Heather's Helpful Hints for Sellers in Bucks County, PA - Links to Love

My husband and I just spent the day getting our fix and flip investment property in Warminster, PA ready to be put on the market. There is the inevitable list of piddly little "to-do" items that take forever to complete: cabinet hardware on the kitchen cabinets, grills on the A/C vents, toilet paper holders and towel racks in the bathroom. We spent about 5 hours today doing a multitude of tiny things that add up to mean big money in the end. Of course, I played washer woman - nothing like cleaning toilets in a house that was inhabited solely by workmen. G-ross!

I was going to write a blog about how to prepare your home for market, but quickly realized I've talked about this ad nauseum on this blog (you might have noticed my obsession with cleaning kitchens and baths). So, rather than reiterate, I've decided to just link those babies up!

Heather's Links to Love for Sellers in Bucks County, PA

The 10 Minute Staging will tell you how to quickly get your home show ready (and you'll see my messy kitchen).

5 Things That are Sure to Run Off Buyers will tell you the five quickest ways to get a Buyer out of your house (which should NOT be the goal here :)

Find out How a Plate of Cookies can beat out hardwood floors.

The Quickest Fixes for Your Kitchen and Baths illustrates my obsessive nature regarding these rooms.

When Does it Make Sense to Rehab an Estate? Find out my criteria...

Look for more hints here in the very near future. Every time I put a flip house on the market, I remember how difficult it is to get a property ready to market. These investment properties keep me in tune with my Sellers frustrations :)

Help! My Listing Expired and I'm Never Gonna Sell This Place!

Cute clip-art aside, I know that having your home listing expire without a sale isn't funny or cute: it's scary and disheartening.

I ran a list of expired listings in Bucks County, and boy...there are quite a few. I'm certainly seeing an increase in expired listings, so you are not alone.

You may be panicked at the thought that you will never sell your home. You may feel as if it's a lost cause, or that it'll "never happen."

So, what do you do if your listing has expired?

• Decide whether you want to re-list with your current REALTOR (R). Were you happy with his/her service, marketing, communication, etc? Do you think he's done all he can to sell your home? Contrary to the knee-jerk reaction to find a fall-guy for the lack of a sale, your REALTOR might not be to blame. However, if you think that it's time for a change of REALTOR, you'll have plenty to choose from when they inundate you with mailings :) (Disclaimer: you might see some mail from me. Check it out and give me a call!)

• Start from scratch with a new CMA. Often, when a house is on the market, you live in a fishbowl of your direct price range. Pricing may have changed while you've been on the market, and you'll want to take another look at what's actually SOLD while you've been on the market, and the NET sold price.

• Take all the negative feedback that you've received and handle anything that reared it's ugly head. If someone mentioned the Spongebob mural in the kid's room, paint it. If someone mentioned the carpets were stained, clean them. This is your chance to address all the issues that cropped up and start fresh. View those past Buyer's as your own personal "Problem Finders." If one person mentioned it, you can be sure that others noticed, just didn't remark on it.

• Stage it. This is especially important if you've moved on and your home is now vacant. It's important. It works. You don't even have to go full-bore, but you need to put some furniture in the house.

Take a step back and a deep breath; then evaluate your situation with a clear mind. Then, take the next steps forward to move on...interview another REALTOR (Me! Pick Me!) do another CMA and make a pricing adjustment - fix the problem and get your home back on the market.

Above all, remember that homes are selling every day in Bucks County. Your home WILL sell.

2008 Profile of a Pennsylvanian Home Buyer

The National Association of Realtors have released their 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

So, what did Buyers in Pennsylvania look like last year?

• The median age was 38 years old. For first-time Buyers, the median age was 29 (Go you under-30somethings).
• 66% of home buyers had no children under the age of 18 in the home.
• 59% were married couples, 18% single females, 11% single males, and 9% unmarried couples.
• First time home Buyers accounted for 46% of purchases.

And I thought this was especially relevant:

• 43% of Buyers used social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, etc. (Pssst...look to your Right ->)

So what does this mean for Bucks County Sellers?

Well, for one thing, when staging your home, make sure you're appealing to the right age group. If you're selling an entry level townhome, keep those 20-somethings in mind and make sure that it's not their "parents" house. I'll give you a hint - look to Target for some great decorating ideas.

Another thing to keep in mind is the growth of the single Buyer and the fact that a large percentage of Buyers did not have small children in the home. I've been routinely staging my extra bedrooms as a nursery and a child's room, but perhaps a better option would be as an office/guest room - maybe a daybed and a desk?

