Founder and CEO Nick Warren welcomes all the new Boston residents with some tips for becoming acquainted with their new city. He also shares advice for both buyers and sellers as we enter into the traditionally busy autumn market.

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With the influx of new residents from Sept 1 (the biggest move-in day in Boston), what advice would you give to a new Boston resident?

The fall is my favorite season in Boston.  The heat and humidity of the summer begins to go away leading to those beautiful, crisp New England fall days that everyone loves.  Boston is a very active city so I’d suggest getting out on foot and doing some exploring. One of my favorite things to do during the fall is to go for a walk or run along our beautiful esplanade which is part of the larger Emerald Necklace series of parks.  Another idea is to make your way down to Fenway and catch a Sox game. Luckily, this year, we will have even more opportunities to do so since the Sox have locked up a playoff spot.

As we head into the traditionally busy autumn market, what advice do you have for sellers who want to best prepare their home for sale?

The fall market is the second busiest time of year for buyer activity so it is a great time to list your property for sale.  I would spend time with your real estate agent going through your property to decide on what to get rid of prior to putting it on the market.  I usually suggest putting -½ of your decorations and furniture into storage. This includes removing most of your personal photos, etc. so that buyers aren’t distracted and have an easier time picturing themselves living there.  We also highly recommend having a professional stager help with this process. We recently listed a property which was vacant and had no action on it for the first three weeks. We then had a stager come in and work her magic and got a full price offer two days later.  It works, trust me!

And for buyers considering this as the time to buy?

If you are a buyer and have been looking throughout the summer, you should expect to see a lot of new inventory come on over the week or two after Labor Day.  While this can certainly be a good thing, it also comes with a lot more buyer competition. Everyone is back from vacation and traveling less on the weekends so you should see a lot more activity at open houses which means you have to be ready to make a move quickly if you see a property you like.  This means you need your pre-approval or proof of funds ready to go before you go and look because if you have to wait a day or two to get that, then you might miss out on the perfect place! We have great lender partners that can help make this part of the process painless so you are ready to go when something catches your eye!