Get the Straight Facts About What Can Make or Break the Sale of Your Home. Choose Top Real Estate Agents. 

Selling your home is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. How much is it REALLY worth? How long will it take to sell? How do you handle buyers making undesirable offers? 

Selling a Home
When selling your home there are no guarantees that a buyer will simply walk through the front door. In many cases you may have to bring your home to the buyer. Effective marketing will help ensure that your property receives maximum exposure to attract a ready, willing and able buyer.
The appearance of your home, a buyer's first impressions, and other considerations can also affect the sale of your home. Have you considered that home prices in your neighborhood and the value of your property are also factors used for pricing your home?
When you work with a Prudential Real Estate Professional, you can count on a specialist who can answer your questions, apply knowledge of current market conditions, and access extensive resources that can expedite the sale of your home.  

Increasing The Value of Your House
When you're preparing your house for sale, remember the importance of first impressions. The market isn't the only factor that influences whether you get your asking price. Appearance and overall condition play a major role. Here are some easy things you can do to make your home more appealing to buyers.  

Outside:
It is estimated that more than half of all houses are sold before the buyers even get out of their cars. So stand across the street from your house and review its curb appeal.
• Sweep front walkway.
• Remove newspapers, bikes and toys.
• Park extra cars away from the property.
• Trim back the shrubs.
• Apply fresh, clean paint throughout.
• Clean windows and window coverings throughout.
• Keep plumbing and all appliances in working order.
• Maintain all sealants (window, tub, shower, sink, etc.) in good condition.
• Make sure roof and gutters are in good condition; no repairs needed.
• Mow the lawn more frequently and plant flowers.
• Keep pet areas clean.
Inside:
• Kitchen and bathroom should shine.
• Quick once-over with the vacuum; carpets should be clean.
• Place fresh flowers in the main rooms.
• Put dishes away, unless setting a formal display for decoration.
• Make beds and put all clothes away.
• Open drapes and turn on lights for a brighter feel.
• Straighten closets.
• Put toys away.
• Turn off television.
• Play soft music on the radio/stereo.
• Keep pets out of the way and pet areas clean and odor-free.
• Secure jewelry, cash, prescription medication and other valuables.
• Enhance the spaciousness of each room. Pack away collectibles to allow buyer to envision own furnishings in home.
Important Reminders:
• Potential buyers usually feel more comfortable if the owners are not present.
• If people unaccompanied by an agent request to see your property, please refer them to your real estate professional for an appointment.
• Leave a number where you can be reached if you are leaving town, even for a weekend. 

As top Upper Dublin, Horsham, Blue Bell, Lower Gsynedd and surrounding area real estate agents with years of experience and a proven track record, it is our job to guide you through this complicated process, from beginning to end. We want you to get the maximum value for your home, within YOUR time frame. Here are just some of the things that we will do to market and sell your home: 

- Buyers want to buy your home for as little as possible! Through detailed comparisons between your home and recently sold homes, and other properties currently on the Upper Dublin, Horsham and Blue Bell market, together we can determine what your home is really worth in today's market. In the industry this is called a Comparative Market Analysis or CMA. We will do this for you, for free. 

- Buyers have their own timelines, which might not be yours! We make sure they don't waste your time by qualifying them as to their real ability to afford your home. 

- More buyers interested in your Upper Dublin, Horsham and Blue Bell home means more money in your pocket when it is sold. Our extensive marketing of your home assures you of maximum value. For example, this web site will market your property all across the web. It will appear on Yahoo Real Estate, Microsoft MSN HomeAdvisor, and other top national sites. We can place your home on our web site within a few minutes time! 

- When we begin marketing your home, we will immediately notify all the buyers that we are helping find their ideal home. We'll also notify all the real estate agents in this area that we work with, who quickly tell their homebuyers. It is a powerful way to jump-start the sale of your home! 

- You and a member of my group or I will walk through your home together. We will advise you how to present your property to maximize its selling price. Some improvements are worth it, and some are not! Be careful. 

- Contracts are complicated, and intimidating. You don't want to go to a closing with some doubts. You will have the full benefit of our Upper Dublin, Horsham and Blue Bell real estate experience and knowledge for a smooth and successful closing. We recommend that you do not sign on any dotted lines without asking us first. 

