Harrisburg Area Housing Market Data

Remembering that 6 months is a balanced market, Cumberland County is still a Seller's market. Dauphin County is a balanced market between Buyers and Sellers.

When you are ready to see how this impacts the home you want to buy or sell, just call, text or email

Things you contorl about selling your home

TAKE CARE OF THESE TO GET HOME SOLD

There are a lot of things you can’t control in the home-selling process. You can’t force people to come see your home or make an offer on it. But you can make sure to take care of some easy repairs that would otherwise turn off prospective buyers. Look around and make sure you haven’t ignored any of these 10 repairs that can make a buyer think twice about your asking price.

1. Paint colors that just don’t blend in

The color of your home is one of the first things a buyer will notice. If it’s a very different color from your neighborhood or general area, you should paint it something more innocuous. (Hear that, Sandra Cisneros?) Most buyers don’t want to live in the only pink house in town.

The same goes for the interior. If your living room is bright orange, paint over it. Choose a neutral color so buyers can project their own ideas onto it.

2. A front door that’s not inviting

The front door is one of the next things a buyer will notice. If the door is flimsy, cheap, or outdated, it’ll discourage the buyer before it’s even opened. Spring for a new one—it’s the most reliable update you can perform to recoup your cost.

3. A busted doorbelll   

While you’re at it, don’t forget the doorbell! Having one that works with a friendly, crisp chime is a sign that your house has been well taken care of.

4. Tattered window and door screens

Buyers will notice screens that look more like Swiss cheese than insect shields. You don’t necessarily have to spring for a whole new set—just grab some screen repair patches (they’re cheap) and fill in the tears.

5. Depressing landscaping

As potential buyers drive up to your home, they’ll notice everything—the trees, the grass, the rock pathway, and the plants out front. And it matters. If your lawn is home to a half-dead tree, yellowing grass, unkempt shrubs, and a pathway swallowed by weeds, you might get more lowball offers than you anticipated.

Keep the plants trimmed and the grass freshly cut. Make sure the walkway is clear and fallen branches are removed from the lawn. A fresh layer of mulch will brighten up the outside, too.

6. An unpleasant smell of … something

Nothing can turn a buyer off faster than the stench of faded cigarettes or poorly trained pets. Of course, it’s hard for us to smell our homes after we’ve lived in them for a while, so ask a diplomatic friend to sniff your place. If it stinks, start cleaning.

7. Eerie dripping sounds

If potential buyers hear a dripping faucet or running toilet when touring the house, they might start questioning the building’s integrity or the seller’s level of care. These are quick DIY fixes that shouldn’t go ignored.

8. Bad lighting

Replace harsh lights with bulbs that have a softer glow. Clean out light fixtures to get rid of dirt or dead bugs that can mute the lighting (not to mention look gross).

9. Squeaky hinges

Doors that groan when they open are for horror movies, not homes for sale. Grab a lubricant (such as white lithium grease, but in a pinch you can use cooking oil) and grease the hinges to stop the squeak.

10. An outdated kitchen

Completely renovating a kitchen can get real expensive, real fast. Keep it simple by adding a fresh coat of paint. Although we did say you should keep paint colors neutral, here’s where you can try something more inviting—like pale yellow, a color we associate with light and joy. Switch out old cabinet knobs and handles for something fresher like nickel cup pulls.

Tips to Get your Home Ready for Winter

7 Tips to Get a Home Winter-Ready

Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Winter is on the way, and home owners should preparing their homes for the colder temperatures. The National Association of Home Builders Remodelers suggested home maintenance tips to increase energy efficiency and lessen the chance of emergency repairs.

Soon, The Snows Will Come
Bad Winter Coming? 10 Ways to Get Ready
Remind Clients: Winter Prep Saves Money

"Before winter weather sets in, spend some time improving and protecting the inside of your home," says NAHB Remodelers Chairman Robert Criner. "Fall is a good time to check mechanical systems and combat drafts. It's also an opportune time to organize the details of your next remodeling project and save space on the calendar of a professional remodeler."
Share these tips with your prospects to help them better protect their home during the colder months ahead.

1. Ensure there are no gaps in insulation or crawl spaces that expose pipes to cold air, which could put the pipes at risk of freezing and bursting.
2. Have your heating system checked by a licensed technician before cold weather requires daily use.
3. Block drafts around doors, windows and baseboards with weather stripping, window film and caulk to control heat loss.
4. Install storm doors and windows to improve energy-efficiency and get rid of drafts.
5. Have chimneys cleaned by an experienced chimney sweep to prevent the risk of a fire from buildup or blockages.
6. Spray door locks with powdered-graphite lubricant to prevent freezing and sticking.
7. Set ceiling fans to rotate clockwise to force rising warm air back towards the floor.

