home selling: It kills me to turn down a listing....
- 05/04/19 09:53 AM
But sometimes that is the only choice.
I had sold Janice (not her real name) her house 5 years ago, so I knew she was a bit neurotic. I did much more hand-holding in the process than usual but I got a lot of satisfaction too. I got Janice out of a basement apartment, into a pleasant row house with a yard. She took up gardening. She made a good financial move. Her mortgage payment was cheaper than her rent. At 47 years old, Janice became a homeowner building equity.
First red flad: No good reason to sell. Janice is fed up with … (3 comments)
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home selling: The Best of Chestnut Hill, PA 19118
- 09/11/14 01:09 AM
http://mls.homejab.com/?p=350 Take the video tour of 7724 Devon, Philadelphia, PA 19118. Let me know what you think of this charming, low maintenance, 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home.
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home selling: Too Busy for a 2nd Showing? Are you nuts?
- 08/12/14 02:49 AM
My buyers were really excited about a house I showed them. The young wife wanted to bring her father to see it the next day. The sellers declined the appointment. That proved fatal! I know that couple was going to buy that house. After 14 years, I just know. But life intervenes. The couple had a camping trip planned. It is mid-August. The wife is a teacher. School is about to start back up. More important, the husband is off to National Guard training for four months--starting end of September. A week delay meant they would have really have to rush. … (5 comments)
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home selling: Left Over Paint--Good for touch ups? Or get rid of it?
- 08/12/14 02:26 AM
**My clients recently bought a house that was painted in attractive but bold colors. At the final walk through, when the art and pictures were taken down, the walls had typical, picture hook pock marks. I assumed there would be touch up paint in the garage or basement. But no.
**Another client of mine was the seller. He thoughtfully left a few cans of paint for touch up. A crabby old buyer got huffy at the final walk through. His agent stepped up and took the paint away.
**Is there a new protocol for touch up paint? It is a hazardous … (2 comments)
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home selling: For Sale By Owner....Logic from her Brother the Real Estate Attorney
- 05/28/14 11:06 PM
My now-clients called a For Sale By Owner before they met me. I said, "No problem. FSBO sellers will pay me." Every FSBO I have ever called has offered to pay at least 2% to a buyer agent. So I called the number. Harry, the seller's brother, was very pleasant, but he made it clear that he would not pay anything to the buyer's realtor. His logic: The buyers should pay the equivalent of the sale price plus the commission to the seller. Huh? I honestly want the best house at the best price for all my clients. I encouraged the … (0 comments)
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home selling: Taste Specific: How could they pick that kitchen for that house????
- 05/05/14 12:48 AM
I love the House Hunters phrase "taste specific" instead of ugly kitchen. It would be a dull world if everyone's house looked like House Beautiful. However, real estate is an investment and redoing your kitchen in the trend of the moment is risky if you don't plan to be there for 25+ years. My friend's father was a very successful corporate executive. He moved every 5 to 7 years. He was a serious cook. He redid every kitchen when they moved in to make it white and timeless. By necessity, he had an eye on resale. I just showed a 100 … (0 comments)
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home selling: Just Jiggle It????
- 05/02/14 04:51 AM
Showing homes to buyers is tough enough when the keys work. But when the listing agent leaves a copy of a copy of a copy? And the key is really tough....Gad. Buyers really hate standing around while agents fiddle with keys. After 15 years, I practically have the touch of a safe cracker, but some keys are just so poor. On two different showings last week, I could not work they key in the front door but luckily, I successfully used the keys on the back doors. At another house, we just had to skip the showing because the key would … (1 comments)
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home selling: Light sells! Bring in the Light!
- 04/09/14 04:51 AM
No one stages better than Starr Osbourne! Love this tip from House Beautiful's interview with Starr:
Bring in the light. "Light sells," says Osborne. Unless you have a really bad view, let your windows breathe, Osborne says. Get rid of the curtains and drapes, and open the sheers. In addition to natural light, make sure that every room has three sources of artificial light, not including overhead fixtures, says Osborne; you'll help cast out shadows and accentuate welcomed attributes. Get Starr's book Home Staging that Works on Amazon. I give it to all my sellers. How to Stage Your Home to Sell … (0 comments)
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home selling: Sellers: Don't Suffer more than you have to.
- 01/19/14 01:10 AM
Repeat after me: "My house is now a product." Yes, your children grew up there. You took your holiday pictures in the front yard. Yes, you've spent lots of money on maintenance and remodeling. But now you are selling. Step back. Buy Starr Osborne's book Home Staging That Works. Put away the family pictures and one third to one half of your stuff. Fix what needs to be fixed. Get the house really clean--Q-Tip clean. Re-paint with neutral colors. Your house is now a product--in competition with all the others. Don't take it personally when the buyers say the bedrooms are … (0 comments)
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home selling: Polar Vortex and Vacant House
- 01/19/14 12:44 AM
Philadelphia has a great climate: Four seasons....Long spring and fall...Winter not too brutal. It is very rare that our winter temperatures drop below 20 degrees. Philly is famous for its row houses: rows of townhouses that share walls with the townhouses on either side. That makes them cheaper to heat. The owners of one townhouse moved out and set the therostadt to 55-degrees. That should have been fine. But alas, near zero temperatures hit. A pipe behind the wall somewhere burst. Next week, another artic blast is coming our way. What should we do to make the vacant house secure????
