Real Estate Information Archive

The big day is almost here!  You and your family are moving out of your old house into a new home! It’s an exciting time, however moving can be a huge headache if you go into it unprepared.  Below are a few tips and ideas on how to make your move a success.

• If you plan to hire a moving company to take care of your move for you, don’t be afraid to do your homework on the different moving companies.  There are some moving companies out there that will help to make your move a lot easier while there are others that can simply make the entire process a nightmare.  You owe it to yourself to do a bit of research and to find the best moving company you possibly can.
• Another bit of advice for moving from one house to another is to prep for the move ahead of time.  Make sure that your movers know if they will be moving heavy things such as kitchen appliances and have them unplugged and cleaned out before the movers arrive so that they can easily and quickly get the heavy objects taken out of the way. 
• Get your packing done before the big moving day arrives.  Moving companies do not want to be tripping over you while you are frantically packing last minute items into boxes that have yet to be taped and ready to move.  If you have your job done before the movers arrive, they will be able to get their job done in a quick and successful manner.  It’s also a good idea to stack your boxes against the walls of the rooms so that the movers can easily move about as they are working.  Again, if your job is done, their job will be easier and all will be happy. 
• Label your boxes so that movers will understand what room it goes in.  If you label the boxes with your kid’s names, it’s likely the movers will have no idea which room the box belongs in once they arrive at your new home.  Keep it simple and label the boxes accordingly. 

If you do your part to make sure you have done all you can do to make the move an easy process,  the moving company will be free to do their job and do it right.

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Real Estate Broker Tucker Robbins.

With the snow gone and the ground thawed, many eager homeowners and landscape professionals across the country are rolling up their sleeves and reaching for their shovels to start projects that require digging this spring.

During the transition into "digging season," Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the association dedicated to protecting underground utilities and the people who dig near them, reminds homeowners and professional diggers that calling 811 is the first step towards protecting you and your community from the risk of unintentionally damaging an underground line.

Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants a free call to 811. Installing a mailbox or fence, building a deck and landscaping are all examples of digging projects that should only begin a few days after making a call to 811. Calling this number connects you to your local one call utility notification center.

According to data collected by CGA in a phone survey in late February, more than half (46 percent) of American homeowners said they plan to do DIY projects involving digging this year, but 40 percent of them do not plan to make a free call to 811 before digging. Extrapolated to the full population of U.S. homeowners, approximately 51.8 million people will dig this year without first calling 811.

A utility line is damaged every six minutes in America because someone decided to dig without making a call to 811 to learn the approximate location of buried utilities in their area. Unintentionally striking one of these lines can result in inconvenient outages for entire neighborhoods, harm to yourself or your neighbors and repair costs.

As a result, CGA offers the following tips to make sure you complete your project safely and without any utility service interruptions, so you don't become a statistic.

Here's how the 811 process works:

1. One free, simple phone call to 811 makes it easy for your local one call center to notify all appropriate utility companies of your intent to dig. Call a few days prior to digging to ensure enough time for the approximate location of utility lines to be marked with flags or paint.

2. When you call 811, a representative from your local one call center will ask for the location and description of your digging project.

3. Your local one-call center will notify affected utility companies, which will then send professional locators to the proposed dig site to mark the approximate location of your lines.

4. Only once all lines have been accurately marked, roll up those sleeves and carefully dig around the marked areas.

There are nearly 19 million miles of underground utility lines in the United States that your family depends on for everyday needs including electric, gas, water and sewer, cable TV, high-speed Internet and landline telephone. That equals more than a football field's length of utilities for every person in the United States. With that much critical infrastructure underground, it's important to know what's below and call 811 before digging.

To find out more information about 811 or the one call utility notification center in your area, visit Call811.com. (BPT)

Courtesy of Wilmington DE Real Estate Expert Tucker Robbins.

The average tax refund in 2015 was approximately $2,800 according to the IRS, and similar refunds are expected in 2016. For those getting a refund, there are many options to consider in deciding what to do with this unexpected income. The big question is what is the smartest option?