Lastly, make sure that you're utilizing social networking sites to sell your home. If you're not participating in any of the sites, ask your Realtor if they are, and if / how they plan to market your home on these sites.

Hey, Mr. Banker! Shovel your Walkway, Dude!

With the increase of Bank Owned Properties on the market right now, I send a plea to Mr. Banker...

Please, for the LOVE OF GOD, shovel your walkways and driveways.

And it wouldn't hurt 'ya any to buck up for some, let's say heat and electricity.

I set up showings for two bank owned properties that have been on the market for 90 and 185 days. The first property had no heat, and while my clients and I walked through with our breath puffing in the air, let's just say this: my clients weren't inclined to linger. We walked back to the gorgeous in-law suite only to find that the electric to that part of the house had been turned off. We think there was a jacuzzi in the completely dark bath. We're not sure.

As we entered the driveway to the second home, my truck slid sideways on the iceslick of a driveway midway up the hill to get to the home. My clients had made it to the top of the hill, but couldn't come down because I had closed off the driveway. I abandoned my truck and soldiered on up the hill, only to have my client wipe out getting out of his car and yelling down to me to forget it. There was no electricilty on - at all - at this house, so we couldn't see anything anyway.

It took me around 10 minutes to get my truck out of the driveway without sliding into a busy road, and I only did so by driving in a ditch and having pine trees rake the side of my car. I then had to park on the shoulder of the road with my hazards on and tell my clients when the road was clear, since they anticipated sliding down the drive into the road without being able to stop the car.

Since we haven't had any snow or ice since last week, I guess it's been that long since anyone, including the agent, had checked on the condition of the property.

Look, I get it. You're trying to minimize your loss. However, you're still allowing the house to be shown. In theory, you're still trying to attract a Buyer. All the basic tenets of showing a property still apply - even to bank owned properties. Lights are necessary. Access to the home is necessary. If you want people to actually take the time to look at the home, HEAT is necessary in the middle of winter.

Give me something to work with, and maybe I can actually sell your home. Whatever your pay for the minimal expense of basic courtesies for the Buyer will surely be outweighed by a shorter marketing period.

Hey Ma! Look what I can do!

I took a webinar today on some seriously cool real estate data software. Exclusive to Prudential Fox & Roach for Bucks County, this software can do all sorts of neat tricks that will help my clients and me navigate the market. I'm really excited to start giving you, my blog readers, some information that will help you understand the real estate market today, and identify trends for moving forward.

As a special little treat, I'm giving you this...

Our median price of sold homes (meaning 1/2 of the homes sold for higher, and 1/2 of the homes sold for lower) in Bucks County has RISEN 2% over the past two years.

Don't get too excited, since some of the other news isn't so rosy. Months supply of inventory has risen 75% in the past two years. However, in general, I'm finding that the information supports what I've been telling my clients. Most of Bucks County isn't seeing precipitous price fallouts, but rather we're seeing lots of inventory, resulting in longer days on market.

Much more to come as I continue to play with my new toy. Want to see what your local area is doing? Shoot me an email! I'd love to send you some spreadsheets reflecting YOUR real estate reality.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Internets...

So, how important IS you web-based marketing strategy? The following statistics are taken from the 2007 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers:

84% of buyers used the Internet to search for homes in 2007 compared to 80% in 2006.

73% of Internet home buyers drove by or viewed a home they found on the Internet.

57% of Internet home buyers walked through a home viewed online.

You absolutely NEED the following:

• Great photos and a virtual tour
• Enhanced realtor.com listing with custom verbiage
• RSS feeds to other real estate websites: trulia.com, oodle.com, google.com, etc.

I always provide a custom website for my sellers to fully utilize and enhance the online presence of my listings. Want some examples? Check out the following:

www.958Decker.com

www.1618Rockcress.com

Want more information? Shoot me an email and I'll be happy to talk online marketing strategy with you!

What a Difference a Cookie Makes

I was showing homes on Thursday, and I've come to the conclusion that a cookie can make a big difference. We toured several properties in the same neighborhood. The first property we walked into, the Seller had left a small plate of cookies by the brochures. But it wasn't just the cookies - it was the whole experience she created. Candles were lit, soft music was playing, towels were stacked neatly in the baths. Was the home perfectly staged? No. The closet was filled with clothes and the children's rooms weren't neutral. There was an odd family photo throughout the home. But it was staged in the sense that the Seller made the home welcoming. It felt like a happy family lived there, and loved the home, and took care of it.

The next home we went to had beautiful new cherry hardwoods. It had an expanded kitchen with miles of granite. It had an extra full bath. It was spotlessly clean.

But it didn't have a plate of cookies. And there was something missing from the experience.

