The Pros and Cons of Home Selling During the Holidays

One of the great debates in real estate concerns the prospect of keeping a house on the market during the holiday season. Some argue that the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve is busy enough without the worry of buying a home, while proponents like the prospects since those shopping are generally more serious about buying.

A downside for the seller is that the hectic time of year makes it harder to get your home ready at the drop of a hat if a call comes in. People are busy making food, wrapping presents and preparing for a house-full of guests.

However, your house will also be decorated with beautiful lights and decorations and will create a festive elegance to a home that will attract buyers.

Some agents believe that keeping your house on the market will have you appealing to a much smaller inventory of buyers who have very specific needs that your home might not match. Others counter that less inventory over the holidays means less competition and since more people have vacations this time of year, they actually have more time to search for their ideal home.

The holidays can provide a breather for homes that have been on the market awhile, as some use the time to remove property from the market in favor of a fresh start in January. However, you risk losing the buyer who may have been looking in December to capture tax benefits that many consider with their need to buy a home.

What’s the best solution? Of course it’s up to individual homeowners and their respective circumstances. Prospective sellers should discuss their holiday prospects in detail with their Prudential Real Estate agent. Working together, they can make holiday wishes come true.

Happy Holidays!

Chip Plumley can be reached at (610) 444-9090 or (610) 357-8635.
Prudential Fox & Roach is an independently owned and operated member of
BRER Affiliates Inc. Used under license with no other affiliation with Prudential.
Equal Housing Opportunity.

ChipPlumley.com

Wrapping Up Your Home For The Holidays

In the movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” Clark Griswold may have gone a little overboard with his Christmas lights, but if he was selling his house, he may have had the right idea.

“Great decorations really set the tone for the holidays, a time when you can showcase your house in a different way to highlight areas that normally may not stand out,” said Amy Cornwell, President/ Lead Designer for Creative Impressions, which specializes in seasonal decorating.

By creating a festive atmosphere, a home seller allows perspective buyers to envision what their holidays will be like in the property—complete with a beautiful tree, stockings hung from the fireplace mantels and the smell of Christmas cookies in the air.

“Buyers associate a sense of ‘home’ through the traditions and memories of holiday décor,” Cornwell said. “It’s a great way to attract buyers.”

Nighttime is when many perspective buyers are driving around looking at houses, and nothing will slow them down more than a great Christmas light display. “A well-designed display adds festive elegance to a home, and highlights the already-present features of the property,” said Brandon Stephens, vice president of Marketing at The Decor Group, Inc., specializing in interior and exterior holiday decorating.

In fact, consider holding an open house at night, when you can serve hot chocolate and better show off the Christmas lights, holiday decorations and all that the house has to offer.

Here are some simple suggestions to ensure your home captures the holiday spirit without interfering in the real estate process:


• Keep decorations to a minimum so you don’t block views, make rooms feel smaller and disrupt the natural flow of the home. Consider a smaller tree and store gifts in another room.


• Incorporate fresh evergreen or rosemary into your decorating for a classic look and to promote “the Christmas tree smell.”


• Make sure light strings and extension cords are tucked away for everyone’s safety.


• Eschew religious or cultural decorations to not alienate prospective buyers who don’t share your beliefs.


• Leave a plate of holiday cookies and warm cider or cocoa for prospective buyers.

The holidays are emotional times for most people, including home shoppers. Holiday decorations, presented tastefully and sensibly, can help you wrap a bow on your home for just the right buyer.

Happy Holidays!

Chip Plumley can be reached at (610) 444-9090 or (610) 357-8635.
Prudential Fox & Roach is an independently owned and operated member of
Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial company.
Equal Housing Opportunity.

ChipPlumley.com

November's Tri-State Real Estate Market Report

"Real Estate is like the weather report. It doesn't matter if Seattle has rain in the forecast if you live in Philadelphia.

The Local Real Estate Market is what you should focus on and not the National Averages."

