How sellers, buyers can close deals faster

Real estate agents see it all — from unmade beds to overstuffed garages to the "What were they thinking?" decor.

Over the years, they learn why some houses sell while others linger on the market, and why some promising buyers never make it to the closing table. They know how to get a better deal on the mortgage, and how much the other agents stand to make on your home.

The good news is, they want to share.

The information is useful whether you're a buyer, a seller or both.

In today's market, sellers are again optimistic about the value and price of their homes — "but buyers aren't," says Ron Phipps, principal with Warwick, R.I.-based Phipps Realty, and past president of the National Association of Realtors.

"Your challenge as a seller is to price the house so that it is compelling," he says.

What does that mean?

"Set a price slightly below market value," he says. Just "a fraction."

For example: If similar homes in your neighborhood are clustered around $210,000, you might price yours at $200,000 or $198,000, he says.

"The longer a house is on the market, the less likely you are to get fair value," Phipps says. "So you really want to position yourself to be the one that sells, not the one that languishes."

And the adage of not wanting to leave any money on the table? Still valid.

If you're also buying a home, and you already have cash in hand, thanks to a fast sale, "that puts you in a very powerful position," Phipps says.

For many potential buyers, frugality ends the minute they get pre-approved for a mortgage, Phipps says. That's when they start running up the cards and opening new lines of credit to buy things for their home-to-be.

But that pre-approval letter is just one of the first steps in the home buying marathon, not the finish line.

Just before closing, a lender will re-examine a prospective buyer's financial situation — complete with a recent copy of the credit history and other updated information.

If those numbers have changed for the worse (salary decrease, higher card balances, new lines of credit), then the applicant could get clocked with a higher interest rate or even lose the loan. "The number of buyers who get denied is significant," Phipps says.

The moral? Never get new loans or start using credit cards more heavily until after you've actually closed on the home.

Even better, retain your frugality until you've been in the home for a few months and have a good sense of how homeownership affects your finances, Phipps says.

If you're selling a home, it's important to understand the timeline, says Jeffry Wiren, principal broker with Re/Max Equity Group and past president of the Portland, Ore., Metropolitan Association of Realtors.

Underestimating the time it takes — and building a schedule around those unrealistic expectations — adds stress, Wiren says.

Wiren's schedule breakdown:

 Getting your home in shape: two weeks

 Average time on the market (varies widely with location and price): 2 1⁄2 to three months

 Negotiating after an 
offer: one week

 Preparing to close (assuming a traditional transaction): 30 to 45 days

A smart seller allows a 
minimum of four to six months to sell, Wiren says.

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Experts: MGM’s debt could thwart casino’s chances

The head of MGM Resorts International yesterday said he feels confident the state Gaming Commission will find MGM suitable to continue with the licensing process to open a casino in Springfield, but two gaming experts said they wouldn't be so sure.

At a Boston College Chief Executives' Club luncheon, James Murren told reporters he was "excited" about Monday's hearing before the commission, five months after Springfield residents voted in favor of MGM's proposed casino.

"I have every reason to expect that we'll be found suitable," Murren said. "I have found the commonwealth to be very deliberate, quite transparent, professional ... which gives me the confidence, combined with the fact that I know the facts at hand with my own company."

MGM is $13 billion in debt, however. And in October, another casino applicant, Caesars Entertainment Corp., withdrew from its partnership with Suffolk Downs after the commission's investigators recommended against a license, partly because of Caesars' $23.7 billion debt.

"It would be interesting to see how (Murren's) going to finance (an $851 million) casino," said the Rev. Richard McGowan, a Boston College professor who has written three books on gaming.

New Jersey investigators in 2009 raised red flags about MGM's Macau business partner, Pansy Ho, and her father's alleged ties to organized crime.

Since then, MGM has gone public in Macau Murren said, and Ho, who sits on the board, is now worth more than her father.

"My guess is MGM is going to have the same trouble they had in New Jersey," said Whittier Law School professor I. Nelson Rose.

