Tredyffrin Easttown homeowners gardening tip Trudy is the big gardener in our family. I am just the hired, or rather free help, who does the lifting, digging, mowing and raking. As Tredyffrin Easttown homeowners this week we got our mulch down over the beds. Every year we discuss how much we are going to need. We opted for four yards, maybe we really needed five. A quick call to Main Line Gardens on Paoli Pike and the delivery was set up, they offer a discount for Berwyn homeowners so the delivery was almost free. We've been doing it for a long time, so most of the beds already have a good foundation and this was more of a top up, so even though we thought we could have done with five, I am pleased we settled on four. It looks great with the tulips just opening up, now to keep the deer ... 04/13/2017

Evelyn Johnston challenged us to write this month about our niche, Setting Yourself Apart.The BackgroundI have read on Active Rain and elsewhere develop a niche. When developing a business like Real Estate it is hard.  You need to do deals and somewhat when you first start any deal looks good. When I was an antiques dealer, my father and grandfather were before me, we specialized in ceramics, from anywhere till a certain period. This could be pottery, faience, porcelain, glass, terracotta, as I used to say anything that broke. It could be Chinese, Japanese, from all over Europe, and England as well. But there were dealers who went even more specific than that, they used to sell just English Porcelain from this date to that date; some only sold specific factories or maybe only Chinese Po... 04/12/2017

Debbie Reynolds  asked us to contribute winning tactics for a hot market in a blog post. So how do you compete and win for your buyers a property in a hot market. There are several tactics to use and if your buyer can be competitive on price you should win, but it is not always about price.Gather InformationFirstly I will call the listing agent and find out as much as I can about what is important to the seller, dates, timing, etc. I try to build as much rapport as possible with the listing agent as I can especially if it is someone I have not worked with before. I want them to know I am easy to work with, and that we will need to work together somewhat to overcome any obstacles which arise during the process. When we list a property for sale, in our listing presentation we explain to o... 04/10/2017

Why do certain Realtors have to make life difficult?Kathleen Daniels challenged us to write about the issue which ticks us off this month. I find when listing a home you want to make life as easy as possible for the buyers agent to write a contract for your listing. You give them all the information they are going to need right from the start. You upload the Seller's Disclosure, you enter your broker and agent license numbers required by the lenders and now entered on our agreement of sale. You give them the client names for the contract. It is like a road map, that way they can do everything correctly from the beginning and reach their destination easily.So why would any agent refuse to enter the client's name. How do they think you are going to write a contract without it? It is not h... 04/05/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Market Report March 2017This market report includes all homes, condos, apartments, town homes, twins and single family homes for March 2017.Tredyffrin Easttown had 42 homes settle during March 2017, the median price for homes settling in March 2017 was $499,500, 96.3% of the original list price, whilst the average price was $491,738 and this was 94.3% of the original list price. The lowest price home sold for $134,000 selling in one day. The highest price home sold for $1.4 million taking 578 days to sell.However there are 84 homes with a pending status, this does not include those homes which are under contract but which are still in a contingency period and continue to be marketed. These homes have a median price of $536,490 and an average price of $594,481. The lo... 04/05/2017

One of the issues with living in a home is that you accumulate stuff, some of which is hard to dispose of for various reasons. For example hazardous waste items. This coming Saturday Tredyffrin Easttown residents can dispose of hazardous waste items, that are not electronics from 9.00 am till 3.00 pm at the following location, click the link for directions.Saturday, April 8Center for Arts & Technology, Pickering Campus, 1580 Charlestown Road, Phoenixville   Hazardous waste includes oil paint, turpentine, weed killers, rat poison, antifreeze, brake and transmission fluid, drain cleaners, moth balls, lead, fluorescent tubes, for a complete list click here  For additional disposal options click here the site for Chester County Solid Waste Authority.    04/04/2017

