Nick & Trudy Vandekar

After many months of low inventory in our area, Radnor, Tredyffrin and Easttown townships in Pennsylvania we are seeing an abundance of homes being placed on the market. Amazingly in our area we are also seeing a large number of homes for sale by owners.

So what sells a home?

There are many things that sell a home, pricing it right, preparing it for sale correctly, maintenance of the home, having the correct paperwork prepared, and marketing of the home correctly. It is a combination of all of these not just any one of them. Dropping the ball in one can hinder and slow down or even prevent a sale. Buyers are still very particular and even with a low inventory there are plenty of stories of buyers walking away from from properties that have issues at inspections that can not be negotiated or resolved.

More agents are holding Sunday Open Houses as well as other days and evenings because we have been seeing a lot of buyers looking on their own before finding an agent to represent them. Sellers also believe the agent is doing more by holding Open Houses and is more involved in the selling of the property.

But these last few weeks with summer approaching, even with these low temperatures this week, we are seeing more houses come on the market as this is the time of year to sell.

But remember, it is a combination of those points above that will sell your home, so if you are considering selling in the near future find an agent who knows how to market and can advise you correctly on what sells a home.

For the second year running John McClintick a local painter in the Berwyn Area organized a builders competition giving several local builders a chance to contribute to the Hurricane Relief in Louisiana. Last year three teams particiapated and this year that increased allowing more homes to be framed and sent down to Habitat for Humanity to use in building homes for those in need. What is great about the whole process is that it raises funds for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter as well.

The competition has gathered great support from local builders and trades suppliers as well. Times vary for the 12 man teams to frame a house from about 5 hours to just over 2 hours. But here is John Mclintick himself to tell you a little about the competiton: -

As usual for Tuesday we went on our broker's open tour yesterday, we saw several homes and had added to this having been out on Sunday as well since we have sold all our listings. Yes, the market is strong in our area, but prices have become more realistic or so I thought till yesterday.

We saw only one house we thought was well priced. Many were priced too strongly and in some instances we wondered what they were thinking. however, there has been a lot of sales in our area and there was a shortage of homes on the market, but it does not help the seller to have an overpriced home sit and sit. Now, I don't believe it is the agents who are pricing these homes strongly, I think it is the home owners and with Spring getting established, or so we thought although the tempretures have dropped a little this week some price ranges are seeing a lot of houses come on the market. The $500-600,000 range and the $700,000 - 750,000 have seen a lot of homes come on in the last two weeks. Because there has been a shortage I think homeowners think they can ask any price.

But buyers are not fools, they want value for their investment, especially if it is three quarters of a million dollars. They want bathrooms and kitchens to be updated, they want the house to be clean and freshly painted and the landscaping needs to be attractive as well.

So before you put your home on the market get a good agent to give you advice on what needs to be done to sell your home. They are not trying to just spend your money they are trying to help you sell your home in the quickest amount of time for the highest price. And if you cannot afford the time to get the home ready then price accordingly. You have to make sure your home is the best value in the price range in which you fall.

Chesterbrook is a 28 year old development that is well liked in our area, for more information go to Homes in Chesterbrook on our website for information about developments, shops, restaurants, the Valley Forge Suites Hotel and offices that all make up Chesterbrook.

Chesterbrook has for a while tried to obtain it's own zip code. I don't know what is happening with that right now. Currently it is part of Wayne, which is weird as Wayne is in Delaware County and Chesterbrook is in Chester County, Wayne is Radnor Township and Chesterbrook is Tredyffrin, even the school district is different. Having a new zip code would help solve the confusion in my opinion, what do you think?

Although there is constant media attention on how many homes are in foreclosure our area has a serious shortage of homes for sale. Yes, there may be houses for sale, many of which are overpriced or in need of serious updating which we are finding is turning buyers away but even these are low in number.

So if you live in or around Tredyffrin, Easttown, Willistown, Charlestown, Newtown, Schuylkill township or Radnor we need homes to sell in various price brackets. Call or email us now for an immediate appointment and let us help you, prepare your home for sale, price it correctly and sell your home.