- We will make sure you conform to any and all Pennsylvania statutory disclosure requirements. We will also inform you of any inspections that you should consider having done ahead of time to smooth the negotiating process with buyers, and to ensure a successful escrow and closing. 

You pay no up front costs for our services! So you can bet that we will work hard to get your home sold, for as much as this market will possibly bear. We will also work within your time frame and your needs. For example, sometimes it can be hard to sell and move out of your current home, and buy and move into a new home, all at the same time! We can help smooth this out. 

Call or email us. Ask for a free In-Home Presentation. We will come to your home or office, and present you a plan that details exactly how we will market your home. There is absolutely no obligation so don't let this opportunity pass. It is part of our job as top real estate agents to offer you this service. 

HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE 

To make sure that your homeowners insurance information is correct check out-C.L.U.E. Inc. Get a copy of the seven year history of losses on your property.
C.L.U.E. Inc. maintains a seven year history of losses information on insurance claims histories.
To receive a C.L.U.E.® (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) Report, go to WWW.CHOICETRUST.COM 

The C.L.U.E.® Personal Property report provides a seven year history of losses associated with an individual and his/her personal property.  

ENERGY SAVING TIPS 

1. Caulk all utility penetrations. Do not use urethane foam, as it tends to turn orange and sticks to everything. If you have a large hole to fill, use steel wool first and then finished with a good silicone caulk. 

2. For those of you who live in houses made with stucco, it is very important that you caulk windows and door penetrations. 

3. Revist your attic and crawl spaces. This regional area calls for a minimum of an R-30, which is nine inches of insulation. For several hundred dollars I would recommend that you go to a cumulative total of twelve inches in your attics and six inches in your crawl spaces. Use blown-in insulation for your attic if you don’t feel comfortable in this location and six inches of foil-faced insulation under your homes. 

4. Install six-inches of foil-faced insulation in the box beam or the perimeter of your basement if it is not insulated yet. 

5. For heat pump homes, I would suggest six inches of foil-faced insulation in the joist bays throughout your basement. Foil should always face the heated surface, typically the under side of the floor. 

6. Consider the setting of your gas water heater. Most gas water heaters will have a thermostat where you line up the larger setting with the small pin, which is 130 degrees. This is more than adequate. Every time you raise or lower the thermostat one notch, it raises or lowers the temperature by 10 degrees. If you are using a lot of cold water to tone your water down, turn it down. 

7. For those who have a summer-winter hookup or integral coil, during the winter months the settings in the control should be 180/160. Over the summer lower the setting but maintain a 20-degree difference, try 160/140 or 170/150. 

8. For electric water heaters, set the thermostat at 130 degrees. The lower element does the majority of the work while the top element gives it “a quick blast” before it goes to your fixtures. 

9. Any oil furnance/boiler should have a service contract so the nozzle is replaced on an annual basis. Efficiency tends to drop more rapidly with oil than with gas. 

10. Aniquated equipment can be considered for replacement. Today’s gas furnaces and boilers can be as high as 96 percent efficient, while the best that oil can do is between 85 to 90 perent. New generation heat pumps are many more times efficient than those first generation models of the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Cost savings alone may pay for the new appliance within several years. 

11. Insulate pull-down stairs and attic hatches. For those in split-levels, make sure to insulate side panels to the lower attic. 

12. Garage refrigerators or freezers, if they were your parent’s, dispose of them. They draw much more current than the new generation “Energy Star” appliances. 

13. Utilize your bath fans in lieu of opening a window when taking showers. If you do not have a bath fan install one, but don’t vent it into the attic, vent it to the soffit, throught the roof or to the exterior of the structure. During the winter months, moisture, that builds up in attic environments will lead to mildew and/or mold. 

14. Insulate your receptacles and/or switches, primarily on exterior walls, as they are a primary source of energy loss because it is difficult to insulate around these devices. 

15. Install set-back thermostats for fossil fuel heating systems. They are inexpensive and can save a few hundred dollars over the heating season. 

16. Consider an energy audit.  

Energy Tips provided by “Tri-County Inspection Co., Inc.” 

Ask us ANY question about selling your home or property. Or request our FREE in-home presentation of how we would market your property in Upper Dublin, Horsham, and Blue Bell, Lower Gwynedd, and Surrounding Areas! There's no obligation, and we promise to get back to you quickly...