Real Estate Information Archive

Moving to the country may sound appealing to you however there are a few things you need to think about before doing so.  Living in the country can be rewarding if you are willing to take a few things into consideration before moving there.  Getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city may be just what you are in need of.  In this blog post we are going to give you a few tips for making your move to the country a peaceful one.

• Realize that most homes out in the country require that you have a well.   Well water although great tasting may need a bit of work in order to get it ready to drink.  Sometimes well’s can be costly if you are moving to a rural area that has hard water.  Just be sure to keep this little fact in mind before you move out to the country and you won’t be surprised by it if you end up needing to purchase some sort of water softener. 
• Realize that your commute to work may be a bit longer if you work in the city and choose to purchase land or a home in the country.  If living in the country is important to you and your family then making the sacrifice of driving a little bit further to work may be worth it to all of you.
• Buying land or a home out in the country is also going to mean a more difficult time driving anywhere in the event of inclement weather.   You and your family may have to settle in for a few days and just enjoy one another when bad weather comes once you move out to the country.  This can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the way you look at it.  It is just good to be aware that rural roads typically do not get cleared as fast as roads in the big cities when bad weather sets in.  You may want to consider buying a four wheel drive if you purchase a home in the country so that you can more easily maneuver around the snow covered country roads.
• The cost of trash removal can get quite expensive in the country.  Many folks that live in the country take their trash to the local dump because they can save quite a bit of money that way. 
• If you are considering buying a home in the country to get away from loud neighbors, be aware that you may have to deal with gun shots and folks hunting within walking distance of your home once you move out on a bigger piece of land. 

If moving to the country sounds appealing to you and none of these items we have listed for you to think about bother you, then you are likely going to enjoy living in the peace and tranquility the country life has to offer you. 

Information courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

New Castle Market Watch for June 2015

Information courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

Buying a property through a short sale can be financially beneficial. But, as a real estate buyer, you need to go into the process understanding your market! That means having a knowledgeable realtor and attorney.

A homeowner is “underwater” with their mortgage when they owe more than the value of their home. The term “short sale” comes from the situation where the proceeds from a sale are less than, or “short” of, the amount of debt.

Lenders are motivated to allow a short sale when they perceive it will create more net income than a foreclosure. Sellers are motivated because it puts them in more control of timing, and causes less damage to their credit than foreclosure.

For the buyer, a short sale means a purchase price that is discounted from the normal sale price. However, the market situation with short sales is very specific to your state and your market. Here are some trends across the country…

25% of US homeowners with a mortgage are underwater. That is 10.7 million homes! That percentage is down from 28% in September 2012. It is important to note that 8.3 million of those homes are on the edge of being underwater with a LTV ratio of 90%-110%. The other 2.4 million have an average LTV ratio of 125%.

A primary factor helping that downward trend is a decline in investors’ interest in short sales. A decline in investors buying at discount means prices are moving upward. Increasing prices means increases in value, which means increases in equity for the homeowners.

However, according to RealtyTrac.com it will take years, not months, for the 125% LTV owners to recover enough equity to allow them to sell. That means the short sale opportunities for buyers will be available for a while.

As a buyer of a short sale, be aware the process takes time. All parties have many more documents to review and approve. Your due diligence will take longer. And the process leading to a closing will take longer.

Make sure you are working with a Realtor and an attorney who have experience with short sales in your market.

At least, make sure your Realtor and attorney have actual experience with short sales. Go into the process with a lot of patience.

Information provided by Wilmington De Realtor Tucker Robbins.

If you’re a homebuyer searching for real estate chances are you have found a low inventory of properties.

A low inventory of properties also tends to cause bidding wars to come back. That means homebuyers have to get more creative. Paul Bishop, VP of NAR suggests going beyond the usual market tactics to help you be the first to find homes. Simply getting pre-qualified for a mortgage is not enough anymore.

Here are some tips for creative strategies…

1. Head off the competition by finding “pocket listings.” These are listings that have been contracted for, but haven’t reached the market or been posted on the MLS. There are various reasons for this to happen, many times at the seller’s request. However, the listing broker knows the property is for sale. Tell your agent you want to know immediately of any new properties for sale.
    
