Straight answers to the most common questions from home buyers and sellers in Belmont, Watertown, Waltham, and Greater Boston. No fluff. No sales pitch.
Mike DelRose Jr. is a third-generation REALTOR with the DelRose McShane Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Belmont, Massachusetts, serving buyers and sellers across Greater Boston. This page answers the most common real estate questions specific to the Massachusetts market, including the purchase process, costs, inspections, pricing strategy, and how commission structures changed after the 2024 NAR settlement.
Buying a home in Greater Boston is one of the most significant financial decisions you will make. These are the questions I hear most often, answered directly and without the noise.
You do not need a pre-approval to attend open houses or begin researching the market, but it is highly recommended. You absolutely need one before making an offer if you plan to obtain financing, which most buyers do.
In Belmont, Watertown, and Waltham, correctly priced homes routinely go under agreement within a week. If you find the right house and you are not pre-approved, you will lose it. I have watched it happen. The pre-approval process takes a few days at most if you have your financial paperwork ready. Those documents typically include:
There is no reason to wait.
It depends on the loan type. Massachusetts Housing loans can go as low as 3% down, with conventional loans starting at 5%. Most buyers in Greater Boston put down between 5% and 20%. FHA loans require 3.5% down, and VA loans require nothing down for eligible veterans.
The down payment is only part of the cost picture. You also need to budget for closing costs, inspection fees, attorney fees, brokerage fees, and moving expenses. Together, those items can add another 2% to 3% of the purchase price on top of your down payment.
The offer is the initial proposal and is a legally binding contract covering price, terms, and contingencies. If the seller accepts, both parties move into a period that includes inspection-related contingencies and the drafting of a mutually agreeable Purchase and Sale Agreement.
The Purchase and Sale Agreement, or P&S, is the governing document that follows. It is drafted by the buyer's attorney and reviewed by the seller's attorney. A second deposit, typically 5% of the purchase price less the initial deposit, is due at signing. Once both parties execute the P&S, the transaction is governed by this document. Any final agreements about the purchase must be reflected in writing and included before signing.
According to MLSPIN data, Belmont single-family homes are selling in a median of 6 days at 102.9% of list price. Watertown is 7 days at 100.7%. Waltham is 9 days at 100.9%.
Correctly priced homes in these markets are still receiving multiple offers. That said, overpriced listings sit, and buyers have more negotiating room above certain price thresholds. Competition varies by bedroom count, square footage, property type, zoning, interest rates, and the broader economic climate. You only know the market you are in, and understanding the specific conditions before you write an offer is most of the work.
Source: MLSPIN · Updated June 2026After an offer is accepted, a Purchase and Sale Agreement is drafted by attorneys representing both parties. The inspection window is typically 7 to 10 business days. During that time, the buyer schedules and conducts inspections at their own expense. Inspections commonly include:
While a home inspection is not legally required in Massachusetts, it is a right of every buyer and one we strongly recommend. The inspection is not designed to find reasons to walk away. It is designed to tell you exactly what you are buying, including short, medium, and long-term recommendations for the property. After reviewing the results, you can proceed as-is, request repairs or a credit, or exercise the inspection contingency and exit the agreement.
A mortgage contingency protects you if your financing falls through. It gives you the right to exit the Purchase and Sale Agreement and recover your deposit if you cannot secure a mortgage commitment by the agreed date. In Massachusetts, the mortgage contingency deadline is typically set one to two weeks before the closing date.
In competitive offer situations, some buyers waive the mortgage contingency to strengthen their offer. This carries real risk and should never be done without fully understanding the consequences. With Massachusetts homes consistently selling above list price alongside general market appreciation, third-party appraisals can sometimes come in below what you committed to pay. Make sure you understand your contractual terms and obligations before waiving any contingency.
Closing costs for buyers in Massachusetts typically run 2% to 3% of the purchase price. They include attorney fees, title insurance, recording fees, prepaid homeowner's insurance, prepaid property taxes held in escrow, and brokerage commissions. For a financed purchase, add the mortgage application fee and appraisal fee.
