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- 11 Answers
- 2 Useful Answers
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About Me
For my clients looking to sell their houses, I have years of experience and professional accredition (Accredited Staging Professional - "ASP") in "Staging" properties to sell them for their very best price and in the fastest possible time. Many sellers do not realize that "staging" a property need not involve great expense or even ANY expense, but if done correctly can increase the value of the house and the speed at which it sells!
Staged properties sell on average for 7% - 10% more than non-staged houses, and they sell on average in 31 days or less, as opposed to 161 days on average for unstaged houses! Just as you detail your car before you sell it, I'll show you the secrets to how to "detail" your house so that buyers find it irresistible, and even help you do it! You get a Realtor andf a professional home stager, all in one! (To find out more about the incredible benefits of Home Staging, check out the Home Staging tab on the left.)
My professional staging expertise is a benefit that I provide for my clients FOR FREE. I also have years of experience in publicity and marketing, both in real estate and in other fields - I know how to market your house effectively! 85% of buyer now search for their next home online, and if your house isn't being marketed effectively on the web, you might as well take it off the market! I offer professional-grade photography, publicity materials and marketing concepts, and consistent, regular communication with my clients, so that you are always in control of the process.
For my buyer clients, I give 110% of effort and dedication in finding them the PERFECT house for them - I come from an Irish background, where Customer Service really means exactly that. Even more importantly, I listen and that means I find solutions that are tailored to you. I have experience in the Berks County area, both as a long-term resident and as a Board member of a local Social Group that welcomes people into the area, and I like nothing better than to help people to the best of my ability.
As a buyer's representative, I can help you get pre-qualified with reputable mortgage companies, set up online searches matching your criteria that will automatically come to your own e-mail address as often as new properties are listed, and help you negotiate for the home of your dreams!
Staged properties sell on average for 7% - 10% more than non-staged houses, and they sell on average in 31 days or less, as opposed to 161 days on average for unstaged houses! Just as you detail your car before you sell it, I'll show you the secrets to how to "detail" your house so that buyers find it irresistible, and even help you do it! You get a Realtor andf a professional home stager, all in one! (To find out more about the incredible benefits of Home Staging, check out the Home Staging tab on the left.)
My professional staging expertise is a benefit that I provide for my clients FOR FREE. I also have years of experience in publicity and marketing, both in real estate and in other fields - I know how to market your house effectively! 85% of buyer now search for their next home online, and if your house isn't being marketed effectively on the web, you might as well take it off the market! I offer professional-grade photography, publicity materials and marketing concepts, and consistent, regular communication with my clients, so that you are always in control of the process.
For my buyer clients, I give 110% of effort and dedication in finding them the PERFECT house for them - I come from an Irish background, where Customer Service really means exactly that. Even more importantly, I listen and that means I find solutions that are tailored to you. I have experience in the Berks County area, both as a long-term resident and as a Board member of a local Social Group that welcomes people into the area, and I like nothing better than to help people to the best of my ability.
As a buyer's representative, I can help you get pre-qualified with reputable mortgage companies, set up online searches matching your criteria that will automatically come to your own e-mail address as often as new properties are listed, and help you negotiate for the home of your dreams!
My Q&A
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Valerie Mack…'s Questions (0)
Valerie Mack…'s Answers (11)
Valerie Mackey answered:
Cory:
This house was on the market for over a year, and was just withdrawn on October 3rd of this year.....It was originally listed for $179,900, but in a year they only reduced the price a total of $10,000, which makes me suspect that if I ran an exact Comparable Market Analysis for this home and took a close look at the condition of it, it may well be somewhat overpriced......
