Know what you are buying.
The listing tells you what is there. It does not tell you what the house costs to run, or what it is worth after the work.
Most houses here
look finished.
Houses in Westwood and the towns around it show well. Fresh paint, rooms arranged for the photographs, a Sunday afternoon and forty minutes to decide.
The difference between a house that looks good and a house that is good is not on the listing sheet. It turns up in the first winter, in the first quote from a contractor, and in what the house is worth when you come to sell it.
Roula Bakis is a licensed Massachusetts broker with a degree in environmental design. She reads the building as well as the market.
Some houses never reach the public market.
Sellers who want a quiet first look go out privately before the photographs and the sign. Artemis keeps a list of the ones coming quietly.
Four questions worth answering before you offer
What are you actually looking for?
Where, at what price, and what has to be right on the first day rather than fixed later.
What is this house, underneath?
Condition, layout, light, and what the last owner changed. Some of it is cosmetic and some of it is structural, and the two cost very different money.
What would it cost after you own it?
Renovation potential, maintenance, and what the house is likely to be worth once the work is done. A house that needs work is not the same thing as a house that is not worth it.
What does the offer have to protect?
Price against what has actually sold nearby, then terms, contingencies and timing. Artemis stays on it through inspection and appraisal to closing.
We help buyers look beyond what’s currently on the market by identifying each property’s full potential.
Roula Bakis · Broker, Artemis Realty + Design
Questions buyers ask
Can you tell me what a renovation would cost before I make an offer?
Renovation potential and an estimated cost are among the things weighed. A binding number still comes from a builder pricing real drawings, and that comes later.
Why work with a boutique rather than a large brokerage?
A large brokerage will show you more houses. The difference is what happens inside one of them, not how many are on the list.
Seven questions worth asking any agent you interview, including us. The seven questions
How the agent gets paid
These rules apply to every agent in Massachusetts, not only to Artemis.
You sign a written agreement with your agent before the first showing. It sets out what the agent does and how they are paid. That has been the rule everywhere since August 2024.
Compensation offered to a buyer agent is not published in the MLS. A seller can still contribute, and it is agreed deal by deal.
Every commission rate is negotiable, and always has been. What changed in 2024 is that it gets discussed at the start rather than assumed at the end.
National Association of Realtors, 2024 practice changes
Buying something more specific
Four that come up often around here.
A house that needs work
Renovation potential and cost weighed before you commit, not after.
A house that has to last
Whether the house can keep working as the people in it change.
Not sure this is the one
Advice that can end in wait, renovate, or walk away.
Still choosing the town
Six town pages against one table, and what each town has decided.
Start with a conversation
Tell us where you are looking and what you are weighing. Artemis works in Westwood, Dover, Needham, Walpole, Medfield and Wellesley.
Broker-owned and design-led. Westwood, Dover, Wellesley, Needham and the towns in between.
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