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The Ticker

Owner explores sale of Providence Journal

The Dallas-based parent company of the Providence Journal, A.H. Belo, has hired a consultant to explore the sale of the paper, the company said in a statement.

The Journal is the only newspaper owned by Belo outside of Texas, after the sale of the Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., last month.

The company said the eventual sale of the Journal is not guaranteed, and is dependent on finding an appropriate buyer.

MGM Springfield inks deal with Ludlow

MGM Springfield has signed its first surrounding community agreement with the town of Ludlow, the casino giant said. The town will receive $50,000 up front and a minimum of $100,000 per year, according to MGM. MGM is proposing an $800 million casino in the South End of Springfield. The project was endorsed by Springfield voters in July.

State income tax to drop Jan. 1

State Revenue Commissioner Amy Pitter has certified that the state's income tax will be lowered from the current 5.25 percent to 5.2 percent Jan. 1.

In a letter yesterday to Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor, Pitter said tax collections have exceeded benchmarks and have met the threshold required under state law to trigger an automatic .05 percent reduction in the income tax. Officials say the tax cut will result in an estimated loss of $65 million in the fiscal year that runs through July 1.

Robot can solve Rubik's Cube

Humanoid robot Baxter, made by Boston-based Rethink Robotics, can now solve a Rubik's Cube, the company said. In a video posted online, the robot used primarily for monotonous manufacturing tasks recognizes the different colors of the cube and then figures out the necessary steps to solve the puzzle.

TODAY

• Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.
• Commerce Department releases third-quarter gross domestic product.
• European Central Bank's governing council meets to set monetary policy for the eurozone.

TOMORROW

• Labor Department releases employment data for November.
• Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for October.

THE SHUFFLE

• Marjorie Cappucci, left, has joined Needham Bank's Medfield office as branch manager. She has more than 17 years of banking experience.
• Snom, a developer of IP desktop business phones, has appointed Brian J. Kelley as chief executive officer. Kelley had previously been managing snom's business in the Americas.

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Selling ‘Anchorman 2’

Will Ferrell's visit to Emerson College as TV newsman Ron Burgundy — the latest in his tour of quirky in-character appearances to sell the "Anchorman" sequel — is a "brilliant" marketing strategy, industry insiders say, that could set a new standard for movie promotion if it pays off at the box office.

"It is quite an amazing campaign," said John Verret, a Boston College advertising professor and former ad executive.

Paramount Pictures launched the PR blitz last year, well ahead of the release later this month of "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues," and Ferrell as Ron Burgundy has been everywhere, most recently at Emerson College yesterday when its communication school was renamed for one day the Ron Burgundy School of Communication.

Lara Koslow, an L.A.-based partner at the Boston Consulting Group, said she thinks the concept has legs, and doesn't foresee it leading to Burgundy fatigue.

"I think he's a bold, funny, over-the-top character and therefore the campaign has a little more license to be bold, funny and over the top and maybe a bit more frequent," Koslow said.

You can hardly miss the "Anchorman" buzz as Burgundy also has:

•    anchored a local newscast in Bismark, N.D.;

•   appeared at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials;

•   paired with Jockey for a line of underwear; and

• appeared in a series of ads for Dodge Durango that have gone viral.

"With so many ways to reach the public these days you have to be original, unique and completely out of the box," said Jessica Nelson, head of public relations for the entertainment division of Texas-based The Marketing Arm.

Verret said if the movie rakes in big bucks, others could try to replicate the fictional-character-in-the-real-world concept.

"If there are people in the movie business who thought they could pull it off and this does work, then I think you are going to see lots of attempts to do it," Verret said.

But pulling off the same kind of campaign could be difficult because Ferrell's talent and the way the character fits into the real world makes it work, said David Gerzof Richard, an Emerson marketing professor and president of BIGfish Communications.

"You need to have a willing participant," Gerzof Richard said. "He was dead on, the way he responded in character and in a way that made everybody laugh."

Some have criticized Emerson's participation in the PR stunt as inappropriate, a notion both the school and Gerzof Richard rejected.

