Picture this- A bustling office with the area’s top producing agents working together to make their clients dreams a reality-the dream of owning a home. As we are poised to begin 2012 in mere months, think about where you want to be, are you an agent with the wrong firm? Call us today to discuss what Re/Max Top Performers can do for you. Put the value of Re/Max to work for you today.
Home Buyers and Sellers Prefer RE/MAX
RE/MAX Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction in
2011 J.D. Power and Associates Study
DENVER, CO
– Results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM
, recognize RE/MAX for providing the highest overall consumer satisfaction for both home buyers and home sellers. In last year’s study, two different companies ranked the highest in each category, but this year home buyers and sellers both rated RE/MAX the highest.
“It all comes down to professionalism and a commitment to a premier level of customer service,” said RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder
Dave Liniger
. “Because RE/MAX agents average more experience and training than other agents, they are better prepared to deal with home buyers and sellers in any kind of market. And, consumer preferences tell the story . . . nobody sells more real estate than RE/MAX.”
This is the fourth annual study of home buyer and seller satisfaction with the largest national real estate companies, conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. For the home buying experience, three factors were considered: agent/salesperson, office and a variety of additional services. Four factors were examined for the home-selling experience: agent/salesperson, marketing, office and a variety of additional services.
Details from the study indicate that on a scale of 1,000, homebuyer respondents ranked RE/MAX with a score of 805 and home sellers put RE/MAX on top at 791. The 2011 study includes more than 4,200 evaluations from 3,680 respondents who bought or sold a home in the U.S. between March 2010 and April 2011.
In two other 2011 industry surveys of the country’s top real estate brokerages, RE/MAX agents averaged more transaction sides than agents at the other national franchises. The RIS Media Power Broker Survey and the REAL Trends 500 both showed that RE/MAX agents averaged over 14 transactions sides, more than double the average of many competitors.
The success of RE/MAX agents is the result of its comprehensive educational platform, RE/MAX University, which offers over 1,100 educational programs on-demand, and available online, on television, on smart phones and in classrooms around the world.
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Contact
:
Cory Jo Vasquez
Sr. Public Relations Manager
RE/MAX, LLC.
(303) 796-3667
cjvasquez@remax.net
For more information about RE/MAX or to find a top-performing RE/MAX agent in your area, visit www.remax.com. To join the best performing real estate sales force, visit www.joinremax.com.
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We’ve got you covered! Here’s an easy how-to that will save you time and money and make your new house even more special than buying it from me.
Source: http://www.remax.com/learningcenter/articleviewer.aspx?id=48
One of the best ways to give your house a new lease on life is to put on a fresh coat of paint. You can hire pros to do the job, but painting is one thing homeowners can do well if they’re careful and take their time.
Here are some quick tips from professional painters on doing a job that will do you and your home proud.
Paint and Equipment
Interior: For bedrooms and living areas, most people choose a high-quality latex paint (water-based) in a flat or eggshell sheen. For doors and windows, woodwork, kitchens and bathrooms, the preferred choice is semi-gloss.
Exterior: Use an exterior paint that’s designed to withstand severe weather. Most pros recommend a satin sheen, which provides the best combination of durability and attractiveness.
Brushes and Rollers: For latex paint, use nylon brushes. For oil-based materials such as varnish, use natural bristle brushes. It’s a good idea to have at least two sizes: a straight brush 2 or 3 inches wide and an angled brush 1 or 1½ inches wide for trim. When choosing roller sleeves, the “nap,” or thickness of the material, you should use depends on the surface texture: the rougher the wall, the higher the nap you’ll need.
Preparation
Interior: Make sure the walls are clean and free of cobwebs and dust. If necessary, spot-wash the walls with a damp cloth. Make sure they’re dry before proceeding further. Patch any holes or cracks with spackle. It’s also a good time to caulk around the woodwork, door and window frames if necessary.
Exterior: Scrape loose paint, sand if necessary and prime any bare wood. Repair any caulk that has separated or cracked.
Painting
Interior: If you’re painting the ceiling – which is often unnecessary – do it first. Brush around the edges and around light and fan fixtures. If you’re painting the ceiling and walls the same color, you can brush a few inches down the wall at the same time. Next you’ll roll the ceiling.
Repeat the process with the walls; first brush any areas you can’t reach with the roller, including the ceiling line (if a different color than the ceiling), corners and baseboard, and follow up with the roller. To paint the woodwork, use your angled brush. Many people put a strip of masking tape under the baseboard to protect the carpet and make the painting go faster.