When you watch the news and they give you the "National Real Estate Stats" don't let that bother you. Even the Case-Schiller Index doesn't include the best data. If you put garbage in, you get garbage out. ALL REAL ESTATE MARKETS ARE LOCALIZED!

ARE WE REALLY IN A RECESSION STILL?

• Chester County
  
  
  Settled Units
  
  Year over Year is up 8.3% but down 2.02% year to date
  
  (Remember the tax credit jumped sales in 2010. Being down only 2% is actually not bad at all!)
  
  Total Settled Volume
  
  Year over Year is up 10.8% but down 4.27% year to date
  
  (Take out the tax credit and it's only down about 2.1%)

  
  
  

• New Castle County
  
  
  Settled Units
  
  Year over Year is up 21.1% and up 2.66% year to date
  
  (Even with the tax credit, Northern Delaware sales are up!)
  
  
  Total Settled Volume
  
  Year over Year is up 5.3% but down 8.31% year to date
  
  
  
  

I strongly urge you to take a look at the reports straight from TrendMLS (the area's Multiple Listing Service) and determine your own opinion of what the market is truly like. The numbers speak for themselves!

Please click on your County below for the detailed PDF of your market area. Please keep in mind that some of the numbers before June are skewed because of the Federal Tax Credit offered in the first 6 months of 2010.

Interest rates are starting to climb a little. A 30 year fixed rate is about 4.125% and a 15 year fixed rate is around 3.125%. There is a possibility of getting a lower rate with points too. Great time to buy and sell!

Chester County

Delaware County

New Castle County

Tri-State Area Year-To-Date Market Snapshot

Chip Plumley can be reached at (610) 444-9090 or (610) 357-8635.
Prudential Fox & Roach is an independently owned and operated member of
Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial company.
Equal Housing Opportunity.

ChipPlumley.com

Top Five: Home Store Sales Up; Housing Tax Credit for Vets; and More

In this week’s top housing news: a rebound in sales at home improvement stores may bode well for the housing market; home owners get a second chance to refinance with HARP 2.0; and a federal official pushes a new tax credit for veterans.

After a week of football, scrambling for deals at the mall, and finishing up Thanksgiving leftovers, you might have missed the stories impacting home owners. Strong numbers from Black Friday — especially an increase in sales at home improvement stores — might be an early indicator of a housing market return.

Bloomberg Businessweek: Stable Housing Seen as Home Depot-Lowe's Lead Market: Retail


Shares of Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Cos. — the two largest U.S. home improvement retailers — are outperforming other consumer discretionary stocks as the worst of the declines in the housing market may be over.

New York Times: A New Shot at Mortgage Relief


Like millions of other home owners, William D. Compton would like to refinance his mortgage so that he pays less each month for his three-bedroom house. Although he would appear to be a good candidate, Compton has been turned down twice for a federal refinancing program aimed at home owners like him. Still, he has renewed hope. That’s because the government is expanding the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which was meant to help home owners whose mortgages are backed by the government and whose home values have declined sharply — even below what they owe

Newsday: Should Vets Get a Credit to Buy Foreclosures?


Veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq could in a way serve the country once again — this time stateside for the economy. An official with Federal Reserve Bank of New York thinks there should be incentives for the veterans to buy government-held foreclosures.

HouseLogic: Will Housing Market Benefit from Good News Out of Black Friday Chaos?


While shoppers were trampling each other to get the season’s hottest stuff, a glimmer of hope emerged for the economy. Does this mean a Christmas miracle for the housing market? 


Huffington Post: Renting out Government-Owned Homes is Right Move — But Probably Wouldn't Make Any Difference to You


The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is considering proposals for selling government-owned homes to investors, who would then sell or rent them. It's hoped this move would help government agencies earn some revenue, boost neighborhood home values by getting buyers or renters into vacant homes, and ease tight rental markets by expanding the supply of rental housing.Will it?

Chip Plumley can be reached at (610) 444-9090 or (610) 357-8635.
Prudential Fox & Roach is an independently owned and operated member of
Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial company.
Equal Housing Opportunity.

ChipPlumley.com