Real Estate Blog - Ken Richter

Home Searching Don'ts

Whether you’re looking for your next home now or you’re planning to pound the pavement this spring, be sure to avoid these home-hunting “don’ts”.

If possible, don’t bring the kids – at least not in the initial home-hunting stages. They can divert your attention from where it needs to be: on the homes. Also, children tend to either love or hate each property, so it’s best not to bring them along until you’ve objectively narrowed your search down to the serious candidates, at which time you’ll want their input. D

on’t bite off more than you can chew. Filter your search to a defined area; if you run all over town without focus, you’re bound to tire sooner. And don’t schedule too many showings for the same day – you might find yourself suffering from…

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Making Your Home Sell

You as the homeowner can play an important part in the timely sale of your property. When you take the following steps, you’ll make your sale a profitable one.

1. Make the Most of that First Impression A well-manicured lawn, neatly trimmed shrubs and a clutter-free porch welcome prospects. So does a freshly painted – or at least freshly scrubbed – front door. If it’s autumn, rake the leaves. If it’s winter, shovel the walkways. The fewer obstacles between prospects and the true appeal of your home, the better.

2. Invest a Few Hours for Future Dividends Here’s your chance to clean up in real estate. Clean up the living room, the bathroom, the kitchen. If your woodwork is scuffed or the paint is fading, consider some minor redecoration. Fresh…

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To Rent Or To Buy: The Great Choice

There are many factors to be considered when deciding to move with the first critical decision being whether to purchase some property or rent. Depending upon your circumstances, it may either be a clear-cut decision or one that requires a more thorough analysis to make that determination.

Factors to Consider

Career – For some individuals, it may not be practical to purchase property if their career will require them to relocate frequently. Although some people have the resources and inclination to accumulate property each time they move, for most of us that is either not an option or would be an undesirable outcome to find ourselves in the role of landlord. For the majority of us, that means we need to sell property each time we move, so careful…

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Making Your Home More Energy Efficient

You might assume that making your home energy efficient requires a lot of time and money, but generally that’s not the case. Often small fixes can have a big impact on your heating, cooling, and other utility bills. Team Ken Richter has some easy things you can do to make your home more efficient right now:

Tip #1: Don’t turn that dial Keep your thermostat set at one temperature and leave it! Avoiding constant adjustments will keep your energy bills stable.

Tip #2: Stop the drip-drips Leaky showerheads and faucets are hard-to-miss energy wasters. Toilets that run can also cost you on your water bill. The majority of required repairs are covered in the most basic do-it-yourself handbook.

Tip #3: Go fluorescent While compact fluorescent light bulbs…

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Preparing Yourself to Sell Your Home

Selling your home can be exciting and scary. It means the end of one chapter of your life and the beginning of another. Team Ken Richter has a few tips for you to get you through selling your home, so you can begin the new chapter of your life with no regrets!

Detach yourself emotionally: Buying real estate is an emotional decision, but the opposite needs to be true for selling real estate. Emotions can get in the way of selling your property. The more attached you are, the harder it will be to convince a potential buyer to see themselves as the new homeowner. Try to get used to the idea that the home will no longer be yours. Think of it as a product to be sold. Visit every room and say “good-bye.” Visualize yourself handing over the keys.

First…

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Winterizing Your Home This Year

Indoor Preparations

The most obvious items to address as the winter months approach center largely around ensuring that your home remains warm. Regardless of your heat source there are preventative measures that should be taken to ensure that you remain warm and safe inside your home. Some of the most important areas to assess include:

Furnaces: Regular annual furnace inspections will help keep your furnace in good repair. Cleaning or replacing furnace filters monthly during the operating months will also keep your furnace operating efficiently.

Oil Heaters: Like furnaces, oil heaters require annual inspections and maintenance. Annual inspections should include: inspecting the chimney, cleaning the pipes to remove soot build up, replacing the air…

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Home Shopping Online

The internet can be a wonderful tool to help find a new home, or it can be a frustrating time-waster. It all depends on how you use it. Let’s first take a look at the upside of using the Web when home shopping. Websites you should be visiting include some of the following:

• Pictures of homes available, including in some cases individual rooms and other property features.

• Property details, such as lot size, number of bedrooms, square footage, and other features.

• Information on the neighborhood and surrounding area, such as the location of schools, parks and public transit.

• “Virtual tours” (when available), which allow you to view a home on your computer almost as if you were walking through it in real life.

Previewing specific homes…

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The Advantages of Condo Living

If you are looking to enjoy the benefits of home ownership without the maintenance or purchase price associated with a single-family house, a condominium could be right for you.

Condominiums are popular with singles, young couples/families, downsizing empty nesters, retirees, and senior citizens because of the lifestyle they offer. The limited maintenance involved is ideal for both busy young professionals who lack the time to undertake gardening chores and older individuals who feel physically incapable of performing tasks such as mowing the lawn.

If price is your main motivation, condominiums will allow you to get into the market for significantly less than a single-family dwelling. Whether you’re in search of a bachelor or a spacious 2-bedroom,…

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4 Open House Mistakes To Not Make

When there is a showing at your home to a potential buyer, you obviously want to make the best impression possible. You don’t want to make a mistake, and miss out on an opportunity to sell. So here are some of the most common home viewing blunders and how to avoid them:

1. Being inflexible with scheduling: Don’t be too strict about when you’re willing to schedule a viewing. After all, if a buyer is unable to see your home in the times you’ve allotted, they’re not going to buy. Be as accommodating as possible. Sure, it can be inconvenient to okay a viewing on an hour’s notice, but if that buyer ultimately purchases your home, it’s worth it.

2. Hovering: It’s natural to want to guide buyers through your home and give them the tour. Regardless of your…

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Adjusting To The Market

Feeling nervous about what’s happening in real estate?

Team Ken Richter can guide you through today’s changing market. Whether you are a first-time buyer looking to take advantage of lower prices or a homeowner looking to sell in a time of high-inventory, we will help determine your best plan of action.

If you are buying: Falling prices mean that there are deals to be had if you are a first-time buyer. With high-inventory, you have more homes to choose from, and with homes staying on the market longer, you have more time to make a decision. You have more negotiating power now than in the frenzied, bidding-war market of the past. It’s a good time to buy if you are looking to move to a larger, more expensive house. You may have to sell your home for…

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