Heating Season

Yay!  November is here and the bickering can cease.  Eleven months of the year, I have a wonderful, strong marriage but my husband and I just don't seem to get along in October.  You see, he believes you should control the thermostat by the calendar and I think that the thermometer is a better gauge.  He believes in not turning the heat on till the first of November.   And when the house is 58 degrees, I go to local restaurants to use the bathroom.  In fact, I spend as much time away from home as possible.

The past year, I've run into more then my fair share of bad furnace situations, and so this seems to be a great time to chat about furnace safety and care.

During my real estate transactions during the past year, I've run into at least three furnaces with both cracked heat-exchangers and totally clogged furnace filters.  That's not a coincidence.  When you fail to change your furnace filters and they become clogged, a forced-air furnace must work much harder to force that warm air through your home.  That stress can cause a premature crack in the heat-exchanger.  In one case this year, the furnace was only five years old but so was the furnace filter.  It had never been changed.  So, please, please, please determine how often your filer needs to be changed and do so.

A cracked heat-exchanger can produce carbon monoxide, especially in newer high-efficient furnaces.  So can water heaters, gas stoves, gas fireplaces, automobiles and other appliances that burn gas.  That is why New York state law requires all homes to have a working carbon monoxide detector.  Since carbon monoxide is a completely odorless gas, it's not a bad idea to have a detector on each level of your home.  And a carbon monoxide detector lasts about 5 to 7 years and so it's not a bad plan to purchase a new one every 2 to 3 years and rotate them out of service.  Don't forget to change out those batteries when you do your smoke detectors.

Whenever, I list a property I strongly encourage the seller to have the heating system serviced and inspected before the property goes on the market.  That is because if there are issues, we want to know about them before a buyer does.  To learn that there is a bad furnace after an offer has been accepted, means only one thing and it is not good for the seller.  It constantly amazes me how many families do not have their heating system regularly maintained by a professional.   If you need a referral for someone that is reliable and reasonable, don't hesitate to let me know.

Carbon monoxide safety is a personal issue for me.   I lost a brother to carbon monoxide poison more than 30 years ago.  If you switch a button and it suddenly gets warm in your home, it's easy to get complacent about furnace safety but I hope this will serve as a wake up call.

Stay warm!

Don't Advertise Your Kids' Names With Your Home!!

The weather in Rochester has not warmed up but the local real estate market has.  I've been out photographing numerous houses from Greece, to Brighton to Fairport that will be coming to market over the next few weeks.

The homes are all nicely staged and gorgeous but the kid's bedrooms are especially fun to photograph.  Of course, they leave me feeling deprived as I think back to sharing a bedroom with my two sisters without matching furniture nor color-coordinated drapes and bed coverings.  But that's another story.

I love the trend to decorate a child's room with his or her name until it is time to put the house on the market.  As you stage your home and child's bedroom, keep in
mind that these photographs will be all over the internet right there with your address.  While most kids are taught about stranger-danger, it can be confusing to them when a stranger knows their name.  So, just as a precaution, remove all the name art before the photo shoot.

It's also not a bad idea to put away anything that is extremely valuable so as not to temp burglars.   Of course, valuables can be replaced  but our precious loved ones can not.  

Please don't hesitate to give me a call if I can assist with your Rochester-area real estate needs.

Less Real Estate Drama With Home Inspections Before Listing

In a typical real estate transaction in the Rochester area, the buyers find a house, write an offer, comes to term with the seller,both sides celebrate, and then the home inspection happens.  Often there are surprises, both for the buyer and the seller and that's when the real drama can begin.  Buyers get frighten and sellers get angry.  It's no fun for anyone.

Last year I sold a few homes in which the property was inspected before the house went on the market.  Sellers have the opportunity to make repairs before the house is listed. And buyers receive the report before writing an offer with a pretty clear understanding of what's been repaired and what they will need to address as the future owners.  Buyers can make a fairer offer when they have all the facts and there is no re-negotiating the contract after the inspection.

