House Talk

A Main Line Realtor®, at least a good one, has to wear many hats. It is truly a disparate bevy of skills that makes this job go well. For example, in the last couple of days I had to diagnose a water heater’s problem, find a good plumber, landscaper, mason and floor refinisher, counsel a couple who is unable to decide which area of the country they want to downsize in, and create a marketing giveaway for a sponsorship of an event.

A comparison of the cost to owning a home now to years past. Interest rates are historically low.

Almost 100% of this Main Line Real Estate Agent’s clients admit to using Zillow. If not exclusively, then occasionally. Many sellers start there to get an idea of the price their home might fetch on a sale. And many buyers use its search feature to check for new listings. Like the best of the public websites that provide listing information, Zillow gets its data directly from public websites as well as the MLS system that agents use and pay for, but often the specific information they choose to disseminate to their viewers is not up to date or as precise. And their valuations are often way off.

Houzz reports that showers are key: Four in five homeowners upgrade the shower during a master bathroom renovation (83%) and over half increase the shower size (54%). For many renovators, this alleviates the pre-project pet peeve of a small shower (38%), which is second only to having an outdated space (59%). Fewer than a quarter of renovating homeowners choose to increase the bathroom size (22%).

Interest Rate Cuts May Be OverMortgage rates rose Friday after data showed the economy added more jobs than expected last month, a sign of ongoing growth.

This Main Line real estate agent knows that curb appeal is a topic most people feel they have a good grasp on. It is good, right? How much should a home buyer value curb appeal?

Many people plan to build their net worth by buying CDs or stocks, or just having a savings account. Recently, however, Economist Jonathan Eggleston and Survey Statistician Donald Hays, both of the U.S. Census Bureau, shared the biggest determinants of wealth,“The biggest determinants of household wealth [are] owning a home and having a retirement account.”

This Main Line agent is on a mission today to explain something no one seems to understand about the residential real estate business: buyer agency. Unless your agent is operating as a buyer’s agent, you are not getting basic protections. This just means you need an agreement with that agent setting forth their responsibilities to you.

Sage Realty knows that one of the primary concerns when deciding to look for homes for sale in Wayne or other Main Line communities is cost. Following are some of the common questions we get about the costs of purchasing a Main Line home.

This Main Line Realtor® is amazed at how often we go into an open house or show up for an appointment where the listing agent asks my buyers why they are moving or when they need to move. That happened recently. As nicely as possible, I tried to tell them nothing!!