Advice for First Time Home Buyers in Bucks County

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Today we have our buyer’s agent with us and he will be speaking about some things that first-time buyers in Bucks County should know. He will also speak about some things to avoid if you are a first time buyer in Bucks County.

For starters, buyers should know that lenders are a little more lenient than expected. You can qualify for a loan with a credit score just above 600. You don’t need an 850 score and 20% down to qualify for a loan. All you really need to put down for a $200,000 home is $8,000 to $10,000. It’s important to recognize that you don’t need a fortune to get into a home. However, it’s important to know your budget and not overexert yourself financially. Purchase something that you can comfortably afford.

"Get pre-approved to find out what you can afford to purchase."

As far as inspections go, we recommend that every single client has one performed on their prospective home. Even newly-built homes will have problems, so it is always a good idea to get yours inspected. It is well worth the few hundred dollars you spend on the inspection. You don’t want to buy a home and then find out that you need a new roof.

We also like to educate our buyers on the tax benefits of buying a home. You can save a few thousand dollars every year from mortgage interest write-offs. It’s okay to spend more monthly on a home than a rental because of this tax difference, but many people simply don’t understand this.

If you have any further questions about buying a home in Bucks County, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to speaking with you!

Avoid Missing Out as a For Sale By Owner Seller

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For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sellers typically sell their home for 15% to 20% less compared to homes listed with a real estate agent. That’s a big difference. In fact, most FSBO sellers already knew their buyer prior to the transaction. That means these properties aren’t usually marketed towards a wide audience. Today, I’ll share three tips for FSBO sellers.

• Watch out for missed opportunities. When someone calls to schedule a viewing, make it available and respond quickly. This is critical for buyer-seller contact.

• Don’t underestimate the amount of time it takes to prepare your home. You need to spruce up your home and make it shine! That’s how you draw in potential buyers. Additionally you need to obtain certifications and fill out disclosures. It really takes time to attract buyers.

• Watch out for accidental brush offs. There are millions of people searching on the web. Don’t solely rely on the MLS to advertise your home. There are other efficient ways to lure in a buyer online.

If you’ve already tried the FSBO route and would like an expert’s advice, feel free to reach out to me by phone or email. I’d be happy to answer any real estate questions you might have!

Four Important Factors for Bucks & Montgomery County Sellers

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As an experienced Realtor, I predominantly focus on four factors: price, condition, location, and marketing. These are the four key areas to sell a home quickly in the Bucks and Montgomery county area.

1. Price: Your property needs to be at an appropriate price to compete with similar homes in the market. You’ll receive more offers with a low price compared to a higher one.
   
   
2. Condition: The condition of your home should be better than the competition. Your home should be as nice as you can possibly make it. Ensure to clean every crevice and remove unnecessary clutter. Bring in a stager in if possible!
   
   
3. Location: While you can’t change location, you can make your property shine on the outside. If your location isn’t exactly what a buyer is looking for, you have the potential to overcome that.
   
   
4. Marketing: This is where the professional comes in. Your Realtor should have strategies lined up to attract potential buyers. Your listing should be receiving a lot of online activity. We do social media, video marketing, and advertise on websites all over the world.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the surrounding area, give me a call or email! We can help you sell quickly and for top dollar this year. Additionally, I’m always here to answer any real estate questions you might have!

Where Is the Bucks and Montgomery County Market Heading?

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Buyer traffic between July and September was very strong across the United States. For that same time period, however, seller traffic has been pretty weak nationwide. In other words, the demand for homes is outpacing the supply, which means we need more homeowners to step up and sell their homes!

Our goal is to get more sellers involved in the marketplace. A balanced market is a six-month supply, anything over is a buyer's market and anything under is seller's market. Right now, our inventory is sitting at 4.6 months, which means sellers currently have a huge advantage!
 

Despite the fact that we didn't have too many sellers in the marketplace, existing sales in the marketplace are way up year over year. Not only are homes selling -- they're selling quickly because inventory is low!

If you're ready to sell your home, there's simply no reason to wait! The market is in fantastic shape for sellers, so now is the time to start preparing your home for the market!

If you have any questions about our market, or if you would like real estate help of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

When Is the Right Time to Sell?

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As the holidays approach, many sellers wonder whether they should take their home off the market and just wait until the spring season. Today, I want to share the pros and cons of selling now.

The most important thing to remember is that the best time to sell is when you're ready to. Conventional wisdom typically says that the winter is not a great time to sell, but now that the Internet plays such a huge role in real estate, buyers can look at homes year-round. The holidays don't stop people from buying and selling homes like they used to.

To be fair, there are fewer buyers in the cold months here in Bucks & Montgomery County. However, the buyers who do come out to view homes in the cold are quality buyers who are serious about making their move. Although there are fewer buyers in the winter, there are also fewer sellers, which means homeowners have less competition when listing in the winter months.

Recently, the Fed has made it clear that they intend to raise interest rates. When rates start to rise, it will take many buyers out of the market as their ability to afford a home will decrease as rates increase. This is why we highly encourage you to buy or sell now before rising rates negatively impact our market  

If you have any questions about the current market, or if you would like our assistance buying or selling this winter, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

Why Should You Consider a Pre-Listing Home Inspection?