Tredyffryn Easttown Real Estate QuestionIs your offer confidential?Many home buyers presume the offer they are making on a home is confidential. See our video below discussing exactly this pointI totally understand when you write an offer with your buyers agent you expect it to be confidential. Now your buyers agent will hold it confidential, not sharing it with anyone but the listing agent. Your buyer agent has a fiduciary responsibility to you to protect you, your funds, your interests even above and before their own interests.However, likewise the listing agent has the same level of duty to his seller. As such it is up to the seller if they will allow their listing agent to reveal offers to competing buyers. Under the terms of the Realtor Code of Ethics listing agents are required to... 03/31/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Real Estate QuestionAre your Home Inspection Reports Confidential? This question came up recently with another agent in our office when the listing agent requested on behalf of their seller a copy of the home inspection reports. Our video below covers the confidentiality of your home inspection reports.Tredyffrin Easttown Home Buyer asks if their home inspection reports are confidential? While it would seem that you as the home buyer pay for the inspections and thus for the reports under the agreement of sale in paragraph 13 it states the seller and their listing agent can request a free copy of any reports conducted by the buyer other than the appraisal report. So the short answer is your reports are not confidential.However, does a seller always want to see the rep... 03/30/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Real Estate - What is a contingency?So you are either writing an offer or receiving an offer and your agent wants to talk about the contingencies in the agreement. But what is a contingency? Nick Vandekar, Tredyffrin Easttown Realtor answers that question in this video below. A contingency can be of varying lengths. The mortgage contingency lasts right up to settlement, although a commitment may be delivered ahead of settlement. If the buyer, or one of the buyers loses their job the contingency allows them to get out of the agreement. Other contingencies such as home inspections, including the home, Radon, Wood destroying insects etc may be 10 days for example, whilst septic tanks may be longer.The seller has a period of time to do their inspection, present their fin... 03/16/2017

Why do homes show as for sale on the Internet, but are already sold?Check out our latest video in our Frequently Asked Real Estate Questions series.   Often homes are sold, but under a contingency period which may last a few days to much longer for buyers to conduct their due diligence or even to obtain their mortgage. As a result, some sellers ask for the home to be continued to be marketed although they often then reject showings because they have not kept the home in show ready condition. However on third party sites such as Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com the homes shows as still being for sale. This is one of the reasons to work closely with a Realtor who knows the fact from fiction and who represents you and will help you find the information which is important and analyze it. One ... 03/13/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Seniors are blessed to have Surrey Services for Seniors in the area.  Rather than needing to move, they can age in place, no rush. Located in Devon with locations in Media and Broomall as well, this local charity just received four stars out of four for the fourth year running by Charity Navigator.One of the things about Surrey is the number of volunteers who give of their time and energy to the charity. This allows them to keep their costs down and to help more people. Started around a kitchen table, it now has multiple local locations and provides lots of services for seniors.As you age, things can become more difficult, but with home care, lifts, a gymnasium specifically designed for seniors, lunch services, meals on wheels and multiple classes and events there is... 03/11/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Market Report February 2017                   This is a real estate market report for Tredyffrin Easttown School District for the month of February 2017. As a Tredyffrin Easttown Realtor we have noticed the market has not slowed down over the winter period, encouraged by the warm weather buyers have been busy and there is a shortage of homes for sale at several price points. This has been resulting in many homes receiving multiple offers. Homes for Sale  This report is made as of March 4th, there are 90 homes for sale showing active in the MLS. Of these 16 are under contract, and 4 more are active but with no showings allowed. The lowest priced home is a 1 bed 1 bath condo for sale on Drummers Lane for $138,500. The highest priced home is a 9 bed 7 full baths and 2 p... 03/04/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Drug Drop?The problemEver have left over medicine? Of course you do and it sits around in your medicine cabinet because you know you don't want to flush it down the sink or the toilet. But what do you do with it? Theft of medicines at Open houses is one of the top things we warn sellers about when listing their homes. So knowing how to dispose of unwanted medication is information you need to know about as a home owner.The AnswerSome pharmacies will take returns and dispose of them, but most will not. But in Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships home owners can now drop off unused medication at their township offices in these secured drop boxes. Having had estate listings and dealt with relatives of deceased family members who are overwhelmed already to then have to deal... 02/28/2017

