Greater Philadelphia Real Estate Podcast

When selling your home, it is very important that you price it properly. The success of many other facets of your home sale boils down to whether you price your home properly or not. Studies show time and time again that if you overprice your property, you’ll likely sell it for below its market value. “Overpricing your home will cause it to sit on the market longer.” Overpricing your home will cause it to sit on the market longer, which will force you to go through several different price reductions. These price reductions will make the home look stale, and the longer your home stays on the market, the more apt buyers are to think there’s something wrong with it. Furthermore, they’ll assume they’ll be able to lowball you due to the perceived lack of interest in the home. This is why I advise all sellers to sit down with their agent and set an appropriate price for their home. Not doing so can cost you up to tens of thousands of dollars. If you have any questions, you’d like to know the market value of your home, or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in our market, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

A lot of homebuyers fail to realize that their home expenses don’t start and stop with their mortgage payment. There’s much more to being a homeowner than that. Here are five expenses that all homeowners have in addition to their mortgage: 1. Closing costs. When you decide on a home, you’ll get an estimate of the closing costs. The estimate will break down what you need to bring to closing and what the mortgage company is giving you. 2. Maintenance costs. This can vary depending on the home, but you should budget for at least 1% to 2% of the home’s value each year to be used on maintenance costs. “The average American spends $3,000 per year on utilities” 3. Utilities. The national average is nearly $3,000 per year. If you want to get a better idea of what the utilities will cost in the home you’re interested in, you can always ask your agent to get that information from the seller. 4. Taxes. These will be escrowed into your mortgage. 5. Homeowners insurance. The national average for homeowners insurance is around $1,100 per year. Check with your insurance agent regarding the coverage you have. I hope you find these tips useful. If you have any questions or would like any more tips, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

If you’ve sold your house, how can you have a stress-free move and be prepared on the day of the actual settlement? There are a few things you need to remember. First, you have to find the right moving company. When looking for a moving company, you want to make sure you protect yourself. You can follow one of your Realtor’s recommendations, but you also want to get more than one bid. When accepting bids, beware of any lowball offers. If a company tells you they can move your things for a lot less than the competition, it will usually end up costing you more if you hire them. “When looking for a moving company, make sure you protect yourself.” Also, make sure the company you’re considering hiring is licensed and insured. Go online and check for reviews of their service and see if there are any complaints against them. Once the movers are set in place, have a contingency plan in place. What happens that day if the truck doesn’t show up? If—for whatever reason—the movers can’t move that day, what will you do? If you follow these tips, your move should go smoothly. If you have any questions about finding the right moving company or the moving process in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email. I’d be glad to help.

A recent study found that 4.5 million homeowners are still eligible to refinance their mortgage. With that amount of homeowners, they’ve estimated that about $1 billion in total savings have been left on the table that homeowners aren’t taking advantage of. Many homeowners are saying the reason they haven’t is that they’re not sure if the value of their home would support a refinance. This is certainly something to look into. The average homeowner does save about $260 a month when they refinance. “About $1 billion in total savings have been left on the table that homeowners aren’t taking advantage of.” In other words, seeing if you are eligible for refinancing is well worth thinking about. Mortgage rates are currently hovering around 4% or slightly less, and homes have been appreciating significantly in the past year or two in the market. So, what better time to find out whether you could be missing out on savings? We at Scott Irvin & Associates would be glad to help by giving you an analysis of your home to determine value. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

What is the difference between a pre-qualification letter and a pre-approval? As a buyer, which one is stronger? As a seller, which one will make you more comfortable about your home sale? If you get pre-qualified, the lender simply looks through your finances for things like your credit score, assets, income, and liabilities. Then, based on whatever information you tell the lender, they will give you a pre-qualification letter. A pre-approval is a lot strong stronger than pre-qualification. The lender will verify your financial information by looking through bank statements, W-2s, tax returns, and pay stubs. That way, when you submit your offer, the seller knows that there won’t be any financial roadblocks in the way of closing. “I strongly recommend getting pre-approved when buying in today’s market.” A pre-approval letter gives the seller one less thing to worry about. As a buyer, a pre-approval letter can set you apart from the competition in a multiple offer situation. Even if you are the only buyer submitting an offer, you are more likely to get the home. You may even be able to get a better price on the home. Ultimately, in today’s market, a pre-approval can be the difference between getting a house or not getting a house. So, when you talk to your lender, make sure that you get pre-approved, not pre-qualified. If you have any other questions or would like to get in touch with a lender, give us a call. We would be happy to help you!