Your lender is required to provide a Loan Estimate within three business days of your application, which breaks down all expected costs. Review it carefully and ask questions about anything that is not clear.
From accepted offer to closing, a financed purchase typically takes 45 to 90 days. Cash purchases can close in as little as 10 days, with rare exceptions moving faster.
The home search itself varies widely. Some buyers find a home in two weeks. Others take six months or more, depending on motivation, market conditions, and how long it takes to get an offer accepted. Starting the process early by getting pre-approved, building market knowledge, and identifying your priorities before actively looking can compress that timeline significantly. There are factors beyond your direct control, which is why starting earlier is always the right move.
This is the question I get most often. The honest answer is: it depends on your situation. Rates affect your monthly payment. They do not change the fundamentals of why you are buying.
Owning builds equity, provides stability, grants access to specific school districts, or answers a life change that requires a move. Home prices in Belmont, Watertown, Waltham, and Greater Boston have consistently appreciated over time. Waiting for rates to drop means competing against more buyers when they do. The right time to buy is when it makes sense for your life and your finances, not when the market is perfect, because the market is never perfect.
A 30-year fixed rate mortgage also gives you a guaranteed payment. If rates drop meaningfully, refinancing remains an option. The equity you build while waiting is equity you do not get back.
Massachusetts is an attorney state, meaning a licensed real estate attorney is required to handle the closing. These professionals are worth every dollar. Your attorney reviews and negotiates the Purchase and Sale Agreement, conducts the title search, coordinates with the lender, and represents your interests at the closing table.
This is not optional and not a place to cut costs. A good real estate attorney is one of the most important people in your transaction. The attorneys I have worked with personally know how to handle obstacles between offer and closing, understand market dynamics, and are skilled at managing the emotional weight these transactions can carry. Even attorneys who have purchased property with me have hired dedicated real estate counsel. That should tell you something.
Yes, and it happens. But it carries serious risk for most buyers, and the type of buyer it makes sense for is fairly specific.
For an investor or developer who knows exactly what they are getting into, buying sight unseen can be a calculated and reasonable decision. They are often not concerned with the condition of the systems or the livability of the space. They have evaluated the risk in advance.
For an owner-occupant or a first-time buyer, the situation is completely different. A listing shows you the best version of a property. An in-person visit tells you everything the listing cannot: the feel of the street at different times of day, the noise from a nearby road or commercial property, the way the light moves through the rooms, what is directly behind the backyard, whether the neighborhood feels right the moment you step out of the car. None of that is in the photos.
Beyond the qualitative experience, there is real financial exposure. You are committing a significant sum of money to something you have not fully evaluated. I always prefer that my clients walk through a home before committing to it. When geography or timing makes that impossible, we find a trusted person to conduct a live walkthrough, review it together, and build the right protections into the offer. There are exceptions to everything in real estate. We plan for them.
Following the 2024 NAR settlement, buyer representation agreements are now required before an agent can show you homes. You will also sign a Mandatory Licensee-Consumer Relationship Disclosure, which is a state-required form that explains agency relationships and who represents whom in the transaction.
Between buyer and seller documentation, our clients typically sign between 10 and 15 documents before they see homes or list their property. More documents arise during the offer process, but we front-load as much as possible to simplify things when the pace picks up.
Some of these documents are contracts that establish a fiduciary responsibility. Some are state-mandated disclosures. Some are designed to inform you of specific risks, including lead paint, concrete foundation conditions, home inspection rights, and wire fraud. None of them should feel rushed. Ask questions before you sign anything.
Every transaction is different. If you have a specific question about buying in Belmont, Watertown, Waltham, or Greater Boston, the fastest answer is a direct conversation.
Schedule a Call with MikeSelling a home in Greater Boston requires strategy, preparation, and a clear understanding of what drives value. These are the questions I hear most from sellers, answered directly.
