Real estate lessons of the day

Things I learned today:

• The real estate market in Cambridge is saturated with houses
• Houses in Cambridge are taking longer to sell than they were six months ago
• Most people aren't willing to put the extra money in when building new houses to get a door inside leading to the garage
• Selling without an agent doesn't mean that you are selling your house at a lower price than your neighbours - but you want to save the agent fees
• Men that live alone don't do a lot of landscaping
• End unit townhouses get just that much more of a backyard
• Pictures online for houses might be misleading
• If a house looks really nicely decorated, James doesn't think anyone is living there and feels the house has been staged - he would prefer for the house to look lived in
• I don't mind houses that are connected at the garage to the neighbours, as long as the houses aren't connected
• By waiting a little longer to get a house, more and more houses are coming up - and of better quality
• I get really excited to see nice paint on the walls
• Kitchens still are a top priority for us
• In law suites aren't all they are cracked up to be
• Seeing homemade handy work makes me laugh - especially when in weird little areas like behind the water heater and other hidden places
• The smell of old people in October makes me think of haunted houses... I wonder if I can bottle that smell and use it for Halloween...
• Some real estate agents are really excited about the house they are showing, others could care less
• Some agents ask too many questions and appear really pushy
• James doesn't like for agents to talk to him much when he's going through open houses
• I really like talking to the agents and asking questions because I feel rude if I don't
• I still don't know if you should knock on the door or ring the doorbell when going to an open house - just what is the etiquette anyway?
• The hours from 2-4 are not enough to go through all the open houses in a day - why can't they extend them for one more hour so you can see more?
• Spending time at open houses is a really cheap but fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon