About Northampton County, PA

As you have heard a million times these days, home buyers are picky. Though the first time homebuyers credit and low prices may have gutted the supply in some areas, but homes to choose from are plentiful elsewhere. This gives qualified buyers the upper hand. Aside from competitive pricing, what can you as a motivated seller do to make your home stand out, especially if you aren't in a position to make costly upgrades? This is a concern especially in a development filled with many similar homes.

Don't curb buyer enthusiasm with poor curb appeal! Make the yard looks great, the yard is neat, and the siding clean and in good shape. If you paint the exterior, use an appealing standard color. I once knew of a neighborhood where one owners painted the home Halloween orange with black shutters; another choose shocking pink for their large colonial. The odd colors limited interested buyers and were a disincentive to many to get out of the car.

Don't include your dirt in the price! Most new homeowners expect to do a little light cleaning before bringing their stuff into their new home, not a major effort when moving into a new place. Make sure that kitchens and bathrooms, in particular, are spotless. If cleaning is not your thing, hire an afternoon of a cleaning service to make the place shine and then develop a family chore routine to keep it like that.

Don't promote your memories. Remove the family mementos, extra furniture, and clutter from you home to help newcomers see themselves living there. Even if you like to have all your appliances handy in the kitchen and every cosmetic at arm's length in the bathroom, remember that a potential buyer may think, "O no, not enough storage space!"

Don't overlook minor repairs. Even if you can't remodel a kitchen or bathroom to improve resale value, you need to fix the leaky faucet or running toilet, replace the ripped screen, and make other minor repairs .If you aren't equipped to fix the broken step, hire someone who can do it right - jerry rigged repairs do not cut it with savvy buyers.

Don't skimp on cheap upgrades. If you can't do the big upgrades like replacing the carpet, make sure to have it professionally cleaned. If the carpet is threadbare and rumpled, considered having it pulled up and then have the floors redone; hardwood floors are popular again. Make sure your home is freshly painted to give it a clean, fresh look.

There may not be a magic bullet for selling your home in the current economy, but a clean, clutterfree home that is ready to move into is very appealing. As buyers rush to take last minute advatage of the tax credit, make sure your home is in position to be noticed!

Look to your Lehigh Valley Don Wenner expert when selling your home in Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton. He gets results.

The Bethlehem Harvest Festival will take place on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 in Historic Bethlehem from 11AM until 9PM.

Main Street will be bustling with artists and crafters. Blacksmiths will demonstrate the art of iron work at the 1750 Smithy.

How about a walking tour of the Historic Bethlehem? The times for the tours are 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30PM.

Local musicians will perform on Main Street from noon until 3PM. Festivities will then continue from 3 - 9PM at the Sun Inn Courtyard, where there will be food, beer and wine.

Bethlehem restaurants will have a Harvest Soup contest, where you may purchase tickets to sample and vote for your favorite 1 - 3PM. You will even be able to sample imported beers and homebrews.

Children will also have activities like grape stomping, pumpkin painting, plus much more.

Click here for more information.

When you want to sell your Allentown home, you want to sell it yesterday! These days, though, many homes aren't selling, often due to no real fault of the homeowners.

Many sellers make the mistake of expecting their home to sell at yesterday's prices. In this economy, prices are falling, and most homeowners have to face the reality that their selling price is likely to be less than they hoped.

Price is viewed by most real estate agents as the reason why homes don't sell. Many times buyers don't even look at homes prices too high. No lookers means no offers! Prices must be set in line with today's realities.

Sometimes homes have "unique" features that make them even more challenging to sell. This could be odd shaped rooms, location by a freeway, or lack of a driveway. Sometimes even amenities like pools can be deterrents to sales. As a seller, you may think, "Well, I bought this home with these features," but your home may have been on the market a long time before you bought it. Cutting the price may be the only way to overcome features viewed as deterrents by most buyers.

Cutting the price to an amount in line with today's market might be painful but also might be the only way to accomplish your goal. Having an experienced realtor on hand to guide you in pricing won't make the process any easier but it will help you sell your home more quickly.

Look to your Lehigh Valley Don Wenner expert when selling your home in Allentown, Bethlehem, or Easton. He gets results.

Yesterday the Bethlehem planners unanimously approved the SteelStacks Performing Arts Center to be built at the former Bethlehem Steel plant site.

Construction is set to begin this fall on the $25 million four-story performing arts center. It will sit just south of the old blast furnaces.

The arts center will include a two-screen cinema that will show independent films, a bistro and an area called the PodZone. The PodZone will feature furniture arranged around flat-screened televisions, which will allow patrons to do everything from sharing Powerpoint presentations to playing Guitar Hero.

The building will also include a cabaret-type Musikfest Cafe, which will host community and educational events.

There will basically be something for everyone.

The performing arts center, and the broadcast center, are expected to open by spring of 2011.

The other parts of the project are to be a festival center, a music pavilion, an outdoor plaza and space for community events. It will provide space for artists and farmers markets and festivals run by ArtsQuest.

The project is part of the redevelopment of the former Steel plant and will have a view of the blast furnaces.

New Listings	17
Back on Market	0
Price Increases	0
Price Reductions	11
Contingents	0
Pendings	7
Solds	3
Expireds	18
Inactives	5

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Don Wenner

The Don Wenner Home Selling Team
Keller Williams Real Estate
2901 Emrick Blvd. Suite 100
Bethlehem PA 18020
PA RE License #RS300485

(C) 484-542-2868
(O) 610-867-8888
(F) 610-867-8889
http://www.donwenner.com
email: don@donwenner.com

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Chris Hoffman
Pa Re License #RS298340
Theresa Barlow
Pa Re License #RS281312
Barb Miers
Pa Re License #RS278138