Latest news with #KevinSears
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Forest Park business owners, residents react to upcoming changes to ‘X' intersection
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Changes are coming to Springfield's 'X' intersection and 22News spoke with business owners and residents about what this could mean for the Forest Park neighborhood. Big changes are coming to Forest Park as the 'X' intersection is set for construction to begin this Spring. According to the Springfield DPW, the project will extend 0.6 miles along Sumner Avenue from the Forest Park main greeting road to Daytona Street, Belmont Avenue, and Dickinson Street. Proposed changes include traffic signal upgrades, sidewalk and pedestrian crossing updates, additional turning lanes, bicycle accommodations, and stormwater facilities. The 'X' is historically one of the busiest intersections in the region, and these changes are meant to preserve the quality of life and local economy in the area. Sumner Avenue at Dickinson Street and Belmont Avenue landed number 1 on the top 100 high crash intersections in the Pioneer Valley region in 2016. These changes reflect increased traffic, and thus the need for increased safety in the area. The community, both businesses and residents, largely welcomes these improvements. Christos Kalaizidis, Owner of Cafe Christo told 22News, 'You know I'm looking forward to it, I really wanna see the changes. There's a lot of things they're gonna do, the forestry and all that.' 'People choose Forest Park to live here. It's a place they can live, work, and play, and I think at the end of the construction period it will be much better off,' adds Forest Park resident Kevin Sears. By the end of that period, the goal is to have a safer, more open, less congested area, so that the Forest Park community can flourish. 'My concern is that we keep coming out to support the local businesses so that they can continue to thrive during the construction,' Sears adds. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Realtor group releases new policy designed to settle fight over secret home listings
The National Association of Realtors unveiled a new policy designed to settle a long-simmering fight over how new home listings are marketed by giving sellers more flexibility in the process. The policy — a compromise to an industry dispute over semi-secret home listings — leaves rules requiring agents to list homes on shared databases known as multiple listings services (MLS) intact, but adds an option for sellers to delay broadly advertising their homes online for some time. The exact timeframe will be set by individual MLSs. In practice, that means most real estate agents will have access to the full slate of listings, but some homes may not immediately be viewable to the public on websites like Zillow and Redfin. Sellers who opt for these 'delayed marketing exempt listings' must sign a disclosure saying they understand the risks of foregoing immediate public marketing of their homes. The exempt homes will still appear on the MLS and be visible to those who have access to the databases. 'These policy changes allow for greater choice for sellers in marketing their properties while considering buyers' need to access information through MLSs,' NAR President Kevin Sears said in a statement. The compromise comes amid a years-long fight over a requirement that agents list homes on the MLS within one business day of beginning to market the properties. That rule, known as the Clear Cooperation Policy, is designed to reduce what are known as 'off-market' or 'pocket' listings, where a home for sale is marketed semi-privately to small pools of potential buyers without being advertised widely on the MLS. Clear Cooperation has fierce supporters and detractors within the real estate industry. Fair housing advocates support the policy, as do some leaders of brokerages and online real estate platforms like Zillow, saying it aids transparency and helps sellers get higher prices for their homes. But other agents and brokerage executives oppose the strict listing requirement, arguing it limits seller choice. Pocket listings make up a small percentage of the overall market and are most common in high-end real estate. Celebrities are often keen on keeping a transaction low-profile, and some sellers want the option to test their listing prices without having the stigma of price cuts and growing days on market on a public posting. After facing litigation, the NAR began a months-long review of Clear Cooperation and consulted with MLS leaders, brokerages, agents, multicultural groups, and other industry experts to develop the new rule. The new policy, known as 'Multiple Listing Options for Sellers,' is in effect immediately and must be implemented by Sept. 30. Clear Cooperation and individual MLS submission deadlines also remain in effect. Claire Boston is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance. Sign in to access your portfolio
