The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

New Listing in Northern Liberties - 1027 N 4th Street for $275,000

This bright contemporary Courtyard Condominium development is located in the heart of Northern Liberties.  Walk to your favorite coffee shop, cafe or restaurant.  The Piazza and Liberties Walk are a stone's throw from this chic 3 story condo.

Enter through the gated courtyard with communal brick patio outdoor space.  There is a 1st floor private entrance to your unit.

The second floor has an open layout with a modern kitchen with cherry wood cabinets, pristine granite counters, stainless steel appliances and hardwood throughout.

The living room has a romantic gas fireplace with plenty of room for your flat screen tv and comfy furniture.

There is a half bath off of the living room.  Step out onto the terrace and enjoy overlooking the beautiful courtyard.

The third floor has a spacious bedroom with skylight, slider glass door with Juliette Balcony, a full master bath, washer and dryer.  All baths have contemporary Euro-style vanities and beautiful Italian tiles.  There is a tax abatement along with low condo fees.

Google map of 1027 N 4th Street

If interested in seeing this property, please contact Chris and Stephanie Somers.

New Listing in Kensington - 3063 Potter Street for $42,500

This warm and welcoming home is located on a friendly block that awaits you.  This property offers plenty of charm and some modern updates as well.

There is an open layout on the first floor with original refinished hardwood floors leading to a contemporary tiled kitchen fully loaded with all appliances included!

The basement is finished and there is a nice size 3rd bedroom that adds more to the posted square footage of this townhome.

There is plenty of room for storage and an open living area in the basement.  The second floor has 2 bright and cheery bedrooms and the 3rd room is a fantastic laundry room! 

The full bath is completely updated with a full enclosure tub and shower.  This home requires very little finishing touches to make it just the way you want it. 

The free library with public computers is 1/2 block away. So convenient to public transportation and shopping.   

If interested in seeing this property, please contact Chris and Stephanie Somers.

3 Simple Tips For People Selling Their Home or Condo in Philadelphia

Suggestion 1 - Selling Your Philadelphia Home ?  Find a Realtor Who Markets Listings Aggressively !!

We are not in a Seller's Market !  We believe you must use a Realtor to get get the most exposure for your property through the MLS and extensive internet marketing which puts your home at the fingertips of hundreds and thousands of Realtors and consumers daily, 24/7.

It is usually best to hire a Realtor in your area of Philadelphia as well as your specific subdivision such as Old City, Graudate Hopsital, Northern Liberties, Fishtown...etc.   Look for a Philadelphia Realtor that is an Expert Listing Agent.   Make sure they go above and beyond when it comes to advertising and marketing their clients properties. For example: we use enhanced services at Remax.com, Trulia.com, Zillow.com, our very own The Somers Team - Philadelphia Real Estate ,   Craigslist, our Blog Philadelphia Real Estate Voice and many other smaller sites such as backpage, kijiji, and so on.  85% of all Buyers look on line before they even call a Realtor.   Thus, you want you home to be seen !

If you can not find a local Realtor that can do that for you then branch out beyond your immediate area. Our marketing efforts will far outweigh an agent who is "just local". You'll need more than a lawn sign and a listing with a few pictures.

Suggestion 2 - Selling Your Philadelphia Home ?  Price Your Home To Sell Not to Sit !!

It will be important to choose a listing price that will honor the current market prices. We will discuss the specific sales and go over a detailed market analysis if you decide to use us as your Realtor.   Ultimately you set the listing price but the Market Analysis and our insight will guide you.

Suggestion 3 -  Selling Your Philadelphia Home ? Prepare your House for Showings !!

Clean, declutter, deodorize, and minimize everything in the house for showings.  There should be no more than 3 items on any surface or wall.  Clear walk ways and remove excess furniture. Pack all useless items and store them in a garage, closet, or spare room.

Depending on the price you want to sell your home for, you may or may not need to do some handy work like paint or replace carpet and such. We would have to see the house to make those recommendations. No major renovations will be recommended since it is unlikely in this market that you will get the money back in the sale.

Plan to make showings very easy for the prospective buyer.  Never say no to a showing if possible. There is so much inventory out there, buyers can easily skip your home to purchase another !!

