Photo courtesy of Lamacchia Realty
Jim Major
President-Elect, Massachusetts Association of Realtors and Realtor, Lamacchia Realty
Age: 57
Years experience: 23
March was a complicated month in the Massachusetts real estate market. New listings were up only 1 percent year-over-year, but days on market increased from an average of 44 days in March 2025 to 54 days in March 2026, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
On top of economic anxiety caused by the Iran war, it was the start of the first spring market since the state banned homebuyers from waiving an inspection, and barred sellers from accepting an offer if the seller is informed in advance that the buyer intends to waive their right to an inspection – both moves in the spirit of consumer protection. And that could be part of the reason for the big jump in days on market, says, Massachusetts Association of Realtors President-Elect Jim Major.
Q: How are buyers making their offers stand out among the competition?
A: We do have that new home inspection law which is very good for buyers. Obviously, we hated to see buyers have to go into a major purchase like this without that inspection, but that has helped to level some of the playing field. Now you’re entitled to the inspection contingency. Some home inspection contingencies may be, “Hey, we’ll do an inspection, if we don’t like the property for any reason, we can walk away.” Whereas a more competitive offer says, “We’ll do the inspection, but we’re going to have a threshold of, say, $20,000. If there’s work that’s over $20,000 that we can verify through the inspection, then we’re going to walk away. Anything less than that, we’re willing to take that on.” That’s certainly one way. Increasing deposits, having a good pre-approval from a good local lender, that’s also very helpful, as well as different things like having relationships with the agent on the other side of the deal. Sometimes that’s helpful because if you’re going to get into a deal with a buyer that’s represented by an agent that you trust, that you’ve done business with before, that can be helpful as well.
Q: Are you seeing buyers willing to put in that sweat equity, or are you seeing that buyers are really looking for a home with minimal work to be done?
A: Most cases, the buyers that that I’m seeing, they don’t want to do a lot of work to the home. Certainly the homes that are fixed up, that are ready to go, ready to move in, those are the ones that are going to be the most competitive. Where you have homes that do need some work, that buyer has to have the reserves in place to take on those projects. They are already coming in, putting down a down payment on the home, and they may not have those excess monies to put a new roof on within five years, to put a new heating system in within the next five years. Those are some of the big-ticket items that could scare a buyer away if they know that that’s going to be coming.
Q: What contingencies are being used in the wake of the home inspection legislation?
A: So, the standard contingencies that a buyer will normally have is the home inspection and the financing. A really risky buyer may do something like waive their financing contingency. Now, they still have to get a loan, but they’re saying that “we’re gonna show up at the closing table. We’re gonna back that up with our deposit.” That is an extremely risky thing to do, not something that I would ever advise, but I have seen buyers do this in order to win the bid. Other things that they’re doing – not so much now, but a little bit more in the past few years – is allowing the seller to stay in the house for a short period of time after closing. We’re not seeing that as much, but it is still there. It is still something that a buyer can use to make their offer look more attractive, if that is something that the seller is looking for. A good agent will talk to the listing agent to find out if is there anything the seller is looking for. Maybe they are looking for a short closing, and they’re looking for a more extended period of time to close. Maybe the buyer could acquiesce and get the seller those things that they’re looking for to win the bid.
Q: What do you think is driving the fact that we’re seeing homes sit on the market for longer than in the last couple of years?
A: Another contributing factor to days on market could very well be the new home inspection law. When you have home inspections, you’re naturally going to have some of those deals fall apart and then that property has to go back to stage one and come back on the market and start generating more market time. I definitely think that is one of the causes that’s increasing market time.
Q: Do you feel that buyers are not being forced to take as much risk compared to the last five years and how crucial is that for buyers in a market such as Massachusetts?
A: The home inspection thing takes a lot of that risk taking off the table, which is nice, but we are still seeing properties that are going over asking price. That is another risk that the buyer takes on. The asking price is typically related to what the market value is for the property at that time We don’t know if the market’s going to fall apart and who knows if the buyer is going to be underwater. They are coming in with a 30-year mortgage. They can afford that payment, and they plan to be there for a while. That might be something that that mitigates some of that risk.
Major’s Five Favorite Podcasts
- “History That Doesn’t Suck”
- “Real Estate This Week”
- “American Elections: Wicked Game”
- “Advocacy Scoop Podcast”
- “Pod Is My Copilot”