Inspecting a home before it goes on the market is not cheap.  Expect to pay between $300 and $400 for a home inspection.  Plan on another $100 or so to make sure the furnace or boiler and in top working order and if there is a fireplace, you will also want to do a chimney safety check for approximately $75 to $100.  These fees add up but rarely is a buyer's request for a repair credit less than $1000.

Last year alone, I was involved in 3 transactions in which buyers made an offer based on there being an old furnace.  During the course of the inspections, cracked heat exchangers were discovered and guess what, each buyer ended up with a band new furnace.  Happy buyers for sure, but very angry sellers.

I'm all for less drama in real estate and believe that less surprises equals less drama.  I'd love to see all Rochester area sellers have there home inspected before going on the market, or at a minimum, have the furnace serviced.  If you'd like more information, don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an e-mail.

Buyers Want a Clean Slate and Fresh Start

One of the most important steps in preparing your house for market is de-cluttering and staging.  While common sense would tell you that all the clutter leaves with the seller, most buyers just can't see past it.  Maybe they have a clutter problem in their current home and a new home represents a fresh start.  They just can't picture that start in a cluttered house.

Sometimes we also need to give our walls a clean slate and fresh start.  There is an awesome colonial in Fairport that just hasn't gotten its fair share of attention and so the seller spent much of the holiday season stripping wallpaper.  Take a look that the before and after shots of their sons' bedroom.  The transformation is remarkable.

For more shots and details of this home, go to 81 W Church

Getting your Home Ready for the Photographer!

Fashion models don’t pop out of bed and get in front of a camera.  Houses shouldn't either!   When your home goes on the market, the buying public will truly scrutinize the photos of your home as they determine whether or not they even want to visit it.  

 Here are a few guidelines for getting home ready for a photo shoot.  As you go through each room, remember less is more because even the most attractive items can look like clutter in a photograph.

Outside

In winter, driveway and walkways clear of snow.

In summer, grass freshly cut and raked.

Hedges and bushes trimmed.

Trash cans, bikes, toys out of sight.

Porch, front stoop, front door decorated  but modestly.

Cars removed from driveway.

Inside

Kitchen

Clear counters.  Leave one small appliance and one or two decorative items (bowl fruit, etc.)

Hide dish drains, dish detergent, etc.
Eliminate refrigerator magnet clutter.

New or clean, fresh dish towels neatly hung.

Simple place settings at table or breakfast bar

Dining

Clear all clutter

China cabinets & curio cabinets sparsely furnished.  

Set table but keep place setting simple as to avoid a cluttered look. 

Living room

Eliminate newspapers, magazines, and other media.

Do not store items under the couches...they show.

Put away toys and simplify decorative items.

Turn off televisions.

Open curtains.  Turn on lamps (soft light is better than bright or harsh)

Bedrooms

Make the beds.  Every wrinkle shows up in photographs, so do it carefully.  Fresh pillow cases or pillow covers help. 

Either have a bed skirt or do not store items under the bed.

Put away personal belongings, eliminate clutter.

Open windows.  Turn on lamps with soft light.

Bathrooms

Eliminate all personal and beauty items

Hang new or clean towels.

Clean mirrors.

Close toilet seats.

Open curtains.   Turn on lights.

Rochester Real Estate Seeing Multiple Offers

The last five purchase offers I've written have had competition.  And yes, at the first inkling that there will be multiple offers, my heart rate goes up and the adrenaline starts pulsing through my veins and I get giddy with excitement but then the reality sinks in.  Multiple offers suck.

There really isn't a win-win with multiple offers.  Someone has to lose. And the nice person in me really doesn't like that.  But even worse is that often the winner loses as well. They get caught up in a bidding war and there isn't time for a second visit or to sleep on it.  In these types of markets, if you have to sleep on it, you probably won't get to sleep in it.  And lord knows, I've had to list and sell way too many houses that people bought because they didn't take the time to sleep on it.