Exterior: You may want to rent or buy a sprayer. Your other option is to brush and roll, which most pros say gives you better coverage.
We’ve done all the work for you, there’s no need to look any further for why you want to live in Havertown.
10. Haverford Township Day: Haverford Township Day began in 1995 as a way to celebrate the community of Haverford Township, located in Delaware County. A long-time Haverford Township resident proposed having a parade to bring neighbors together and promote civic and community groups. The first event was held in October 1995 and consisted of a parade through the center of the town, and craft and flea market vendors. The event was very successful and has grown to include numerous activities for children, musical acts from local bands, participation from area vendors, and a 5K race.
9. Haverford Township School District: The School District is located in a residential community in northeastern Delaware County right outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The District currently has a student enrollment of approximately 5,475, and, residents number over 49,000. There are seven schools in the District: Chatham Park, Chestnutwold, Coopertown, Lynnewood, and Manoa elementary schools, with grades kindergarten through 5; Haverford Middle School, with grades 6-8; and Haverford High School, with grades 9-12. Residents of Haverford Township benefit from a wide range of school supported services, including Adult Evening School; the Golden Age Program, the Senior Citizen Prom and the Tax-Aide Program for senior citizens; and Delaware County Community College courses for all residents. Haverford, which is a member of the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce and the Main Line Chamber of Commerce, maintains partnerships with local universities and colleges, businesses, service organizations, realtors, community groups and senior citizen organizations. In 1989, the District’s Community Relations program received a “National Achievement Award” from the National School Public Relations Association.
8. Restaurants: Nais Cuisine, serving award-winning french dishes with oriental flair since 1985; Sampan Inn, serving classic chinese, fine japanese, and the best sushi on the main line since 2000, and Kaya’s Fusion serving contemporary American with global influences.
7. Police force: Today The Haverford Township Police Department consists of one Chief of Police, sixty nine sworn officers and eighty civilian personnel. The civilian personnel consist of five information assistants, one administrative assistant, one records office manager, two secretaries, two full time records clerks, two part time records clerks, five part time parking enforcement officers and sixty-two crossing guards. Of the sixty nine officers one is a Deputy Chief, three are Lieutenants, twelve are Sergeants and fifty-three are Police Officers. The Haverford Township Police Department is a full service law enforcement agency that proudly serves a community of 50,000 residents.
6. Skatium: The Skatium is owned and operated by Haverford Township celebrating 36 years of service to the community. The $1.5 million facility has been open since September of 1974 and is the home to Haverford Hawks Youth Hockey, High School Hockey, St. Joe’s University College Hockey, Delaware County Skating Club, and great skating, hockey & family fun.
5. Location: With quick and easy access to the Blue Route and I-95 you can experience the city of Philadelphia and all it has to offer and be back home in a jiff.
4. Neighborhood Fire Departments: With one situated in almost every neighborhood you can be certain your family is safe and sound. Manoa, Brookline, etc and each hosts an annual fire safety month events to teach you and your loved ones about proper fire safety in your home to keep you protected.
3. It’s a great place to live! It’s close enough to the city if that is your thing and it has all the charm of a suburb without having to learn how to parallel park your SUV on a tiny side street.
2. Shopping. With Shopping centers like the Manoa Shopping Center in almost every neighborhood it’s easy to get what you need whether it be for a big party or a regular Saturday night as well as quick and easy access to places like Suburban Square in Ardmore where you can take cooking lessons at William Sonoma or sample local fare at the farmer’s market you are sure to find something to suit your fancy.
1. And the number one reason to buy a house in Havertown is because Mr. Havertown sells houses here. Conveniently located on Township Line Rd in Drexel Hill, Real Estate Agent Jerry Grantland has a lot of experience working with home buyers and sellers in Drexel Hill and the nearby towns of Havertown and Upper Darby.
In a buyers’ market, selling your home can be a frustrating lesson, especially if you make costly mistakes that can slow your sales opportunities.
According to an article by Zillow, about 36 percent of homes nationwide sold for a loss in January. As spring rolls in and buyers head out to shop for their perfect home, they’re doing so with a critical eye because of the many choices due to excessive inventory.
If you avoid common seller mistakes, you can save yourself time and money. Let’s take a look at a few of these problem areas.
Sole-focused, comp-based pricing. Yes, recent sales count. Studying and understanding the comps in your area will give you an idea about how much buyers were willing to pay for homes in your neighborhood in the recent months, but relying strictly on the comps is a mistake.
Take a close look at the homes that are currently listed for sale. How does your home stack up? What are the benefits of buying your home compared to the others on the market? What makes your home stand out? Are you conveying this information to buyers?