We would certainly like to help you if you are thinking about selling your property.

We hope this info on Selling Philadelphia Homes and Condominiums helps answer some of your questions.  If you find the information informative and helpful, please subscribe to our blog !  Is only a click away !  If you are in our neck of the woods, please contact us via phone or email or ask about our new office location in Northern Liberties !  And for more insight on the Philadelphia condominium market, please read Where is the Philadelphia Condo Market Going ?

If interested in buying or selling a condo in Philadelphia, contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at thesomersteam@yahoo.com or 215-400-2612 . You can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter .  For investment properties, check out our new investor site at Philly Investor Hub and ask us about Philadelphia Foreclosures and Short Sales .

The Somers Team - Philadelphia Real Estate - our main site

Search the MLS Properties Here in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email ! 

Areas of specialty include Northern Liberties, Old City, Center City, Fishtown, Graduate Hospital, Art Museum, Queen Village, Pennsport, Old Kensington, Port Richmond, Bridesburg, Society Hill, Loft District, Spring Garden and more !

New Listing in Old Kensington - 1312 Germantown Ave for only $179,900 !

This is a unique move-in condition property located extremely close to Northern Liberties in Old Kensington.  You probably passed this home many times and wondered, who lives in this cluster of properties off of Girard Avenue and Germantown Avenue? The property has a contemporary open layout with a full bath on the first floor, huge kitchen with granite island, slider doors in the dining room leading to a large back yard, spacious living room and extremely tasteful laminant floors throughout.

There is driveway parking out front and 3 large bedrooms upstairs with plenty of closet space.

The master bedroom is suite size, has tremendous closets, and a sitting area. The basement unfinished with laundry area.

The inside of the property is 1,466 square feet and the home is 20 feet wide with a lot depth of 110 feet. There is an exterior storage room and pull down attic stairs in the 2nd floor hall with more storage. Price at fair market value. Annual Taxes are only $397/year .

Also, check out Abby who is in love with this house !

Google Map of 1312 Germantown Ave

If interested in this property, or any property in Old Kensington, Northern Liberties, Fishtown or Old City, please contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at 215-400-2612 or thesomersteam@yahoo.com .  Selling your home in this area or in Philadelphia ?  Contact us at 215-400-2620 and visit our site The Somers Team .

________________________________________________________

The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

Search the MLS Properties Here in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

 5 Steps in Choosing a Realtor to sell your property

Over the Christmas holiday, I was inspired to write this post as my parents announced their interest to sell their home in a different state.  I found myself doing the 5 steps below to help them find the best listing agent for their needs.  

Selling your property in today's market requires much more skill and marketing expertise by the realtor you choose to represent you.  Several years ago, it was much easier as all your realtor really needed to do was list the property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and wait for a deal in a few weeks, or often a few days ! 

Back then, every realtor looked like an expert no matter their level of expertise.  Now it is much more critical to have expert representation to navigate through the maze of getting a house sold.  Below is a list of 5 steps that you can use to help you choose the right realtor to sell your property.

1.  Current relationships - Consider hiring the realtor who helped you purchase your home or someone you know already.

2.  Referral - Ask around your friends, family and colleagues for a referral that specializes in your area.

3.  Scout your neighborhood - Notice the for sale signs in regards to the realtors that are selling properties in the area. 

4.  Google your neighborhood - For example if you lived in Northern Liberties, google Northern Liberties Real Estate or Northern Liberties listings to see what individual realtors come up on page 1 or page 2 of the searches.

Once you do steps 1 - 4, step 5 should really determine who you want to set up an interview with.

5.  Google the realtor - search each realtor from your preliminary list from items 1-4 above.  For example, google "Chris and Stephanie Somers" and see what comes up.  Things to look for are:

A.  Does the realtor have their own website ?  Or better yet, multiple sites ?  A blog ?

B.  Can you get more info about the realtor just by reading their site as far as specialties ?  For example, there is no need to interview an agent who says they just specialize in buyer agency when you are looking for a listing agent.  Also, you will be able to see if the realtor has a team or an assistant which definitely comes in handy throughout the process.

