Expert Real Estate Tips: Main Line Edition

Q & A: Expert Real Estate Tips from Terry Kirkwood

Terry Kirkwood is a Prudential Fox & Roach sales manager in the Rosemont Office, working in the industry since 1988. With more than 20 years experience, she offered to share her insight on the market and deliver inside advice to both buyers and sellers.

How is the market right now? Right now the market is crazy. Believe it or not we are going through a shortage of inventory. We’re back to a seller’s market with multiple bids. Buyers are desperate to buy but there’s not that much out there. There was a home last week that had 10 or 11 offers.

What areas are hot right now? Wayne is always hot. Wayne has always had a shortage of inventory. People like to be able to walk to everything Wayne has to offer. Being close to public transportation is always good too.

What’s the best way for sellers to get their home noticed? I think the key is pictures. The agent needs to bring in a professional photographer to showcase homes in the best light. They need to get those pictures up as soon as the home is listed. The worst thing is to look for a house online and find it has no pictures. Something is better than nothing. If buyers see a blank slate, they will move on to the next listing. Staging is also important; that will show up in picture. Anything the seller can do to clear out their house and make it look like a model home is helpful.

You also need to get your listing out on the web. People search all of the real estate sites, so you want to distribute the listing—we do that for you. We also do a single property website, so if someone Googles an address, they’ll find it.

What are the initial steps first-time buyers think about? The first thing is make sure they are approved by a qualified mortgage lender. That’s step number one. They shouldn’t step foot in a house unless they know they are qualified.

Also, first-time buyers need to realize there is no perfect house, but they should decide how much work they want to do. They should also think in terms of lifestyle—what amenities do they want to be near? Accessiblity to the train?

Also, in terms of the flow of the house, consider what’s important to them. Do they cook? Do they like to grill? My husband’s a griller. If we didn’t have easy access to the grill, that would be a problem for him. These are little things that people should think about when purchasing a house.