Market value is set by buyers, not by what you paid, what you owe, what you need, or what anyone tells you arbitrarily. We establish it by analyzing recent closed sales of similar properties over the last 60 to 90 days, adjusting for condition, square footage, and location. These are what we call relative properties, otherwise known as comparable sales.
Automated tools like Zillow and Redfin provide a starting point, but they do not account for condition, period details, or market competition. They are one data point, not a price. A proper analysis requires someone who knows the market deeply and has walked through your home. Because pricing involves judgment alongside data, we present our recommendations in ranges rather than a single number.
The spring market gets the most attention, and rightly so. Over the last 10 to 15 years it has started as early as January 2nd and run as late as June, varying by year. The homes that sell for the most with the highest competition are typically the ones that come to market early in this window, when buyers who have been waiting through the winter are ready to move on any new opportunity.
A secondary strong push typically arrives in the fall. But any market can be the right time depending on your situation, including the holiday season or the middle of winter. When inventory is low, well-prepared and correctly priced homes continue to move quickly at competitive prices regardless of the calendar.
A correctly priced, well-prepared home in Belmont sells in a median of 6 days. Watertown is 7 days. Waltham is 9 days. Those numbers reflect the first week on market: list Wednesday or Thursday, open houses Saturday and Sunday, offers due Monday or Tuesday.
Listings that are overpriced or under-prepared sit. Days on market is the most powerful signal in real estate, and a listing that accumulates time loses leverage fast. The story a property tells after two or three weeks on market is very different from the one it tells in the first seven days.
Source: MLSPIN · Updated June 2026The basics matter most. Declutter aggressively. Buyers need to see the space and how it relates to them, not your life. Address deferred maintenance. Neutralize where you can with paint and simple cosmetic updates. Deep clean everything, including places buyers will open: closets, cabinets, the basement.
Professional photography happens after all of that is complete. The sellers who take this process seriously almost always net more than those who do not. When I walk through your home, I give you a specific list of what to prioritize and what to skip. I do not recommend improvements that will not add value to your return on investment.
Not necessarily. The inspection gives the buyer information about the property's condition. What happens after that is a negotiation. Buyers may request repairs, a credit at closing, or a price adjustment. You can agree, counter, or decline.
A home inspection is not an automatic trigger for negotiation. The requests that carry the most weight involve a safety issue, something that was genuinely unknown to both parties at the time of the offer, or something you would be obligated to disclose and likely address before relisting regardless. My job is to help you evaluate each request and respond strategically, not reactively.
Sellers in Massachusetts typically pay real estate commission, the state excise tax on the deed transfer at roughly $4.56 per $1,000 of sale price, smoke and carbon monoxide detector inspection fees, attorney fees, and any agreed-upon repairs or credits. If you have a mortgage, the payoff balance is also settled at closing.
Your attorney provides a final settlement statement before closing that shows exactly what you will net. That number is the one that matters.
Listing price is a strategy. Market value is what a ready, willing, and able buyer will actually pay. The two can be the same, but they are not always.
Pricing too high costs you time and leverage. A listing that sits starts telling a story that is hard to undo. Pricing at or near market value in a competitive market creates urgency, drives multiple offers, and often results in a sale price above list. The goal is always maximum net proceeds, not the highest list price. Buyers will overpay for good value. They will not extend themselves for a listing that feels overpriced.
The structure changed in August 2024. Sellers are no longer required to offer compensation to a buyer's agent when listing on the MLS. In practice, many sellers still choose to offer it as part of their strategy to attract the broadest pool of qualified buyers with the strongest agents representing them.
If a buyer's agent requests compensation in their offer, it is negotiated as part of the transaction terms. The goal has not changed: maximize your net proceeds and attract the strongest possible buyer. An offer without a buyer agent commission request is not automatically a better offer. What matters is the final net and the overall strength of terms.
The earlier we have a conversation, the more options you have. There is no charge for the first meeting and no obligation. Just a clear picture of what your home could sell for and what the path looks like.
Schedule a Call with Mike