DelRose McShane Team

10/14/2026

Thinking about redoing the kitchen before you sell your condo or after you buy? Read this first.

We looked at five years of sales at Northgate Gardens and Wellington Crossing in Waltham. 111 sales from MLSPIN, each one measured against units of the same size that sold at the same time.

At Northgate, renovated units used to sell for about 18% more than original ones. Since July 2024, it's about 9%. That's roughly $36,000 on a two-bedroom. A midrange kitchen and bath costs about $56,500 in New England, according to the Journal of Light Construction.

So the full renovation gets back about 64 cents on the dollar. A lighter refresh, paint and floors and a room, comes out close to even.

At Wellington Crossing, updates didn't move the price at all.

Big complexes mean lots of choices for buyers. There's always another unit. Plan your updates around ther building's own numbers.

Full article on the 'Mike's Musings' on the DelRose McShane site.

10/13/2026

10/07/2026

Mortgage interest rates continue to climb following the Federal Reserve rate hike. Sorry for the bad news home buyers.

10/05/2026

Monday Morning Motivation.

10/03/2026

You too can hang out with me and see houses on a Saturday! Here's some market stats for the week to hold you over.

Mike

10/01/2026

If you own a larger lot in Belmont or Watertown, Question 7 is worth ten minutes of your attention before November 3.

Minimum lot size is the rule that stops a big parcel from being split. Lower it, and some lots that cannot be divided today could be divided tomorrow. That can raise what your land is worth. It can also put a new house beside one that has had open space next to it for forty years.

Both of those are real, and people in the same neighborhood will feel very differently about them.

Splitting a lot is never automatic. Frontage, setbacks, lot shape, wetlands, easements, and sewer lines all decide it. If you are wondering about your own parcel, bring the plot plan and we will look at it together, including when the answer is that nothing changes.

Full breakdown on our Team website...

09/29/2026

Question 7 is on the ballot November 3, and almost nobody is explaining what it would do here in Belmont specifically.

Short version: it would require cities and towns to allow a single family home on any residential lot with at least 5,000 square feet, 50 feet of frontage, and public sewer and water. Towns would still control setbacks, height, and parking.

What that means locally:

Belmont: all four single residence districts would change. The largest two require 25,000 square feet today. Watertown: a smaller change. S-6 moves by 1,000 square feet, and three districts already sit at the proposed floor.

I wrote up both towns' numbers, both campaigns' arguments, and what a yes or no vote would actually mean for your street. It does not tell you how to vote. It gives you what you need to decide.

Take a look at 'Mike's Musings' on our DelRose McShane Team site for more information.

09/25/2026

Something most home buyers have never heard.

Until the early 1990s in Massachusetts, buyers had no representation at all. Every agent including the listing agent legally worked for the seller. The person showing you houses on a Saturday owed their loyalty to the other side of the table.

Massachusetts created its first written agency form in 1990 and did not revise it to recognize buyer agency until 1993. What pushed the change was a federal study finding that most buyers assumed the agent showing them homes was working for them. They were not.

We bring it up because a buyer recently made an offer directly on one of our listings without an agent of their own. From our side of the transaction, you can see everything that is not happening. Nobody asked the questions we would ask. Nobody vetted the inspector. Nobody is negotiating the condition issues or watching the deadlines.

Can you buy a house without an agent? Absolutely. You can also file your own taxes and draft your own will.

We put together an article on our blog, Mike's Musings on a buyer agent's value at every phase of a search, so you know what to expect and what to ask for, whether you work with us or with somebody else.

09/21/2026

Monday Morning Motivation

09/16/2026

Our friend, Belmont High School classmate, and Client, Tony Serio is fighting food insecurity with the Ride & Stride for Food on Sunday, September 27, 2026 in Needham. He will be biking 62.5 Miles.

Please join us in supporting this great cause!

https://ride.threesquaresne.org/fundraiser/7379924

Best of luck Tony!

I'm riding in the 2026 Ride & Stride for Food to raise awareness about food insecurity, support critical fundraising efforts, and promote the beneficial services that Needham Community Council offers to Needham residents of all ages!