If you are interested in taking a look at the house, sometimes people who withdraw their houses from the market still do want to sell it, they've just lost faith that it can be done and are unwilling to believe they might have to reduce their price - if you are interested in this house and would like to know if you can have a showing on it, I would be happy to help you (as a agent, I can contact the sellers or the previous listing agent and see if the house is still on the market and if a showing would be possible...) You are welcome to contact me directly at 610-207-0172 or through my office at KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY ELITE AT 610-670-5900, EXT. 7542
This house was on the market for over a year, and was just withdrawn on October 3rd of this year.....It was originally listed for $179,900, but in a year they only reduced the price a total of $10,000, which makes me suspect that if I ran an exact Comparable Market Analysis for this home and took a close look at the condition of it, it may well be somewhat overpriced......
If you are interested in taking a look at the house, sometimes people who withdraw their houses from the market still do want to sell it, they've just lost faith that it can be done and are unwilling to believe they might have to reduce their price - if you are interested in this house and would like to know if you can have a showing on it, I would be happy to help you (as a agent, I can contact the sellers or the previous listing agent and see if the house is still on the market and if a showing would be possible...) You are welcome to contact me directly at 610-207-0172 or through my office at KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY ELITE AT 610-670-5900, EXT. 7542
Valerie Mackey answered:
Gwen:
If a house has been on the market for 1 - 2 years, the likelihood is that an acceptable offer (that is, one based on good comparable sales in the area, i.e. past 3 months or so, same sq. footage, age of house, style of house, same acreage, etc.) will not be turned down by a seller, regardless of whether or not they've reduced their price. They may have held their price, but have already decided to negotiate downwards on an offer - they just don't want to "give away the farm" and STILL have to negotiate downwards with a buyer (I hear this a lot from sellers).
HOWEVER, Hopefully you have a realtor already - DEFINITELY take his or her advice, because I'm hearing too many buyers say what you're saying, and I really worry. INTEREST RATES ARE ABSOLUTELY GOING TO RISE - I have a background in socio-economics, and recessions = higher interest rates. When interest rates are high, it's the same as house PRICES being high - so in fact, whether it's a buyer's market or not won't matter, you'll still be priced out of the market because the monthly payment will be too high due to the interest rate, not the price of the house! Even with the tax write-off due to the mortgage interest tax deduction (which may change, based on a new administration), higher interest rates hurt home buyers.
If you have a house you are interested in, and you have a fair price in mind - lock in an interest rate with your financing company and put in an offer! You don't have anything to lose and possibly a great house to gain!
If you have more questions or you don't have a realtor and you want to know how to ascertain an accurate price for a house based on comparable local sales, give me a call at 610-207-0172 and I'll be happy to help you.
If a house has been on the market for 1 - 2 years, the likelihood is that an acceptable offer (that is, one based on good comparable sales in the area, i.e. past 3 months or so, same sq. footage, age of house, style of house, same acreage, etc.) will not be turned down by a seller, regardless of whether or not they've reduced their price. They may have held their price, but have already decided to negotiate downwards on an offer - they just don't want to "give away the farm" and STILL have to negotiate downwards with a buyer (I hear this a lot from sellers).
HOWEVER, Hopefully you have a realtor already - DEFINITELY take his or her advice, because I'm hearing too many buyers say what you're saying, and I really worry. INTEREST RATES ARE ABSOLUTELY GOING TO RISE - I have a background in socio-economics, and recessions = higher interest rates. When interest rates are high, it's the same as house PRICES being high - so in fact, whether it's a buyer's market or not won't matter, you'll still be priced out of the market because the monthly payment will be too high due to the interest rate, not the price of the house! Even with the tax write-off due to the mortgage interest tax deduction (which may change, based on a new administration), higher interest rates hurt home buyers.
If you have a house you are interested in, and you have a fair price in mind - lock in an interest rate with your financing company and put in an offer! You don't have anything to lose and possibly a great house to gain!
If you have more questions or you don't have a realtor and you want to know how to ascertain an accurate price for a house based on comparable local sales, give me a call at 610-207-0172 and I'll be happy to help you.
The simple answer is that this house SHOULD have dropped in price - it's been on the market a ridiculous amount of time, the sellers clearly aren't motivated to sell it, won't listen to their realtor (who has undoubtedly advised them better), and comparable sales in the neighborhood do not support this price, except for one home in the neighborhood that was clearly in a different league from this one.