Of course the home seller does win.  Generally, if there are multiple offers they get their asking price if not more.  And so if you are contemplating moving up or moving down or moving across town, this is a very good time and I hope you will give me a call.

Mary Shelsby   

Showing Stress

I work hard when I take a listing.  My days are filled with putting out signs, taking photos, verifying tax bills, writing ad copy, calling utility companies and much, much more.  But my job is much easier than most homeowners.

When a house is on the market, a home owner must clean the gutters, manicure the lawn, paint the front door, hind the trash cans and that's just with hopes to have enough curb appeal that we get an appointment request.  When the showing request comes in, that's when the real work begins.

Yesterday I had a showing request for a family's home that have two daughters, aged 1 and 3.   When I arrived, the house was spotless......floors mopped, counters clean, beds made, absolutely no clutter and all the lights were on.  My seller greeted me with a big smile and then I heard it!  Not one, but two crying babies!   This particular showing came right in the middle of nap time and so both girls were taken from their bed and put in car seats so they could vacate the property for the showing.

And fortunately, in this case, my seller's efforts paid off.  We receive and accepted an offer last night.  But this was the 14th showing request for this property.  In a couple of incidences, the appointments were canceled just before the showing time and in at least once case, the buyers never showed up.  In one case, the buyers couldn't afford the house but they were curious to see it anyway.  And in all the other cases, the house just wasn't right for them for one reason or another.  But for each and every showing request, this house was cleaned and staged to perfection.  And regardless of the stress this caused, they always greeted me with a smile.

I wish I always could have that much grace.

Staging! How to Make the Perfect Bed

If you're like me, no matter how hard I try I can't get the bed to look like they do in the magazines and showrooms.  Here's a nice little clip that demonstrates how to make the perfect bed.  I'm going to try it and I hope you will to.  Having a beautifully made bed is important for photo day and showings when you house is on the market.

What is "Broom Clean" Condition?

The purchase contract used in the Rochester, NY area requires that a home be in 'broom clean' condition at the time of possession.  After a recent final walk through in which the floor was clean but the rest of the house was a wreck, I figured it was time to chat about this subject.

Moving day is stressful, both for the people moving out as well as the people moving in.  And even thought there are months to prepare for moving day, life tends to get into the way and most families end up packing and moving all within a couple of days, leaving little time and energy to clean afterwards.   And those families that have just packed their life belongings to move into your former home don't want to start that event with cleaning up your mess.   And so, along with the shortage of time and energy, most movers also have a shortage of tolerance and patients.

'Broom Clean Condition' is not a literal description of how a house should be left.  It's a generic term and my best piece of advice is to leave the house in the same condition that you would like to find your new home.  I often get calls from sellers asking if they have to patch walls where they removed art work and my response is always the same.   When I ask my sellers how they would feel about nail holes in their new walls, they almost always respond with, "Good point!  I'll see if I can find the matching paint!"

Along with sweeping and/or vacuuming, the seller should plan to sponge clean counters and the inside of cabinetry and drawers in both the kitchen and bath.  Appliances should be clean, including the oven and the inside of the refrigerator.  Bathtubs, toilets and sinks should also be clean.  In the summer, the lawn should be recently cut and in the winter, the driveway and walkway should be clear of ice.

Yes, you've been up all night packing and your exhausted.  But chances are good, so have the people that are moving into your home.  If every seller would leave their house in the same condition that they hope to find their new home, moving days would be a tad less stressful and there would be less animosity at the closing table. 

The Kiss of 'Real Estate' Death

The house has been just sitting on the market.  No one has come to see it in weeks.  It's time to make a price adjustment and so I begin that dreadful conversation with the sellers.

"Well, we are not in a big hurry to sell.  We are willing to wait for our price," they tell me.

 UGH!!!!  GROAN!   And a few other words that I don't dare publish.