2. Get real-time information. Most potential homebuyers depend on the normal flow of information from MLS sites or other sources like Realtor.com. Ask your agent about real-time MLS alerts – emails that go out immediately when a listing goes live. This avoids waiting hours or days before you know about new home for sale.
    
3. Tell your Realtor you want to be notified immediately when the inventory of properties changes – and make sure he or she knows exactly what you are looking for! That does three things for you: it forces you to be very specific about what you want; it tells your Realtor valuable information about your wants; and, it signals just how serious you are about moving on a purchase quickly.
    
4. Don’t be too quick to reject what you think are bad listings! Look past the need for paint, or bad lighting, or unflattering photos. Make sure not to superficially reject any listing that could be a treasure that is just packaged poorly.
    
5. Set your search criteria a bit higher than your actual target price. You are then looking for real estate that is over-priced so you can keep an eye on them to come down.
    
6. Look out for would-be sellers. Tell your Realtor to check property listings that expired weeks or months ago. Get him to contact the sellers to see if they are considering coming back on the market. They may jump at someone like you who is ready to buy!

Develop a strong relationship with your Realtor, get pre-qualified for a mortgage, make sure your credit is clean, and then let your agent know that you are ready to move quickly when the right property comes along. Read here for more general buying tips.

Information courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

I am often asked, “Should sellers fix up their home before selling?” First, let’s talk about the stuff any Realtor is going to tell you so you have context for the rest.

It is easier to sell a house that is attractive to buyers and shows as being well-maintained. That is a matter of doing a little fix-up, but mostly clean-up. Make sure pipes aren’t leaking, for instance. That is relatively easy and not expensive. If your home really needs painting consider doing that. These are not high priced issues. Below we are talking about the expensive items.

If your house has structural defects or other problems that are expensive to fix you have more challenging decisions to make. First, remember that every house has defects! That is simply the nature of a complex structure. Second, savvy buyers know to expect defects so don’t try to hide them. Don’t kid yourself that if a problem can’t be seen easily it won’t be found out.

Most buyers assume there are some problems with any house. If they make an offer that you accept they will pay for a professional home inspector who knows real estate. Good buyer inspectors are very thorough. They are being paid by the buyer and are looking out for the buyer’s interests, not yours. It is not unusual for an inspection report to be in excess of twenty pages…in small type! Being honest with yourself about defects will prepare you better when you are faced with that inspection report.

So, the question becomes “Do I fix the problems before going on the market, or do I make it clear that I am selling “as-is” and discount the price accordingly?” The obvious follow-up question is “If I spend the money before selling, will I get that money back in the final sale price?” The general answer is that it depends on the nature of the defect and magnitude of the likely cost of repair.

Potential buyers are most likely to overestimate the cost if they have to make the repair and under-estimate the cost if the seller is paying. Cost versus value then becomes a negotiation to establishing a final purchase/sale price. If the cost of repair is major, such as a septic system, it makes the most sense to repair it before selling.

The best way to go about making these decisions is to pay a professional home inspector in your real estate market to make an inspection on your behalf as the seller. Their report will give you a thorough list of issues you might be faced with. It will also give you the tool to get estimates from contractors to make the repairs. Then you have a sound basis for making decisions.

An added benefit to having your own inspection on hand is that you have a professional document that you can use when negotiating with a buyer. Be practical and be prepared with your own inspection.

Information courtesy of Wilmington Realtor Tucker Robbins.

If you have recently taken your house off the market and have decided to wait until a better time for you and your family to sell, you have come to the right place.  Here are a few ideas on how to make your house more enjoyable while you stay there.  If you are like most people, once you decide to put your house on the market you naturally start to go ahead and distance yourself from your current home.   This doesn’t have to be the case.  If you take your house off of the market for a while, you are going to want to enjoy the time you have left in your home and there are several ways in which you can do that.  

