a superb time to sell a home! If you are thinking of selling your home, please contact me today for a free, no obligation Home Value Analysis!

9 Castle Drive Sharon MA

Warren Reynolds — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:34:37 +0000

SOLD! This classic style is the epitome of grace and style . . . make a statement with this fine residence at 9 Castle Drive, Sharon! 3 Car heated garage, 4.5 baths w/Jack & Jill setup. Family room opens to the kitchen designed for both cooking & entertaining. Private study/5th bedroom with bath. Grand vaulted master bedroom w/massive closets . Elegant finishes & generous allowances. Your dream home awaits!

4 Surrey Way Franklin MA

Warren Reynolds — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:34:09 +0000

SOLD! No detail was left undone in the remodeling/upgrading of this stunning home at 4 Surrey Way in Franklin, MA. This 4 bedroom Colonial in sought after Franklin Woods offers a gourmet kitchen w custom cherry cabinets, granite, integrated appliances, tile back splash, hardwoods on 1st fl, Calif closets, triple pane NewPro windows, all 3 full baths totally upgraded w custom tile, Kohler toilets, Grohe fixtures, crown molding, new carpets, finished basement w office w built-ins – too many to list – This is the Home of your Dreams!