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How to Know When It’s Time to Sell Your Home

Thursday, May 5, 2022
by Scott Darling


You may have thought about selling your home before but you just aren’t sure now is the time.  There are a few signs that now is the correct time to sell your home and some of those signs are listed below for you so that you can be sure you’re making the right decision. 

  1.  If your home has gotten a bit too small for your growing family and you are trying daily how to figure out where to put everyone, you may need to put your house on the market.  If you are making your kids bunk together and then trying to add another baby to the mix, you may need to purchase a home that will be more able to fit your needs. 
  2. If you have changed to a job that has taken you father away from your home than you had anticipated and therefore has caused your daily commute to be longer than you like, it may be time to sell your home.   Selling your home for a job change is a big reason that many folks sell. 
  3. If your lifestyle has changed and you simply don’t have time to take care of your home anymore, you may want to sell it.  This can be caused by such things as your children moving out and you becoming empty nesters.  Many times the room you once needed becomes way too much for just you and your husband once your kids move out. 
  4. If you need a bigger home to accommodate your growing family but the thought of remodeling sends your head into a spin, you may want to go ahead and put your house on the market to see if you have any interest in it first. 
  5. If you have equity in your home and you want to take advantage of the great rates that are currently available before they disappear you may want to go ahead and put your house on the market. 
  6. If you live in a neighborhood in which a lot of houses are currently selling, you may want to put yours on the market  to see if you get any interest in it and possibly even sell it.   Now is the time that folks are many times getting full asking price for their homes so it is a buyer’s market. 

​​Courtesy of Chester County PA Realtor Scott Darling.

Photo credit: kcmohomebuyer.com

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What Can Hurt Your Home Sale

Wednesday, August 5, 2020
by Scott Darling


House hunters have many expectations when they are looking for a new home. Most sellers usually have made themselves at home, and love many aspects about it, but not all buyers would agree. Do not hurt your home’s sale with these: 

 

  • Nothing shouts “Don’t buy me!” more than an unkempt yard!  If nothing else, keep the grass cut and weeds and shrubbery trimmed. Put a bit more effort into it, and put down fresh mulch in the flowerbeds, and add a pot of flowers to the top step. 
     

  • No one wants to walk into a house with plastic storage containers stacked up in each room “hiding” the seller’s clutter. When you declutter, get rid of things, or put them in storage if you cannot part with them. Your rooms will appear larger without a lot of stuff in them. 
     

  • Touring a house that has a grimy stove or mildewed bathtub caulking is a huge turn-off:  no one wants to move into a dirty home. If you cannot find the time to clean the house spotless, hire a professional to do it. 
     

  • Natural light is important to most home buyers, so window treatments that block light need to come down, cleaned, and stored for moving. Add sheers, blinds you can open, or pull the shades up completely when you know the house is being shown. 
     

  • Items such as rodent traps or insect baits, should not even be an option for you. If you know you have mice or insects in your home, have them exterminated before you put a sign in your yard.  
     

  • Wall-to-wall carpeting is not as appealing to buyers today as it was in the past. If you can afford it, remove carpeting that is hiding hardwoods and spruce them up. No hardwood? Have the carpets professionally cleaned, and if you really need to sell, offer a new carpet credit to buyers. 
     

  • When you know about a problem and don’t bother to make repairs--think dripping faucets or cracked windows--buyers will not be impressed with your house, and if they’re remotely interested, offers won’t be close to your asking price. 
     

  • Any unpleasant odors will put off most people, and homebuyers will wrinkle their noses as soon as they walk in. Cleaning is important to remove dirt, but you need to clean for odors, too. Follow these tips from realtor.com® for removing any funky smells from your home. 

 

The impression your house makes on potential buyers largely depends on you. Salespeople of all kinds must make a pitch to draw the buyer in, then grab and keep their attention. The effort you put forth will show in the feedback and offers you will receive. In the case of selling your home, sweat the small stuff! 

Courtesy of Chester County PA Realtor Scott Darling.

Photo credit: GreenPal

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What Today's Buyers Want in a Home

Thursday, July 30, 2020
by Scott Darling

 

Today’s buyers are highly likely to have specific desires in a new home. Are you ready? If not, let this be your guide to getting your house in ready-to-sell shape! 

 

  • Energy Efficiency:  Energy-Star windows, smart or programmable thermostat, LED lightbulbs and full-house water heater are all attractive to buyers who are concerned about energy costs as well as those concerned about going green. 
     

  • Home office:  If there is no room in your house that is a dedicated home office, create one!  Stage a space in the kitchen or living area or smaller bedroom with what appears to be a working spot. 
     

  • Upgraded kitchen and bathrooms:  While completely renovating these rooms are a possibility, it may not be in your budget. Take a good look at each, and decide what wallet-friendly projects will make them look new: painting kitchen cabinets, new stainless appliances; in the bathroom, new faucets, lighting fixtures, or add pizazz by framing a mirror in glass tiles. 
     

  • Dining space:  An eat-in kitchen or open-flow kitchen and dining room are what many are looking for, especially families. Kitchen islands with seating will suffice when the budget does not allow for creating space for a dining table in the kitchen. 
     

  • Organized storage:  Buyers want homes with ample storage. While you can’t create space, you can build space in closets and the laundry room by adding shelving or pre-fab storage systems.  
     

  • Hardwood flooring:  While not an inexpensive project, consider putting hardwoods or less costly engineered wood in the entryway and living space. 
     

  • Security:  Front-door video cameras, plenty of outdoor lighting as well as smart lighting features are all great for starters.  

 

While not every house hunter is looking for all of these, upgrading a few things will likely get their attention! Talk to your Realtor® about who is looking for a home in your location; they will have recommendations on the best changes that need to be made for your house to sell! 

 

Courtesy of Chester County PA Realtor Scott Darling.

Photo credit: Real Estate Express

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How to Choose the Best Offer When You Have Multiple Offers

Thursday, April 6, 2017
by Scott Darling

These days’ houses are selling like hot cakes!  If you have ever thought about selling your house, now is the time to do so!  The only “issue” you are likely to run into is that you may end up with multiple offers.  While multiple offers may be a good thing, you still should know how to choose the best offer   in the event this happens to you. Below you will find a few ideas on how to best handle this particular situation. 

  1.  Finding out which of the potential buyers have the best financing available to them is a great way to help you choose which offer you would be best to go with.  If you pick someone who hasn’t got the financial side of it all worked out for themselves you will likely end up spending more time than you would like getting all the kinks worked out.  Choosing someone who has a reputable lender on the other hand and has already been pre approved will make the transactions go nice and smoothly for all involved.   
  2. Another way to choose the best offer  when you have multiple offers is if the closing date is good for you.  You may have one person that wants to buy your home that has to wait on their home to sell first while another person is ready to go right away.  If you want to and are ready to move out quickly you may want to go with the latter however if you are not quite ready to move that fast you may want to go with the folks that need to wait a while.  Choose the offer that best suits your own personal needs.
  3. Yet another way to choose the best offer on your house when you have been given multiple offers is to make a checklist of the pros and cons of each offer.  This will make sorting out the details a bit easier for you. 
  4. Be sure that you have peace about each offer and if you don’t feel a peace about a certain offer, take that one off the list of who to choose from. 

It is a good idea to go through all scenarios that may arise with each offer that is given before deciding which one to go with.  Once you choose the right offer, you can look forward to moving into a new chapter of your life! 

Courtesy of Chester County PA Realtor Scott Darling.

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How to Eliminate Smells So That Your House Might Sell

Friday, November 4, 2016
by Scott Darling

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 Chester County PA Realtor Scott Darling.

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