Sellers often get fixated on a sales price for their house, and can't understand that they would have actually come out ahead if they had sold the house for a lesser price rather than holding out for the highest possible price they're certain they can get - what happens is that the longer the house sits on the market, it costs them money in mortgage carrying costs, real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance & utility bills, all of which actually deduct from the price they eventually sell the house at, to the point where they end up with less in their pocket than if they had simply sold the house at a realistic price.....
You know the old saying - Why own a dog if you're going to do all the barking yourself - Same goes for hiring a realtor: When sellers refuse to listen to the professionals who actually know their market, see what sells quickly and what lingers forever on the market or never sells, they're simply wasting their time and the time of every buyer who walks through the door. If these sellers are so unwilling to compromise on their price, I'm willing to bet they're equally unbending on any other compromises - and with so many other great properties on the market, who has the time to waste?
I actually live in Wyomissing - If you're interested in the Wyomissing area, there are many beautiful homes for sale there, some more reasonably priced than others....you can go to my website and find more homes in the area, or give me a call and I will set you up with a free automatic search of the Multiple Listing System which will send you any new homes that come onto the market or any homes that have price reductions.
Sellers often get fixated on a sales price for their house, and can't understand that they would have actually come out ahead if they had sold the house for a lesser price rather than holding out for the highest possible price they're certain they can get - what happens is that the longer the house sits on the market, it costs them money in mortgage carrying costs, real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance & utility bills, all of which actually deduct from the price they eventually sell the house at, to the point where they end up with less in their pocket than if they had simply sold the house at a realistic price.....
You know the old saying - Why own a dog if you're going to do all the barking yourself - Same goes for hiring a realtor: When sellers refuse to listen to the professionals who actually know their market, see what sells quickly and what lingers forever on the market or never sells, they're simply wasting their time and the time of every buyer who walks through the door. If these sellers are so unwilling to compromise on their price, I'm willing to bet they're equally unbending on any other compromises - and with so many other great properties on the market, who has the time to waste?
I actually live in Wyomissing - If you're interested in the Wyomissing area, there are many beautiful homes for sale there, some more reasonably priced than others....you can go to my website and find more homes in the area, or give me a call and I will set you up with a free automatic search of the Multiple Listing System which will send you any new homes that come onto the market or any homes that have price reductions.
Valerie Mackey answered:
Rich:
This is the link to the State of Delaware's insurance commission page where you can file a complaint against an insurance company (and you should be able to click on the State of Delaware logo at the top of the page to go back to the Home Page and find where you can get help with dealing with the mortgage company if necessary......SOMEONE owes you money!
Good luck!
This is the link to the State of Delaware's insurance commission page where you can file a complaint against an insurance company (and you should be able to click on the State of Delaware logo at the top of the page to go back to the Home Page and find where you can get help with dealing with the mortgage company if necessary......SOMEONE owes you money!
Good luck!
Valerie Mackey answered:
Actually, Pat, I just took a look for you on the Multiple Listing Service (which is where the actual up-to-date information that realtors have access to can be found, unlike a lot of the internet sites, which aren't always kept as up to date as they should be, unfortunately), and saw that that particular house went under contract on September 27th.
If you are working with a real estate agent, they should be able to set you up with an automatic search of the Multiple Listing Service (TREND MLS) that sends results directly to your e-mail, with up-to-date searches of new properties or any changes in status like price changes or whether a house went under contract.
If you don't already have this, you can either go to my website and click on Search For A Home, put in some basic information and click SEARCH, then go to the status bar above and click on SearchSaver and you can create an automatic search that will send results directly to you. Or you can call me at Keller Williams Realty Elite at 484-334-7542 and I can set you up with a search. Let me know if there's anything more I can help with.
(Sorry about the Sylvan Drive house....however, there are another five houses in that development for sale right now, and many more in that area and price point.)
