We’re the Key to a Successful Sale

Getting an offer on your home is easy in this market. What’s not easy is making it all the way to the closing table without a Realtor’s assistance.

Right now, it’s a feeding frenzy in the real estate market. We are seeing near-2007 levels of sales prices and pace. You might think selling today would be easy. You’d be partly right. It is easy to get an offer, but it’s much harder to get to the closing date with the offer still intact. I want to share a few important thoughts with you today about how you can make it through your transaction with a little helping hand.

When a buyer makes an offer on your home, there are generally 10 to 20 different people involved in the transaction. You might have a few different buyers, with each of them having a loan officer, an underwriter, an appraiser, a home inspector, and more. There are a lot of expectations to manage and being able to negotiate all the way through to closing is the hard part of the transaction.

Our job is to give you the best advice possible.

Our job as Realtors is to give you the best advice possible. When we review offers with you, we will find out about the buyer’s credit, income, and probability of securing their loan on closing day. We also want to make sure you are protected throughout the inspection process by recommending which repairs to make and referring you to someone who can help you out for a fair price.

If you market your home right, stage it, and price it correctly, you’ll get an offer. However, it will be hard for you to get to the closing table without the help of an experienced professional. If you’re thinking about selling your home, give us a call and we’ll pair you up with a team member who is an expert in your area. We cover Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, parts of Philadelphia County, and the entire state of Delaware. We’re ready to help you today.

If you have any other questions, we’re always here to answer them. Just give us a call or send us an email. We can’t wait to hear from you.

3 Tips to Sell Your House This Year

If you want to sell your house this year, follow these three tips.

Selling a house isn't easy, but if you plan on selling yours in 2017, we can help you make the most of your time on the market. There are three things you can do to make sure you sell your home fast for the most money possible this year:

1. Find the right agent: Not all agents are the same. Sure, we all pass the same tests, but you want to hire an agent with the expertise and knowledge to help you get the most for your home. You want a consultant to help you understand what the market is saying so you get the best advice and marketing. 


Your first showing actually happens online.


2. Hire a professional photographer: Marketing counts, and your first showing actually happens online. Your presence online is of the utmost importance. 
3. Price your home right: You want to pick the price that will cause your home to sell. Price can be up to 80% of your marketing. If the price doesn't seem right, buyers won't make offers—it's that simple. Some people choose to price high from the start to see what they can get, but this can be a risky move that results in your house spending more time on the market and ultimately netting you a lower price. The longer your house is on the market, the more your price will go down. We're in a seller's market, and the only homes not selling here are ones that aren't priced correctly.

We want to help people realize their home selling goals this year and help make it as stress-free as possible. If you have any questions for us or you're ready to get your house on the market, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to helping you!

Why Now Is the Best Time to Sell

If you’re thinking about selling your home, don’t wait until spring. Today I’ll go over a few benefits of beating spring sellers to the market. 

Should you wait until spring to sell your home? In my opinion, no. 

Real estate is a supply and demand business, which means the more homes that are on the market, the less money you will get out of your home sale. 

When buyers have more options, they have more negotiating power.

It’s true we see more homes sold in April, May, June, and July. However, because there are so many more homes on the market, buyers have more options. When buyers have more options, they have more negotiating power. 

If you go on the market in the winter months, you’ll have less competition and you’ll have a much better chance at getting top dollar for your home. 

If you’d like an up-to-date home value or if you’d like some advice on how to add value to your home, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you! 

How to Avoid Overpricing Your Home

When you sell a home, the list price is one of the most important factors. To pinpoint that asking price, there are two major factors to indicate where it should be.

What are the pitfalls of overpricing your home?

When you make the decision to sell your home, one of the most important factors to consider is the list price. As real estate agents, our goal is to get you the most money that the market will bear. 

When you consider what that list price will be, you want to examine a few factors. What are the recent sales and market history of your neighborhood, dating back at least six months? At what price point will your home show the greatest value to the largest amount of buyers? 

When considering list price, there are two major factors.

If buyers can't see the value in your home through things like the marketing, it's going to result in limited showings and traffic through your home and potentially no offers. Examining these two factors can ensure that you have a competitive pricing strategy.

Statistically, we find that sellers receive the highest and best prices on their home in the first 30 days of the listing. That's important because those people shopping in your area will likely see it within the first 24 to 48 hours after it goes live. At that point, they will make a decision about whether they see value at the price you're asking and whether they want to schedule a showing. 

You must pull a buyer from the pool of the first surge of buyers that come through your home in the first 10 days of the listing because that is your market. If you haven't received any offers once that surge is gone, you'll need to go back and examine whether your marketing is working, the condition of the home, and your price. The longer a property sits on the market (more than 30, 60, or even 90 days), the lesser the sense of urgency or competition on it.