C.  Take a look at a listing (or several listings) that a realtor is marketing and google that address and you can see some of the places that a listing is advertised... or more importantly, if there is any adverstising at all !  For example, if you Google 1111 Mount Vernon, this is what comes up:  1111 Mount Vernon - Right away, you can see that it is on trulia, zillow as well as The Somers Team website .

From this, you can pick 2 or 3 realtors to interview with to hear what each individual agent has to say about pricing, getting your house ready for sale as well as their marketing strategy. 

This 5-step checklist is a great way to narrow down who you will interview and who you will choose to be your realtor.  Also, after doing step 5, you may just want to interview one agent for you will already know based on your due diligence !!!

Make this important decision with confidence ! 

________________________________________________________

The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

Should I list now or wait until spring ?

I received a call yesterday from a consumer who said "Chris, I know it is not a great time to sell.  Should I put my properties up now or wait until spring ? " .  What is interesting is that I have found myself answering this question frequently and I have been seeing the same question on Trulia Voices and Zillow discussions.  So, I figured it made sense to write about it as it relates to the Philadelphia real estate market.

The first part of the answer depends on a seller's personal goals.  If a seller has no place to go or plans on purchasing in the future or there are other external factors that pushes their timeline out it might make sense to wait until those answers are figured out and there is less uncertainty.  This is the case for any seller at any time of the year.  For the seller that called me yesterday, she has several properties to sell, one of which is her primary occupancy, two that are investment properties.  She already plans on renting a place temporarily if her property sells before she relocates to North Carolina.  So what should she do ?  List now or wait until spring ?

Well, to me the answer is obvious.  List now !!!  There are six main advantages for a seller to list now in December or January instead of waiting until spring:

1.  Inventory - In the spring, how many other sellers will have ended up doing the same strategy ?  They may have been waiting a year or so until the market got better or perhaps just figured it was the best time to list their property.  So come March, April and May, there will be that much more competition to potentially compete with !   By listing now, you avoid all that potential competition.

2. Motivated Buyers - Often many buyers will just wait until spring to start their search as well.  They will just be beginning the procoess.  Believe me the buyers that are out house hunting during the Thanksgiving and XMAS timeframes are serious and motivated.  By listing now, you will potentially get one of these buyers to write a deal on your property !

3.  Mortgage Rates -  "Rates Rates Rates" as my friend Richard Stabile likes to say !  The mortgage rates right now are at 3 year lows !  The average 30 year mortgage is in the low 5s !  This is actually causing an uptick in buyer traffic and activity.  I think November, December and Januaray will be end up being busier months for many agents than July - October 2008 which is an anomaly.  We wrote about this in our blog post "Are we the pulse of real estate ? " and highlighted the increase in buyer traffic in our post regarding "Google Analytics" .  If you list now, you will catch this wave of increased buyers shopping for houses instead of XMAS gifts since mortgage rates are so low.

4.  Buyers confidence - Further, buyer confidence is starting to shift which is also increasing buyer traffic.  See "5 reasons for buyers to act now" .  Another cause for increase traffic is for a buyer to take advantage of the $7,500 first time homebuyer tax credit which expires in the middle of 2009.  A buyer has to settle on their property before that timeframe.  By listing now, you are taking advantage of this trend of increased buyer traffic.

5.  Accomplish your goals now - When it is all said and done, wouldn't you rather have your house sold by March and April and moving on with your life than potentially just listing your house at that point in time.  I love it when we accomplish our goals ahead of schedule - it is a great feeling.  By listing now, you are positioning yourself to accomplish your goals sooner than later.

6.  Reverse Fear - Lastly, not to buy into the media's doom and gloom, but there is always risk that the housing markets could deteriorate more instead of picking up by the middle of 2009.  In addition, the reality of the market getting that much better in a short period of time is remote.  I doubt that just by waiting until spring, a sales price could be higher by 10 percent.  In fact, it could even be a little worse if you think the economy is going to deteriorate as the unemployment rate continues to skyrocket. By listing now, you avoid that extra layer of uncertainty.

What is your opinion ?

As a consumer, will you list now or wait until spring ?  As an agent, what will your answer be when asked this question ?  Also what additional benefits are there to list now versus waiting until spring ?

________________________________________________________

The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !