Real Estate Information Archive

New Castle County DE listings increased from 853 new listings in May 2016 up to 996 in May 2017. The average sales price climbed to $250,725, while days on market dropped by 2 days.

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

Let’s face it, there isn’t a better time of year to get some home maintenance taken care of in and around your house than now.  The days are a little bit longer than they were and the temperatures are almost perfect, not too hot and not too cold, unless it’s raining of course.  Below is a list of a few home maintenance tasks you might want to tackle along with a few shortcuts to help you get them done more quickly. 

1.  The task of planting flower beds and adding mulch can sometimes be an overwhelming one but if you take the shortcut of planning a day just for flowers and mulch it won’t be as bad.  Have mulch delivered to your house on a particular day making sure to have it put in a spot that will be easily accessible.  This is better than not having things planned out then ending up with a pile of mulch at the tip top of your driveway where you have to go back and forth to retrieve it as you work on your landscaping.
2. Window washing is no one’s favorite home maintenance task but if you take the shortcut of having someone wash the inside of the window while you’re washing the outside of it, your time will be cut completely in half!  Have a little fun with it and be silly with your window washing partner.  Make sure to look out for streaks on both sides as you go taking care of them before you move on to the next window.
3. Repairing your old wooden deck or fence can many times be a daunting task but it doesn’t have to be.  Take the shortcut of using a cordless nail gun to get those loose boards back into place quickly. 
4. Brick or stone patios and walkways can many times become damaged during the winter months.  A quick shortcut to fixing this problem is to push around a wheelbarrow filled with sand to help smooth out any unevenness that has occurred. 

These few home maintenance shortcuts should help you get things done around your house a bit quicker this year than they may have taken you in years past.  Sometimes by simply thinking a bit outside the box you can come up with ideas to get tasks done in a more efficient manner than you previously have.  These shortcut ideas will get you started in the right direction.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

New Castle County DE listings decreased from 1010 new listings in April 2016 down to 920 in April 2017. The average sales price climbed 0.57% to $237,012, while days on market dropped by 6 days.

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

You may think that you can ask your real estate agent anything at all that you want to ask them and you may be right.  What you may not be right about however is that you may not get an answer.  There are some questions that real estate agents might know the answer to but they are not able to give you the answer based on the Fair Housing Act.  Real estate agents are not allowed to discriminate based on race, religion, sex or economic status.  If you ask any of the following questions you may not get a straight answer from your real estate agent. 

1. Asking your real estate agent if a particular area is a good place to raise a family may or may not get you a straight answer.  In fact, you may find that your agent just gives you a blank stare when asked this type of question.  They may know good and well that they wouldn’t want to raise their own family in a particular area of town but by staying loyal to the Fair Housing Act, they won’t be able to clearly answer that question for you. 
2. Another question you may not get answered from your real estate agent is what the particular neighborhood you are interested in is like.  If you really mean to ask if the neighborhood has a high ratio of minorities by asking if the neighborhood is safe, your real estate agent will not be able to clearly answer that question for you.  If you wonder if a certain area is safe, do your homework and figure it out for yourself, don’t make your real estate agent uncomfortable by asking questions like that. 
3. Asking what the area schools are like is another similar question that will likely get you a blank stare from your real estate agent.  If you want to know what the schools are like in a particular area you can search online for such answers. 

Basically, if you don’t want your real estate agent to break their ethical code, steer clear of these types of questions and do your own work to find out the answers.  You will likely be able to find out all that you need to know about what it is you are asking without a lot of trouble and without having to ask your real estate agent.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

If you have your house on the market you likely already have everything arranged neatly and perfectly throughout the house.  The one area of your home that you may have forgotten about however is the basement.  Below are a few tips for staging your basement so that those who come to tour your home may be more willing to make an offer. 

