Heather's Bucks County Real Estate Blog: July 2008

My dear Sellers in Bucks County, while educating yourself on how to get a quick sale, you're going to find a lot of articles that tout "creative" ideas for getting your home sold. 

Offer the Buyers a Car!  A boat!  A vacation!

Getting tricky isn't the answer.  There are only three things a Buyer really cares about:  price, location, and condition.  That's it.  Every other scenario is encompassed by those three concerns.  A car isn't going to address any of those concerns, is it?  So it's not going to impact your home sale. 

Now, there are several things that you can offer that do address some of those concerns (namely price, since money is always going to be the primary concern for a Buyer).  I wrote of some strategies back in February entitled "7 Creative Ways to Appeal to Buyers." Check out the first word in each sentence - it's PAY. The way to a Buyer's heart is through their pocketbook and their emotions. 

Getting tricky with Buyers is inviting a big, fat, tricky mess.  Let's take the vacation example.  The Buyers decide that they don't want the vacation - they want the money deducted from the home sale.  Their opinion of what the trip costs doesn't match your own.  Now what?  Or, they want the trip, but they want you to upgrade their airfare and rooms.  Now what?  You're not only negotiating your home sale, you're negotiating hotel rooms and airfare.  Seriously, who wants to do that? 

I believe in keeping it simple.  Price your home right, do the right marketing, make it clean and easy to show, keep a level head and the end result in sight.

The process is complicated and emotional enough without adding trips and cars into the equation.

For another of the "Gotta Get Out of the House" days that seem to proliferate my writing, take a trip to Kid's Castle in Doylestown. Located in Central Park on Wells Road, this wonderful park offers all sort of activities: tennis, soccer, picnic pavilions, and walking trails. 

The crown jewel of this park, however, is the 8 story wooden castle located in the biggest, baddest, most age-range-pleasing playground I've ever been to.  My 7 and 5 year old scrambled through the castle, went down the enormous twirly slide, and completed the scavenger hunt, while my one year old ran around the farm themed toddler playground.  There is also a HUGE toddler playground, but, well....it's got sand as the base and it didn't feel like dealing with sand that day, so we stuck to the farmyard.

There's also a cute little stream, with big fat toads, where the children can wade and splash.  Boys....can't resist....dirt and mud...

Honestly, though, a hot day with sweaty kids, and this looks like nirvana - toads and all.  We packed a lunch and there were plenty of picnic tables available (even with two school groups).

Bring the kids' bikes because they have 1.5 miles of walking and bike trails. The one walking trail is a real challenge - it's a huge hill and would make a great once a week "tough test" for someone looking to kick up their walking or running.

Take a look at this gorgeous trail that loops around a pond.  There are various stations that tell you about plant species, native birds, invasive plants, etc.  You can see in the background that there are townhomes (Doylestown Station - Cornerstone Court)that back to the park.  Now, I like my privacy, but how wonderful would it be to have this park, with all these amenities, right out your door?  There are a few on the market right now, priced below $400,000.  Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions or want more information on them.

Totally free, and impressive to even the most hardened playground connoisseur, keep this in your arsenal for a way to burn off all that extra energy.

Once upon a time, there were two relentless children who nagged their mother and father for a pet.  They wanted a dog, but since the mother and father had cleaned up as much poop as they intended to clean up in their lifetime, Mother and Father said "No."  During a camping trip, the children, desperate for any pet, convinced their Mother and Father to let them buy hermit crabs, "With our own money." Sure, the children didn't really like the hermit crabs, in fact were a actually a little afraid of them, but a pet's a pet, right?  So they settled.  But the children weren't really happy.

When they got home from their trip, Mother had the bright idea to read about hermit crabs.  Mother quickly realized the folly of an over-educated child.  The list of necessary hermit crab paraphernalia was overwhelming, and hermit crabs lived in groups, so more hermit crabs were necessary.  A $60 trip to PetSmart ensued. At PetSmart, the children saw some cats for adoption, and quickly started  a new campaign for a cat, before the "crabitat" had even been set up. Sure, it was fun setting up the "crabitat," but the children really weren't happy.

So, here they sit, with animals that, while growing on the children, really aren't what they wanted.  They're certainly not what Mother wanted - the things are pretty gross.  Everyone should have waited until they were old enough to get a dog or cat.  Everyone likes dogs and cats.  But, no.  Here they sit with hermit crabs, and nobody is happy.

Get what you really want.  Don't get something sorta/kinda/almost what you want, invest a bunch of time and money into it, only to end up with something that still doesn't really make you happy.

If you've read my blog before, you know I love me a junker house, but that's not what I'm talking about.  I'm talking about getting frustrated, getting impulsive, getting rushed.  Really think about what you want and wait for it.  Don't buy something that's almost what you want.  Short of cosmetic fixes, the yard/location/size/function of the house isn't going to change.  If you buy a house that backs to a busy road, you can invest $35,000 on landscaping, but you'll stick be backing up to a busy road.

"How long will it take my house to sell?" 

This is probably the most difficult question for a REALTOR to answer.  So many factors play into days on market:  pricing, how much competing inventory you have on the market, even seasonal buying trends.  However, I've compiled the following data from our MLS system to show you the AVERAGE days on market by township in Bucks County through the first half of the year.

Here were my parameters:

• Residential listings
• Priced $1,000 through $9,999,000
• Sold January through June 2008

We're not looking too bad, Bucks County. 

The average for Bucks County is 74 Days on Market.

**Information from TrEND MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 

One caveat, there is a way to "reset" days on market, so if a home has been relisted, the days on market start over.  We are working on a way to calculate the total marketing days on our reporting for the MLS.

I have the best save for all the Moms out there who need a little break this summer.  Many area movie theaters are running free or $1.00 movies, which will come in really handy during those "Gotta get out of the house" days where the neverending pleas for "something to do" turn into neverending bickering to pass the time. Enjoy a cheap two hours of peace and quiet at the following...

AMC Theaters are running $1.00 movies.  Go to AMC Summer Movie Camp to find the theater nearest you...

Families, schools and organizations alike are invited to see great kids' movies during AMC Summer MovieCamp. Available at select AMC theatres, this fun-filled program brings you:

• $1 movies from June 25 - August 6
• Shows starting at 10:00 a.m. every Wednesday
• Great field trip opportunities - groups can purchase tickets one week in advance starting June 18 at the box office or online at participating theatres

Regal Entertainment Group is running a FREE FAMILY FILM FESTIVAL.  There are a G and PG rated movies showing every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m, and admission is free on a first come, first serve basis.

For another "The kids are driving me nuts and I gotta get out of here" idea, the Wrightstown Village Library is running Movies by Moonlight. Held on Fridays at 8:30 p.m., bring your own blanket or lawn chair and enjoy the following movies under the stars:

July 3rd (THURSDAY)                 Spiderwick Chronicles

August 8th                               Nim's Island

September 5th                         Speed Racer

October 3rd                             Iron Man

These are a great way to break up the boredom, get everyone out of the house, and can come in especially handy on a rainy morning.