Source: National Association of Home Builders Remodelers

Are you looking forward to winter?

For real estate expertise and insight call, text or email

Halloween Scare about Home Buying

Some Highlights:

• 36% of Americans think they need a 20% down payment to buy a home. 44% of Millennials who purchased a home this year have put down less than 10%.
• 71% of loan applications were approved last month
• The average credit score of approved loans was 723 in September (the lowest recorded score since Ellie Mae began tracking in August 2011)

How many of these scary myths did you beliieve?

Why so much mortgage paperwork?

Applying For A Mortgage: Why So Much Paperwork?

 Tuesday October 20th, 2015  First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Interest Rates

We are often asked why there is so much paperwork mandated by the bank for a mortgage loan application when buying a home today. It seems that the bank needs to know everything about usand requires three separate sources to validate each and every entry on the application form.

Many buyers are being told by friends and family that the process was a hundred times easier when they bought their home ten to twenty years ago.

There are two very good reasons that the loan process is much more onerous on today’s buyer than perhaps any time in history.

1. The government has set new guidelines that now demand that the bank prove beyond any doubt that you are indeed capable of affording the mortgage. During the run-up in the housing market, many people ‘qualified’ for mortgages that they could never pay back. This led to millions of families losing their home. The government wants to make sure this can’t happen again
2. The banks don’t want to be in the real estate business. Over the last seven years, banks were forced to take on the responsibility of liquidating millions of foreclosures and also negotiating another million plus short sales. Just like the government, they don’t want more foreclosures. For that reason, they need to double (maybe even triple) check everything on the application.

However, there is some good news in the situation. The housing crash that mandated that banks be extremely strict on paperwork requirements also allowed you to get a mortgage interest rate probably at or below 4%.

The friends and family who bought homes ten or twenty ago experienced a simpler mortgage application process but also paid a higher interest rate (the average 30 year fixed rate mortgage was 8.12% in the 1990’s and 6.29% in the 2000’s). If you went to the bank and offered to pay 7% instead of <4 backwards="" bend="" easier.="" make="" much="" over="" p="" probably="" process="" the="" they="" to="" would="">

Bottom Line

Instead of concentrating on the additional paperwork required, let’s be thankful that we are able to buy a home at historically low rates.

What have been your experiences with lender paperwork?

When you want to see how this applies to your unique situation, just call, text or email

Buying a Home Remains Less Expensive Than Renting

Buying a Home Remains 35% Less Expensive than Renting!

 Monday October 19th, 2015  First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers

In the latest Rent vs. Buy Report from Trulia, they explained that homeownership remains cheaper than renting with a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage throughout the 100 largest metro areas in the United States.

The updated numbers actually show that the range is from an average of 16% in Honolulu (HI), all the way to 55% in Sarasota (FL), and 35% Nationwide!

The other interesting findings in the report include:

• Interest rates have remained low and even though home prices have appreciated around the country, they haven’t greatly outpaced rental appreciation. “In the past year, these two trends have made homeownership even more affordable compared with renting.”
• Some markets might tip in favor of renting if home prices increase at a greater rate than rents and if – as most economists expect – mortgage rates rise, due to the strengthening economy.
• Nationally, rates would have to rise to 10.6% for renting to be cheaper than buying – and rates haven’t been that high since 1989.  

Bottom Line

Buying a home makes sense socially and financially. Rents are predicted to increase substantially in the next year, lock in your housing cost with a mortgage payment now.

To see how this applies to your unique situation, call, text or email.

Prevent The Great Pumpkin Attack on Your Plumbing

Pumpkin Pulp Will Scare Your Disposal to Death

By: Dona DeZube

Published: October 29, 2012

Put your pumpkin pulp into the trash to spare your disposal (and other plumbing pipes) a horrible death.

The pulp, seeds, and other guts you’re scraping out of pumpkins this week can kill your garbage disposal, so toss them in the trash or the compost pile instead.

In a press release, Roto-Rooter warns home owners about the dangers of pumpkin pulp, saying its plumbers “remove gobs of it from clogged drains” during the Halloween season.

“Plumbers know that frantic home owners will soon be complaining about pulp-clogged garbage disposals and stopped-up kitchen sink drains leading up to Halloween,” says Larry Rothman, Roto-Rooter’s plumbing director. "It's stringy and sticky, and when it dries and hardens it’ll choke off drainpipes and garbage disposals, creating all sorts of havoc."

Evidently, people flush pumpkin guts down the toilet, too, Rothman says, leading me to wonder if parents somewhere are trying to multi-task by combining bath time and pumpkin carving.

"The toilet is not a better option,” he says. “It just means the clog forms a little further down the pipe."

When you are thinking about a new castle to haunt, just call, text or email