When you do review the comps, see if you can notice any particular benefit listed for the sold homes that may have attracted buyers and ultimately caused the sale to close at a higher price. The typical advantages include: good schools, neighborhood parks, walking distance to retail stores, close access to freeways, quiet neighborhood, bright rooms, open floor plans, and new appliances. Now, take a look at your home from that buyer’s perspective and search for a few more unique features worth noting.
List your improvements and upgrades. If you’ve put in a tankless water heater for instance, be sure to mention it. While only so much can appear on the Multiple Listing Service, if you have plenty of additions to your home make a bullet-style list, print it out, make copies, and leave it for open house guests. This additional sheet will help buyers remember specific details about your property and it will help your home stand out from the dozens of others that they might be viewing.
Listing home for sale based on what you paid. Do you sell a car based on what you paid for it originally? Not typically. Yes, I understand cars depreciate but when it comes to real estate, many people, until recent years, had been trained to think that homes only appreciate. Well, houses most certainly can build equity, but there’s been a sharp lesson about how they can lose value too. Getting what you paid or more for or a home depends on many factors, including when you purchased it, current market conditions, economic factors, length of ownership, improvements, and how much time you have to sell.
Listing your home based on how much is still owed can cause a seller to list the home for too high of a price. This can quickly result in a painful cycle of price reductions signaling to buyers that there’s plenty of room to negotiate on price. In the last month, 23 percent of homes listed on Zillow had price reductions.
Not making curb appeal into web appeal is another mistake. Curb appeal is the art of making your home appeal to buyers from the moment they first see your home. Some sellers think of this in terms of making their home appealing when buyers come to an open house or drive by it. But these days, curb appeal must transfer to web appeal, too.
That means that any and all pictures of your home should create web appeal — an instant attraction — drawing the buyer into your home for an in-person look. If your photos or videos are not properly composed with pleasant lighting and free of clutter and distractions, they won’t appeal to buyers browsing the web. With so many of the searches for homes originating online, it’s worth it to invest in the best photos you can of your home. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words … and a video of your home can be worth even more if it convinces the buyer to get in the car and make the drive to see the “real” thing!
Published: April 15, 2011
| ‘Time to Buy Again,’ says Fortune (1) |
|
|
 TIME TO BUY: The cover story in the April edition of Fortune magazine trumpets that “housing is back.” |
“After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing,” proclaims Fortune magazine, one of the world’s premier business publications, in its April cover story.
The article, headlined “The Return of Real Estate,” explains that several market forces have created a more promising outlook for the industry. An excerpt:
So let’s state it simply and forcibly: Housing is back. Two basic factors are laying the foundation for dramatic recovery in residential real estate. The first is the historic drop in new construction. The second is a steep decline in prices, on the order of 30% nationwide since 2006, and as much as 55% in the hardest-hit markets. The story of this downturn has been an astonishing flight from the traditional American approach of buying new houses to an embrace of renting. But the new affordability will gradually lure Americans back to buying homes. And the return of the homeowner will start raising prices in many markets this year.
The author, Senior Editor-at-Large Shawn Tully, acknowledges that demand has been extremely weak in recent years, but notes that a “remarkable shift in home affordability” and the cost of owning vs. renting bode well for housing’s immediate future.
The second measure, the cost of owning compared with renting, should also inspire potential buyers. In 28 out of 54 major markets, it’s now cheaper to pay a mortgage and other major costs than to rent the same house. What’s most compelling is that in all of the distressed markets, owning now wins by a wide margin — a stunning reversal from four years ago. It now costs 34% less than renting in Atlanta. In Miami the average rent is now $1,031 a month, vs. the $856 it costs to carry a ranch house or stucco cottage as an owner.
Some cities, especially those not immersed in foreclosures, will rebound sooner than others, Tully writes, but even the hardest-hit markets have reason for some level of optimism. One big reason: Investors.
“People always want to live in those sunny locales, and their job markets are starting to recover, albeit slowly. In foreclosure markets, the inventory problem is far greater because it includes not just traditional resale homes but millions of distressed properties. Fortunately those houses are now such a screaming deal that investors, including lots of mom-and-pop buyers, are purchasing them at a rapid pace.”
The bottom line, Tully concludes, is that it’s a great time to buy. His article’s final advice for those on the fence:
Beat the crowd.
© 2011 RE/MAX, LLC. RE/MAX Affiliates may share this article, provided they do not charge for it and this notice is included. All other rights reserved.
