Amid all of the stories about Brad Womack’s criminal past, Episode # 5 of  The Bachelor started with everyone road-tripping to Vegas, Baby!  Once there, Brad had a one-on-one shopping spree date with Shawntel.  The jaws of all of the ladies dropped when they saw the umpteen shopping bags – and all of the contents – that Shawntel brought home with her.  The date culminated in a dinner, during which she gave him the lowdown on what it meant to be a funeral director, followed by an amazing fireworks display.  Oh and yes, Brad gave her a rose…..

Brad Womack

Brad then took eight of the ladies to the Vegas Race Track.  Unbeknownst to him, Emily’s late fiance was a Nascar racer, and he had actually raced at this track.  Brad picked up on Emily’s fragile emotional state, and he pulled her aside to try to understand what was going on.  This was Emily pull aside #1; he pulled her aside two - three more times that evening, and he ultimately gave her a rose on the date.  The other remaining seven ladies had an incredibly hard time with this, and many of them were in tears over it….. They said that instead of feeling like they were on the “Nascar Date,” they felt like they were on the “Emily Date.”  I think he digs Emily – do you?

After this, Brad had a two-on-one date with Ashley H. and Ashley S., and he had to decide which Ashley to send home.  And although he gave the first impression rose to Ashley S., he ultimately gave this date rose to Ashley H.  So Ashley S. went home, and he continued his date with Ashley H. by performing in Cirque de Soleil’s “Viva Elvis.”  I was surprised by this date because I was expecting much more drama, especially because the Ashleys were best friends on the show, but it was actually fairly drama-free.

I just need to say that Michelle is still scary to me.  At the rose ceremony, she took Brad by the hand, walked him into a room, closed the door and told him that he was not allowed to utter a word.  She then proceeded to do her usual putdown of the other ladies.  It is so apparent to me that instead of being herself or telling stories about her life so Brad can get to know her, she spends all of her time either subtly or not-so-subtly putting down her competitors.  Do you see that too?  Anyway, she ended her one-sided chat with him by telling him to “go send some girls home now.”

Ultimately Lisa and Marissa did not get roses, and so we’re down to eight ladies.  Next week’s episode looks pretty interesting as the cast of characters are making their way to Costa Rica.  Tune in with me next Monday to see more crazy, predictable, scripted and of course entertaining behavior from our Bachelor and his eight remaining Bachelorettes.

P.S. Did you see the “Marry Me Monday” during this episode in which Mike proposes to Danielle?  Have they done this before during this Bachelor season?  If so, I completely missed it.  Do you think Danielle will say, “YES”?

Oh my goodness – this is truly unbelievable.  More snow is expected on Tuesday of this week (February 1) and then a bigger snow storm is expected the next day.  The Weston Public Schools have already closed the schools three days – January 12, 21 and 27 –  so far this winter; one day during each of the last three weeks of school.  And so instead of June 15 being our last day of school, we are now looking at June 20 as the last day of school.  (Just as a reference point, we didn’t have any snow days during the 2009-2010 academic year.)  And they’ve only put in a contingency plan for having five snow days.  At the rate we’re going, there could be five more?!  The kids could be going to school until the last week of June if this keeps up.

Interestingly, life on the real estate front hasn’t been too affected – at least on the buy side.  The buyers seem to be out in full force.  And yet it’s hard for buyers to get a true sense of the property – specifically the  land, street and neighborhood – with all of the snow on the ground, especially if they are just seeing the property for the first time.  But this hasn’t seemed to have too much of an effect on activity as there were four accepted offers last week in Weston – which is a strong number.

It’s a little different on the list side.  Many homes were rested over the holidays, when the real estate activity is typically at its slowest, and from what I’ve heard, most of these houses won’t be coming back on the market until the weather is better.  So the inventory may remain limited as long as the weather is uncooperative.  The other thing I’ve noticed is that there do not seem to be as many broker and public open houses, which is likely influenced by the weather conditions.  The amount of snow and ice and the driveways and roads, which are much narrower now as a result, make parking and getting into the houses hazardous.  These open houses serve as a major means of marketing the homes to the brokerage community and to the buyers, and so property marketing efforts have suffered given the weather.

