After 12 years of being a Real Estate Agent, I have found myself once again purchasing my primary residence along with my daughter in Falls Township. My search was quick and precise and I was able to purchase a home of great value well within my budget. Following are the steps that my daughter, Danielle, and I followed in purchasing our home in Falls Township:
1. We gathered our requirements and wrote them down. My daughter’s requirement was simple; kids in neighborhood. We both agreed we wanted a small house so that we didn’t have to spend a lot of time cleaning and maintaining it and that we didn’t want to be “house poor.” My particular requirement was that it had gas cooking, in Falls Township or Yardley and that it had a sizable yard for our dog and an area for to fulfill my love of having a vegetable garden.
2. We found the neighborhood. Since Falls Township has significantly lower taxes and more free services for their residents, we decided to focus our search there. After doing initial drives throughout Falls Township, we picked the following neighborhoods: Fairless Hills, Vermillion Hills, Thornridge, Penns Grant, Yardley Farms, and Pennsbury Heights.
With our requirements in hand we focused on driving through the selected Falls Township neighborhoods multiple times at different times of the day to determine if they would fit our needs. Driving through them we kept an eye out for clues that would meet our requirements. The items we were looking for were things like toys in yards, oil tanks and how the other homes were being kept.
In the selected Falls Township neighborhoods we found Vermillion Hills, Thornridge and Penns Grant had smaller yards with electric cooking so we put them on the bottom of our list. Fairless Hills in Falls Township has gas cooking but most of the yards were 50 x 100. In Pennsbury Heights and the Falls Township part of Yardley Farms the yards are mostly 70 x 110 with gas cooking and those areas ended up at the top of the list.
3. We looked for the homes in Falls Township on the internet that had the worst pictures. Being an Internet Marketing Specialist I know that homes which are staged and have professional pictures sell quicker at a higher price. With that knowledge in mind, I started looking in Falls Township for the “Ugly Ducklings” since they were not getting as many showings and fewer offers.
4. We had an imagination. When we list properties for sell, it does not matter if we list properties in Falls Township or in Upper Makefield, the advice is always the same. We tell our clients that a couple of gallons of paint and some sprucing up of the flower beds could increase the value of their home by 10 percent. Being a buyer we needed to think in reverse. Paint is the cheapest home improvement that a lot of people don’t do. Focusing on the ones that needed a paint job got us to buy a home at a huge discount. Take a couple of weekends after you purchase to paint so that you can buy a home at a discount.
5. We made sure the major systems were in good working order. This is the most costly expense of being a homeowner and can create huge stress in your life if you cannot afford to replace them. In Falls Township they do have a Use and Occupancy requirement which requires the homeowner to get their heating and chimney certified which ensures you are moving in to a safe home.
6. We met the neighbors. That’s right, we met them. We walked through every neighborhood in Falls Township and looked to see who was working in their yards and even knocked the neighbors’ doors to find out if we would fit in. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself have your Real Estate Agent do it with you since it is a common practice in our profession. Remember that they are as interested in you as you are in them.
During our home buying process in Falls Township my family was focused and had a clear vision of what we wanted before we started the process. By doing this we saved everyone a lot of time and money. We currently are scheduled to close on our Pennsbury Heights home in Falls Township in August and we are excited to move in and make this house our home. If you do ever see us around the neighborhood please feel free to say hi.
Joel Gruenke
The Kim Tokar Team
215-962-4326
Keller Williams Real Estate
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