If you are working with a real estate agent, they should be able to set you up with an automatic search of the Multiple Listing Service (TREND MLS) that sends results directly to your e-mail, with up-to-date searches of new properties or any changes in status like price changes or whether a house went under contract.
If you don't already have this, you can either go to my website and click on Search For A Home, put in some basic information and click SEARCH, then go to the status bar above and click on SearchSaver and you can create an automatic search that will send results directly to you. Or you can call me at Keller Williams Realty Elite at 484-334-7542 and I can set you up with a search. Let me know if there's anything more I can help with.
(Sorry about the Sylvan Drive house....however, there are another five houses in that development for sale right now, and many more in that area and price point.)
Valerie Mackey answered:
Valerie:
Carol's advice is very good - there is a very good program through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency called Front Door which offers grant money for 1st time home buyers (matching funds or adding to funds put in by the buyer), so that the buyer has to bring less money to the settlement table.
I've attached a link that you can copy and paste into your internet browser that should take you directly to the information on the Front Door program - it specifies all the different Front Door programs for each county in Pennsylvania.
http://www.phfa.org/forms/counseling_agencies/ctyprog.pdf
You definitely need a good FHA/PFHA-approved lender - in Keller Williams Realty Elite, we are affiliated with VIST Financial (used to be Leesport Bank, which is a local Berks County bank), and your best bet like Carol mentioned below is to ONLY go through an approved lender. Working with a good realtor in your area will definitely help, as they should be able to get you in touch with an approved lender, but just in case, I've also copied a link to the PHFA site where you can put in your County and look up approved lenders there.
http://www.phfa.org/applications/participatinglenders.aspx
Best of luck to you! I hope all this has helped in your search to become a new homeowner.
Carol's advice is very good - there is a very good program through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency called Front Door which offers grant money for 1st time home buyers (matching funds or adding to funds put in by the buyer), so that the buyer has to bring less money to the settlement table.
I've attached a link that you can copy and paste into your internet browser that should take you directly to the information on the Front Door program - it specifies all the different Front Door programs for each county in Pennsylvania.
http://www.phfa.org/forms/counseling_agencies/ctyprog.pdf
You definitely need a good FHA/PFHA-approved lender - in Keller Williams Realty Elite, we are affiliated with VIST Financial (used to be Leesport Bank, which is a local Berks County bank), and your best bet like Carol mentioned below is to ONLY go through an approved lender. Working with a good realtor in your area will definitely help, as they should be able to get you in touch with an approved lender, but just in case, I've also copied a link to the PHFA site where you can put in your County and look up approved lenders there.
http://www.phfa.org/applications/participatinglenders.aspx
Best of luck to you! I hope all this has helped in your search to become a new homeowner.
My Listings
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Specialties
I'm an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) and have spent years designing marketing and publicity for various organizations and individuals, including graphic design and marketing for other real estate agents. My specialties include home staging, photography, graphic design, desktop publishing and marketing design, all of which elements are CRUCIAL in today's buyers market.
Experience
Latest:
Realtor for Keller Williams Realty Elite
Became independent realtor with Keller Williams Realty Elite. Obtained Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) designation from IASP (International Accredited Staging Professionals).
April 2008—present
Previous:
Publicity & Marketing Director for Keller Williams Realty Elite
Responsible for all publicity and marketing for the Keller Williams Realty Elite company, including graphic design and advertising.
October 2007—April 2008
Previous:
Real Estate Assistant for Keller Williams Realty Elite
Staged homes, created marketing & publicity flyers, home books, and advertising for listings, took digital photographs for websites, completed administrative paperwork for contracts and closings.
October 2006—October 2007
Previous:
Administrative Assistant for The Loomis Company
Worked in the home insurance and commercial insurance department of insurance brokerage.
December 2002—October 2006
Certifications & Awards
Accredited Staging Professional (ASP), REALTOR
Interests
Home design and staging, real estate photography, graphic design and marketing, website design
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