Sellers: Leave your Home to Your Agent and Buying Customers

By Prudential Executive Group Real Estate

Should I stay or should I go when my home is showing?

Gently put, most agents say that when potential homebuyers come to see your home, it’s best that you leave the premises.  

Perspective buyers don’t want to see owners hovering or milling about. When they do, they get uncomfortable and feel as if they are intruding. This often causes buyers to look quickly without gaining a proper feel for the home.

The reason sellers give for sticking around is that they believe home shoppers won’t be able to find everything, and the sellers want to point out the important features. Another is that owners feel they can help “sell” the property by talking about the positives.

Rest assured your real estate agent is well trained in showcasing your home, and in reading buyers and knowing when it’s best to relay information to them. If you bombard a seller with too much information all at once, you are going to leave a less-favorable impression. You might even hurt your cause by calling attention to something buyers aren’t interested in.

Let buyers discover your home’s features themselves at their own pace.

Some sellers choose to wait outside in their car or on the patio, which is better, but still not ideal. Again, if prospective buyers feel like they are being rushed they are going to move on to the next property on their list quickly.

Face it, there are some parts of selling a home that can be challenging and vacating the home is at the top of that list—especially when there are kids to care for, dinners to cook and work to be done.

However, you want buyers to spend as much time as they want in your home, envisioning the possibility of living there someday. So go to a neighbor’s home, the library or shopping. The inconvenience will be worth it in the long run.

Prudential Executive Group is an independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affiliates, Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license with no other affiliation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity.

7 Killer Ways to Get Rid of Weeds

Here are 7 ways to murder weeds with household items. You'll save money and show no mercy to your garden's uninvited guests

Nothing ruins your garden or yard like weeds, those uninvited guests that rob your plants of space and nutrients. So murder those weeds most foul, but without harmful chemicals that can do you in, too.

Who says you need standard weeding tools (http://www.houselogic.com/blog/gardens/ultimate-weeder-my-search-perfection/) to kill weeds? Here are 7 ways to kill weeds with weapons you already have around your house.

How to kill weeds

1. Newspaper: A carpet of newspaper, which blocks sunlight and oxygen from reaching the soil, will smother weeds already sprouted and prevent new ones from growing. Throw down newspaper in 10-sheet layers, wet to hold it down, and cover with an inch or two of mulch. If weeds begin to grow in the mulch, add more layers, making a mulch-newspaper lasagna, which eventually will decompose and nourish the soil.

2. Old shower curtains and carpet samples: Spreading these useless items in garden paths or between rows will keeps weeds from ever showing their unwanted heads. Cover with mulch.

3. Corn gluten meal: This corn by-product stops seeds from growing into weeds. Since the meal will prevent germination, spread it around established plants, and after seedlings and transplants have taken hold in the soil. After harvest, spread the meal to prevent late-season weeds.

4. Vinegar: The acetic acid in 5% vinegar is a desiccant that sucks the life out of plant leaves. It's most destructive to young plants with immature roots, though it just rolls off weeds with waxy leaves, like pennywort or thistle.

Make sure you cover desirables before spraying, because vinegar is an equal opportunity killer. Keep your spray on-target by removing the bottom from a 2-liter plastic soda bottle, and placing it over the weed. Spray vinegar into the mouth of the bottle, which will keep it from splattering on your vegetables.

5. Vodka: Don't know if vodka makes weeds fall down dead or drunk, but 1 ounce mixed with 2 cups of water and a couple of drops of dish soap will dry out weeds that live in the sun. Doesn't work that well on shade-loving weeds. Protect desirables, because vodka will dry them out, too.

6. Soap: The oil in soap can break down waxy or hairy weed surfaces, making them vulnerable to desiccants. So add a few drops of liquid dish detergent to vinegar or vodka sprays to keep the solution on leaves. The soap also makes leaves shiny, which will help you keep track of what you've sprayed.

7. Boiling water: After you've made yourself a cup of tea, take the kettle outside and pour the boiling water on weeds, which will burn up. This is a particularly good way to whack driveway and walkway weeds, because the boiling water can run off impervious surfaces and cool before it reaches border plants.

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this. Reprinted from HouseLogic with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Copyright 2012.  All rights reserved.

Five Tips for a Green Home

By Larry Hitz

Prudential Executive Group

Eco-friendly. Carbon footprint. Global warming. Energy-efficient. These catch phrases have become part of our lexicon as we’ve become more aware of our impact on the environment and our role in protecting it. As a homeowner, there are some simple, inexpensive steps you can take to make your home energy-efficient. Get started on the road to being “green” with these five tips:

Change Your Light Bulbs

By replacing just five incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, you can save $100 per year on electric bills while using up to 75 percent less energy and removing greenhouse gases from the environment.

Buy ENERGY STAR® Appliances

ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances, such as refrigerators, washers and air conditioners, meet a higher level of energy efficiency set by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy than standard models. According to ENERGY STAR, if just one in 10 homes used ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances, the impact could be compared to planting 1.7 million new acres of trees. And, switching to these appliances is not only good for the environment, but easy on your pocketbook. Although these appliances may costs more, you can reduce your energy bill by $80 per year.

Seal Up

Cracks and air leaks represent cash seeping from your doors and windows. Get rid of air leaks in doors, windows and other areas by caulking gaps and cracks. This will help decrease your heating and air conditioning bill. But make sure you use silicone sealants. Acrylic caulk tends to shrink, while silicone sealants are waterproof and won’t shrink or crack, creating less waste.

Use Less Water

Did you know that roughly 60 percent of a home's water consumption takes place in the bathroom, according to the California Urban Water Conservation Council? The largest culprit is the toilet, which accounts for 27 percent of your household supply every year. By installing low-flow toilets, showerheads and faucets, you can save thousands of gallons of water each year. In addition, replace leaky fixtures. That slow-dripping faucet can waste as much as 2,400 gallons of water per year.

Adjust the Thermostat

When adjusting your home’s thermostat, the rule of thumb should be: turn up the dial in the summer and down in the winter. Lowering the temperature by just one degree will reduce your electrical costs. And if you use a programmable thermostat, you can program your air-conditioning and heating systems to reduce output while no one is at home or at night while you sleep. Ceiling fans are also helpful in circulating the air to keep the room cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Going green doesn’t have to be overwhelming or costly. By making just a few small changes within your home, you can help decrease energy consumption and help make the world a “greener” place.

National Open House Weekend 2012

 

 

 

 

This weekend is National Open House Weekend. Please join us at any (or all) of the following Valparaiso and Westville locations:

 

 

 

Saturday 4/28

4604 Silhavy 12-3pm with Michele Civanich
4217 Oakgrove Circle with Debbie Miller
311 S. 300 W. with Judy Appel

 

Sunday 4/28

1656 Byfield Pkwy 1-4 with Denise Wilson
826 Hunter Dr 1-4 with Mitzi Wingenroth
453 Surrey Hill 1-4 with Mitzi Wingenroth
95 Muirfield Dr 2-4 with Kate Ross
2800 Beauty Creek Run 1-3 with Judy Appel
1252 Millpond 1-3 with Arlene Bubik

Click on the link below for more information, directions and photos:

http://www.pruexec.com/pruexec/index.asp?p=findahome.asp&page=search&selected=openhouse

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