More than ever before, buyers are very educated to the real estate market.  Often they will start poking around the Internet six month to a year before they are ready to make a purchase.  Sometimes they know the inventory better than a realtor, going through each house, picture by picture, room by room.     And if they are not walking around with all the latest real estate stats on the tip of their tongue, one of the first questions they will ask about a house that they like is 'how long has it been on the market?'

When a house is brand new on the market, buyers will ask "What will it take to purchase this house?"  Once a house has been sitting on the market a month or more, buyers will ask "How low will the seller be willing to go?" and if the house goes stale after 6 months or so, buyers always ask 'What's wrong with it?'  That is why I say nothing depreciates a house faster than a 'For Sale' sign.

Dropping the price is not an easy out for real estate agents.  It usually sets off a list of tasks that include new ads, new flyers, e-mailing past showings, etc all to earn less commission.  The only reason a real estate agents recommends a new price is that is what it is going to take to put up a 'SOLD' sign.

Coffee Table Decorations: Organizing Coffee Table Books and Trays | Pott...

With a difficult real estate market, almost nothing is more important than stagging when you are getting ready to sell a house. I was quite excited to find this clip from Pottery Barn (after all, what's more exciting than a house described as a Pottery Barn decor !) but was left a little unimpressed. Is it just me? What do you think of these coffee table decorations???

Low Ball Offer

My clients cleaned and painted and staged. Finally, we put a ‘for sale’ sign in the front yard. For weeks, they walked on egg-shells trying to keep the house ready to show at a moment’s notice. And finally we got the call! An offer was coming in.

As soon as I picked up the offer, I knew my clients would not be happy. It was $30,000 off asking and this was not an expensive house. What I didn’t expect was their anger.

“That offer does not deserve a response,” he stormed. “Tell them to go find another house!”

The most important advice in this situation is not to take it personal. In fact, try thinking like a buyer when trying to sell your home. If there was the slightest chance that you could buy a house for $30,000 less than the asking price, wouldn’t you try it? Of course you would. It is only human nature and so don’t hold the low ball offer against the buyer.

It took some time and effort for my sellers to regain their composure. They finally agreed to write a reasonable counter offer that the buyer ended up taking. Today they are living in a new house.



Not all transactions work out this way. Sometimes the buyer walks. Sometime they counter back with another very low offer. But whatever the situation, it is most important to stay calm, focused and not take it personally.

Tomorrow I'll talk a little about low ball offers for buyers.

Real Estate During the Holiday Season

Every year it is a debate whether or not to leave a house on the market during the period between Thanksgiving and New Years. I tell my clients that it is a personal decision. First off, it is very unlikely that their house is going to get an offer if it is not on the market. Second, traffic should be light but those that are looking are most likely serious buyers. But if you struggle with keep the house ready to show the rest of the year, it could be even more difficult with shopping and wrapping and baking and other festivities. It is a person decision.

This year I had one young family that decided to pull their house off the market in the middle of November. With two young girls, they wanted to concentrate on the spirit of Christmas and not the spirit of real estate. I understood completely but three weeks after we pulled it off the market I got a phone call from an agent that had showed it previously. After discussing it with my client, we decided to put it back on the market for 14 days. Guess what? Within 24 hours we had two offers and we put a sale pending sign out front.

Another young family had already purchased a new home and decided to tough it out and leave their house on the market. We only had a couple of showings but did receive and accept an offer. A third listing received an offer, but after going back and forth a couple of times, we did not come to terms and the discussions stopped. And here it is the week before Christmas and another listing has two showings scheduled and one promising showing took place over the weekend.

My guess is that most of this activity is being driven by higher interest rates. After months and months of unbelievably low rates, they have inched up for the five last weeks and so buyers that have been kicking lots of tires are suddenly putting in purchase offers. I don’t blame them!

I hope you and your loved ones have a safe and happy holiday. My photo above was taken at Lamberton Conservatory at Highland Park. They have a beautiful poinsettia display and for the next two Friday evenings they will be open till 9 pm with an incredible light display. The cost is $3 at the door.