When buyers see a home and like it in the first weekend, then somebody else will as well, so they need to make a strong offer to ensure they can lock up that prized property that they really want. That's the competition and urgency you lose when the property sits on the market; offers that do come in will be lower.

Which indicators can let you know you're on the right track? Well, once your listing goes live, if your home is in great condition, in a great location, and your marketing is working, you can point to price if you don't have any showings in the first 10 days. If you've had 10 showings and no offers, you also need to examine price. The market will tell you exactly what you need to do every three to four weeks.

I hope this topic was insightful for you. If you have any questions about pricing your home properly or you have questions about the Pennsylvania real estate market, give us a call or send us an email. We're here to help.

What Are the First Steps to Selling a Home?

Chester County Real Estate Agent Matt Fetick reviews some of the important variables for staging a home to sell.

There is a wide selection of top-quality homes to choose from throughout Chester County and Northern Delaware. If you're interested in looking at all the current homes that are listed, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering putting your home on the market, CLICK HERE to obtain a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding Chester County Real Estate or the value of your home, please feel free to call or text me at (484) 727-4070.

 We know there are a lot of things you have to do to prepare to sell your home. We have some suggestions for you today, ones that we offer up to all of our clients off the bat to help them get ready for marketing and showing their home.

The first thing we want to do is get the home "HGTV-ready." This means cleaning surfaces, taking photos, personal items, and other clutter down and making everything look neutral. We provide our clients with a consultation with one of our stagers so that we can get your home looking its best.

Curb appeal is another thing that gets buyers in the door. Making sure you have any outdoor items put away and outdoor furniture organized will make a good first impression on buyers.

Another thing you should do is have your utility information available so we can complete the paperwork to give buyers an idea of how much it costs to live in your home.

In addition, we have an extensive network of trusted vendors that help our clients. Everything from painters, landscapers, plumbers, cleaners, electricians, and many more. We want to make sure all your needs are met and your expectations are exceeded.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via call, text, or email. We would love to hear from you!

Where Can You Find the Most Relevant Real Estate Data?

There is a wide selection of top-quality homes to choose from throughout Chester County and Northern Delaware. If you're interested in looking at all the current homes that are listed, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering putting your home on the market, CLICK HERE to obtain a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding Chester County Real Estate or the value of your home, please feel free to call or text me at (484) 727-4070.

Many people are unsure how to effectively use the internet to find the best real estate information. The ubiquity of Zillow and Trulia really makes it difficult to get the hard facts. While those sites are great places to go to find basic information, most of it is pretty inaccurate. The attention to detail and reliability just aren't there.

It's best to get an agent involved as soon as you start a search. The algorithms these sites use to determine your home's value and the data they use to show available listings are unreliable. For instance, here in the Philadelphia area we have homes built in the 1800s that are only blocks away from new construction - you can't compare a 19th century home's square footage with one that was built yesterday. Yet that's exactly what Zillow and Trulia do.

At the end of the day, you need somebody from our team to walk you through the real values, so you know what's really going on in the market. Sure, WebMD is a great place for general health information, but wouldn't you rather have a doctor's word than an online diagnosis? Real estate is no different - we are professionals who are here to make sure you make the best possible decisions in the marketplace.

If you have any questions about the Greater Philadelphia area market, or want to buy or sell a home, don't hesitate to contact us. We enjoy walking through homes and talking real estate, and we would love to do so with you!
 

Should You Wait Until Spring to Sell Your Home?

There is a wide selection of top-quality homes to choose from throughout Chester County and Northern Delaware. If you're interested in looking at all the current homes that are listed, GO HERE to perform a Full Home Search, or if you're considering putting your home on the market, CLICK HERE to obtain a Free Home Value Report. For any other questions you have regarding Chester County Real Estate or the value of your home, please feel free to call or text me at (484) 727-4070.

Most people think the spring is the best time to sell their homes. While the spring and early summer seasons typically bring out many buyers, they also bring out a large number of sellers.

In the fall and early winter months there are fewer available listings, which means you'll have less competition. You'll be able to attract more attention from potential buyers to your home, because there will be less to choose from.

Another reason the fall is a great time to sell your home is that people who move in the fall are doing so because they have to. They are more motivated to find a great home quickly. Additionally, occupational relocation happens at the beginning of the year, so there are many buyers from out of the area shopping in the fall.

There are many reasons to sell in the fall - if you or anyone you know is hesitant about putting their home on the market soon, give us a call. We'll help you get the highest value for your home in the shortest period of time.