1. One tip for staging your basement to make it “show” ready is to pick up all of the clutter off the floor.  Most of the time when folks have a basement in their home they tend to use it as a catch all and therefore many items get tossed down the stairs without a second thought.  If you want the house to show the best it possibly can, be sure to put all of your basement clutter away neatly into storage bins. 
2. Another way to stage your basement for a viewing is to paint the basement floor with a sealing paint. You could use the same paint folks use to paint their garage floor with or you may want to do something fancier such as decorative concrete.  Whichever you choose, cleaning up the floor of the basement is a great way to make a statement during a showing.
3. Another good way to stage your basement in order to possibly have a better showing is by finishing the walls with sheetrock.  This is not a huge project to undertake and is one that you can likely do yourself without breaking the bank.   Finishing the walls in the basement can make a really big difference in the way the basement looks. 
4. Yet another way to stage your basement is to do your part to get rid of that typical basement smell.  Use air fresheners and or fans to circulate the air the basement when you know that someone is coming to look at your house.  You can also use a diffuser with your favorite essential oil to make the basement smell nice and fresh. 
5. If your basement is not well lit, you may want to add a few lamps before a showing.  This is a great way to brighten up an otherwise dreary part of the house. 

These are just a few ways in which you can make the basement of your home more appealing by staging.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

If you’re trying to sell your house during the winter months, there are a few things you need to keep in mind that you otherwise wouldn’t have to give a second thought when having an open house. Winter months can bring with them all sorts of issues concerning open houses such as not many people attending, folks who do come trying to quickly get inside the house and out of the cold, wet dirty shoes messing up the house once folks get inside from the messy weather and the list goes on.  Below you will find a list of a few of the open house blunders you may want to watch out for. 

1. If you plan to have an open house  in order to try to sell your house this winter and it happens to snow, you need to be sure to clear the snow out of the walkway so that those who come to see your home can safely get in and out.  The last thing you need is for someone to come look at your house and then turn away when they see that they cannot safely enter or exit your home.  This would not be a good way to lose a possible offer on your home because it is something easily taken care of. 
2. Another open house mistake to avoid   this winter is turning the heat up to high in the house.  Although folks like to get in out of the cold, many folks don’t like to get overheated especially when they are trying to make a huge decision like possibly buying a house. 
3. Try not to overdo the Christmas lights when holding an open house during the holiday season.  People want to envision themselves in your home and if you go too far with the Christmas lights they may not be able to do this as well as they might otherwise. 
4. If you plan to have an open house during the winter months, be sure to check the weather forecast so that you don’t end up with a lot of no shows due to inclement weather. 
5. If you have an open house during winter months you may want to have something warm to eat for your guests and some hot coffee on hand. 

These types of things can help you to have a better open house during the winter months if you will take them to heart.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

If you have recently put your house on the market and want it to sell quickly you may need to take a look at a few of these tips on how to eliminate smells so that your house will be more likely to sell. While selling your home quickly may sound good to you, you may not be thinking about exactly how clean your house smells when you have a last minute showing pop up.  If you are caught in a bind with a last minute showing and you need to get rid of a few household odors, be sure to read below for some ideas. 

1. If you have pets you already know that they have a smell all their own.  Pets that may not be house trained yet may be hard to deal with during a house showing.  If you need to cover up the smell of pet urine quickly there are several ways to go about it.  One way to get rid of pee smell in the carpet is to soak the area with enzyme spray.  Another way to get rid of the smell all together (however it may take a bit longer) is to get rid of the carpet once and for all and put in hardwoods. 
2. Another way to eliminate smells so that your house might sell is to open up your windows while you are cooking.  If you know you have a showing one night, be sure to keep your windows open while you are cooking with the hood fan on as well.  Another good way to get rid of the smell of a recently prepared meal in your home is to set a bowl of coffee grounds on the countertop over night (if your showing doesn’t happen to be the same evening of course.)  If you don’t want to take any chances of having your dinner linger during the showing you could always just go out to eat for the evening. 
3. Garbage smell in a home is some of the worst odor possible.  One easy way to get rid of that particular smell is to be sure and take it to the curb before you leave for the showing. 

These are just a few ways that you can get rid of smells in your home  so that your showing might go well and you may be more able to sell your home.  Hopefully they will get you started in the right direction.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.