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Lately, there has been a trend developing in the real estate industry regarding home inspections. Many sellers are now choosing to do a pre-listing home inspection before they even put their home on the market. Today I have brought in my favorite home inspection expert, Rick Ray from Spy Inspection Services, to talk about the advantages of getting a pre-listing home inspections. There are 6 main benefits. They are:

1.  Choices

With a pre-listing home inspection, the seller is in control. They can choose when they want to have the inspection done, who they want to do the inspection, and they also have the opportunity to inform the inspector about upgrades or improvements made to the home. 

2. Flexibility

Once you have the pre-listing home inspection report, you can be proactive about any changes or improvements that need to be made to the home in order to sell for the highest amount of money possible, according to the home inspector. It also gives you ample time to get competitive bids put together in order to do those changes and upgrades, which is often more cost-effective than having to do improvements based on the buyer’s inspection.

3. Putting together an accurate listing price

This is huge. A lot of times this accurate listing price can be put together in a way where we actually get a higher asking price because the home was inspected better than we thought. It also limits re-negotiations by identifying problems ahead of time.

4. Full disclosure

This is huge for buyers. By providing this pre-listing inspection, you give the buyers more confidence in their purchase. When they get the inspection report and see the third-party evaluation, it lets them know you are trustworthy and they might even waive their own inspection as a result.

5. Less stress

When all of these things are combined, it leads to much less stress for both buyer and seller.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. If you want to get a hold of Rick for any of your home inspection needs, give him a call at (215) 362-1234 or send an email to info@spyinspections.com.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

The Best Place to Live

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Many relocating buyers ask me why Montgomery & Bucks County is such a great place to live. 

There are really too many reasons to mention, but if I had to narrow it down, I would say one thing is we are a mere three-hour drive from 25% of the population of the United States.

We have the best of everything. We have the city, the suburbs, and the country. We have the best schools and beautiful farms. Our schools compete with private schools throughout the nation. The weather is great through all four seasons. Winter is about two months long, and then it's spring again 

We are also very close to Philadelphia, the birthplace of our nation, so our area is rich with national history. 

No matter what you're looking for, you'll find it here. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

What Simple, Inexpensive Updates Can You Make on Your Home?

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If you are looking to sell your home, your goal is to get the most money possible in the shortest amount of time. One of the best ways to add value and appeal to your home is through home staging. Home staging is the art of selling a home faster by making a home more appealing to the right buyer. You have a lot of options for how you want to go about it. You could hire a professional staging company, which could be substantially costly. However, most of the time, a few simple fixes is all it takes to transform a living room. 

Today we are going to go through some of our most favorite, inexpensive home staging tips for you. We hope these will help you save both time and money when it comes time to sell your home.

A fresh coat of paint is always a good idea. Neutral, warm colors work best for highlighting the natural light in your home. This will make it easier to brighten the room with some colorful accessories and pull everything together.

A common design problem facing many homeowners is that they have no real entry way, as their front door opens up to the living room. To fix this, you can add a table, some lighting, and a rug to "fake a foyer" and make it feel like the living room and entryway are two different spaces.

A patterned rug, some pillows, or bright curtains add a ton of texture and an eclectic layer to the space, which is essential to a well-designed room.

In some cases, a "make-under" is just what you need. In the case of most fireplaces, taking some accessories and clutter away enhances the look and feel of the room greatly.

You could spend well over a few thousand dollars with a staging company, or you could do these fixes yourself for around $500. That's a small investment considering the value that you add to your home by adding those pieces.

If you have any questions for us about staging your home or anything else real estate related, give us a call or send over a quick email. We are always here to help, and would love to hear from you!

How Can You Buy and Sell Simultaneously in Bucks & Montgomery County

A lot of home sellers also need to buy a home. This creates a common problem where people need to buy and sell simultaneously. This can be a logistical nightmare if proper planning and organization are not involved. 

1. Selling first and then buying: You can sell your home and get equity to help you buy another, but then you have to hurry to find another home if you want to avoid having to use interim housing.


2. Buying a home and then selling: This is a good option if you can afford it. Rushing into a home purchase is risky, and we don't recommend it. Paying a double mortgage is difficult even for people who can afford it, but this strategy also allows you to focus energy on selling your home for top dollar.


3. Buying and selling at the same time: This is where my experience comes in. We can use contingency clauses to ensure that as soon as you sell, you have a home to move into. This strategy takes a lot of communication and planning, but it's entirely possible and we've done it many times before.

If you need any assistance when you're buying, selling, or doing both at the same time, please don't hesitate to contact me.

When is the Best Time to Sell Your Home?

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People often ask me when the best time to sell a home is, and I think it's always a good time to sell. We see more activity in the market during the summer, so your home will have an increased chance to sell quicker and for more money. 

The benefit of selling during the summer would be the lower amount of inventory around here. With less competition and more demand, you would have a good chance to sell well. Even when there are fewer buyers in the market, they do tend to be more serious. These buyers usually have children that need to be in school by the fall, so they're not going to play around very much. 

When selling in the summer months, I would make sure that the price and condition of your home is your biggest concern. The price needs to be comparable to other homes in the area, and it's very important not to overprice a home. As far as condition goes, I would recommend getting a home inspection done so that you can make repairs before your buyers come in and view the home. 

On a side note, it's very important to keep your home cool in the summer. You don't want your buyers thinking that the AC system doesn't work, because on a hot day, this could be a deal breaker. 

If you're thinking of selling this summer, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would love to come out to your home and discuss what can be done to sell it for top dollar!