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home selling: Pounding Sand! Take this Home Sale Contingency....
- 09/11/13 12:48 AM
A classic "granny" house in a popular school district: wall paper, old kitchen, only one bath! Asking $289. Only 3 days after it hit the market, my buyers offered asking price with a contingency to sell their rehabbed, nearby house on a busier street. Huffy listing agent immedidately rejected it. The house sold after a month for $269. That seller lost $20,000! I think their agent did a bad job for them. Thoughts?
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home selling: First Floor Powder Room--dealbreaker?
- 01/23/12 07:02 AM
Things come in waves. My buyers are all asking for 1st floor powder rooms. In the average, 60-year-old houses that I sell, some have them and some don't. I get it that some people have elderly relatives that need them, but these days it seems everybody wants one. I don't think they make sense unless they are designed into the space. Who wants to hear a toilet flush during a party? Is it worth cramming one in by a kitchen?
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home selling: Say "No" to candles and plug ins.
- 01/03/12 05:11 AM
I hate candles and plug ins. I don't think they help homes sell.
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home selling: New series: Getting your house ready for the market in NY Times...
- 09/22/11 10:22 AM
http://nyti.ms/nr5U0U If the house has red walls, should you paint before you go on the market? See what NY Times says! They also suggest some really nice paint colors.
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home selling: Scented Candles are So Over............
- 02/01/11 02:15 AM
Stepping into a home and getting hit with a waft of strawberry or vanilla just doesn't help. The art of scent is personal and tricky. Buyers want homes that smell "clean"....not fruity. So what does "clean" smell like? Not like fried fish dinner or cat litter. In a $750,000 house one time, I opened a small closet and was overcome from the smell of stinky shoes--not sneakers...well-worn women's shoes. The biggest offenders needed to be in plastic boxes--or thrown out. A hanging cedar chip or evergreen scent bag would have helped a lot. My trick for open houses is to use … (5 comments)
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home selling: I put Christmas decorations on Vacant Listings....
- 12/15/10 02:48 AM
Christmas is my holiday but I don't ram it down people's throats. I can't help putting some spare and tasteful wreath or jingle bell swag or festive doormat on my vacant listings. It just makes the home seem like a good neighbor. I also want buyers to be in the holiday spirit and see the home as a gift they can give themselves! Thoughts?
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home selling: HGTV is not Staging...it is Decorating...
- 10/07/10 07:44 AM
I love HGTV...and like so many other fans, I love the last five minutes when the designers "reveal" the redecorated space. It is really fun to see the transformation that ingenuity, paint and a free carpenter can bring. The designer input is the reason we tune in, but for a real life, real estate sale, you don't need a decorating degree or even much creativity. The backbone of staging is not moving furniture around or getting creative with window treatments: The two things that get the house sold are #1. Remove one third to one half of the possessions in the … (5 comments)
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home selling: Should realtors Photoshop houses?
- 10/05/10 02:56 AM
Julia, the author of the blog Hooked On Houses http://hookedonhouses.net , bit.ly/cW85YT, showed photos of a listing where the realtor did not bother with staging--he or she just photoshopped in the furniture! What next? you may ask. I am completely convinced that a furnished house sells faster and for more money than an unfurnished one. Even Ph.D clients have a hard time picturing furniture in a space. Doing it for them gives the house such an advantage. But Photoshop? First of all, it looks a little cheesy. Second, I really think it is deadly to have the MLS pictures of a … (6 comments)
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home selling: Cheap magic for sellers.......
- 09/18/10 08:17 AM
No, I don't own stock in Procter and Gamble. I just love their product: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Maybe it is because I am not a very good housekeeper that I had never heard of it. I read about it in stager Starr Osborne's go-to book Home Staging that Works ($11.95 at Amazon). I give that to all my sellers too. Magic is no over-statement for the "Magic" Eraser. It takes scuff marks and finger marks off walls...cleans up switch plates and bathroom tile grout. It makes Stainless shine. I have a white plastic Jasper Morrison-designed coffee maker by Rowenta that … (4 comments)
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home selling: It is a price war and a beauty contest!
- 09/11/10 05:15 AM
I have two listings: one is beautifully done (The Beauty) and move in ready, the other is a grand old house (The Grand) that needs considerable work. Both have been on the market for several months. At the urging of a neighbor, The Beauty was determined to price high. "I keep thinking of all those trips to home depot," the owner told me. He and his wife are rightly proud of what a great job they did renovating an old lady's house that they got at a big discount. They spent $45,000 on all the improvements. When neither of their adult … (3 comments)
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But sometimes that is the only choice.
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