Can wallpaper or designer paint keep your (city) house from selling?

It could, or it could cause the offers you do get to come in lower. The fact is that today, more and more buyers want a house that’s “move-in ready.” They don’t want to spend the time or the money to make changes.

 

In addition, some buyers are unable to “see” past paint or wallpaper that is displeasing to them. They can’t envision how much they’d like the house if the walls were a neutral color, so they move on to the next house. Some also have trouble envisioning the size of rooms if the walls are painted or papered in a dark color.

 

First, the wallpaper. Plenty of people love it. If they didn't, interior design stores in the Tamaqua area wouldn't sell it. So – why do agents warn that your house won't sell if you have wallpapered walls?

 

Because wallpaper reflects individual taste. Each person has their own idea of what's beautiful and what's ugly. One of the trends this past year has been wallpaper with flowers two or three feet across, splashed against a black or maroon background. Obviously, some love it, while others would turn an immediate thumbs-down.

 

The wallpaper in your home reflects your taste – and the chance that your taste and a buyer's taste are alike is at best slim.

 

If you can, the best thing to do is to remove that wallpaper and paint the walls in one of the seasons' most popular neutrals. If you can't, at least get a bid from a reputable painting contractor. Find out what it will cost and how long it will take to remove or replace that wallpaper. Then let your agent have that information to pass along to potential buyers.

 

Paint is admittedly easier to change, but again, not everyone wants to take the time and expense to do it.

 

If you're searching for a Tamaqua home and you see wallpaper or paint that you don't like, don't let that detail keep you away from a house that otherwise meets all your requirements. Remember that wallpaper and paint are temporary. You CAN change them.

 

Focus instead on the location, the floor plan, the room sizes, and the way you and yours will use the home. Envision it with the paper or paint of your choice – and with your own belongings on the walls and in the rooms.

 

Are you ready to explore homes for sale here in Tamaqua? Call me! I’d love to help you find just the right one.

If your Tamaqua home sells quickly…

If you have an offer in hand when your Tamaqua home has been on the market for only a few days, you might begin to wonder if you set the price too low. You may be thinking:

• If I take this offer will I be making a huge mistake?
• Does it mean I’ve set the price too low?
• Should I hold off on responding to a first offer, hoping for a higher offer or a bidding war?

The answer to all three questions is no. If your agent prepared a comprehensive market analysis and accurately compared your home to others that have sold recently, the price is probably exactly where it should be, give or take a small amount.

Of course you should have reviewed the market analysis – a professional agent will have reviewed it with you to show you how he or she arrived at the suggested selling price.

Buyers these days are well-informed. They’ve visited real estate websites, viewed photos, read descriptions, and have a pretty fair idea of how a home should be priced. When they are serious about owning and home; and when see the home that pleases them at the price that’s correct, they hurry to make an offer before it’s gone.

Should you  hold off? Should you wait and see if a different buyer will offer a higher price? No – because this may be the only buyer for whom the house is “just right.” If you fail to respond in a timely manner they may move on. This is especially likely if they feel that you are using their offer as a tool to get higher offers.

Look carefully at each serious offer, even if it comes within hours of your home being presented to the market. If the price and terms are what you asked for, accept it. If they are not, work with your agent to present a counter offer.

Sometimes the first offer is the best offer and sometimes it’s the only offer. And… sometimes buyers are trying to “get a good deal” but will come up to full price if you politely counter a low offer.

Are you ready to list your home here in Tamaqua? Call me – I’ll prepare an accurate market analysis to assist in pricing, and I’ll be by your side to discuss the offers and negotiate when necessary.

Is a “Smart Home” a smart choice for you?

Smart home technology seems to be the latest and greatest feature that home buyers want. Estimates are that right now more than 30% of all homes have some type of smart home technology, and that number is expected to reach 53% by 2022.

 

In a smart home, the resident can use his or her phone or other mobile device to lock and unlock the doors, and that’s just the beginning. They can also control heating and air conditioning units, security systems, sound systems, light fixtures, window blinds, refrigerators, stoves, washers, and dryers.

 

Some appliances, such as refrigerators, are now computers in their own right. They can do everything from coordinating your family’s schedule to alerting you when you’re low on milk or eggs. Learn more here.

 

Manufacturers say that a smart stove can even make you a better cook. Of course, both smart refrigerators and smart stoves run on WiFi to connect you to the Internet.

 

Who wouldn’t want that? WHY wouldn’t they want it?

For starters, cross-compatibility is still an issue. Just as one size of ink cartridge might not fit all of your printers, one program might not run all of your smart home technology.

 

More troubling is the fact the technology is far from problem free. Anyone who uses a computer with regularity knows that glitches do occur, and hacking is always a threat.

 

You’ve no doubt heard of ransom-ware. What if you were locked out of your home until you paid a ransom? Or, what if a hacker simply stole your code and gained easy access to your home the next time you were gone for the day?

 

Infections spread quickly through computers and networks. If your laptop or desktop computer is hacked, the cyber thief might easily gain control of the technology controlling all of the systems in your home.

 

Code flaws happen. These are computers, and like all computers, they sometimes have glitches. Your glitch might turn off the heat in the dead of winter or turn off your refrigerator or freezer in the heat of summer. Or – it might lock you out of the house.

 

Support is not what you might expect. Face it, human tech experts cost money, so manufacturers rely more and more on artificial intelligence to provide support. If you’ve ever tried to explain a technology problem to an automated voice, you know just how frustrating that can be.

 

Maintenance and record-keeping are crucial. If you don’t love the idea of managing passwords, regularly reviewing system data, and carrying out routine maintenance/ backups for both individual equipment and the whole system, smart home technology might not be a good choice for you.