While you may want to splurge with your refund, careful management for the majority of the funds is a smart financial move. A tax refund or any unexpected income can be used to help reach your financial goals without impacting your current standard of living.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) suggests three things to consider for this year's tax refund:

1. Pay down debt. Take a look at your current debt. Find out which have the highest interest rates and consider paying those down first to help prevent interest from continuing to add up. Another common strategy is to pay off your smallest debt first, then work your way up to the larger ones.

2. Build an emergency fund. Consider using at least a portion of your tax refund to give your emergency fund a boost. Make a goal to stash away three to six months' worth of expenses in cash in an emergency fund you can easily access if you need to, such as a savings account, and use your refund to work toward that goal.

3. Pay the future forward. The positive news is that Americans are living longer. The challenge is that their health may change with aging, and people are now faced with saving for a retirement period of up to 30 years. So if you haven't started to save or want to boost your retirement savings, consider putting your refund in a retirement savings plan. You may also consider taking a portion of your refund for higher education - whether for yourself, a child or grandchild. Or, if you haven't considered life insurance or disability income insurance yet or need to revisit your plans, now's a good time to talk to a financial professional.

A tax refund is money you've worked hard for, and it is OK to do something fun with it. Just make sure you consider committing at least a portion toward your short-term and long-term financial needs and goals. (BPT)

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Real Estate Expert Tucker Robbins.

New Castle County DE new listings declined 19.75% in March 2016 with 65 homes for sale compared to 81 in March 2015. The average sales price rose 2.71% in March to $168,345 from $167,000 in March 2015.

Information courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

New Castle County DE new listings declined 5.95% in February 2016 with 601 homes for sale compared to 639 in February 2015. The average sales price rose 2.11% in February to $223,952 from $219,325 in February 2015.

Information courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

We have all been inside of friends and families homes that have pets and we all know just how smelly pets can make a home no matter how clean you keep your pets.  In fact, most homes these days have at least one pet in them.  If you are trying to sell your home having a pet may make it harder to do so.  Let’s take a look at a few ways pets make things harder on someone who is trying to sell their home.

• You may have your home staged to the max but if you have a pet inside it is likely that the odor will be noticed by folks who come to take a tour of your home.  You may think that if you give your pet a bath daily there will be no odor, think again.  Pets have an odor that is all their own and it is easily noticed by the human nose. 
• Cats tend to make the most smell when it comes to having animals inside of your home because they do their business inside, in the litter box.  It is important to take litter boxes outside when showing a home so that the smell may be somewhat masked at least. 
• Pets that shed are ones that may cause an issue when someone comes to tour your home because there is absolutely no way you can get rid of all of the hair inside of your home.  If you need to have a pet, perhaps opting for one that doesn’t shed such as a poodle is a better option for you.  You can run a lint brush over all of your furniture before a showing but as I said there is basically no way to get rid of all of the hair.
• An air purifier may be a good idea to invest in if you have pets and you are about to start showing your house.  These types of machines go a long way to helping take the pet smell out of your home. 

Don’t worry, if you want to sell your home and you have pets you don’t have to get rid of your pets just be diligent and do your part to make sure those who tour your home have no idea you have animals living inside.  Once they finish the tour you can go back to normal life until the next showing and then you will repeat the entire cleaning process over again.  Another thing you can do if you have pets and you are trying to sell your home is to look up some tips and ideas online of how to make your home show better and therefore sell faster. 

Courtesy of New Castle County Realtor Tucker Robbins.

Perhaps you have been searching for your dream home and you have already found the one you really want but before you get a chance to do anything about it you drive by and notice it is ‘under contract’ or ‘pending’.  If this happens to you, don’t give up on your dreams there are things that you can do to make things go in your favor.  Below are a few ideas for you to try if you find that your dream home is about to slip through your fingers.