As we head into the summer months and the third quarter, it’s a good time to look back and see how the market is doing so far this year, as well as look at what is driving the market now. Demand is incredibly strong right now, as is demonstrated by the low inventory in certain price points. Interest rates are still at historic lows, which is driving a lot of the buyer demand. Overall, inventory in our market is down 29% from this time last year. In the higher price points, those statistics changed. Demand is strongest for homes under $300,000. Inventory in this price point has dropped by 54% year over year. Multiple offer situations are incredibly common in this price point. “The market is very strong overall.” In the $300,000 to $600,000 price point, inventory has dropped 23% compared to this time last year. This market is still strong. When you look at the $600,000 to $900,000 price range, the market is not as strong as it is in those lower price points. Inventory dropped 14% year over year, but this is still a good market. We should start to see inventory creep up over the next few months, as buyers tend to slow down a bit in the summer. However, the market is still doing very well overall. If you have any more questions about our current market or would like to learn more details about your specific area, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you.

One of the questions I get asked quite often by sellers when giving their home a valuation is why their real estate taxes are different from their neighbor’s when their neighbor’s home is similar to theirs or is located in the same development. Your real estate taxes can affect the value of your home when you sell it because they’re added to the buyer’s monthly payment in purchasing the home. Your real estate taxes may differ from your neighbor’s because they’re determined by your home’s assessed value. In Bucks and Montgomery counties, they don’t do an assessment every year. Your neighbor, for example, could’ve appealed their real estate taxes two years ago and had them reduced. “Appealing your real estate taxes may save you money over time.” The deadline to appeal your real estate taxes is August 1st of every year. If you wish to do so, you can visit the Board of Assessment’s website where they’ll have forms available for you to fill out and notify you of what fee you have to pay. You can include comparable properties when submitting your appeal, but we usually recommend getting an appraisal done on your property. Getting a valuation from an independent third party may help get your taxes in line with your neighbor’s. If you have any questions about appealing your taxes or any other real estate topic, please feel free to give me a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

The number one question I’m asked by home sellers is about the kind of taxes they’re going to have to pay to close their transaction. First off, I’m not an accountant, and you should consult with yours before you make any financial decisions. However, I do want to talk to you a little bit about capital gains taxes. Capital gains refers to the difference between the purchase price of a home and what you end up selling it for. Let’s say, for example, you purchased a $250,000 house and sold it for $500,000. The capital gains on that property would be $250,000. You can reduce your capital gains by keeping track of your cost basis, aka how much money you put into improving the home. Let’s say you put $50,000 of improvements into that same $250,000 home and end up selling it for $500,000. With a new cost basis of $300,000, the capital gains would only be $200,000. This is important because as an individual, you can become exempt for up to $250,000 in capital gains taxes. If the home is your primary residence and you’ve lived there for two of the last five years, you qualify. If you’re a married couple, you’re exempt for up to $500,000 in capital gains taxes. The only caveat is that you can’t have sold a home within the last two years and used the capital gains exemption. There are a few exceptions to that rule as well. “Consult your tax professional before making any decisions.” I know this topic can get a little confusing. If you have any additional questions, I advise you to seek out a tax professional. We’d be more than happy to connect you with one if you just want to give us a call. If you have any other real estate-related questions, we are always here to help. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

When you get a home inspection, your first step is to make sure you properly pick a home inspector by checking that they’re a member of the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, or NACHI. They have standards for practice as well as a code of ethics that members must follow. Inspectors only have to be licensed in the state, so there’s no additional training they have to go through. Being a member of the NACHI makes a big difference in the way they carry themselves and conduct your inspection because of the standards of practice. Home inspections seek to find what we call ‘material defects,’ which means anything that adversely affects the value of a home. Home inspections don’t look for cosmetic flaws like stains in the carpet or cracked drywall, though. Material defects will occur with things like the mechanical systems, the roof, window, or electrical systems, among many others. These things can adversely affect the value of your home, which is why they want to address them. “Inspections will identify material defects and safety issues, not material defects.” We also recommend that you attend the home inspection. That way, you’ll understand what the inspector is going over at the end when you get the inspection report. They can even answer questions during or immediately after the inspection. The inspector also looks for safety items like fire hazards or electrical issues. Once you get the report, you want to review it to see if there’s anything you need to address as a buyer or seller. As a buyer, you can ask the seller to fix material defects or ask for a credit. All in all, we strongly recommend inspections because they can help you avoid a lot of issues down the road. If you have any questions about home inspections or you’re thinking about selling your Philadelphia home, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be glad to help!