I don’t know what we’re going to do if these snow storms don’t start to slow down.  We won’t have anywhere to put the snow.  I’m starting to think we’ll barely be able to drive safely given all of the massive snow banks and narrow roads, which makes helping people buy and sell houses difficult.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that after this week’s storm, we have an incredible thaw, and our streets, neighborhoods and school schedules get back to normal, and our Spring real estate market is left to progress unencumbered by the snowy weather….

What are your thoughts?  Do you like these crazy snow storms or are you about ready to head South?

This is a question which may have a different answer depending on whether you are a buyer or a seller…..  If you are a buyer, and you are buying a single-family home that you don’t plan on tearing down immediately, the answer is yes, yes and yes again.  The days are long gone when buyers would submit offers without a home inspection contingency.  Those were the days when the market was so strong that houses would have multiple offers within hours of coming on the market.  At that time, buyers would often waive the home inspection contingency in order to make their offers more appealing to the sellers.  It has not been that way in a long time – in fact, I have not seen this during my 8+ years in the business.  As a buyer’s agent in our current market, I always recommend that buyers have a home inspection and put this contingency into their offers.

There are many varying opinions about the role of a home inspection.  First and foremost, it is to give the buyers valuable information about the house they are potentially about to buy.  The inspector looks at the home’s heating, electrical and plumbing systems, the roof, the chimneys and fireplaces as well as checks for any structural defects, safety hazards or wood rot and much more.  Most buyers follow the inspector through the inspection and take copious notes – though the inspector generates a written home inspection report as well – so that they know how to operate and take care of their homes once they become the new owners.  According to the American Home Inspector Directory website, “The role of the home inspector is to provide the buyer with their opinion of the home’s condition at the time of inspection….A home inspection is not a pass/fail test. It is up to the buyer to determine whether or not the home passes his own test.”  That sums it up perfectly…..  If many defects of concern are raised during the home inspection, some buyers will become too overwhelmed by the number and/or seriousness of the issues and will decide not to continue with their purchase of the home.  Other buyers may choose to continue with the home purchase.  It really depends on the buyer….. The bottom line is that the information generated by the home inspection is essential for the buyer to have as they progress along the home buying path.

The answer may be a little different when considering the question as a seller.  While some agents advise sellers to have a home inspection prior to putting their houses on the market; others do not.  Earlier this week, Barbara Corcoran, Today Show Real Estate Correspondent, avowed the former opinion by saying to sellers, “Don’t wait for the would-be buyer to discover the problems you could have fixed before selling. When they’re discovered, buyers will just move to the next house or rack up reasons to expect price cuts.”  I see her point completely.  The only problem with this is that often different home inspectors will find completely distinct issues with the same home.  I have talked to many sellers who have had their homes inspected several times during their home selling process, and they have told me that none of the home inspection reports brought up the same issues.  One inspector may bring up some roof repairs and wood rot in various areas, while another inspector may not mention those items at all but instead report a heating system that is failing and chimneys that need to be repointed.  And home inspections are not inexpensive, in the Weston and Wellesley area, they typically range in price from $500 to $1,200.

So if prior to putting their homes on the market, sellers would like to do an inspection and they plan on fixing the items in disrepair, they should also know that when the buyers do their home inspections, other issues may also be found.  And the buyers could very likely be looking for the sellers to address those items as well.  This may result in two sets of costly home inspection repairs for the sellers instead of just one.

What have been your experiences with home inspections? Have you found them to informative and useful?  I can’t wait to hear……

Some of the much more important news of the day has been (1) the announcements of the Oscar Nominations (“The King’s Speech” was the big winner with 12 nominations, “True Grit” got 10 and “Inception” and “The Social Network” both got 8) and (2) the upcoming State of the Union Address which will take place tonight at 9 p.m. (eastern standard time).