Celebrating the Holidays

With a few more houses on the market than what is normal for the holiday season, the question keeps coming up about decorating. My advice, over and over, is to keep it simple and elegant. That goes for inside decorating as well as outside.

Speaking of outside decorating, the Democrat and Chronicle has put together a map of notable holiday light displays. To check out that map, go here: http://php.democratandchronicle.com/maps/holiday_lights

Best wishes to you and yours for a safe holiday full of love and laughter. I'm spending the weekend with the Shelsby family in Maryland but will be back to work the beginning of next week.

Getting Ready to List Your House

Right now, I'm getting more phone calls from people wanting to sell their home than individuals that want to buy a home. That's a change and I think it's been brought on by the federal tax credit for repeat buyers that have owned their current resident for at least 5 years. Of course, there are a million things to do to get your house ready for the market....cleaning, organizing, de-cluttering and just making it look like a model home. It's a ton of work, I know.

There is also a lot of paperwork that needs to be organized and available for closing and since you will be busy packing all your belongs, I recommend that you get the following items in order before you list your home. They include:

• A payoff statement (or recent bill showing balance due) from all mortgages on the property.
• Two sets of keys to the house.

• A copy of all certificates of compliance for improvements to the property, such as fences, pools, sheds, finished basement or attic, new bathrooms, etc.

• Twelve months of utility bills (or one month if on a budget plan).

• Copy of property tax bills.

• Completed Property Condition Disclosure.

• Copies of any environmental testing done, i.e. lead testing, radon testing.

• Contact information for your real estate attorney.

• A list of appliances that you plan to offer with your property.

• Copy of all transferable warranties, such as for a newer roof or appliances.


If you'd like more information about getting your home on the market, don't hesitate to call me. My office number is 585-756-7457.

Mary Shelsby
ReMax First

Mrs Clean Does Not Live Here!

Wow! I've seen some dirty houses on the market in recent weeks. I'm not talking dust bunnies, I'm talking dust gorillas. And these aren't cheap houses either.

At one of these houses, my client turned to me and said I feel like I'd just be buying their mess. I assured her we could require that the house be professionally cleaned at closing but the husband shook his head and said, “If they can't keep up with cleaning, what makes us think they have kept up with maintenance items?” Good point!

At another house I showed, the floor was so dirty that we went back to the front door and put our shoes back on to protect our feet. Then when I walked into the dining room, I saw that someone had swept that floor but there was a pile of debris just waiting for someone to appear with the dustpan! This is not an exaggeration!!! This house was listed in the $175,000 to $185,000 range and we had to give 24 hours notice in order to see it. Unfortunately, they did not use that 24 hours to prepare for our showing.

Ladies and gentleman, if you want to sell your house at top dollar, start with a good cleaning. If cleaning is not your thing, then hire it out. And by a good cleaning, I mean wipe down your walls and doors near light switches and door knobs. Organize your cabinets and closets. Clean out your window wells because buyers will be looking at your windows. And yes, do the windows as well. Heck, I also recommend that you eliminate cob webs, even in the basement and attic. It doesn’t hurt to dust the hot water heater and furnace. Send the message that you have loved this old house and have been compulsive about its care. And as long as your house is priced properly for its location and condition, you will have a much greater chance of getting a full price offer.

Mary Shelsby
ReMax First
585-756-7457

Lobbyist For a Day

I spent the day in Albany yesterday with approximately 50 other Realtors from both Rochester and Buffalo to meet with several of our state legislators to discuss upcoming legislation that affects local homeowners and the real estate market.

The most important item on our agenda was the need for property tax relief. New Yorkers pay an exorbitant amount of property taxes and Western New Yorkers pay more in taxes relative to their property value than the rest of the state. For example, the New York State Comptroller's Office reports that approximate property taxes on a home in Rochester valued at $100,000 are just under $4,000. In comparison, taxes on a $100,000 home in Yonkers are less than half of that ($1,773) and in Southampton, they are almost a tenth of that ($456).

