Posts in category 'The Sun'

It's right up there with death and taxes. Odds are, someday you will be cleaning out and selling a parent's home. How you handle this situation could impact your family enormously — will you end up staying a family or will you and your siblings never speak again?

Selling a parent's home can be a 10 out of 10 on the stress gauge. One of my clients suffered through shingles as part of the process! It's fraught with land mines and requires tons of perspective and insight. I've been there personally — my siblings and I sold my parents' home of 50 years — and professionally, as a Realtor helping many families through the process. Here's what I've learned:

Write down your goals. It's an emotional time. Vision can cloud if a few over-arching goals are not penned down and worked toward as a family. Hold a meeting with your s...

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We live in a Cape Cod-style home built in 1949. A few months ago, it became evident that a bathroom remodel was imminent. I knew this could be a glass half-full situation –

A bathroom remodel can be well-invested money; various sources put it as one of the most profitable home investments, earning back anywhere from 50-110 percent of remodel costs. The National Association for the Remodel Industry reports that if a bathroom remodel is handled properly (work done well, costs kept in check), homeowners should recoup at least 50 percent of the project cost.

Here are five tips to avoid flushing money down the commode during your own project:

– Be brutally honest about your DIY skills. We are not handy; this knowledge solidified years ag...

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In the past month, I've traveled to Oregon and Utah. While there, I found myself house-hunting with a daughter and a sister. Both are married. Both see the benefits of home ownership and want to jump into the market, given the extremely cheap money offered by lenders (interest rates dipping into the 3s!) and strong appreciation potential.

Being with them and their spouses led me to contemplate, from the 10,000-foot view, a few principles inherent to successful home ownership. Here are several ways to think about money so that you can become a homeowner, prosper as a homeowner, and ultimately, sell your home at a profit.

Needs, Wants and Savings

Spending can be divided into three categories – needs, wants, and savings. Allocate 50 percent of your aftertax income for needs such as food, rent, trans...

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Market research for clients leads me down interesting rabbit holes. Lately, in working with folks in the Elizabethtown Area School District, I delved heavily into home sales for the four municipalities that make up EASD. Who would have thought the township of roughly 4,000 residents nestled in the northwestern corner of Lancaster county, with no major industry, would show up its neighbors in home salability?

From January to May, the median price of a home in Conoy Township was $244,750. Compare this to Elizabethtown Borough ($194,000), Mount Joy Township ($226,000), and West Donegal Township ($234,950).

Kevin McKain, Conoy Township supervisor, shed some light on the township's appeal to home buyers.

"We're a rural setting; it's very quaint here. Alm...

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We continue to ride the wave of a robust seller's housing market. The median price of listed homes in Hummelstown Borough rose from $149,500 in January to $200,000 in April. Palmyra Borough's March listing volume hit a 10-month high of $2,369,700 — a good sign that inventory shortages would lessen — but then dropped to $1,693,700 in April, meaning home buyers will still compete for very few listings.

Even in this strong marketplace, occasionally homes languish for months on the market. A few key actions taken by sellers will help them ride this economically beneficial wave with confidence and avoid the riptide of relisting. Below are three steps to help you, as sellers, make the most of the current local surge.

Correct Price

First, determine the correct price at which to...

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