 

Remember that you’ll also need to keep a detailed inventory of your smart home features, including date of purchase, brand, model numbers, and maintenance schedules/dates. You’ll use this information when calling for tech support, when making a claim under your warranty, when making an insurance claim, and when selling your home.

 

Care of your controller is essential. Just think, if you use your smartphone or iPad to control your systems, and something happens to that device, you could be in a mess. If your device is broken or the batteries die – what then? Will you or other family members be able to control your smart devices manually? Will you even be able to get into the house? And if it is lost or stolen, who knows what criminal might have just gained access to your home?

 

Only you can decide whether the conveniences outweigh the possible inconveniences. If you’re thrilled with the idea, only you can decide which parts of your home you want controlled by smart technology. You have plenty of choices.

 

Are you thinking of buying a home here in Tamaqua? If so, I’ll be happy to help you find it – whether you’re looking for a smart home, a home that can easily be converted to smart features, or a traditional home with manual control of everything.

Do You Really Need an Agent to Buy or Sell a Home in Tamaqua?

You have Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and dozens of other websites offering homes for sale. Do you really need an agent to buy or sell a home in Tamaqua?

 

Some believe that real estate agents will go the way of most travel agencies – phased out as no longer necessary because 92% of all home buyers now shop on line.

 

But of course it isn't true. Real estate agents provide services that websites do not and cannot.

 

Here are just a few reasons why home buyers and sellers in Tamaqua still need agents:

 

Accurate pricing. A computer can only make comparisons based on square footage and the general area. It doesn't know all the other details that make a huge difference in the selling price of a home.

 

That computer doesn't know the details about your home, nor the details about the homes it is using for a comparison to your home.

 

For instance, it doesn't know if the walls are a pleasant neutral or psychedelic pink, if the cabinets are custom made or of WalMart quality, or if there's a cat's litter box smelling up the whole house – and it doesn't know that two identical homes across the street from each other may have different values because one falls into a more desirable school district. And that's just a sampling of the details that affect a home's value.

 

The computer also doesn’t know if changes are coming to the community – such as the construction of a landfill or a new shopping center.

 

Up-to-date listings. Since those websites allow homeowners to post their own listings, and since no one monitors those listings, you're apt to find homes listed that have been sold long ago. That's a feature that's frustrating for you as a buyer – and for me as an agent when I try to locate homes after a buyer asks to see them.

 

Photos and descriptions that entice buyers. With more than 90% of buyers looking on line to choose the homes they want to see, the photos and property descriptions are important. Agents either become expert in taking these photos and writing these descriptions, or they hire professionals to help them.

 

Paperwork. Most buyers and sellers are amazed at the number of seller disclosures required and the number of details that must be addressed in a purchase and sale agreement. Without completing these forms properly,  buyers and sellers are leaving themselves at risk of a future lawsuit.

 

Negotiation. If the day comes when homes are priced with a "take it or leave it" sticker, just like a can of peas on a grocer’s shelf, agents will be slightly less valuable. For now, negotiation is a big part of the process, and it involves a human touch.  Does the computer know the seller's motivation? Does it know whether the buyer is willing to walk away over an extra $1,000?

 

The real work of getting from agreement to closing. Matching a buyer and house and coming to agreement on price and terms is the easy part of a real estate transaction.

 

The real work comes in managing all those tasks and challenges that occur between agreement and closing. No computer program on earth can take the place of an agent who knows how to explain those steps; how to give reassurance when the going gets tough; how to locate and gain cooperation from the right people when there's a glitch in the title; how to coordinate people and events so everything gets done on time; how to smooth ruffled feathers when buyer and seller are at odds; and a dozen other things.

 

You have online resources - use them to get a general idea about the homes for sale and the price ranges in the area of Tamaqua that interests you. Then call me to get the facts and the assistance you need to successfully purchase or sell a home.

3 Reasons why FSBO’s Sell for Less in Tamaqua

Research shows that nationwide, homes offered for sale without the assistance of a real estate professional sell, on average, for 13% less.

 

Why does this happen?

 

First of all, FSBO sellers don’t have access to sales statistics, so they don’t know how their homes should be priced in the current market. They may price too low and get a quick sale. Or, they may price too high and the house will stay for sale too long.

 

Whether listed with an agent or offered by a homeowner, overpriced homes stay on the market too long and almost always eventually sell for less than market value. It could be because potential buyers think there must be something wrong with the house because it hasn’t sold. It could be because they think the sellers are probably getting desperate.

 

Second, FSBO sellers simply cannot give their homes the market exposure that an agent can. They don’t have access to the myriad of on-line real estate portals, they don’t have a list of buyers waiting for the right home, and they don’t have connections with agents who will bring buyers.

 

Even if the by-owner seller is willing to pay a buyers’ agent, many Tamaqua buyer agents try to avoid showing FSBO homes. They know that it often means having to do the work for both sides of the transaction while earning only half the commission.

 

Quite often sellers aren’t prepared with the proper disclosures and documentation that a listing agent routinely gathers. It’s not their fault – because real estate is not their business, they don’t even know about many of the required forms.

Third, buyers know that Tamaqua FSBO sellers aren’t paying a listing agent, and they want to share in that savings. With fewer buyers looking, there may be only one offer, so sellers take it even if it's too low.

 

Selling by owner can cost you money. It’s also a lot of work and a huge time commitment. If you think about it, it's almost like paying thousands of dollars to get an extra job.

 

So if you’re ready to get your Tamaqua home sold, call me. I’ll do the work required to help you get top dollar in today’s market.