"I think it communicates the college's sense of humor," Emerson spokeswoman Carole McFall said.

And the "Anchorman" juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down.

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Hub-Beijing travel ‘traffic’ spurs flights

Hainan Airlines' move to start nonstop flights between Boston and China was spurred by the already large number of travelers between the two destinations and the expectation for future growth, a company official said.

"There's a tremendous amount of traffic between Boston and China because of the educational travel, the leisure travel and the business travel in both directions," said Joel Chusid, Hainan's U.S. executive director. "It's a good thing for both economies. The market is also growing. We expect (it) is going to be further stimulated because of the nonstop service."

The Chinese airline confirmed yesterday that it plans to start direct flights between Logan International Airport and Beijing's Capital International Airport on June 20, as the Herald first reported last week. The flights initially will be four times weekly.

Hainan, Massport officials and Gov. Deval Patrick are set to announce the new service today. "Nonstop service from Boston to Beijing will open up new commercial and economic opportunities, and I thank Hainan Airlines for their partnership in achieving this significant milestone," Patrick said in a statement.

Hainan will start taking reservations within a few days for flights aboard Boeing 787s that will take a little more than 13 hours.

"It means a great deal because there are a large number of high-tech and not so high-tech companies in the Boston area that have very important trade relations with Chinese companies," said attorney Samuel Shafner, co-chairman of Burns & Levinson LLP's China practice. "The ability to easily make that trip may reduce a temptation for those companies to be located in markets like New York, where they have a direct flight."

Hainan, whose first nonstop U.S. service started in Seattle in 2008, had talked of Boston being its first U.S. destination since at least 2005. In his 2006 state of the city address, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced Hainan expected to start air cargo service between Boston and Beijing and Shanghai that summer and passenger service that December. That plan was derailed by delays in the delivery and certification of the 787, Chusid said.

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German giant to venture into Hub

The venture arm of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies is opening its first U.S. office in Kendall Square, pledging to make $130 million in investments to life sciences companies.

"We chose Boston because it is unique," said Martin Heidecker, who will lead the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, an affiliate of Ingelheim, Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim, citing the area's renowned universities and established biotech companies.

Heidecker said he will invest in early stage life sciences startups, and expects to give about $13 million to each company to help them grow and develop their technologies.

"We have a long-term perspective," Heidecker said, adding there is no time limit for the fund to be invested.

Although the main goal is to invest in companies that can eventually be acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim, Heidecker said he believes the products he ends up investing in will be difference-makers regardless of his parent company's involvement.

"The products result in solving the medical problems we have in the future," such as cancer, Alzheimer's and dementia, he said.

One of the reasons the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund is different is its penchant for molding companies, Heidecker said.

"This is very hands on, very early" in a company's life, he said.

Although Heidecker will look for companies to invest in around the country, locating the office in Cambridge will naturally mean more investment in the local area, said Peter Abair, director of economic and global affairs for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. The average investment in Bay State biotech companies was about $8 million last year, he said.

"We do know venture capital does tend to stay close to where the VC firms can keep an eye on the companies," Abair said.

Heidecker, who has been in Cambridge for a month, said he has already found companies he is interested in backing.

"There will be investments in the near future," he said.

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Ireland sees green in growing Boston companies

Ireland's top diplomat in Boston is looking to build bridges to the Bay State's business community as a way to help get his country's economy back on track.

Breandan O Caollai, the Consul General of Ireland in Boston, said local companies could be key to Ireland's continued economic recovery.

"It's a huge potential there," he said.

O Caollai, who started in August, said one of his priorities will be to find economic opportunities for Ireland, largely by convincing local companies to open offices in his island nation. The relationship between Ireland and Boston should be about more than just heritage and history, he said.

"We just don't want to sentimentalize this, we don't want it to just be St. Patrick's Day," he said. "We want it more than that."

As Ireland's economy recovers, the country is hoping American investments can play a part in its continued growth. Last week, the country's unemployment rate dropped to 12.8 percent, the lowest rate since 2009, and down from a high of 15.1 percent.