• Deep clean your home. This may not sound like fun and perhaps it may not be but it will be helpful for your mood while having to live there.  It is also a good idea to deep clean before you sell so that your prospective buyers will notice how clean everything is.  Start with the dirtiest room and move your way to the cleanest. 
• Change your paint colors.  If you have lived in your home for a long time, it is likely that you are tired of the colors that you stare at day in and day out.   Brighten your home up by adding a splash of light color such as a pretty pastel.  You don’t have to change the color in every room, just sprucing up the bathroom will likely make a huge difference. 
• Change your furniture around  and also the pictures on the wall.  You may be surprised at just how much of a difference this little bit of change can make towards helping you to be content in your home.  Again, you don’t have to rearrange every room, why not start out with the living room. 
• Bring some fresh flowers home after a long day at work and set them on the kitchen table.  I know for a fact that fresh flowers will put most any woman into a better frame of mind. 
• You could purchase a few things that you want to use in your new home and go ahead and use them in your current home while you are waiting to list your house back on the market.  A large piece of art should do the trick! 

Hopefully this blog has given you a few ideas of how to make the interim time of being between listings more enjoyable.  Remember also that anything you do to make your home nicer for yourself while you wait to sell it, will also make it nicer for the potential buyers that will be coming to look at your home. 

Information provided by Wilmington DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

If you are in the market to buy or sell a home, you likely will want to do a bit of renovating before doing so.  A great way to spruce up your home in order to sell it is by replacing the old kitchen counter-tops.  This is an easy upgrade that doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg.  Here are a few different kitchen counter-top ideas  to get you started in the right direction and weigh the pros and cons of each.  

• Granite counter-tops are all the rage and it seems that everyone is putting these in their homes these days.  A good thing about granite counter-tops is that it is very hard to damage them.  Granite counter-tops are basically fool proof.  They will cost you around 2,000-6,000 but are well worth the money.  The only con I can think of when it comes to granite counter-tops is that you may need to reseal them every now and again because the edges and corners can chip.  This will need to be done by a professional.
•  Soapstone and marble are some other good ideas for replacing your current counter-tops with as well.  These types of materials will cost you anywhere from 2,800-8,400.  If you have this kind of money to sink into your counter-tops you may find that your home will go for a bit more when it comes to selling it.  Soapstone typically scratches easily and may even stain although it is very beautiful.   Marble also can have these types of problems as well being easily damaged from heat.  If you are selling your home you may be able to get a higher asking price if you put marble or soapstone counter-tops in, but if you are going to be living in your house and you want maintenance free counter-tops you may want to stick with granite instead.  You are going to have beautiful new counter-tops not matter which material you decide to use, so whatever you choose to do will be a winning situation.  
• Quartz is always an option when replacing kitchen counter-tops.  It looks a lot like stone but it won’t require as much maintenance.  You can get all sorts of cool colors if you choose quartz counter-tops.  If you are going to go with quartz counter-tops I would suggest that you have the edges rounded as they can sometimes chip and need to be repaired. 

Hopefully this blog has given you a few ideas if you are planning to replace your kitchen counter-tops.   Whether you plan to live in your home for many more years or you are planning to put it on the market, a nice new kitchen counter-top can do a lot for a home. 

Information provided by Wilmington DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

The summer storm season is here and there are things that you may need to do to prepare your home for them.  In this blog post today we will give you a few tips on how to prepare your home for the upcoming storm season. 

• First, fix any damage the past winter has done to your roof.  You may need to replace a few shingles or you may even have to replace the entire roof.  Hire a professional if you don’t know much about how to fix your own roof.  You don’t want storms coming if you have damage to your roof because you may end up with damage on the inside of your house as a result. 
• Check to make sure your gutters are not full of debris and leaves.   During the winter months gutters tend to go un-checked.  If your gutters are full, the first summer storm that comes your way will most likely cause you and anyone who enters your home to get a hat full of rain water.  Take care of things like this before storm season arrives and you will be glad you did. 
• Have a professional come out and check to make sure your trees are secure.  Make sure the professionals cut down all trees that may have issues and get rid of any loose limbs.  You don’t want tree limbs flying through the air during a summer storm. 
• If you have a sump pump, make sure it is working and perhaps even get a battery powered back-up so that your pump will continue to work in the event the power goes out. 
• Have a plan in place for you and your family  in case of a bad storm.  You may live in an area where there aren’t many bad storms but you never know when one may come about. 
• Make sure that your windows are good and secure and that there are no areas in which water can get inside them.  If your windows are older you may consider replacing them. 