Trdyffrin Easttown Condo Sales February 2017Tredyffrin Easttown Real Estate is primarily single family homes but does consist of townhomes, apartments and some condos. This report features on Tredyffrin Easttown Condos which are located all around, but mainly in Tredyffrin Township. These communities differ in their facilities, some have community pools and tennis courts and some don't. The list of homes for February for sale, pending and settled come from: Drummers Lane in Glenhardie, these are arranged as apartments in a building with a central corridor and with a shared laundry room on each floor. Old Forge Crossing, these are apartments with some town houses, their own entrances, and in unit washer and dryers. Paoli Pointe a 55+ community, these are apartments, 2 bed 2 bath, in apar... 02/27/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Real Estate - Single family homes January 2017The Tredyffrin Easttown Real estate market is strong and healthy.There are currently 126 single family Tredyffrin Easttown homes for sale. 12 of these homes for sale are under contract. Prices range from $215,000 for a 3 bed 1 bath home to $8,000,000 for a 9 bed 7 full baths and 2 half bath home. So you can see there is a large difference in the types and price of homes available. Price Range # <300,000 1 301- 400,000 2 401 – 500,000 10 501 – 600,000 13 601 – 700,000 15 701 – 800,000 21 801 – 900,000 10 901 – 1,000,000 9 1,000,001 – 1,500,000 22 1,500,001 – 2,000,000 17 2,000,001 – 3,000,000 4 3,000,001 – 4,000,000 2 >4,000,001 1  There are 29 homes Pending and 15 homes Settled during January ranging in price from $329,00... 02/17/2017

I woke up this morning and had received an email from a past client. They had moved into the Tredyffrin Easttown area a few years ago buying a home and settling into one of the developments in the area.These clients called because they had read my blog and were on my website where I had a page about this particular development they were interested in. After a breif conversation they asked could I meet with them. At the time I had just finished mowing the lawn in the middle of the summer so was not presentable. Thinking they were not in a particular rush I asked when they would like to meet. Now was the answer. Well an hour later after a quick shower we met in my office.We discussed what they wanted to buy in Tredyffrin Easttown, went over their wish list and talked about their current h... 02/11/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Frequently Asked Real Estate Questions - What do you charge?Tredyffrin Easttown Realtor Nick Vandekar answers the questions what do you charge, covering it from both a seller and a buyers perspective.   Sellers- Commission is spelt out in the listing agreement and covers how the commission is split between the listing broker and buyer broker.  Why you need your own buyers agent and how approaching the listing agent will not save you money as the commission is set in the listing agreement before the home is listed for sale. Buyers - Commission is paid by the seller, as explained above this is in the original listing agreement, also covered in What Homes can you show me? is how an agreement can be structured to cover the buyer agent commission for For Sale by Owners or... 02/10/2017

When it comes to real estate, there are always going to be upswings in the market that will have an impact on your mortgage payment and overall financial health. However, with a fluctuating market here to stay, you may be wondering how you can guard your biggest investment and your finances against rate increases. If you’re concerned about rates on the rise, here are a few tips to test out you’re fiscal well-being.Calculate Your Debt-To-Income RatioIt’s beneficial to determine your DTI ratio prior to purchasing a home, but since debt and housing costs are always fluctuating, calculating this number again can be a wakeup call. By adding up your monthly expenditures (including any debt), and dividing that number by your pre-tax income, you’ll be able to determine your DTI percentage. Whil... 02/10/2017

Tuesday's phone callNick: Hello, this is NickCaller: I am calling about your listing on M....view RdNick: That is not my listing but I can help you.Caller: But I clicked call agent, who are you?Nick: I am an agent and can represent you as a buyers agent.Caller: But I want to talk to the listing agent. So you are not the listing agent.Nick: You realize the listing agent represents the seller, and has no duty to you as a buyer only to their seller.Caller: I'm not stupid. Ends call. Why you need a buyer agent representing youWhen buying a Tredyffrin Easttown home, you need a local experienced Tredyffrin Easttown Realtor to represent you. This Realtor has a fiduciary duty, that is the highest level of care you can have, putting your interests ahead of everyone else, including their own.  Mo... 02/08/2017

Tredyffrin Easttown Public Schools Tredyffrin Easttown is a combination of two townships, Tredyffrin and Easttown to form one school district, currently rated in 2017 as the #1 School district in the nation on Niche. It consists of one high school, Conestoga High School, two middle schools Valley Forge Middle and Tredyffrin Easttown Middle, and 5 elementary schools, Beaumont, Devon, New Eagle, Valley Forge and Hillside. The area primarily consists of single family homes and includes Paoli, Berwyn, Daylesford, Devon, Strafford and Wayne including Chesterbrook. It consists of 38 square miles all located in Chester County.  Conestoga High School  Located on Irish Road in Tredyffrin Township, Conestoga has plenty of activities available for its students. School starts at 7.20 am and finishe... 01/28/2017