Companies "can invest in Ireland, you can have your European headquarters in a sympathetic country which has its economy in good shape," he said.

More than a dozen Boston area companies have offices in Ireland, largely technology, life sciences and financial companies, O Caollai said.

He said many companies choose to open offices in Ireland because of the availability of talent, the relatively short travel time and lower corporate taxes than similar countries.

Mike Volpe, CMO of HubSpot, a Cambridge marketing technology company, said locating its international headquarters in Dublin made sense for a number of reasons.

"The biggest thing was the talent pool and the companies that had the models that were similar to ours were right there," he said.

The office, which opened at the beginning of this year, has about 50 employees, and will continue to grow, Volpe said.

"An awful lot of the growth in American investment in Ireland is from companies that are already there," O Caollai said.

O Caollai said he, along with Irish economic development agencies in Boston, will be looking for bio-tech and technology companies to complement the companies that are already in Ireland, such as Boston Scientific, Fidelity and LogMeIn.

On top of established companies, the country is also looking for companies that can mature in Ireland.

"New York and Boston have a thriving internet startup community — we are identifying these companies at an early stage in their development," said Barry O'Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland, a foreign investment department.

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LeSabre shakes and rattles when it’s not on the roll

I own a 2005 Buick LeSabre with 65,000 miles on it. It has developed a vibration when stopped at a light with my foot on the brake and the transmission in drive. The vibration can be felt in the floor, brake pedal and steering wheel. Three GM dealers and one independent service agency have worked on the car. All four engine/transmission mounts have been replaced but the car still vibrates. Can you offer any suggestions?

While the engine/transmission mounts are always suspect in a case like this, there are several other possibilities. An engine misfire, roughness or vacuum leak can cause an idle shake. Since the power brake system utilizes engine vacuum for its assist, perhaps vacuum is leaking only when the brakes are applied.

In a safe location such as a large, empty parking lot, bring the car to a stop and keep your foot on the brake.

Then apply the parking brake very firmly. Release the brake pedal — hopefully the car won't move. Does the vibration/shake stop? If so, a vacuum leak is highly suspect.

Another possibility is contact between a driveline component such as the exhaust system and the chassis. A physical inspection might reveal rub marks confirming the contact.

L L L

I have a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix with front-wheel drive. The two front tires are P205/65-R15 in excellent condition. Several days ago I installed two P205/70-R15 tires in the rear, also in excellent condition. Will the slightly different tire size interfere with handling or fuel mileage? To my untrained eye, maybe this wasn't the best choice.

I agree — putting different-sized tires on the rear of your vehicle wasn't the best idea, but it probably isn't a complete disaster. First off, since the larger tires are on the rear of your front-drive vehicle, there shouldn't be any effect on fuel mileage.

The differences in tread width and rolling diameter between the two are relatively small. The rear tires are eight-10ths of an inch larger in diameter when new, but have the same section/tread width, 8 inches. And since the speedometer read-out is based on driveline and front-wheel speed, there won't be any change in speedometer accuracy.

Handling? That's another issue. But while it's never a good idea to mix tire sizes, since the tire size differences are very small and all four tires are in "excellent" condition, I can't see a huge issue.

L L L

I drive a 2001 Hyundai Elantra with 178,000 miles on it. Over the past couple of years all four wheel bearings have been replaced. The first two only lasted one to two days each. The third, replaced along with the drive axle, lasted until April and the fourth went out in mid-May. The replacement lasted until July. What's going on?

Most manufacturers of front-drive vehicles utilize sealed front hub/bearing assemblies that are not serviceable. Hyundai, on the other hand, used a non-sealed hub with replaceable bearings in that vehicle.

Since the bearings were replaced individually, the quality and source of the bearings and the quality of installation are suspect. If the hub/bearing/knuckle assembly is not set up and installed correctly, bearing life will be dramatically reduced.

In addition, in July 2001 Hyundai began installing front-wheel bearing dust covers to keep road debris and contamination from getting into the bearings. If your vehicle was not fitted with these, the dust covers can be added when the bearings are replaced.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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