As real estate agents, we were able to give real life experiences about how homebuyers and homeowners struggle to purchase or keep their homes due to high taxes. I had a fun conversation with Assemblyman Bob Oaks (Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne Counties) telling him about trying to explain NY state property taxes with STAR deductions and STAR rebates to individuals moving here from another state. Property tax relief needs to be a top legislative priority for lawmakers!

Some of the other items we discussed was to request support of a bill that would simplify the language on the state's property condition disclosure and to vote against a bill that would restrict the availability of real property information for consumers as well as licensed real estate practitioners. If you'd like information on these bills or others that we discussed with legislators, don't hesitate to give me a call at 585-414-5513.

One of the best things about the trip yesterday was the feeling that our elected officials do want to hear from their constituents. If you'd like to contact your elected state officials, the state has put together an excellent web site that allows you to type in your address and receive a complete list of who represents you. http://nymap.elections.state.ny.us/nysboe/ From there, you can make a few clicks to get everything from a biography to sponsored legislation to contact information for your officials. It's pretty painless to become informed and involved through this site.

With this trip behind me, I hope to get back on the blogging bandwagon and do a much better job of keeping this source of information up to date.

Assessed Too High!

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from the town of Henrietta assessor's office. They asked me about a former listing that I had that was assessed at $145,200 but sold after 18 months on the market for $115,000.

"The house didn't appear to be distressed. In fact, looking at the old listing it looked quite nice. Were we that wrong," the assessor asked?

My professional opinion is that the house should have sold for $129,000 but the sellers were convinced that the house was worth more based on the assessment. By the time the asking price was reduced to $129,000 the house had been on the market so long that the public was convinced that there was something wrong with it. After all, nothing depreciates a house faster than a for sale sign!

The assessor was quite distraught! The owners had never called to question the assessment. When I shared with her the flaws of the property, she agreed that it should have been assessed for less.

This is a sad story. The sellers lost a lot of money on this property. I spent hundreds of dollars advertising the property, conducted 7 open houses and more than 30 showings. The sellers was frustrated and angry at me for not selling it and listed it with another agent. It still took several months and numerous price drops to get the job done. I guess the only winner is the new buyer that got a heck of a deal on an 1800 sq foot ranch.

The moral of the story is it is okay to protest your assessment. And if you are going to put your house on the market, price it right in the very beginning.

The Butler Did It!

Whether you are staging your home for sale or just getting ready to entertain, a properly set table is impressive. And if you want to set your table properly, take it from the pros.....professional butlers. that is.

I found a cool web site....The International Guild of Professional Butlers http://www.butlersguild.com/ with complete instructions on how to set a table plus at least a dozen ways to fold a napkin. So, if you want to impress homebuyers or guests, check out this site! For more information on staging your home for sale, call me!

A Temptation

It's bound to happen. I spend many of my days dashing in and out of homes, most staged to make a visitor fall in love, so it should come as no surprise that from time to time I get urge to move. Well it happened again. But when I mentioned it to my husband, he gave me one of those stern looks and said it's to close to golf season to even kid about moving.

I didn't have the nerve to tell him I wasn't kidding, so instead I spent my weekend implementing my marketing plan for my newest client. This 4 bedroom, 2 bath home is located in the Ellwanger-Barry neighborhood (a couple of blocks from Highland Hospital). I'm not disclosing the address yet, but I will tell you that it has been nicely maintained, has a one car garage and the back yard has been professionally landscaped. It will go on the market this Thursday morning with an asking price of $164,900.

The market is unusually slow for March and so I've planned an extensive campaign to try to maximize exposure. This house will be featured on the Rochester Real Estate Show next Sunday morning on channel 13, as well as Saturday's real estate section of the Democrat and Chronicle. I'll be putting the finishing touches on a virtual tour in the morning and a direct mail piece will go out on Tuesday. Wish me luck in getting this sold quickly and at a good price! And if you want to be the first to see it, give me a call or shoot me an e-mail.