But I’ve been re-capping The Bachelor for you since it started so I feel compelled to give you the short and sweet (or should I say not-so-short and sweet) version again now:

• First One-on-One Date – Chantal and Brad went on a one-on-one date to Catalina Island via helicopter.  She was scared of the water; scared she was going to go down and not come back up….  We all knew she would conquer her fear, right?  Oh the predictable drama and scripting….  And then she compared falling in love with her fear of the water – and decided that she can go there in both ways.  They ended the night with kisses, and of course Brad gave her a rose.

• Second One-on-One Date - Michelle and Brad also went on a one-on-one date, in which they had to repel down a high-rise building in downtown L.A.  And wouldn’t you know it, Michelle had a huge fear of heights, but of course, she overcame her fear and repelled down the building giving Brad a kiss mid-repel.  (More totally predictable scripting….)  They too shared some kisses, and of course Brad gave her a rose as well – ugghhh…..

• Michelle – Before I go onto the group date and the rose ceremony, I need to vent about Michelle.  Last night’s show began by showing Michelle with a black eye.  She said she woke up with it and has no idea how she got it.  How bizarre?!   After watching the show, I really think she might have given herself the black eye.  Why do I say that?  First, has something like that ever happened to you or someone you know?  In all of my 40-something years, I have never heard of that.  Second, one of the women described her as emotionally unstable, and I agree.  Third, she wanted to get Brad’s sympathy and/or set herself apart from the other women.  All she talks about is beating out the other women, and maybe she thinks in some twisted way that by having a black eye, she can outdo the competition.  I know it sounds crazy, but it’s Michelle.  I loved that Chantal stood up to her when Brad took some of their one-on-one date time to have a follow up conversation with Ashley H.  Go Chantal – I like her more and more each episode.

• Group Date – The ladies went on a group date to Dr. Drew’s radio program.  Brad kissed Brit and gave her the rose because he thinks she is there for the right reason.   The only other interesting part of the evening was that Ashley H. had a bit of a nerve out and was having a hard time dealing with her emotions…. (I think Brad was originally going to give the rose to Ashley H., but she made some negative and awkward comments in front of him, and he ended up opting to give Brit the rose.)

• The Meeting with the Therapist – Brad met with his therapist, Jamie, who told him it is quite alright to have feelings for multiple women – and to pursue those feelings.  After all, if he doesn’t do this, how is he going to pick the right woman?

• The Rose Ceremony – The ladies were all blown away when Brad packed a special picnic for Emily to re-create their one-on-one date from the last episode.  They all realized that he must really like her, which they said put their feelings in perspective.  Emily seems – at least from what I’ve seen – to play a little hard to get, which could be very appealing to Brad since the rest of the ladies seem to come on so strong.

• Meghan, Stacey (from Massachusetts Boo Hoo!) and Lindsay did not get a rose – no surprises there.  And so we’re down to 11 women.  Tune in with me next Monday to see what happens when they go to Vegas; I must admit that the previews look pretty good.  But of course, I would love to hear any of your thoughts or comments in the meantime…..

Time again for my twice-monthly Pinnacle Report covering the Weston, MA real estate market.

There are four words to describe the last two weeks in Weston, MA – snow, ice and freezing rain. (See the picture above of a snowy home in Weston during our first winter Nor’easter.  The next Nor’easter is slated to come this Wednesday).  The weather may not have affected the number of single-family homes that came on the market given that there were four, but it very well may have affected the number of sold* listings given that there weren’t any in the last two weeks.  Our inventory (69) has increased slightly since the last report, and we expect this to continue in the weeks and months to come as we progress into the Spring market.  To fully enjoy all of the market stats, please click Weston Pinnacle Report 1-10-2011 – 1-23-2011 for the details.

* Sold means “pending/under agreement” and not yet closed.