Hopefully these tips have given you a head start on getting your home ready for the storm season.  You can never be too prepared. 

Information courtesy of New Castle County Realtor Tucker Robbins.

With the summer season upon us, we need to tend to a few maintenance tasks before we can settle down in a hammock without a care in the world.  Keeping in mind the adage, “A stitch in time…”, we need to test the garage door opener, check the air conditioning system, and service the lawn mower to ensure a breakdown-free summer.

• When was the last time you thought about your garage door or its automatic opener?  Like any mechanical system, the door and opener need some periodic, preventative maintenance. If you live in an area of frequent thunderstorms, a tight, well maintained garage door can also help prevent expensive results of a storm-ruptured door. The Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association International has a good guide to help you inspect and test your complete garage door system. It's a good idea to make monthly inspection and testing a part of your regular routine.
   
• Sweltering temperatures may be just around the corner, and your best defense is a central air-conditioning system. There are a few things you can do to make sure that it's tuned up and ready to go when the summer heat arrives.  Before you start tinkering with the system, however, it's important to have a basic understanding of: the condenser, the blower unit, and the ductwork of your system.  Visit the DASMA website for a complete explanation and instructions on how to fine tune it.
   
• Many small tasks are involved with getting your lawn mower ready for reliable summer use.

Check, belts, blades, all bolts and fasteners, tires, and wheels. If you have fuel older than 30 days stored in containers, not use it.  Any idea when you last changed the oil?  Drain it and replace it with oil the manufacturer recommends. Consider, too, replacing the sparkplug—if you do, add a couple drops of engine oil into the hole, and then replace the plug. Check your air and fuel filters and replace if they are dirty or clogged.  Follow the recommendations found at LawnCare.com.

Once you’ve completed these chores, feel free to visit yet another website for more suggestions—simple ones-- on how to maintain your home during the summer months.  So much for hammock time!

Information courtesy of New Castle County Realtor Tucker Robbins.

The majority of articles advocating home ownership center around financial benefits—fixed monthly expenses, tax benefits, accruing equity, etc.—and indeed these incentives do propel many people to purchase a home.  According to two recent polls (Gallop and the Allstate / National Journal survey), however, other more intangible factors also motivate the purchase of a piece of real estate.

• Sense of community:  As a homeowner, you’ll be centered in a strong community of like-minded people, which can be a valuable asset for you and your family.  Homeownership brings a sense of pride in both your home and your community.  Various studies suggest that a higher homeownership rate brings lower crime rates, higher property values, better educated children, and ultimately closer communities.  Investing in a home may also mean investing in your family and your community by getting involved.  Once you own a home, you feel more attached to the area in which you live. You're more interested in what happens in your neighborhood, to the roads, schools, and shopping areas.
  
   
• Renewed belief in the American Dream:  Although confidence in that dream has faltered in recent years, the desire to own a home is rebounding, especially among younger buyers and members of diverse ethnic groups.  Pride and family stability are important factors in today’s dream. Your house is the physical manifestation of your years of hard work and financial responsibility. And nothing says “success story” like owning your very own piece of the American dream.
   
• Higher academic achievement of children:  Consistent findings show that homeownership does have a significant positive impact on educational achievement.  Some studies find that homeownership brings residential stability, and it is this stability that raises educational attainment.  Another asserts that while homeownership raises educational outcomes for children, neighborhood stability further enhances the positive outcome.  Additional research has shown that there is an increased chance of success in many areas for the children of homeowners.
   
• Freedom to “do your own thing.”  If you own your house, the home improvement store is your oyster! You can paint, remodel, remove, or restyle just about anything in your home to meet your individual needs and/or reflect your tastes and personality.

Owning a home is certainly a wise investment—in so many ways!

Information courtesy of New Castle County Realtor Tucker Robbins.