It's a lesson that you don't have to do everything right. You have to do enough to make a difference in the perception of the Buyer. Is it candles? Is it soft music? Or is it taking the time to love your home, and create a sense of welcome for the Buyer? Is it something more intangible?

Or is it the cookies?

Strategies for a Quick Sale

My last few listings have had well under the average days on market (the last two were sold in under 30 days). While I don't have a magic bullet, I do have some smart, common sense strategies to get your home sold fast.

1. Pricing is key. KEY. You want to have a really good market analysis, and not one of these "Oh, here are five 4 bedrooms that have sold in the last 6 months." kind of analysis. You want adjustments made for amenities, lot size, condition, fireplaces, A/C, etc, and comparables from the last 3 months. You want to take a look at your competition in the marketplace. Then you have to resist the urge to overprice your home by $5,000 to "leave room for negotiating" and price your home so that it's a tremendous value for the price range. Compared to the other 4 bedrooms on the market? Your home is the only one priced right, and because everyone else inflated their price by thousands of dollars for "wiggle room," you're usually also the lowest priced.

Doesn't this leave money on the table? Nope. Remember, you're pricing your home where you think it is going to sell, thanks to a thorough market analysis. You're leaving out the "wiggle room" and effectively out-pricing the competition. You're getting more Buyers through your door and creating a sense of value. It's a completely different mindset from "How much are they asking? Let's let it sit until they reduce it." It works.

2. Don't hit the MLS until you're prepared. That means that all the little repairs have been made, the house is staged, and the photos and virtual tour are ready to go. For my clients, I will not enter a home in the MLS until I am ready to load the maximum number of pictures immediately. No pictures, or one picture of the front of the home is the kiss of death in my opinion. You may as well have a flashing neon sign screaming "Dump" next to your address otherwise. No pictures means something is wrong.

Can't you load them in a day or two? Nope. I think you have one chance to grab that Buyer (and a good agent will have Buyers set up to get listings automatically as they hit the MLS). There's an excitement to "Oh, an email from my REALTOR! I hope this is a good one! " If there are no pictures, there's nothing to get excited about. Who knows if they'll ever re-visit the listing to see your interior shots. If they do, much of the excitement of the "new listing" will have worn off.

Get your marketing strategy together (and it better be a good one) and get it ready to go before the first day on the market.

3. Look at the big picture. If you are looking to sell quickly, you can't get caught up with a couple hundred (maybe thousand) dollars, or keeping your washer and dryer, or stubbornly refusing to fix a leaky faucet because, "It's not a big deal." Take a step back, think about your priorities, then move forward accordingly. Price is just one aspect of a deal, and there are many others that often affect your net proceeds. How about a full price offer with a 3 month settlement, as opposed to one $2,000 less with a 30 day settlement? Carrying charges may make the second offer more financially advantageous. Your washer and dryer? Put a dollar amount on them and see if the deal still works with you throwing them in. Make the repairs the Buyer calls for, even if they're stupid, but cost little to repair.

I'm not saying to throw in the towel and bend to Buyer's every demand. I am saying to work with them, especially if it's helping you along to where you want to be. Don't let ego, or hurt feelings, or anger implode a deal that you want to see go to settlement.

Want some more good info? Shoot me an email and I'll go on and on and on for you...

Why it's OK to Sell Your Home in a Down Market

As prices fall, many homeowners are deciding to stay in their homes until the market recovers. However, if you are planning to buy up (move up to a higher price range), it's really ok, and in fact may be a smart move, to move in this market.

Say what???

Although you may have taken a hit on your home price, higher priced homes have taken an even bigger hit on theirs, and you can buy your "move up home" for a lot less money. Say, for instance, prices have decreased 5% in your area. At the top of the boom, you're home was worth $200,000 and you were looking at homes in the $400,000 range. Your home is now worth $190,000, but that $400,000 is now priced at $380,000. You're already up $10,000!

Where you'll see the most financial gain, however, is long term and with market recovery. When the market DOES stabilize, and DOES start to recover, you'll see greater gains because you're at a higher price point. Taking a look at the examples above, and starting with a price of $190,000 and $380,000, even a modest appreciation of 1.5% a year over 5 years will yield $204,684 and $409,368, respectively.



Now, some fair warnings:

1. This is LONG TERM. I don't think anyone is expecting a quick recovery or hand over fist appreciation like we've seen in the past few years. Slow and steady wins the race on this deal.

2. This is assuming that the market doesn't continue to depreciate, and we don't have a complete bust in the market.

Ready to make the move? Should you buy or sell first?

I'll tackle that topic in my next blog posting. Stay tuned..