• First of all if you find that the home you have your eye on is ‘under contract’ you need to know that you shouldn’t give up.  Under contract doesn’t mean that the sale has taken place it only means that an offer has been made but that it hasn’t closed yet.   There is still a good chance that the home may come back on the market again especially if the buyer cannot come up with the funds needed through financing.  Another reason a sale pending may fall through is if the inspection doesn’t work out.
• Talk to your Realtor and let she or he know that you are interested in the house that is under contract.  Many times seller’s agents will continue to show a home until the last minute.  They do so because they may be hoping for a better offer than they currently have.  They also do this so that if the funding falls through for the current bidder they will have someone else in line to make an offer quickly afterwards. 
• If you REALLY want this house and you don’t want it to slip through your fingers you can always make a higher bid than is currently in play.   If you can afford to do this, it can be an easy way to make things go in your favor. 
• Sending a handwritten note to the seller is a great way to let them know just how serious you are about purchasing their home.  Hand written letters are pretty much a thing of the past these days and a handwritten note may make all the difference in the seller’s decision. 

Some of these tips for snatching your dream home  out of ‘under contract’ or ‘pending’ status are pretty unconventional but if you really want the home to be your own you may be willing to do whatever it may take. In the end if you don’t end up getting the home, there is another one out there that is better for you and your family. 

Courtesy of Wilmington DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

New Castle County DE new listings declined 9.25% in January 2016 with 559 homes for sale compared to 616 in January 2015. The average sales price rose 6.73% in January to $236,667 from $222,745 in January 2015.

Information courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

Many times when someone puts their house on the market they are so excited at the possibility of getting their home sold quickly that they lose their bearings a bit when they finally have a serious buyer.  You as the seller need to be sure not to say too much to your potential buyer so that you don’t end up losing the sale before you get it.  Below are a few things you shouldn’t say when selling your home. 

Things You Shouldn't Say When Selling

• Be careful not to tell your potential home buyer  that your house is in top shape and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.  You most likely don’t know if your house is in perfect shape and will only know for sure the shape that it is in when the inspector comes to do his or her job.  There is nothing wrong with verbally selling your home to a potential buyer but be careful not to say things unless you know for certain those things are true. 
• Another good thing to keep to yourself when it comes to talking to a potential buyer of your home is exactly how long your home has been on the market.  It is likely that the buyer already knows how long your home has been on the market and if you talk too much about that, they may try to get you to lower your price as a result.  Information about your house that is already in the system doesn’t need to be shared over and over again.  Let the house speak for itself. 
• There is also no need to talk to a potential buyer about how much you spent on remodeling different areas inside the home.  The buyer doesn’t really care how much you spent fixing “x,y,z” , they just want a good and fair price.
• If you talk to your potential buyers and you tell them that you are not willing to negotiate on the price from the start, it is likely that they buyer will shut down and won’t even make an offer.  Always be willing to negotiate and have a set lowest price in your mind and then don’t go below that price. 

Of course your number one priority when trying to sell your home is to sell it, however take a few of these  tips of what not to say to a potential buyer  to heart and you will likely end up with the result you are looking for. 

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtor Tucker Robbins.

Whether you are selling your home or you are looking to buy a home, there are a few things that you need to know to help your home inspection go as well as it possibly can.  Home buyers need to know that the house they are buying is in good shape and home sellers need to be on the up and up when selling their home. When it comes to home inspections there are a few tips that can help the inspection go smoothly and the process be as stress free as possible. 

• If you are selling your home and you have a home inspection on the schedule, do your part to make it easy on the inspector by getting your pets out of the house while he or she is doing the inspection.  Your home inspector may love and adore animals as much as you do but your pets being under their feet during the inspection will not make the job any easier. 
• During a home inspection, typically the potential buyers are inside alone with the inspector and they may want to look around to take one last look at things before making a final decision.  If you want to make a good impression on those potential buyers, you may want to clean up the clutter you have left laying around.  Believe it or not clutter can cause a potential home buyer to walk away without making an offer.
• As a home buyer don’t freak out if the home inspector comes up with a list of things that need to be taken care of in the house.  You need to realize that most houses have some sort of upkeep or maintenance that needs to be taken care of and that inspector’s are known for being nitpicky.   Realize too that most everything can be fixed.  Even the dreaded mold and radon.  Realize as well that home inspectors cannot predict the future and won’t be able to tell you how long something will last; they will just be able to tell you that it needs attention. 

Hopefully these tips will help you out the next time you have a home inspector coming to your home, whether you are selling or buying.  Remember that the home inspector is there to help you not to harm you or to ruin your dreams.

Courtesy of New Castle County Real Estate Expert Tucker Robbins.